© El País.
Q: Everybody has a plan. What´s yours?
A:. I actually don´t have one.
Q: And a psychoanalyst? Or maybe you didn´t spend enough years in Argentina for that?
A:. Not that either. I was very young. I was 11 when I left. Later, 25 years ago, I tried it for a brief period when I was in the United States.
Q: Something must have stayed with you when you later played Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method.
A: It was a challenge that I liked very much, although I´m always afraid to disappoint when I say yes to a role.
Q: Continuing with psychology, in Todos tenemos un plan, you play twins. That truly is a splitting of personality.
A:. Yes, but I regard all the characters I play the same way. I think we all present ourselves in a different way each moment. Unless we are among those who say the first thing that comes to mind, which sometimes amuses, or scares us, or we think they are crazy. And maybe we are the crazy ones.
Q: Agustín, the surviving brother, is a bit anguished, isn´t he? Like you?
A:. Not so much. I have my low moments, of doubt and insecurity, like everybody else. But Agustín is a rather tormented guy. He probably resembles Cristiano Ronaldo more than me. He is a bit sad, too.
Q: And you understand him?
A. I understand Agustín very well, Cristiano Ronaldo, not at all.
Q: You bought the horse that you filmed The Lord of the Rings with. In Alatriste, did it occur to you to do the same thing with The Surrender at Breda by Velasquez?
A: They didn't let me. I asked but they told me no.
Q: In that film, something more than a sword was raised. If that's not the case, ask Ariadna Gil.
A: Go ask.
Q: I see you're being very tight-lipped about this matter.
A: Dangerous territory. Voltaire said that telling the secrets of others is betrayal and telling your own, being idiotic. I don't see myself in either of those two cases.
Q: Were you left with any feathers with so many cocked hats?
A: As far as I know, no. Just the right amount [laughs].
Q: Who's better: Felipe IV or Juan Carlos I?
A: I'm not really into kings. I enjoy theater and history, but kings aren't the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning.
Q: And what is the first thing you think of?
A: When I wake up, I think of death.
Q: Such joy in this body!
A: Yeah, right?
Q: Where do those who consider you a heartthrob look?
A: I don't know. At the movie screen.
Q: Is there a good friendship between you and the movie screen?
A: We have an arrangement. She takes care of many things so I don't have to worry.
Q: Might being for Madrid [and] in conflict with Mourinho bring him to stick a finger in your eye some day?
A: I doubt that he'd do it. It would be like sticking his finger in Cholo Simeone's eye. He'd put a foot up his ass. Dead on the spot. Simeone isn't as polite a gentleman as Tito Vilanova. He doesn't dare with him. Or with me, either. I wouldn't recommend it. But bringing us the 10th Cup, sure.
Q: You're known to be a rabid San Lorenzo supporter. Blue and red. Don't people mistakenly think you're for Barça?
A: I'm an unconditional supporter. Yes, a few years ago they tried to beat me up at the Puerta del Sol because I was on my way to watch a San Lorenzo game wearing blue and red. I had to break one of the two bottles of wine that I was bringing to the party over one of their heads. By the way, we lost 1-7.
Q: Poet, musician, painter, photographer. Do you feel like a Renaissance man, or is it better not to exaggerate?
A: Better not to. I think I'm a restless guy. And not much more.
Q: "I'm attracted to what frightens me." Do you have a passion for Esperanza Aguirre?
A: No [laughs]. Not passion. But she interests me. Theater interests me.
Q: You've said that your son said, "My Dad is a moron, an incompetent [guy] and a dimwit". Did the kid turn out lucid?
A: Very advanced. He picked up on it right away.
Q: What's the biggest adventure you've had?
A: Well, it sounds pretty corny. I've had many adventures, but the most positive and interesting is being a father.
Q: You seem humble, calm and reflective. Ever let your hair down?
A: Bioy Casares said that to be at peace with yourself you have to tell the truth, and to be at peace with your neighbor, you have to lie.
Q: How are you doing with sins?
A: Lately, quite well. You do what you can where you can. Without hurting anyone.
Q: Do you think you'll go to hell?
A: Well, I like to travel.
Profile
He´s 53 years old and has a son. He´s releasing a film and says that travelling and sleeping are what he likes best. He wears the emblem of his Argentinian team, San Lorenzo, on his lapel and you can see he´s in his element talking about soccer and giving Mourinho a piece of his mind, in spite of being a self-confessed Merengue [tr. note: Real Madrid supporter.] His childhood heroes were soccer players - Bambino Veira, El Loco Doval - and also gauchos and Vikings. "Stuff from children´s stories and adventures," he recalls.
