Maribel Verdú returns to the theater scene with Invincible, by the English writer Torben Betts. A comedy where a couple with a high social and cultural status is forced, due to the economic crisis, to move to a more humble neighborhood on the outskirts of Madrid. There, they decide to invite their neighbors to a snack to get to know them, but what at first seems like a declaration of good intentions ends up becoming a nightmare for both parties, but especially for the lower social class couple.
Despite being a comedy with guaranteed laughs, the ending is quite dramatic. What will the viewer see in this work?
It is a social comedy. So, as in everything social, there is a reality that is there. And as in life, there are very funny moments and other more tragic moments. This is like a roller coaster. There are even comedic moments in the most tragic situations. This is a show that invites you to reflect and debate once it’s over, over a few beers. And see who you identify with or if you know someone around you who is like one of the characters.
Maribel Verdú, Jorge Bosch, Pilar Castro and Jorge Calvo, cast of Invincible
What can be advanced is that the most affected are the lower social class couples
In the end, they always lose. When you have an economic level behind you and a lot of money behind you, in this case the character of my husband who inherits a lot of money, they can go back to live in another place and they don’t stay in the ‘shit town’, as they say. And in the end, this is a story of a couple that destroys another, literally.
You play a rather cynical character, do you think that cynicism can help to be happier?
I can’t stand cynicism. That if you are cynical you are happier, no. You are happier if it is part of your character to be a person who seeks happiness and who sees it in small things, happy moments. Happiness is given to you by many things, not just one, but you have to be prone and have a good attitude.
This time, you play a character of high social class. However, throughout your career you have almost specialized in vulnerable characters. How do you usually approach these roles?
I love those characters of vulnerable women, who have to fight against all the vicissitudes that the world imposes on them. And also that they go ahead, with force. But I’ve also played other characters like the one in The lucky star who can’t take life anymore and takes it away. But then these vulnerable characters are also very heroines, like the one I played in Pan’s Labyrinth.
“I know a lot of people, but a lot of people, that the theater is their plan B. I have never had the theater as a plan B and the public knows that”
And now, what kind of characters do they offer you? How do they usually choose?
The latest characters that are coming to me are characters like police, lawyer… that is, tough, strong. Fortunately I am a woman to whom projects come and I can say: I like this and I don’t like this, and I do this and I don’t. To decide on a project I have to like the script and the story, not just my character. And also my colleagues, the director…
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You just turned 49, an age at which actresses almost retire in Hollywood, or at least all those who aren’t Meryl Streep. Does it happen here too?
It also happens here, don’t be in the slightest doubt. However, I just turned 49 and I don’t stop, and they’re also offering me roles that I wouldn’t have been able to do in my twenties: police officer, criminal lawyer… I’m lucky to be 49 and be able to do these roles because at 25 you can’t . The cool thing is to go doing papers regarding your age.
“I do theater every three years because it is what I like the most and to rest. Theater is like the train, you know when you arrive and when you finish. And the rest of the day I can have an order”
Usually, actors and actresses tend to end up in the theater because they can’t find roles on television or in movies. In you
case, why have you done and do you do so much theater?
I know many people, many people, who have theater as their ‘B’ plan. I, on the other hand, have never had theater as a ‘B’ plan and the public knows that. I have been doing theater for centuries and then I go and marry a theater producer.
And is it more tiring than the cinema? For example, in this work, you will be on stage until the beginning of January.
For me it is the opposite, I do theater every three years because it is what I like the most and to rest. The theater is like the train, you know when you arrive and when you finish. And the rest of the day I can have an order, a routine, I can meet for dinner, I can do my classes on whatever. You have the day organized and quite free, you spend 14 hours non-stop on the shoots.
Soon, you are going to premiere a series produced by Telemundo on Netflix. Why has it taken you so long to get back on TV? What do you think of these new audiovisual content platforms?
I love them. And if I haven’t done it before, it’s because it didn’t come up. In fact, what they offer me the most is TV but I haven’t accepted until the right project has arrived. Now I’m getting cool projects and characters.
Your next film project is the film ‘El doble plus fifteen’, where you play a middle-aged woman looking for an escape route from her conventional life (work, husband and children). You are totally different from this character. Has it been difficult for you to lead a different lifestyle?
No, because it is the life that I have chosen and wanted. Since I was very little, I have been clear that I did not want to lead a conventional life. That I didn’t want to get married, or have children, or go to the shopping centers on the weekends, to lead the life that perhaps I have had around me. And you do or what you have had next to or the opposite. And I have come out of wanting to do the opposite of what I have experienced. And how is it going to cost me if it is what I have chosen, it would be difficult for me to lead the other type of life, my flesh would open up.
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