Marissa Josa: "In this profession, you must be able to make mistakes and learn from your shortcomings."

BarcelonaMarissa Josa (Terrassa, 1948) has dedicated herself to the theater for 57 years, and throughout all this time she has accumulated practically only good stories and an absolute love for the craft that accompanies her. A tireless worker, Josa has been part of dozens of shows – among the most recent are All birds (2024), which earned her a Butaca Award nomination, she has worked as a voice teacher and was one of the driving forces behind the Vallès Drama Center. Retired from teaching, the actress remains active on stage. With the company La Perla 29, she will be restaging her work on November 18th. Natale en casa CupielloA sweet and funny Christmas comedy that they first performed between 2010 and 2012 and have now revived.

Fifteen years have passed since the premiere of this show. What brought you back?

— Oriol [Broggi, director of La Perla 29] called me, and wherever Oriol calls me, I go. I've already done twelve shows with him. La Perla 29 is a very comfortable place to work. It reminds me of the 60s, when I started, because the company takes great care of itself and there isn't a line separating the technical team from the management and the actors.

It's a very family-oriented company in a show that's precisely about family. What does it tell us?

— Eduardo De Filippo created a wonderful, slice-of-life play that revolves around Christmas. The characters are very well-defined, but it's a typical family; people can relate to some of the situations. They're a very funny family, and their lives are full of entanglements.

You come from a large family, with eleven siblings. What was it like growing up in that environment?

— There were eleven of us, but now there are nine, seven girls and two boys. It had its good and bad points. I could do whatever I wanted because no one noticed, but with such a large group, no one paid any attention to me. There was a lot of freedom and, at the same time, a lack of boundaries. Three generations lived in the same house: us, our parents, our grandparents, and also a friend of my grandmother's. It was fun. We had a fabric shop in Terrassa, on Carrer de la Unió. My father was an only child and told my mother that his dream was to have a family like hers, with seven siblings. And she was happy and made him eleven.

In your case, you didn't continue with the family business. What brought you to the theater?

— I gradually found myself. Even as a child, I loved doing comedy. I did amateur theater, and in 1968 Feliu Formosa appeared in Terrassa with Maria Plans and Carles Grau. They asked us if we wanted to participate in a play, Cell 44by Ernst Toller. It was during the Franco regime, when plays were censored and all that. That's where I began to see theater differently, not just as entertainment but as something more serious, a commitment. I kept working, we did theater, but we were self-taught. In 1979 we did Uncle Vanya And we became more professional, we started charging.

You entered the Institut del Teatre when you were around 30 years old. What was that like?

— When we started working on more complex characters, I realized I lacked the necessary tools. I struggled a lot. I enrolled at the Institut del Teatre, but back then classes were few and far between; we spent more time waiting for the teachers on the steps of Sant Pau Street than in the classrooms. When I finished, Coralina Colón, who was a voice teacher, told me I could teach. I taught until I retired in 2012, and I've continued doing theater ever since.

What has teaching given you?

— Above all, it was an opportunity to give students the tools they needed to cope and to know how to navigate this world, not only technically but also emotionally. The acting profession is difficult; you have to be very strong and, at the same time, very vulnerable. You have to know how to go out there, completely exposed, every day, in front of an audience, and give 100%. And then, in one play, they might tell you you're a disaster, and in another, that you're the best thing ever. You mustn't believe either one. At the same time, to work on the characters, you have to be very vulnerable. You have to be able to make mistakes, to show your shame and limitations. Even though all this is done privately, in the rehearsal room, you have to be able to do it in front of others; you have to dare.

How has your job changed you?

— Both teaching and theater have been lifesavers for me. They've set boundaries and allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. Every show has been a personal challenge; I've never felt like I was just going to work. But you have to know how to navigate this world calmly, especially if you move into the spotlight. Clara Segura, Emma Vilarasau, and so many others carry a very heavy sense of responsibility. Beyond that, it's a wonderful world, the place where I've laughed the most.

We've seen you work hard, but you've practically never been in the spotlight. Is this because you haven't wanted to be, or because you haven't been given the opportunities?

— I feel better in the background, as I say. I'm more comfortable. I like being in the spotlight; I find it very difficult to be front and center, and I've always tried to escape it. I greatly admire the people who are front and center; they're indispensable, and in fact, nowadays people go to the theater for the headliners. But I'm happy to be in that other place.

As an actress, what role models have influenced you?

— I did Vapors (1983) with Pere Planella and he taught me how to cry. With Xicu Masó we made a hilarious comedy, Absolutely far away (1998), from Josep JulienIt was fantastic, about prostitutes who did drugs under a bridge. Xicu gave us a real leap of faith; it was incredibly difficult to interpret. For me, that show was a turning point. And Oriol [Broggi] introduced me to Wajdi Mouawad and opened up some very powerful emotional pathways for me. Mouawad leaves you feeling completely unhinged; he's incredibly powerful. With Marta Marco and Enric Auquer, back when he wasn't yet the Auquer he is now, we did Leenane's beauty queen (2019) and we grew a lot, as actors.

The industry has changed a lot since you started. What has been gained and what has been lost?

— Now everything is better. Actors come in with fantastic training, they're very well prepared, and it's a pleasure to work with them. What's still lacking, and it's a very serious issue, is that actors and actresses are still financially dependent on whether or not they have work. There's no infrastructure in place for them to get paid while they're not working, which would be the logical thing to do. When work stops, they're left with nothing, and I see incredibly talented people who have just finished a fantastic series sitting at home without getting paid, waiting for the phone to ring. There should be more money allocated to the arts, and it should be a political priority. I've been lucky because I managed to supplement my income by teaching; I've been privileged. And also because my situation is a product of a time when there were many more opportunities, apartments were incredibly cheap, and there were fewer of us.