It’s impossible not to think about’In the background there is room‘ every time the Tommy Portugal song plays on the radio, or when we hear expressions like “chiquitingo,” “oh my” and “basuuuuura”. And what about the rap of ‘Gringo Atrasador’, a song released by Joel Gonzales, performed by Erick Elera, whose lyrics many know by heart.
The success he achieved ‘In the background there is room‘, directed by Efrain Aguilar in its first eight seasons, it has rarely been seen on Peruvian television. It achieved viewing records, catapulted young actors to fame and became the public’s favorite soap opera for almost a decade.
Many believed that its end had come in December 2016, when the last chapter of the América TV soap opera was broadcast. However, six years later, the Peruvians were surprised with a ninth installment, in which its original director, Efrain Aguilarwas no longer a part.
“It should have been a great memory, but the public, the pressure of the networks and the success of the repetitions forced the company to return In the background there is room”, the Peruvian director and producer points out from the Jade Theater, where he teaches acting classes.
Efrain Aguilarcreator of ‘taxi driver, ra ra‘, ‘thousand trades‘ Y ‘This is life‘He received the Infobae team at his new work center, located in the Arenales Shopping Center, which he rents after leaving the Canout Theater. He didn’t just talk about the memories she left him’In the background there is room‘, but also about the new season of Gigio Aranda.
Efraín, you left the Canout Theater behind and now you’re at Lince, how do you take the change?
For me, to talk about the Canout Theater is to stir up very intimate feelings of love and affection. It hurt me a lot to leave it because a large part of my life is there, 20 years. Now I am in Arenales, I have made some implementations to have more space and teach my classes. I give opportunity to young people, to a new generation. We do quality work, but the result is not as expected.
What was the reason for your departure from the Miraflores theater?
The owners had an extraordinary offer that I couldn’t match. They gave me three months and I came here, it was difficult to find this way out. But I am an enemy of conflicts, I left a good relationship with them.
Now those who fill the seats of the Canout theater are Jorge Luna and Ricardo Mendoza, from Hablando Huevadas. What opinion do you have of them?
I think that humor is a situation in which you reach the public without hurting anyone. Taking as a circus and mocking the public is not humor, it is attacking at the expense of a person. That always makes me laugh. I don’t criticize what they do, but I don’t like it. Nor do I have any reason to envy the success of others, not at all.
You have also been the creator of great successes, including Al Fondo Hay Sitio. How was the idea born?
I call it testimonial television and I had been doing it since ‘Risas y Salsas’, where I criticized the defects that we have as people from Lima. The same in ‘Taxista, Ra Ra’ and ‘Mil Oficios’, in those years there was a lack of work and people did everything to maintain their status. ‘Así es la vida’ reflected the phenomenon of vertical growth because middle-class people did not go to cones, but to buildings. We saw that people did not get along very well with the neighbors.
As well as the Gonzales and the Maldini…
Yes, in fact, the idea for ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’ came from Gigio Aranda and as a producer I said ‘we’ll do it’ because, at that time, a very successful sketch by Jorge Benavides and Carlos Álvarez had been released, called las pitucas de La Molina. Gigio began to draw everything with his ingenuity and I imposed some things.
Like which ones, for example?
I wanted the scenery to be as realistic as possible. I also required managers to put actors through a character creation process. We rehearsed every day for two months, it was paid. This was done for the first time in the history of Peruvian television.
I assume that the process of choosing the actors for this project was not easy either…
When I did ‘Mil Oficios’, about 600 people showed up for the casting, in ‘Así es la vida’ 3 thousand and for ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’ 7 thousand people, it was impressive. It was long, but I think I made the right choice and the actors did a great job as well. For example, Erick Elera told us that among his virtues he knew how to play the guitar and that we added to the character. Nataniel Sánchez said that he knew how to twist his eyes and we also added that. All so he wouldn’t look fake. Now there are many cases of that…
Was there anyone in the cast who disagreed with the role they were given?
When we gave Adolfo Chuiman the role of Peter, he went up to my office. He told me, ‘Efraín, 30 years of acting, to be a butler?’ And I replied ‘Adolfito, do you think I’m so stupid to waste your quality as an actor on any role? Remember me, you’ll be proud of Peter’. And now? Peter’s death has a record for tuning, he made 41 points, an incredible thing.
