The bus of life

In “The Bus of Life” you play a teacher and musician who is diagnosed with cancer. What has this character meant to you, with a story so close to your case?

Obviously, it wasn’t just another movie. When I got the proposal and the script, I won’t deny that I had to think about it, because I had a lot of doubts. First, if I was prepared to shoot a film with this theme, emotionally I was still shaking. On the other hand, I was afraid that people would think that I was going to take advantage of the situation that I had had cancer. It is the morbid part that I constantly flee from in my life. But I read the script and saw that it was done with great sensitivity. It is a film that deals with a disease like cancer, but in which there is humor without frivolity. And it’s not happy flower either because it tells reality as it is and there are very hard moments, but without falling into emotional ‘pornography’. And if my experience has been useful to give the character a certain truth and a certain authenticity, then welcome.

What is your character like? How would you define Andrés?

Andrés is a person whose happiness runs before him and he cannot find it. He doesn’t finish hatching, realizing what life is about. Having cancer sucks, go ahead, but it is a wonderful opportunity to learn. And it is a wonderful opportunity to face life from a healthier or more authentic approach; to realize what you have been doing until now, because you have still lived with the brakes on. I once heard that many times people live in a kind of cheap peace, because they are comfortable there.

Did you get the chance to touch on certain nuances of the character because of your experience with cancer?

Yes. I remember a sequence where I was able to question the director: the diagnosis. It was planned in one way and I told him: “The only thing I’m going to tell you is how my diagnosis happened. And from there we’ll see if we can change anything.” I have my diagnosis recorded on audio because you don’t know what they’re going to tell you. It’s a 15-minute audio that’s priceless. From there he rethought the sequence, not just the dialogues, but also where he was going to put the cameras. I told him “if you want something real, I lived it like this.”

You mentioned that you weren’t sure if you wanted to make the film, if it was the time. Was it very difficult for you to face the illness again?

I had a bit of a bad time. I was very shaken when I received the script, the first reading. I was afraid of certain sequences in the hospital or in the chemotherapy room. I thought I wouldn’t stop crying, that I was going to break down, and it was the opposite.

In the film there is a very interesting reflection made by the character of Manuela (played by Elena Irureta) when you are undergoing chemotherapy. She says that there are many times when we ask “how are you?” but without expecting to be told the truth. Are the forms empty of content nowadays?

Well, you also have to get your bearings. If I’m running errands and someone asks me “how are you?” then there is a certain formality. But with people you care about, it’s a different matter. Look, the other day I met a girl near me at the airport who had just finished talking on the phone and was crying. And you don’t really know what to do. So I gave her a pack of tissues and cheered her up.

Behind the illness that the film deals with there are messages of overcoming, of sharing fear, of opening up to others.

There is a ritualistic thing about sharing that is very difficult to achieve by yourself. It happens with the cinema, with group therapy… The shared fear, sorrow and sadness is half, and the shared joy is double. But the film does not leave aside that in cancer there are people who are saved and there are people who are not. This is how it is, the film does not make it up.

Humour also has its place in the film. You come, above all, from the world of humour. Is laughter the only way to deal with life’s blows, even when they are quite serious?

It is not the only one, but it seems like a very powerful option to me. Humor, love, hope, sport. Humor is a balm. Humor is a window that opens in a stale room. Humor is a shield against the aggressions of life. I would throw myself out of a window if humor was prohibited, if it did not exist, if life were literal, if life were constantly prosaic. Humor is putting a little poetry into life. Life is already screwed enough without being able to laugh.

What limits do you set on humor, if any?

None. Because I believe that if the place where it comes from is a beautiful place and it is not harmful or malicious, everything is possible. If I make a joke about something and there is a person I love and they get offended, then I will not make that kind of joke again. But in the end, humor is also context and you have to have enough emotional and social intelligence to know where you can tell certain jokes and where not. If a joke can cost me a friendship, I will not tell it.

We saw you sing in the film. What did you think of the experience?

Well, I’m not going to put any energy into releasing an album (laughs), because it’s not my profession, but I’ve always sung since I was very young. I started playing guitar when I was 12 or 13; I guess singing while playing guitar makes you sing in tune. I’ve always liked it, although I’ve never taken classes, but I’ve had a good ear, good instinct. Tomorrow they’ll tell me “Hey Dani, are you going to make a musical film?” So go ahead. I think that fear should be used for more important situations.

Andrés is a music teacher who dreams of becoming a musician. Do you have any dreams to fulfill?

Maybe this phrase is going to sound negative to you, but it is not: I do not expect anything from life. I am so in the here and now, that I try not to project many dreams or many desires. I would love to grow old doing what I do. I never bet, nor buy pools, nor coupons. Because I think there is a karmic thing. That is to say, if I am financially well and life is going very well for me, I believe that I should not receive any awards. And whatever comes, I’ll surf it however I can. I’m going to try to take all the reins I can to have some control. But look, what happened to me [el cáncer] and what happened to us four years ago [la pandemia]teaches us that no matter how much we control life, there are many things that escape us. I feel like a very privileged person.

We have seen you in dramas and comedies. What genre do you feel most comfortable in?

Well, both, because they are emotions that are present in my life. And tomorrow they tell me to do a horror film and I’ll do it, or a thriller. In the end, all emotions are in life. Obviously, making people laugh is something that comes very easily to me, but I think I’m not bad at swimming in the waters of drama. As long as it’s a good story and the character is nice and there’s truth, like in a musical.