Àngels Gonyalons: “I would never manage things now the way I managed them”

Theater came into the life of Àngels Gonyalons (Barcelona, 1963) almost like a game. “I couldn't quite find what fulfilled me and it was a bit of a coincidence.” She knew she liked theater, that it wasn't considered a good profession, and she took the plunge. In 45 years, she has acted in more than thirty plays and in a dozen television productions.

Now they knock on her door, but the initiative and initial drive were key when she started her career. In fact, she did “a lot of van work.” “Waking up early, loading the scenery, taking it to the performance venue, ironing the clothes, acting, dismantling everything and returning. You do it at an age when enthusiasm carries you away and you want to do it all.” During her career, she has “broken a lot of stones” and worked to make her work valued. And it is precisely when this stage arrives that she can share her knowledge with those who are starting out. “When you work with young people, you realize everything you know and that you know it because you have learned it over the years; that is why transversal companies are very interesting –explains the actress–. I have the experience, but they give me fresh air and I learn, and suddenly I also discover things that I say 'Wow, that's cool'”.

Gonyalons, awarded the prize for best leading actress of the year 1988 for the portrayal of Blanca in Mar i Cel and with the Margarida Xirgu award for They're Playing Our Song, began to experience a moment of great popularity. Success came to her before the perspective that time gives: "I would never manage things now the way I managed them then, like so many other things in my life". That is why she defends that one must take into account the life stage: "You cannot judge a 23-year-old person in the same way as a 40 or 60-year-old one". Like popularity, opportunities also come and go. She feels privileged; in 45 years she has never stopped working.

Not even when she became pregnant. She was seven months along and flew to Madrid to shoot El comisario and, when her daughter was five months old, she already premiered in a performance: “I was happy, I went back home, I breastfed her... I was so happy that I felt I could handle everything”.

She decided to go live in Menorca and build a family project there. “Some very good things came out of it, and also things that didn't go well.” Not being physically in Barcelona and saying no to certain projects led to a decrease in her presence. There was a time when she had no projects in sight. But she learned to trust in time. And, once again, the profession showed her that not everything can be foreseen. “There is always a component of luck, but luck has to find you prepared, working, and grinding away.”

She confirmed this again last year, when she was offered the role of Marta in The Crown of Thorns, by Josep Maria de Sagarra. “I could not have foreseen in any way that I would be offered to play Marta.” Beyond a personal challenge, it was a successful performance, and she won the award for best leading performance at the Teatre Barcelona Awards.

Gonyalons advocates for valuing the work of artists. Theater continues to be an expensive activity for producers and demanding for those who work in it: “On New Year's Eve, the ticket price is much higher. Musicians who work on Christmas Day also get paid more. I think we should also be paid better.” All jobs have their difficulties, and this one is “very enslaving” with holidays.

Regarding personal finances, she defines herself as a “farsighted” and “prudent” person. When she has had money, she has enjoyed sharing it, and when she hasn't, she has had to “tighten her belt.” “I have invited many people to my home, I have hosted many dinners and lunches because I really like having people over,” she asserts.

Regarding housing, Gonyalons had bought an apartment in Barcelona, but she had to sell it when she saw that she might struggle to cover the cost. And currently, she lives in a rented home.

Now she will begin the tour of Dorian Gray, premiered at the Grec festival at the Teatre Romea, which has given her “many joys”. Afterwards, La síndrome Natalia.In April she will revive Dones de ràdio, by Cristina Clemente, and later a new performance by Ramon Madaula. “And then I will have a bit of summer, and in the autumn we go again”, she declares happily.