In 2020, when the incarceration due to the pandemic was at its highest point, from the Netflix screen, there was an Argentine production that surprised and became one of the hits of the year, almost fun. It was written and starring Sebastián Wainraich in front of a large cast.

The story focuses on a radio host who doesn’t know how to deal with separation from her husband, played by Natalie Pérez. On April 13, the second season of almost funwith almost the same cast and different guest figures.

– After the first season being successful, how did you deal with the second? Did you feel pressure or higher expectations?

-I didn’t feel pressure because reaching the second part is a natural process. It happened like this and flowed, I had to continue the storytelling. From the very beginning I had everything on my mind. Then came the lockdown with the quarantine and there I dedicated myself to writing. It has helped me to consolidate the same world, where there is no covid or pandemic, and make the reality more tolerable.

art and abstraction

-In an “almost happy” world, let’s say …

-That, exactly. It’s good for me to abstract myself. But in reality everything artistic has something to do with it, always. It’s something half-childish, in the best senses, something playful, that’s inventing the world for yourself: taking pictures, writing, acting. Everyone is doing their best here. And for me, writing is a good thing and I don’t say it romantically kasi may trabaho din.

-How did you approach this job?

-There are different stages. There’s a romantic stage where ideas emerge, I make notes, they send me audios, but then you have to sit down and work on everything, the characters, the plot.

-The common saying: 10% inspiration and 90% sweat.

-Yes, and I like that part of the job too. The hardest thing for me was rewriting. Because you will never end.

-Are you obsessed and having a hard time finding an end point?

-I am obsessive, but I have a lot of confidence in the team, in this case, starting with Hernán (Guerschuny), the director. I know how he wants to tell a story and at the same time I also know that he will surprise me. I was writing the scene many times and when I came to the set, I discovered something that hadn’t happened to me yet and I wanted that.

What will happen in the second season

In this new season, the protagonist’s conflicts with his ex -wife, who is pregnant with another man, deepen; with his children, with his co -workers and with his brother. Natalie Pérez, Santiago Korovsky, Peto Menahem, Lucas Wainraich, Sofía Guerschuny Pesci and Miguel Ángel Podesta are part of the cast.

Also participating as special guests were Carla Peterson, Benjamín Amadeo, Julieta Díaz, Roberto Moldavsky, Carlos Portaluppi, Rafael Ferro, Daniel Hendler, Diego Gentile, Gustavo Garzón, Adriana Aizemberg and María Abadi, among others.

-Are you very clear about how the staff is structured and how they will interact?

-To find out where the characters are going, It helps me a lot to get to know the artists who will play them. For example, I thought of Carlos Portaluppi at first as an obstetrician for Nati’s character, I knew he should be that. If he told me no, it would be a problem. Same for the role of Daniel Hendler.

– Do the characters already contained in certain actors appear in your head?

-Of course and there’s something cute there. The base of the cast is the same as in the first season, but here there are also some guests who don’t go to make a cameo, but instead engage and suggest things and that gives other nuances to the story. Fortunately, everyone we called wanted to be.

-The concept of “almost” fun is interesting, because in reality no one is completely happy.

-That’s the idea. Also, if we’re happy all the time, it’s unbearable. Somehow, the almost This is a joke. I believe in a fleeting joy, or in a well-being, in being self-sufficient and doing the things one wants to do. This is a difficult battle, because in addition to the commands that a person has, there is a situation that many times does not allow you to do what you want.

-In fact, what better demonstration than a pandemic, and now, even far away, a war.

-Of course, all of that also affects you and later, the personal dramas, the economic, the social, the family, and sometimes, deleting all of that, you don’t either. Because many times you have to amuse yourself.

-Of course, reasons can always be found. In your case, have you learned this over the years?

-The years are scratching you, or you are learning or you are sinking. Especially on the question of time, of not wasting time. I also don’t believe in “enjoy as if it were the last day”, because you can’t live like this forever. It is to find the balance and that is certainly the most complicated. I agree with wasting time what you want, you don’t always have to be productive.

-It is also necessary to have the possibility of being helpless and to feel good.

-It’s about having a good time, really. This is basic. I realize that more and more: I want to do it, period.

Because of me, because of my great sin

-Do you find it difficult to remove that sin of the Judeo-Christian culture of suffering more than pleasure, of existence?

-It is an issue to eliminate guilt, the questioning and the feeling that there is a higher being judging you all the time. Because I think it’s a way of avoiding us as well, telling us that the next life is the best. But life is what we have now.

-How are you? In therapy or otherwise?

-In my case, there is therapy. This is something that helps me a lot. But also, there’s something I don’t know where it came from. If I think about my life, I have no plan B. If I hadn’t devoted myself to it, I don’t know what I would have done, Actually. I’ve never felt it as an act of rebellion or breaking mold, I’m sure I want to do what I do and I’ll live from it.

-That certainty may be because you really like what you are doing.

-Perhaps, but I don’t know where that certainty comes from, it’s something in the unconscious perhaps. And it is a medium that lends itself to confusion; you can distract yourself with some nonsense that has nothing to do with work. and me The most interesting to me is working: write, act, make radio.

-In other words, different ways of storytelling.

I think that’s something that appeals to all of us. In a series, a movie, a play, a book, you’re always looking for answers, a door that opens, you’re also looking to get to know yourself and wake up.

-The fact that there are so many platforms, with so many stories available, does it condition you to put together your own story thinking about the competition?

-No, I’m interested in saying what I have to say, it’s a matter of honesty and transparency. Telling a story you like is hard, doing it to one you don’t know is impossible. If you think about everything there is, you will do nothing. The world doesn’t need another movie or another series or whatever, but you write out of necessity.

-The key is in authentic, beyond the quality of a production?

I think so, but I’m not looking for that either. I do this and that’s all. So. I was surprised at what happened in the first season of the series, It’s crazy. We knew it would have an impact because of what Netflix represented, but it exceeded all expectations, it exploded. It’s beautiful, and especially in a complex moment. Now we’ll see what happens next, but I don’t think what might happen.

person and character

-The character of “Almost happy” is called Sebastián, he is also an Atlanta announcer and fan just like you and has a similar sense of humor. How much are you to him and how much do you want him to be like you?

-There’s a game there, something pretty morbid to want to know, like all literature itself. But ultimately it’s not the most important thing whether it’s the author or an alter ego. There are many opportunities, as a starting point, but nothing more. For me too, everything we do is autobiographical even if it’s not that obvious. If I were to write a series about four lawyers, I would also show my perspective.

-Sebastian in the series has problems with relationships, is that different from you?

-He has a barbaric quilombo on his leashes, he can’t flow and he feels like everyone around him is stalking him and I don’t feel that.

-You have a better time.

-Absolutely. He got nothing, he was stuck. Luckily, in this second season, he will do better.

– Do you have another chance? Do you believe in second chances?

-Something happens to the character and it is, in our age, more or less, Someone takes you like a second youth. You’re more tired but you’re more used to it, you’re not as lost as 18, 20. I prefer this age than being a man, you know better what you want.

-In addition to radio (“Vuelta y media” by Urbana Play), you work in Miami, how was the experience?

– It’s amazing, Susana Giménez even came to see me! I put together a show just for that, I made three presentations, with Argentine, Chilean, Uruguayan, Colombian audiences. And everyone saw the series. Now I am also preparing a tour along fragile, several weekends in different cities of the country.

-Can you say you’re almost happy?

-Yes !!! Well, the truth is that’s it.

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