You’ve just premiered "Querer" on Movistar Plus+. What is your character Aitor like?

He’s a young guy, almost a man, 32 years old, married with a son, and is a lawyer and a member of the upper social classes in the Basque Country. His mother has always stayed at home and taken care of her children and her father has worked his entire life. The story shows how the two brothers deal differently with a complaint that their mother files against their father. The audience can identify with both perspectives. In Aitor’s case, it has a lot to do with not perpetuating the violence that his father has inculcated in him since he was a child. Aitor realises this when his wife leaves him and he talks to his son like his father used to yell at him. He tries to break with that behaviour.

How do you prepare for such a complex and nuanced character?

Initially, I worked with Juan Carlos Corazza, a great master of interpretation. And then I worked with Alauda, who did a great job at the read-through, talking about the characters and what led them to be as they are, the kind of violence she wanted to address, the kind that is part of daily life, not the more obvious one of beatings. We wanted to go to “the grey areas”, to the more insidious violence that takes place over time, the violence that is not seen because it is inside a couple’s bedroom, in their day-to-day lives, in the little things. That violence that exists and is much more common than we think, but of which very little is said.

Querer is Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s first TV series. What was working with her like?

Working with Alauda is a huge pleasure. She is the author of her series. She’s very clear about what she wants and, at the same time, is very sensitive. From the very beginning you get an amazing script. In my short career I’d never received a script like this before. There are few scripts with such nuanced and sensitive writing. The script work is basic for the series and films and, from my perspective, I’d give a lot of credit and merit to what she’s done with the two scriptwriters who co-write this series. So, the project is very good, and ot has a different tone, one that is far from formulaic. In addition, with Alauda there’s a lot of time for the work that actors do. She works with a small team, but with a lot of respect for their work.

The series deals with consent and coercive control in a relationship. Unfortunately, this is a very current issue. Are there any traces of your character left in you? Do you feel different after this project?

Yes. The character has really affected me. In fact, I get very emotional whenever I talk about the project: it’s very hard for me not to cry. Filming it and – even more – watching it has marked me both as an actor and as a person. There’s a lot of work that I’d never seen that puts my work in context. It’s touched me profoundly. Seeing it was the first time I’ve stood up – the ovation we received in San Sebastian was beautiful – and I couldn’t stop crying. Because of the emotion and, above all, the project.

Is there much difference between the perception you have of a project when your acting is still fresh and when you see the results after editing?

It changes a lot. You do your job and leave. And you leave it in the hands of the director, in this case, and the editors. You don’t really know what’s going to come of it, and a lot of what does is down to the director’s sensitivity and perspective. There were some very intense scenes.

"Querer" has premiered in the Official Section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, one of the prestigious festivals that has strongly supported the series. Is this format now on the same level as cinema?

It’s hard to answer that question with a yes or no. I’m a big fan of film, but saying that things have changed a lot can’t be avoided. We try to bring the quality of cinema to the series – the quality of shooting, sequences and timing. I don’t know if they’re on the same level, but very good series are being made now. When I asked Alauda why she didn’t decide to make a film instead of a series, and she answered with a very valid argument: the story needed four episodes. It needed more time than a film would allow for it to be told. It’s good that there has been progress in terms of quality and that series have become a new way of telling stories.

You were part of "Elite", an extraordinary audio-visual phenomenon. Did the reach it has affect you too much?

That project changed my life. Because it is a commercial project, and because it lasted longer than it should have, I’m often asked if, when I look back, I don’t like it. But I’m very proud of the work we did there and happy to have been part of it. I don’t feel like I’ve been typecast.

After "Querer", there’s another big project in the pipeline...

I filmed Terra Alta, also for Movistar+, as the lead character. The six-episode series is based on the novel by Javier Cercas, which won the 2019 Premio Planeta award. It tells the story of Melchor Marín, a young man who comes from a rough neighbourhood and ends up becoming a policeman. He then becomes the hero of Cambrils, after the terrorist attack. It’s set for release in 2025.