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thelonesomequeen · 10 months ago

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Translated:

ALBA BAPTISTA: "I DON'T KNOW IF I IDENTIFY MUCH WITH THE HOLLYWOOD SIGNATURE (...) I'M EUROPEAN AT HEART."

"The Seed of Evil" premiered in theaters and was a pretext to talk to the actress about the emotions that shootings impose in everyday life. How to find peace when scrutiny becomes noisy? Alba answers.

It gets dark in Lisbon and Alba appears on my computer screen via Zoom. Different time zone, her face still appears illuminated by the sun. It gets dark in Lisbon, but it is Alba who approaches the stars, the ones that move on the movie screens and fill the streets of Los Angeles where her life has rushed in recent times. For more than a decade we have associated her face with cinema shot in Portugal, with mandatory passages through television fiction, Alba has become an assiduous presence both in commercial productions and in small independent films. Today he talks about The Seed of Evil, a horror film directed by Gabriel Abrantes, where a palace hides memories and massacres, Alba's body ages and mutates to the interpretation of Anabela Moreira - they are the same character. Both are looking for youth, between startles we discover Alba's photogenics, the screen was made for her face with big emotional eyes. The Netflix series Warrior Nun introduced her to the rest of the world's population, and her marriage to American actor Chris Evans has not stopped inflaming the press with projections of what the couple's daily life will be like. Alba spends more time in the USA, even though her works made in our country continue to reach the screens.

It seems serene in the image of you that I see on the screen, in the voice that gives me the answers to this interview. Behind you I see an interior full of green plants, I hear your dog taking small steps. The actress fakes shyness, starts by giving short answers. His hesitations reveal sensitivity to the flower of the skin. You could eternalize the conversation, even more, to hear what you have to say about the world you see now from La La Land, a city full of possibilities and new cinema flights. Time is timed, Alba's take-off is imminent. We hope that Hollywood will value this talent ready to live emotions dictated by fiction.

The Seed of Evil is openly a horror movie. Gabriel Abrantes' films usually always have a message behind them. How did he convince you to get into this project?

He didn't have to convince me at all, working with Gabriel has always been my ambition. He is one of the young directors who really has a unique vision and challenges the Portuguese film signature a little. He is really a visionary and as soon as I found out that there was a character in which I could fit me, I immediately raised my hand (laughs).

So you were looking for it?

Yes.

In life, do you believe in the superstitions that are addressed in horror movies? And do you like genre cinema?

Yes, I'm very superstitious... Now that I think about it, I can say that I am quite superstitious. I had a phase in my adolescence when I saw horror movies and loved to explore the genre. Today it is already rarer to be interested, and I confess that I have not yet seen the Gabriel Abrantes film. I didn't have the opportunity. There are certain genres that interest me more, such as psychological terror. But any quality movie is worth watching. An Ari Aster movie (director of the film Midsommar) will always have quality no matter how much horror it is.

What do you think of the fate reserved for the young protagonists of horror movies? It often turns out to be perverse. There are many actresses who have started playing small roles in horror movies. Can this choice of yours be seen in any way a wink at a tradition that exists in genre cinema?

I don't know. In fact, I also entered this industry with a psychological horror film called Miami, a short film by Simão Cayatte. It's ironic, what you mention ended up happening to me, I started like that. But in The Seed of Evil the character I play is very small. Anabela Moreira is the one who deserves the character's credits, she makes me older.

Did they even talk to each other? What did you try to wake up in your work as actresses to do the same person?

At first we were very motivated to find a body language that would identify us both. She wanted to imitate mine and I wanted to imitate hers (laughs). So we didn't get anywhere (laughs). We worked a little on the cadence in the spoken language.

Gabriel Abrantes' films often have hidden messages, he comes from contemporary art. In this film the search for eternal youth is strong. It reminded me a lot of Oscar Wilde and The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Do you think the movie might want to say something about our society? About age...

Gabriel works a lot at the time of editing. None of the actors can predict how the film will end up in the final result. But in the script I read there seemed to be a criticism of this time that we live in dependence on social networks and the internet. In fact, subtly, it takes away our essence. Little by little we are losing our moral compass over the years and this is something that gives me tremendous anxiety. I actively try to fight it.

Do you feel that you are sucked on a daily basis by social networks? We're all, aren't we?

