Joel Joan: "My psychiatrist told me: 'Maybe you are not as good as you think'"

BarcelonaJoel Joan (Barcelona, 1970) leaves behind some very professionally intense days: he started the week presenting Bons i dolents, the new show that will be performed starting next Tuesday at the Teatre Condal. And he has finished it this Friday promoting Escape room 2, the film that adapts the theatrical phenomenon created jointly with Héctor Claramunt, and which will be released in theaters on October 9th. "My life is pretty much my work. I have no hobbies, I don't have a sailboat, I only ski when I can," explains the actor, director, and playwright. Bons i dolents is the first show he has written all by himself.

What is the thesis behind Bons i dolents?

— We make a fierce critique of do-goodism, of wokism, of this virus that we have all been caught in for years and which makes the most important thing in life to be good and to always be on the right side of things, without facing the problems. I do not believe there are good and bad people. We are humans, just another species on Earth. When the lion eats the gazelle, the gazelle is not good and the lion bad. But we have invented a moral code and we abide by it. The underlying thesis of the show is that we are survivors. We want to get by, we want love, everything as well as possible, and to achieve that we adapt to whatever is necessary. We have invented some values and some codes, but when it suits us best we ignore them completely.

Given this, how can one live in a community in a healthy way?

— Lying. And the lie is so established that even we ourselves believe it. We act according to our own interests. The human species is very violent, bloodthirsty, rapist, terribly cruel. In war, even today, we are capable of committing atrocities. But the human being can only live in society. In collectivity we are so strong that we have become masters of the world. Civilization is what makes us strong. Translated to the show, the characters lie to each other in a matter of seconds to get what suits them best.

When did you start thinking like that?

— As Billy Wilder said, if you want to say something serious, you'd better be funny. Laughter is healthy and allows you to delve into human contradictions. In my work, which is often doing comedy, I have encountered people offended by jokes. It doesn't mean they are right. With wokeism, if you bother someone, you are politically incorrect. Just by the fact of offending, you are already being disrespectful. Well, listen, go to a psychiatrist and sort yourself out. It's not my problem. At what point did we start having such thin skin that nothing can be said anymore? Does this make us better? The wokes think they are better people by censoring.

Have you ever felt censored?

— Someone has censored me. Not directly, but they have stopped selecting my films for festivals because they touch on a political topic that is currently of no interest. At a very important festival, they did not want Escape room 2 because it talks about the miseries of the Catalans, about the non-independence, about the monumental cowardice that gripped us all and the appalling ridicule we made of ourselves. Just the word independence is already annoying. We cannot even laugh at the fact that we are losers. And there are also many actors who make films because they have to earn a living, but then they go around giving moral lessons to the world, saying what we do right and what we do wrong. If you made the film because they gave you money, there is no need now to set yourself up as the standard-bearer of this discourse which, frankly, seems fair and deplorable to me. People say what others want to hear, not what they really think. This is because we are afraid. And fear is the opposite of freedom.

The show portrays the generation that is now fifty years old. What happened to you when you turned 50?

— I realized that until I was forty I was young, or I considered myself to be. At fifty, or now that I am fifty-five, I can see the writing on the wall and I realize that this will not last forever. Then you start making different decisions. There are people who return to adolescence, doing "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll". There are those who settle. They know their partner doesn't love them, but what a drag it is to look for an apartment again, now that we have our lives sorted out. Not leaving a partner when it no longer works is cowardice, but we do this very toxic thing of turning it into a good thing, because we are more stable emotionally and economically. At fifty you decide whether you get old or if you continue to be young, continue to be brave and defend what you believed in.

And what have you decided?

— I do what I can, but therapeutically it has been very good for me to write this work to understand myself and my colleagues better. All the characters are people I know mixed together. These reflections make me grow inside and make me demanding of myself. Fear is not tolerable. I cannot afford it.

Is that why you write theater?

— It only makes sense to write to be honest. In reality, I am quite a frustrated actor. I wanted to be Brad Pitt or Javier Bardem, and I couldn't. Since I have to put on my own productions, at least I will be honest with the audience. I will say what I really want to say and I will criticize what I want to criticize. True humor is what puts the viewer, and that stinging wound, projected onto the character.

You are not Brad Pitt or Javier Bardem. When you look back, are you satisfied?

— Yes. I have done three series: Plats bruts, Porca Misèria and El Crac. I have done few films, but Escape room and Escape room 2 are brilliant and have great quality. I am also happy with the plays: El pare de la núvia, Júnior, El gran comediant, Bons i dolents. I was very ambitious. I even made a film in Hollywood with Maria Ripoll and Héctor Elizondo. But I didn't succeed. There is also the fact of not hiding myself, of not wanting to be liked by everyone and of having my own political positions. But I have always believed in what I have done. I haven't sold out, I haven't said things I didn't believe to be richer or more famous. I am at peace with myself.

At what point does ambition unravel?

— It’s been years now. It happens gradually. I wanted to win an Oscar. What did I do? I invented some awards and we created the Gaudís. I haven't won any. I also accept that because I realize my talent is limited. Once my psychiatrist told me: “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are”. That was it! That was it! You want to stop thinking that you can win an Oscar! You can't even win a Gaudí, man. And that's it.

In theater and cinema you often project a critical look at the country's present. How are we, the Catalans, now?

— The other day a nephew of mine was telling me that they call him catalufo in the playground because there are only four of them who speak Catalan. That is xenophobia. At what point did we accept it? Homosexuals and black people have rights, all of that is extremely important and is very good, but we who are Catalan, just bow our heads. Our rights are worth shit. The reality is totally fucked up. We let ourselves be trampled on, our political representatives no longer represent anyone. They have all shown us their asses several times and they continue to be the same ones. I am surprised by the contrast, the strength we managed to have until 2017 and how divided we are now, and the absolute lack of leadership. We do not dare to defend things without fear or complexes.

How do you see the future?

— Many things can happen and we cannot foresee any of them. History does not follow any parameters. What will happen with Russia, with Europe, with Spain? I do think that Spain will not last forever. Now, that does not mean that we will achieve our rights and be respected by the rest of the world for who we are. Everything is possible. Sometimes, with just one person who brings an idea and believes in it, everything can change. How many independence supporters now say that we must be realistic, that we better talk about housing and social issues. Wait, because when it suits them they will say that they never stopped being independence supporters. The mattress of our society, what keeps us comfortable, is the lie. What will the future be like? Impossible to foresee. The only thing I know is that I will not stop fighting for the freedom of my people.