A:. I actually don´t have one.
Q: And a psychoanalyst? Or maybe you didn´t spend enough years in Argentina for that?
A:. Not that either. I was very young. I was 11 when I left. Later, 25 years ago, I tried it for a brief period when I was in the United States.
Q: Something must have stayed with you when you later played Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method.
A: It was a challenge that I liked very much, although I´m always afraid to disappoint when I say yes to a role.
Q: Continuing with psychology, in Todos tenemos un plan, you play twins. That truly is a splitting of personality.
A:. Yes, but I regard all the characters I play the same way. I think we all present ourselves in a different way each moment. Unless we are among those who say the first thing that comes to mind, which sometimes amuses, or scares us, or we think they are crazy. And maybe we are the crazy ones.
Q: Agustín, the surviving brother, is a bit anguished, isn´t he? Like you?
A:. Not so much. I have my low moments, of doubt and insecurity, like everybody else. But Agustín is a rather tormented guy. He probably resembles Cristiano Ronaldo more than me. He is a bit sad, too.
Q: And you understand him?
A. I understand Agustín very well, Cristiano Ronaldo, not at all.
Q: You bought the horse that you filmed The Lord of the Rings with. In Alatriste, did it occur to you to do the same thing with The Surrender at Breda by Velasquez?
A: They didn't let me. I asked but they told me no.
Q: In that film, something more than a sword was raised. If that's not the case, ask Ariadna Gil.
A: Go ask.
Q: I see you're being very tight-lipped about this matter.
A: Dangerous territory. Voltaire said that telling the secrets of others is betrayal and telling your own, being idiotic. I don't see myself in either of those two cases.
Q: Were you left with any feathers with so many cocked hats?
A: As far as I know, no. Just the right amount [laughs].
Q: Who's better: Felipe IV or Juan Carlos I?
A: I'm not really into kings. I enjoy theater and history, but kings aren't the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning.
Q: And what is the first thing you think of?
A: When I wake up, I think of death.
Q: Such joy in this body!
A: Yeah, right?
Q: Where do those who consider you a heartthrob look?
A: I don't know. At the movie screen.
Q: Is there a good friendship between you and the movie screen?
A: We have an arrangement. She takes care of many things so I don't have to worry.
Q: Might being for Madrid [and] in conflict with Mourinho bring him to stick a finger in your eye some day?
A: I doubt that he'd do it. It would be like sticking his finger in Cholo Simeone's eye. He'd put a foot up his ass. Dead on the spot. Simeone isn't as polite a gentleman as Tito Vilanova. He doesn't dare with him. Or with me, either. I wouldn't recommend it. But bringing us the 10th Cup, sure.
Q: You're known to be a rabid San Lorenzo supporter. Blue and red. Don't people mistakenly think you're for Barça?
A: I'm an unconditional supporter. Yes, a few years ago they tried to beat me up at the Puerta del Sol because I was on my way to watch a San Lorenzo game wearing blue and red. I had to break one of the two bottles of wine that I was bringing to the party over one of their heads. By the way, we lost 1-7.
Q: Poet, musician, painter, photographer. Do you feel like a Renaissance man, or is it better not to exaggerate?
A: Better not to. I think I'm a restless guy. And not much more.
Q: "I'm attracted to what frightens me." Do you have a passion for Esperanza Aguirre?
A: No [laughs]. Not passion. But she interests me. Theater interests me.
Q: You've said that your son said, "My Dad is a moron, an incompetent [guy] and a dimwit". Did the kid turn out lucid?
A: Very advanced. He picked up on it right away.
Q: What's the biggest adventure you've had?
A: Well, it sounds pretty corny. I've had many adventures, but the most positive and interesting is being a father.
Q: You seem humble, calm and reflective. Ever let your hair down?
A: Bioy Casares said that to be at peace with yourself you have to tell the truth, and to be at peace with your neighbor, you have to lie.
Q: How are you doing with sins?
A: Lately, quite well. You do what you can where you can. Without hurting anyone.
Q: Do you think you'll go to hell?
A: Well, I like to travel.
Profile
He´s 53 years old and has a son. He´s releasing a film and says that travelling and sleeping are what he likes best. He wears the emblem of his Argentinian team, San Lorenzo, on his lapel and you can see he´s in his element talking about soccer and giving Mourinho a piece of his mind, in spite of being a self-confessed Merengue [tr. note: Real Madrid supporter.] His childhood heroes were soccer players - Bambino Veira, El Loco Doval - and also gauchos and Vikings. "Stuff from children´s stories and adventures," he recalls.