I have some aversion to social networks... I have moments, here and there, when ten minutes passed and I didn't even realize that I was looking at my phone. It's a feeling that we all know. I feel that I have some dependence on Instagram that is still important at this point in my career to promote jobs. But just having that notion, I feel like it hurts my head a little. (laughs)

Instagram has gained such great importance, it is almost like another work tool. Do you talk about it with the other actresses, with your friends or colleagues? Do you think it's a kind of new (public) character that you have to embody?

I have several friends who work with this very well. I confess that I don't have much talent because I have some stubbornness about it. I'd rather hide in a corner than expose what's going on in my life. And even in professional life... it's a mistake. We have to be able to know how to handle what is around us. We have to be able to dose things, always with our feet on the ground.

Is there really right or wrong? If we think of Hollywood, at certain times, there were always very mysterious actresses and this also worked. Were you also shy when you studied theater in Lisbon at ACT? Were you like being in a corner when they called you to do an improvisation? Were you the last one to go?

Yes, always. I much prefer not to talk and observe than to share my opinion or be seen. I am much more comfortable in the shade than in the sun.

Are you trying to control at these times? What are you trying to overcome?

It's simply my personality, I've always been very shy. Any family member will be able to confirm that I didn't speak much when I was a child (laughs). There is also another aspect of care... Maybe even a fear of saying the wrong thing. I, if I share my opinion, usually talk about something I have confidence in or that I have been able to confirm from various sources.

This can also be a pressure from those who have always grown up with social networks... The pressure of an entire generation?

It could be the other side of the coin, yes. There may be a lack of fear when exposing everything, as the opposite can also happen... (pause) I had never thought about it.

The short film you evoke of Simão Cayatte is a kind of reflection on fame. It's funny that it was your first job... Now can you think of the message of this short film in another way? I think about the exhibition you met with the Netflix series Warrior Nun. What do you think this means about you? Are the roles that choose the actors sometimes?

I've never thought about it. I hope I don't become like this character, because she was really obsessed with fame. That's something I don't identify with. But yes, fame is a concept that doesn't... (take a break and look to the side). I'm sorry, my dog is distracting me. It's very beautiful here walking from one side to the other. (pause) Sorry, now I've lost the reasoning of what I was saying.

We were talking about fame. This short film of yours is from 2014, it's been almost ten years, I feel that over the last decade you have known some success. Do you have any thoughts about it?

Experiencing such a phase does not bring joy or satisfaction. I simply want to navigate with my feet on the ground and understand that in fact fame is just an illusion. There is a sudden interest in you, but it is not really an interest in you... The interest is either linked to a character or is linked to my connections. Therefore, in my perception, it's more uncomfortable than anything else.

There is a dissociation. People think they know you, but deep down they don't?

At the end of the day it's just a job, and I think any artist likes to explore their creativity. But suddenly you have to take it with a wave, which is part of the job too, and you have to be able to know how to handle something that is not organic. (pause) It's an antithesis of everything that is normal... And some people know how to navigate better than others. I... My instinct is to close the door.

The movie The Seed of Evil ends up dancing with you reminded me of the movie Leviano (2018) you made with Justin Amorim. On the scene, in this possibility of moving, do you feel that you find some freedom as an actress? They're good, these days when they tell you - look, now are you going to dance in front of a camera?

Yes, curiously yes. As much as there is no training, any kind of physicality is interesting. I like to add the physical and emotional component. It's an even more specific challenge, it's more difficult. Carloto Cotta is a great dance partner, and in Gabriel's movie it was a lot of fun to make these scenes.

And how does the text appear in the middle of all this? I'm remembering a French movie you made in 2022 - L'Enfant. What changes in terms of preparation? What pleasure do you find in the text? You have a polyglot culture and speak several languages.

For me, as an actress, the most satisfying thing is to work with a director in an author's film. Each case is unique and each process is individual. And it is the director who chooses his environment.

As an actress, I like to adapt and listen. I like to cultivate what I receive and adapt. When I worked with Gonçalo Waddington, in the movie Patrick (2019), it was a unique experience. We did an artistic residency, we stayed a month simply living with each other to be completely comfortable. It doesn't always happen to be able to create stories that go beyond those that exist in the characters' script. In more commercial projects this does not always happen, and sometimes you can miss this essence.

You were younger, you studied at the German School of Lisbon. Did you go to German cinema at that time, or was your culture global? Do you feel that your interest in auteur cinema may have come from your education?

