Clara Sans: "Breaking up with a friend is one of the most painful things that has ever happened to me"

BarcelonaTanned and full of energy after a few days of rest before starting a new project, Clara Sans (Barcelona, 1996) premieres the new miniseries, Toda la verdad de mis mentiras, starting Friday, August 28 on Netflix. In this adaptation of a novel by Elísabet Benavent she plays Blanca, a girl who is about to get married. Her bachelorette party will be the excuse for two of her best friends, Coco (Itziar Manero) and Marín (Daniel Ibáñez), to acknowledge their feelings for each other.

Toda la verdad de mis mentiras is a romantic comedy. What is your relationship with this genre?

— I love romantic comedy. In adolescence it was the genre I watched the most, and I dreamed of living a summer like in the movies. Now that I've become more of an adult, and I don't consume it as much, when a good one appears I think "I have to see this". It allows you to switch off your brain.

It's a series very thought for summer, in fact, and with a touch of joy.

— It's a series that's easy to get into because you feel like being with the characters. What I liked most is that the characters were very tender and I feel that lately characters with a lot of darkness are being represented. Sometimes I think we all have a tender side and that tenderness should be defended.

In the plot, there are two love stories, but the one you star in takes place entirely off-camera. Does being a supporting actress mean explaining many things with very few elements?

— You have the camera minutes you have and you have to make the most of them, you have to tell your story. With Ricardo [Gómez, who plays Sans's romantic interest] we always said that we were working for the second viewing: so that when people rewatch the series, they realize that something was happening there from the beginning.

Have you had to play a lot with small details?

— Yes. Also, we have a very good vibe and it was very easy. We laughed a lot and suddenly they told us "Hey, make less noise because you are being noticed a lot". I remember this filming with a lot of love because I laughed a lot. I think it's a series that is very good for having a brighter approach to groups of friends. The characters are between 20 and 30 years old and are very lost, but, despite this, they have a desire to live.

Do you think the generation that is now this age is really very lost?

— I see it a lot in my environment. Personally, I think that the calling I have makes me find my way when I feel lost. Calling saves me, although it can be a double-edged sword because things might not work out and you end up frustrated. There are people in my environment whom I love very much and I see them and I think "you are so lost", but you don't know how to help them. My calling is to be an actress, but for another it can be to have a family.

Friendship is one of the central themes of the series. What role does it play in your life?

— Friendship is my pillar. I have become who I am thanks to my friends; my life would not be the same without my friendships. I place them in a very important position.

The series also does not paint friendship in rosy colors.

— Totally. In fact, when my character asks his friends for some time, it seems to me the most adult decision in the whole series, because they are hurting each other. Human beings are very contradictory and imperfect, and sometimes you don't know how to manage a conflict. There are those who want to postpone it and ignore it, there are those who go for the fight, or those who prefer to remain silent. For me, the moral of the story is that we have to talk.

Do you put it into practice?

— Yes, I'm very much one to talk, to chat about everything when you detect it, because it's also true that there are moments when you're stunned by a situation and can't process it. But I think, once you take it home and think about it, it's very important to have the conversation, even if it's very uncomfortable and, at times, very difficult and painful. With almost all of my current friendships, I've had moments of talking and saying "this isn't working." As if it were a romantic relationship. And they are my purest, most real relationships.

So when friendships break, is it like a romantic breakup?

— Totally. Lately, there's a lot of talk about this and I really like it because nobody really teaches you how to break up with a friend, or a male friend. It's the most painful thing that has ever happened to me, having to break up with a friend. Wow, it's very heavy. This person has been part of your life for many years, you have loved them very much. It happens to me that I have some friendships that have ended up breaking, but I continue to love that person very much, and I think "of course, you are part of who I am, and you will always be part of my life". But yes, it is very painful, and I think it's cool that it's starting to be talked about a little now, because we were very lost on this topic. You put distance and let's see if the relationship ended like that. But if you can meet up with a boyfriend and tell him "that's it", I think doing it with a friend is also a sign of respect and love. Saying "We don't understand each other and it's a mess".

Do you think previous generations placed as much importance on friendship, or did they focus more on family?

— I thought a lot about this in relation to my parents, for example, but now I see my mother and I realize that friendships have been very important to her. Maybe I learned it from her. At my house, my mother's friends always used to come, they would have lunches, and now I replicate it at my house. And my grandmother spent the day calling her friends. I used to say to her: "Grandma, you seem like the telephone operator".

You've played many supporting characters. Are you eager to play the lead?

— Yes, I'm looking forward to it. I've always said that if my career has to be in supporting roles, I'll be delighted, because I've always played very rich characters, but I do want to be a protagonist. In fact, I will now be the protagonist along with Elena Martín in Irene Moray's first film. Besides, it's in Catalan, which I'm very excited about.

You have defended body diversity many times, but it seems that in recent years we are returning to the extreme thinness aesthetic of the 90s. As a woman, do you feel a little deceived?

— I don't even know what I feel anymore. It frustrates and angers me, but I also think that if we believed everything they tell us... And, above all, I think the most important thing is that everyone is comfortable with their life and who they are. But it's true that it has generated a lot of insecurity in me, this whole wave of returning to the 90s. At the same time, I'm tired of talking about it. We've gone back so much that it's scary, you know? And, in the end, it has a lot to do with the fact that they want us to take up little space, that we take up less and less space. Try to take up as little space as possible. Again? In class, we were already the ones who didn't raise our hands because the guys were already talking without needing to raise them. I remember raising my hand and the other person talking and me thinking, "excuse me, is there a turn to speak here or not?". They just talk and we have to ask permission all the time. And it seems like you have to ask permission to have the body you have, to have an opinion, to occupy spaces. Then, I also think that I talk about this issue [of body diversity] and people don't read. Everyone has to have an opinion and everyone has the opinion they want, but it angers me that people are not capable of going into the articles and reading the whole news story. And it also scares me.

Have you noticed that it is a common trend that people don't read?

— Yes, we don't read. Or we just watch the TikTok reel that briefly explains what happened or the headline. For two years now I've had a newspaper app because I think I need to read the news. It's true that going to buy the newspaper is something that has been lost quite a bit, but at least you have to be up to date and read the whole article. Because if not, we will get lost.