At this moment Carlos Belloso is – he will tell us – in a state of surprise. The mega success was not expected of División Palermo nor the popularity of Dogo, his character. The series – created, written, starring and directed by Santiago Korovsky – has a remarkable cast, and plays a ruthless but sensitive killer who suffers from a broken heart.
It is not the first time that Belloso has appealed to the play of seemingly irreconcilable differences, nor does he have an enduring role in the memory of fiction. Recognized for being multifaceted -in television, theater or cinema-, always he assumes roles in which the gestural and the physical have their weightbeyond the word.
What’s interesting is finding out how everything he builds as an actor has a reason and that’s because it’s in plain sight. As soon as he opens the door of his home in Villa Crespo, the first thing that catches the eye is his shirt. On his chest is his idol, Lon Chaney, the great actor of silent cinema, in his crazy role in the film London after midnight, and nicknamed “The Man of a Thousand Faces”. Like him.
unexpected phenomenon
-How do you experience the División Palermo phenomenon?
-It’s strange, because I knew it would work well, but something really unexpected happened, because it was seen a lot not only here, but in many Spanish-speaking parts. But how I don’t consult the networks And it seems like there was a whole movement going on there, I didn’t even notice it, I only found out when my colleagues and friends and family who obviously had seen it started calling me.
But even we, the members of the series, are amazed that it affects so much. I don’t know if it’s the circumstance, the situation… Things that happen are sometimes rare and fiction always represents something of reality.
-The series is a parody, but is about inclusion and laughs at things that would normally be embarrassing, such as when Sofia’s (Pilar Gamboa) wheelchair is stolen.
-In general, the issue of inclusion is not discussed openly, out of guilt and at the same time not to be mistaken. You must have respect for all minorities and speak up to find out what they need or how they want to be treated. There are blind people who tell you: “Call me blind, because the ‘blind’ drives me away”. And one would think that if he says blind he enters a code that is not.
This crazy black comedy establishes that dialogue that we need. In this sense, fiction fulfills its mission.
-Does it really come in an election year where everything is politicized, is it also a call to the attention of the authorities and those in charge?
-It questions many things, not just the police or the Guardia Urbana in particular. Obviously in a political moment everything is taken politically. And this series doesn’t have many euphemisms, it says what it has to say and gives a voice to those places that have no voice and it seems to me that from the humor that reflection will always be very effective.
The killer who makes himself loved
-Although you are flexible, your villain roles always stand out and here you play a drug trafficker, but Dogo also has that comic side that makes him lovable.
-I do everything. Comedy, drama, tragedy…because I love acting. But I don’t want to lose timing of comedy and here it shows, because although it is a very tough role, it has the humor not of the gestures, but of the circumstances that go through my character and which make him very funny, in spite of himself. You are going through a marital tragedy. And even if you don’t empathize with the killer, he does with that affair with his wife.
-Why do you think you’re attractive for this kind of role that always ends up being talked about?
I think you have to distinguish. I will not seek or seek instant success at anything. And obviously during my career I’ve been bad, good, regular, poetic… I’ve had several successes in comedy, such as El Vasquito de samples or Quique inside You are my life…
I made films with Lucrecia Martel (the holy girl) or with Sebastián Borensztein (Giles’ Odyssey) like action movies I love or comedy series Palermo Division, which I also like.
I try to obey a good director who directs me and a project that has something to say. And professionally I try to make my spectrum broad enough and be an actor who can make people laugh and cry.
Here and everywhere
-An all terrain.
-Yes. And at the same time I like to experiment. premiered in March massacre on the red carpet, a comedy by Leo Damario, at the Microteatro, which is a place I like, with my wife Ile (lleana) Jaciw, María Eugenia Rigon and Gonzalo Barbadillo. The costumes are by Pablo Ramírez and I’m very happy with that too.
In June, Cervantes called me to do Wildadaptation by Mauricio Kartun of a story by Horacio Quiroga, directed by Luis Rivera López.
I’m shaping a one man show I wrote and it’s called the apparatus, in which I am directed by Hernán “Curly” Jiménez, an incredible musician and an impeccable director. I have it streaming nice puree. And several things are to be released, for example, the second season of Iosi, the repentant spy.
