The Mexican actor Ianis Guerrero thinks it is essential that the memory of important events that happened in Mexico be reflected in the cinema and in television series to problematize current affairs.
“It is fundamental, every nation and every people lives from its history, it is important that we remember our battles,” the actor says in an interview.
Guerrero is part of two productions that transport him to the past. The first is “Miss 89”, a series that takes place in the late 1980s and narrates the atrocities, excesses, and corruption that existed behind the most important and long-awaited beauty pageant in the country.
And the second is his leading role in the film “1938: When the oil was ours”, where he gives life to former Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas (1934 to 1940), known for the oil expropriation.
AGAINST SEXIST VIOLENCE
In “Señorita 89”, Ianis gives life to Antonio, a worker at the La Encantada hacienda, where the 32 beauty queens aspiring to the title of “Señorita México” live together and prepare.
“He is a silent accomplice of everything that happens there until he falls in love with one of the contestants and that removes the blindfold and opens his eyes to the violence, abuse, mistreatment, and everything that these girls have had to live “, he assures.
The series, which will premiere on Starzplay in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, and on Pattaya in the United States on February 27, addresses gender violence and the repercussions it has on the lives of all women.
For this reason, the 41-year-old actor considers that the story could be a good opportunity for men to reflect on this prevailing social problem.
“I think my character’s message to people is that we have to open our eyes to violence against women and not be silent accomplices. On the contrary, raise our voices and help break this system,” he deepens.
PETROLEUM EXPROPRIATION
Ianis also fulfilled a dream he never imagined when he brought the late President Lázaro Cárdenas to life for the film by director Sergio Olhovich.
From the creation of his character to the recordings in historical and iconic spaces of the country, having been part of the project was a unique project for him.
“It has been one of the most incredible experiences that I have had to live, it portrays the epic struggle that the people of Mexico gave to recover their oil, it was a very strong acting job of four months of preparation”, says the actor.
At that time, Ianis dedicated himself to searching for audios of the former president, moving and still images, which could give him clues to include them in his corporality; “how he would stop because of his accidents, how he would say hello, how he would talk,” he says.
He had to gain more than 15 kilos and read several biographies of various authors, but to complete his investigation, he had an interview with the former president’s son, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who is also a politician.
“He told me all the intimacy of his father and everything he did. I say that I was in a total trance and when I was between takes I asked the ‘staff’ to call me general or Lázaro so as not to get out of character”, he confesses.
This project still does not have a release date and has already caused controversy on social networks because it is considered a film that responds to the interests of the current government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but from Guerrero’s perspective, this has nothing to do with it. with reality.
“The controversy is normal, there will always be that kind of thing, the film did not receive a penny from the presidency, it did not have any support from them; it participated in public contests, like all films, and it was even made with a relatively low budget I was filming at the National Palace and at no time did anyone from the presidency approach us to give us indications of anything, “says the actor.
In addition to these projects, Ianis has just released the comedy “El cuartito” on the HBO Max platform and now the film is on the “shortlist” of the films shortlisted for the Platinum Awards as best film, best screenplay, and better cinematography.
