Ivana Baquero: "No matter what I do, I'll always be remembered as the girl in 'Pan's Labyrinth'"

BarcelonaThe passion for the true crime has no end and Netflix continues to stretch the thread and has just released the film A Widow's Game, centered on a true crime that occurred in 2017 in Valencia. Ivana Baquero (Barcelona, 1994), who rose to fame thanks to Pan's Labyrinth –and became the youngest actress to win a Goya–, plays María Jesús Moreno, known as "the black widow of Patraix".

In A Widow's Game you play María Jesús Moreno, convicted of murdering her husband. How did you approach this character?

— Well, I did a lot of research, and I also had the luxury of time, which doesn't usually happen. With film and television, you often embark on a project and have very little time to prepare, and you're almost discovering the character while shooting. In that case, I had months of preparation. It helped me not to know the case because I didn't have as much external influence, and I could focus on what the script wanted to convey.

Was it easy for you not to judge the character?

— Obviously, we all have our value judgments. When I received the project and did some research, I found it to be a case that seemed implausible due to the brutality of the events. When playing the character, I have to put aside my opinions and understand his actions without justifying them. I had to be able to understand why she does certain things. I have to treat him as a fictional character, even though she's based on a real person.

Do you think there is a fascination with women who commit criminal acts?

— I think it depends on the nature of the crime. I think this one stands out because she's so contradictory. At first glance, she seems like a sweet, charismatic, magnetic girl. She's a nurse and takes care of people. But when you look at what's behind the scenes, you realize she's a manipulative and calculating person. I think the contradiction creates curiosity and a need to understand the whys and wherefores of things. What caught my attention about the project is that this character is many characters at once because she changes faces depending on what she wants and who she's dealing with. For me, it was a very interesting opportunity as an actress.

There are several scenes in the film with frontal nudes. Was that something that caused you grief?

— All productions now have intimacy coordinators, although it's true that when I started, there weren't any. Now, everything is very well discussed and negotiated, and the day you arrive on set, you know what you're going to find. It seemed like a very important part of the story to me. I'd never done explicit nudity before, and when they approached me about it, I thought it was important to capture it in the film. I would have even been sad if they hadn't wanted to show this more sexual side of the character.

For many years, you have been labeled as 'the girl of'Pan's Labyrinth'. Did you get sick of it?

— No, it's an honor! It's a cult film that's part of cinema history. I've never grown tired of the label, and it always opened doors for me, rather than closing them. I'm very aware that, no matter what I do, I'll always be remembered as the girl from Pan's Labyrinth.

For actors who start working very early, there's always the critical moment of making a career as adults. How was that transition for you?

— There is a point that you cannot control, but for me there was a moment when I wanted to make a transition towards a cinema in which I was seen as more adult. Being the girl of Pan's Labyrinth had many positive aspects to it, but there's a point where people, when they don't see me, continue to think of me as a child, as if I haven't grown up. I need to break away from this a bit and have people see me as an adult, capable of making more mature films. It's like starting over, getting people used to you in that capacity. It hasn't been a very easy transition, but I've been lucky to have been able to work. I've been very selective; I haven't done everything that's come my way.

You have been part of your career in the United States.

— Yes, I'm very settled there, but I spend a lot of time filming wherever work takes me. In fact, I've just spent six months in New Zealand making a series, Spartacus: House of Ashur, and I also spend a lot of time in Spain.

Do you think that, at a certain point, it was easier for you to find papers in the United States?

— No, honestly. Actually, I don't know if I made things more difficult for myself, because I already had a career and was somewhat established. Going to the United States was like starting over. It's also a very competitive industry, and the market is very saturated. Breaking through is very difficult. It's already difficult in Spain, but in the United States, it's incredibly complicated. But for me, it was the natural next step, not only because of my professional career, but because I always wanted to leave. I studied at the American School in Barcelona, and in a way, I always had my sights set on studying abroad and exploring the world. Since they gave me the opportunity, I took it. But I don't think it was the easiest option.

Do you have any family ties to the United States?

— No. Going to the American School was a coincidence. My parents wanted to give me the opportunity to learn me more languages, but I had no Anglo-Saxon ties.

Is the nomadic life easy for you?

— For me, it's natural; I like it a lot. I'm not much for a physical home, but rather for where the people I love are. And I've traveled so much since I was eight that, in the end, I'm almost more comfortable traveling and spending time in various places. I think the routine might even bore me. It's true that it would be nice to have a place that I could call home, but in this profession, I think we create a lot of homes.

You project an image of a disciplined person. Is this an innate quality of yours, or is it a consequence of having started working at a very young age?

— Yes, I am. I've always been disciplined. There's a part of it that's my personality, because I've been very demanding of myself since I was little. It's also true that when you start working so young and are surrounded by so many adults and have so many experiences, you perhaps mature a little faster. But it's true that it has a lot to do with my personality. As a child, people told me I had the soul of a 40-year-old woman.

Is this disciplined aspect what made you study Law? Was it a fallback if the performance didn't go well?

— I studied Law because I really like it, but I've never considered practicing it, even though I have several relatives that are lawyers. Law is very peculiar because it's subjective. There are written rules, but then there's a very subjective argument, and that really interested me. In the acting world, there are a lot of waiting times, and I decided to read something that would give me something. I didn't finish my degree, though.