-Your mention of the designer Pablo Ramírez reveals that you are also a fashionista.
-Yes! I am a fan of Pablo and for me he is one of the best.
-You surprise me, because you are more of an urban look, like neglected…
-Yes… or relaxed, right? I want to be comfortable and, at the same time, when it’s time to dress up, I like to do it.
Television made it popular
-You started when you were very young, but people find you on TV. Before El Vasquito you were the cross-eyed barrabrava of RRDT, your first major role.
-Yes, but I did theater much earlier. Besides, I belong to the Buenos Aires underworld. In the 80s, after the Malvinas war, I dedicated myself purely and exclusively to acting, and I landed at Parakultural, which was kind of like my big drama schoolalthough he had already studied at the Municipal School of Dramatic Arts.
Being at Parakultural was also an explosion, not popular but of rarely seen creativity. And having been part of his staff was something magical that still fills me today, for this reason I always experiment in my studio (on the first floor of his PH), where I try out the works and experiment with light, with projection, with things different . .
-You said in passing that it all started after the Malvinas War because you were in the 11th Artillery Group in Río Gallegos.
-Yes. In the South Atlantic Theater of Operations. I entered with 18 and I was one year and three months old. In other words, even for me Parakultural in that sense was like an explosion. He came from the dictatorship and the chance to try new things in a creative place was like waking up, it was also the Alfonsinist spring.
-Before being an actor you dabbled as a musician, with a band, Los Barbacandados.
-Yes, even today I make music, my son (Bruno, 28 years old) is a musician so we go through some things together. But it’s another form of expression, as an actor I’m a good musician, now as a musician I’m a very good actor.
The performance brings it all together, until the painting with which I won an award (National painting with a work from the Uruguayan document by Carlos Gardel). Now, in order not to lose my hand, I make illustrations and on my Instagram (@bellosoactor) you can see many of my drawings.
-Do you play any instruments?
-I compose and sing with the guitar, I play something on the keyboard, percussion and instruments also work for me. in musical comedy Aladdin I had to sing, but I play more than sing virtuoso, just like with the guitar. It helps me to accompany myself and to compose certain things that an arranger will then be able to arrange. (laughs)
In You are my life He serenaded Natalia Oreiro by singing to her on Boca’s guitar! Or she did the covers. And sometimes I composed for the program, that’s where Natalia encouraged me and said: “I composed, you have backing vocals and here a refrain…”. And he composed with her. Natalia is barbarian, she is an amazing musician and singer, and sometimes we play songs.
The talking doll
-In your laboratory you introduced us to Felipe, how did your story as a ventriloquist start?
-I made the life of lon chaneyan actor I really admire and in the film The Wicked Three he was a ventriloquist. When I did worlddo (in 2009) I had a doll made which turned out to be Felipe and even though I wasn’t handling it when the job was done I kept the doll. And over time I really started talking to him.
-Where did you learn?
-I’m a ventriloquist, I interact with a doll, I don’t learn anything, I am and Felipe is. One day Felipe spoke to me. And that’s the whole explanation. We were watching blessed -I send a kiss to Beto Casella- and when I’m about to change my plans he turns around and says: “Don’t change it”. And from there he speaks. The doll has its own entity. I don’t let him talk. He speaks.
But it is also another expressive resource. I leaf through all the expressive resources, I make music with a spoon, or I can do theater with an ice cream maker, Felipe talks to me… I need to express what I have to express, this is my path. And I am an actor because there is a title that unites everything, but in reality painting, music, writing, poetry, directing are also in me…
-You turn 60 on April 5, what do you wish for this stage of your life?
-I don’t celebrate my birthdays, because I don’t like birthdays at all, because every time it’s one year less to live and I don’t like getting close to death. This life is beautiful and although I have a notion of finiteness, I have no idea how old I am. I don’t say to myself: “Oh, in the 60s I was going to come for something like this…”. I go and go and keep going.
And I’m very lucky. First of all, a beautiful family: my two children, Bruno and Romina, who is 26 years old and an actress; and my wife Ile, who helps me and we have a lot of fun working together and planning things. My two cats, Maleficent and Morticia; my dog Gaucho; and my work that doesn’t stop. AS, I can’t ask for more from life. I am happy with everything that has touched me.
Source: Clarin