Yes, it's possible. I confess that in the German School I was not yet a movie nerd (laughs) I would say. European cinema has always been my first attraction in this world, only recently did I start to see the American classics. I recently saw Justine Triet's Anatomy of A Fall and loved it. It's wonderful. It's the kind of cinema I'd like to be a part of.

Did you have movie heroines at school? People you said, "I want to be like that."

The first actress I really admired was Natalie Portman. Just because her career was so appealing to a young woman or teenager. The fact that it started with Léon (Léon, the Professional, 1994) by Luc Besson, and then made iconic characters like Black Swan (Black Swan, 2010) or Closer (Too Close, 2004). She's a really sensitive actress, I identified with that.

Natalie Portman has always chosen her roles a lot, perhaps because she started as a child in the movie Léon, the Professional, but in general the actors do not have so much room to choose. How do you see this story of an actor or actress always being dependent on the desire of others? It's the others who choose you to make a character. What is it like to live with this need to exist through the eyes of the other?

It's complicated. It really depends on the others and even if you are making your dream character, there is no guarantee that the movie is what you imagined when you read the argument. You are dependent on so many departments, in cinema the process is almost internal. I feel that in Portugal I went through this a lot, I was doing several auditions and making the movies in which I was chosen. Now I try to be more selective and careful in my choices. Since I made the Warrior Nun series, I've been trying to advance to larger markets, and it looks like you're starting from square one again. But in fact my knowledge is already beyond square one, I worked in Portugal for almost a decade. My experience is already very vast even with my age [Alba is 26 years old]. Now the strategy with my agents is more about the jobs I'm not going to do. For at the end of my career not to look back and have regrets.

What is it that evokes in you the word Hollywood? Is it just another stage where you have to be ready for auditions, or is it wanting to belong to a broader universe?

I don't know if I identify a lot with the Hollywood signature, or with the way I work, namely in Los Angeles. I'm really very European at heart. The American structure is a little more aggressive. The approach to getting a role here has a lot to do with trying to raise your hand to be seen. It's much more direct, and you have a much larger volume of people who want to do the same thing. And they are very talented people. The important thing in the middle of all this, for me, is not to look at all these aspects, it can be very overwhelming... It is important to live through your truth and do things as you would within your silence.

Where do you find the silence when there is too much noise?

I find him in my family, in my husband, in my friends. Yes, I have amazing people in my life who are irreplaceable. I'm a lucky one.

Is filming a dramatic sequence or a more difficult scene something that can take away your sleep?

Yes. No doubt.

When did you feel that you really had to do this job and be an actress? Was it when you were studying at ACT or was it before? You had that thing you thought about like this "I really have to follow this and this moves me, it makes me happy."

It was during the shooting process of Simão Cayatte's [film] Miami. He rehearsed with me and his girlfriend [the actress Joana Santos] for 2 months. Every day, I would leave school and go to him.

It was a surreal experience, for a 15-year-old girl, to work and dig into emotions. It was really beautiful. When the shootings were over, I remember being completely lost. I didn't have the emotional maturity to understand that the project was over.

It's something that the actors have to deal with constantly and it's very easy for us to lose our sight... I suffered a lot because I didn't know how to get back to my normality. (pause) I dived. And this caused me a lot of suffering and also gave me great pleasure. I didn't know that at the time. Emotional diving has become an addiction.

You talk about balance and talk about finding silence. I wonder if being an actor isn't just about that... The ability to lose yourself more or less in a role?

I thought the actors should suffer and should experience everything. And I realized that this doesn't make us better actors. I think it's actually unnecessary and only brings hurt to our personal life and possibly to those around us.

What do they ask you about Portugal now, in this new American phase of your life?

They don't ask much. Everyone loves Portugal, or they want to visit or have already visited. Portugal is very popular at the moment.

There is a theater called Saudades Theatre and there is a community of Portuguese actors in Los Angeles. Have you ever been looking for them?

I don't know... I'm going to do a research.

This was to end and ask yourself if you miss it in these long periods of absence? Or maybe you don't miss it and it's a word you hate?

No, I always miss you. I'm a very nostalgic person, very melancholic. Every day I miss my people, obviously. I miss the streets of Lisbon, feeling the nostalgia of Architecture, the history behind the walls. I love walking through the area where I lived in Lisbon, in the Estrela neighborhood, I miss the sea...sometimes.

#chris evans #alba baptista

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