--- When you were little, did you already want to be an actor?
--- I don't have a family background in it, but when I was little, I really liked theater. My father used to take me to see family theater. One day I went to see an adult play called El enfermo imaginario (The Imaginary Invalid), and it blew my mind. I said: "I would love to do this." I used to dress up a lot… I loved playing the bad guy when we played in the yard. I played more with the girls in class than with the boys because I was more interested in talking and telling stories than sweating like a madman chasing a ball. I was very friendly with everyone, though. I think because I was quite funny, they loved me a lot. And I loved them.
--- Has humor saved you on multiple occasions?
--- I wasn't a very handsome boy. I wasn't very attractive, I think I've improved with the years… I had big ears. I still have them, but now my head has grown. I have never forged my character from a physical aspect, but always from speech and character. I have related to people by talking or making jokes. Humor is a wonderful tool because it not only serves as armor, but it can also serve as a sword.
--- You say you are the saddest Catalan in Spanish cinema and that's why they cast you for the film Saben aquel, where you portray Eugenio. In contrast, in Catalonia you started to be known for your appearance on the humor program Alguna Pregunta Més? (APM?).
--- I don't know why they think I have to play sad Catalans. It seems I do well at being sad. I suppose the film 10.000 km made a difference. There I played this new masculinity, if you can call it that, of the guy who wants to start a family… I was left with that image of a sensitive guy. I'm good at crying in fiction. Now I've made a movie called La casa and I play a sad Valencian.
--- In some way, did you feel identified with Eugenio?
--- Investigating a bit, I saw that he was a person... I'm not that much of a person, but there are things I feel very identified with. I have suffered from imposter syndrome quite a bit and also the terror I feel every time I go on stage. Eugenio had a very hard time before going on stage and with that, I identify a lot with him. I am very scared and every year I am more scared. For now, I beat the fear. I hope to keep beating it for many years, but I have a very hard time. I also identify with the fact that making humor is something very serious.
--- A few months ago, when you collected the Goya for best actor, you also spoke about fears. Is it a topic that obsesses you?
--- When you are young you are unconscious. There is something very cool about it, which is that you are like playing. You don't have to pay rent or have a daughter to support. As you get older, things get complicated. You are supposed to stay where people supposedly put you. And that pressure ---which you put on yourself more than people do--- sometimes gets to you. You forget that what we are doing is a job that does not consist of open-heart surgery. It is not a life-or-death job. It is a creative job, which, sometimes, you can do well and, sometimes, you can do badly. But I think that when a few years pass... I hope that in 10 years I won't give a damn again.
--- Actors must manage uncertainty. How do you experience it?
--- I experience it more or less well. I don't know who told me this once: either you are sleepy or you are hungry. You have to learn to live with this.
--- Another complicated thing about your sector is the schedules and this ever-changing life. You, who have a daughter, how do you manage work-life balance?
--- Family conciliation is complicated for everyone, no matter what you do. It is true that we have an added bonus, especially if you do theater, that you work at night and there are no night nurseries. At the same time, I think there are two good things. First, that when we don't work ---which is normal--- we have all the time in the world. The other thing is that our daughter is seeing something very beautiful that not all children see. She is seeing parents who do the job they like.
--- One of the big problems in the world of acting is the brutal aesthetic pressure that actresses suffer. Do you suffer from it?
--- No. I guess as a guy I have never experienced it. And as a guy, if I am hired, it is not because at a given moment I am expected to take off my shirt and have abs. A casting director once told me: "You will always work because you will always play the protagonist's friend."
--- Lately, in the world of theater and cinema, there have been denunciations of different types of abuse. Are things changing?
--- There is still much to do. In the cultural part, we are always a little ahead. The debates, on many occasions, are raised in our sector. But there is still a lot of work to do, of course.
--- This year you have won the Goya, the Feroz and the Gaudí. Not bad at all, right?
--- This means that for another ten years I won't receive another award or the Bonoloto... All of this ends up being trends, huh? If Bardem had been nominated this year, obviously, I wouldn't have won. I mean, it also goes by eras.
--- You said you've always battled with imposter syndrome. Have these awards helped you contain it?
--- Awards are like a mini validation within your profession. It's like a hug. Awards have an impact in that perhaps you have more options to receive more scripts, more options to say no, maybe you save yourself some casting… But they are not economic awards. The awards haven't made my imposter syndrome grow, they are a small balm.
--- Until April 14, you are performing a play at La Villarroel called Elling.
--- It's a very cool play, where there are no good guys or bad guys. They are two guys with mental health problems and it's a very beautiful story of overcoming. They are two losers who learn to win and don't give up on who they are. They never back down. The other thing I really liked about this play is that they find peace and tranquility with two things that I think we all need: to be wanted and to be loved. Also, finding something that motivates you.
--- You are living in Barcelona, but you spend seasons in Madrid for work. How do you manage it?
--- I live in Barcelona, but I have worked a lot in Madrid. But not that much, huh? Some projects, if they involve many months in Madrid, it overwhelms me and I say no.
--- Is it difficult to always live in Barcelona if you are an actor?
--- I, since I have theater, have always done theater here in Barcelona. I love being in Barcelona and I don't have any struggle, no. I love Madrid, but when I return to Barcelona I think: "Wow, it's really good in Barcelona." And I really like the people of Madrid.
--- What do you imagine for the coming years?
--- I hope these next 20 years are the same or better. I would really like to have an apartment. It's something I imagined when I was 20 and I don't have it. I live in a rental. It's surely something very material, but I think it would also give me some peace of mind at work.