And on the contrary, which character did you think was not going to be so successful?
Sincerely, that of Irma Maury (Doña Nelly). I knew that she was an excellent actress, she had been my student. I thought that because she had already done something similar in ‘Mil Oficios’, and it kind of didn’t fit. But she, with her impressive quality as an actress, showed me the opposite.
Did it hurt that he left the series?
Yes, because I did everything so that Irma would stay. I asked for mobility because she lives far away, in Ventanilla. But she has a very defined personality and that’s why when she told me ‘she’s just come this far’, I respected her decision. ‘What I am going to do’.
He directed the cast for several years and it has been said that there was a dispute between Karina Calmet and Gustavo Bueno. How did you handle these conflicts behind the scenes?
It should be noted that they are artists. They put their thoughts and ideas ahead of everything, their profession is to be an artist. The problems stayed on the street, here (on set) we went to work. I have never allowed the group to divide, the one who was the manager of wanting that told him, with all due respect, to leave. I talked to everyone on the first Monday of each month, there we told each other our lives, we let off steam.
There is also talk of a conflict between you and Christian Thorsen (Raúl del Prado), who could not return to the series due to this dispute from the past…
Regarding the possibility of doing or not doing something, it is a very personal and individual criterion of Gigio Aranda, he is the one who decides. He is the general producer, let him impose his criteria and things will go well.
What is your current relationship?
We are all very good friends. The personal problems that he has with the company, I do not have to interfere or give an opinion. They are all my children.
And about this, do you have a favorite son?
No, I’m not a bad father (laughs). I highly appreciate them, we have talked so many times in my office individually, I know their problems. Sometimes, in private meetings, we have disagreed like anyone else, but the professionalism of every actor is knowing that it is a workplace and there is a hierarchy, and that must be respected.
Why did ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’ end despite its success?
They were business issues. We were in a rented space and the owner was going to sell it, so we had to go somewhere else. We were already eight years old, who guaranteed us that success would be the same? It was difficult. So, we opted to close the series. We made a forced ending, but beautiful and emotional. It must have been a great memory.
What happened after? Why did she turn down being in the new season?
Gigio Aranda presented a project in which I was not. They did the second part in which, tangentially, they told me if I could be there. I said no, I didn’t want to. Not because I felt uncomfortable, or anything. What’s more, if they had asked me in another way, I would have accepted it, but not in the way they did, as a ‘drop’. There it was.
If it had been part of the ninth installment, what would the direction of the story have been like?
I would have looked for the creativity of new characters, to make the characters have the age and the problems of the age that someone has after eight years. I am not criticizing Gigio, I reiterate that he is an export scriptwriter.
Have you seen any episode? what is your impression of the new version?
I watched two or three episodes last year, but sometimes I watch it on Youtube. I like the addition of new characters, some are very good, but I would have liked the actors to have guidance on how to evolve a character. There is an old saying, there is no worse joker than the one who wants to be funny. The situation is what is funny. From my point of view and from what I’ve seen, some actors have that intention, wanting to be funny. I have never liked that.
So what do you advise Gigio Aranda?
I have no advice for a crack, he is Messi and I am a neighborhood baseball player writing. He is from export and I am from local. Resuming a series is difficult, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. I understand that they are doing very well, that they lead the rating and that is enough for me.
Would you like to direct ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’ again?
No, I would like to do another production. I have always liked renewing myself, taking new people and not people who are great professionals; First they pass the casting.
Is there any figure in the artistic world that has surprised you with his acting talent?
Yaco Eskenazi is a good actor. One day I put him on stage and I was left open-mouthed at the innate conditions he had. His character was in ‘Así es la Vida’ and he was one of those who was not going to last long, I was left with the desire. Later, I wanted to work with him again, but he was already committed to Esto es Guerra. I understood it because from earning a lot to earning less (as an actor), it is difficult.
I understand that you also worked with Gisela Valcárcel…
She was one of my students many years ago. She worked with me on the first work of hers that she did of her, with her I also made a movie. I did not do it, because they sawed the floor. There was Adolfo Chuiman and her. I call her ‘loquita linda’.
Do you think she’s a good actress?
She’s not a good actress, she knows it (laughs). I tell you the truth, she is a great driver. She has driving talent, but acting talent definitely not. She was regular, she did her job. She congratulated her on finding her calling, which is why she has success after success.
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