Paula Malia: "I haven't had a month off in a while."

BarcelonaWithout making much noise, Paula Malia (Barcelona, ​​​​1990) has become an essential actress on our stages. In the last two seasons, she has appeared three times in the Sala Gran del TNC (The Watsons, Soul and The spider) and one by Fabià Puigserver del Lliure (Our city). The directors he has worked with call him marvelous, highlighting his generosity, his dedication to rehearsals, and his capacity for work. On the small screen, he also premiered the fourth season of Valeria (Netflix), where she has played Carmen from the start. But Malia's story begins more than a decade ago, on a Barcelona-Terrassa train, with two classmates, Bárbara Mestanza and Paula Ribó (Rigoberta Bandini), with whom she would form The Mamzelles.

When she started The Mamzelles, she was about 22 years old.

— Less. We met at Eòlia School when we were 18. We were super frecklesAnd then we auditioned at the Institut del Teatre, and we must have been around 20, 21, more or less. They sent us to Terrassa, and on the railway, we had a long time without doing anything... It coincided with the 15-M movement, and Paula bought a ukulele to go to Plaza Catalunya. And then we started composing songs on the train rides.

Did The Mamzelles start on a train?

— Yes! It's a while until Terrassa... Going with us would be: "Shut up, please!" We play a lot of songs there.

What is your relationship with Bárbara Mestanza and Paula Ribó?

— We still see each other. Less than before, when we were one body with three heads.

That experience was very important for the three of you, wasn't it?

— A lot. It gave us a lot of experience, a lot of freedom. Because we improvised a lot. The concerts we did had a very theatrical quality. We played a lot with improvisation, taking advantage of everything that was happening with the audience, staying very alert. We played a lot of gigs.

And many plays! But all three have followed very different paths. She's the one who has chosen a more acting career.

— Yes, that's me. These were also some of the roles we had in the group. Bárbara directed a lot and is very powerful creatively. They're both very good actresses. And Paula, when it came to composing, was very quick. And it makes perfect sense that she later did a project like Rigoberta Bandini and that it was such a hit. It's nice to see how the three of us have been doing different things.

However, I think that for you the before and after occurs with Valeria. Is that so?

— We started filming it in 2019 and it premiered right at the pandemic, which was like... We didn't know if we'd make more seasons, if the world would end. On a professional level, it's true that I hadn't worked that much in Madrid and it opened the doors to the rest of Spain for me. The highlight has been being on a platform as big as Netflix, which reaches 192 countries, which means that I suddenly meet people in the center of Barcelona who are maybe from the Philippines and they say to me: "You're the one from... Valeria!" And you go: "What?!" It's powerful. I went to Rome with my mother and suddenly you meet someone who recognizes you. Not because they recognize you, which I don't really care about, but because you see that the series reaches many places, which would otherwise be impossible. Someone from the Philippines might see one.

And how has the same character been for six years?

— I've never played a character for so long. And this has been very beautiful. Four seasons, which have been five and six years for us. You see a lot of evolution; because a lot has happened to me while I was playing that character. And to them too: two have become mothers. We've grown up with the characters. And it's beautiful. Plus, you can contribute a lot when you can develop it for so long.

Has the series followed in its footsteps?

— In the end, they're characters very close to us, with lives very similar to ours, in terms of social class, yes. We've been able to use a lot of our own material.

How many projects have you said "no" to in Madrid so you can do theater in Barcelona?

— Not so many. Some... I really like doing theater. And if they call me from Madrid, I'll go. I'm very happy working wherever I am. But I really like doing theater.

And doing theater in Barcelona...

— It's my home. I think there are some really good professionals there that I'm really looking forward to working with. I've already worked with some of them. It's really cool. My repreSometimes, he'll say to me, "Paula, go on, leave a little hole so we can put something in." And we do. But the thing is, I'm very happy doing theater.

Most actors and actresses of your generation have at least considered moving to Madrid. Haven't you?

— No. I had a great time in Madrid and I had a great time working on it, and if I have to go back in the future, I'd love to go. I like to go for several months. I have very good friends. All the girls from Valeria, the team...

Valeria, Diana Gómez, is...

— Yes, yes. It's true that my home is here, my family is here, my partner is here, I have my friends here. So, I like to go for three months, but without forgetting that my base camp is here.

I have the feeling that in recent years she has become an indispensable actress.

— I hope so. And I hope it continues to be so. Yes, I've noticed that in recent years I've been getting more work in theater, in big shows, in big venues. And it's really cool. Suddenly, directors I've never worked with before are calling me: "Hey, Paula, I'd like you to play this role." And it's really exciting.

This season he has performed in two of the TNC's Large Rooms.

— And the previous one, one. I've been working at the National for a long time now.

The directors he's worked with say he's not afraid...

— I guess I like challenges. I don't think much. When I like the project... With Jordi Oriol, with whom I made Bad diction, I would always work. I would be a subscriber! The material it provides is so precious. Everyone told me: "How difficult it must have been to make Bad diction"I don't remember it like that: it was very placid. In others that seem simpler, I've had more problems. I remember Xavier Albertí saying to me: "Now, while you say that, scratch your armpit." And I said: "Well, okay." It all made perfect sense. It all made perfect sense.

Would you like to do more projects like that?

— Yes, 100 percent... I like everything. Then I do something more commercial and I enjoy it. I really enjoy it when the company is good. It's very important to me that the group works in my favor. I like challenges. Soul It was because I had never done a musical. Or Bad diction, because the entire work was in verse.

How does it get into Soul?

— Oriol Burés, Víctor Gómez, and Gara Roda have known each other since we were sixteen. We were studying at Eòlia. We were the geeks who, instead of going out to do bottle partyWe went to Rubi's side, where Oriol had the keys, and we made scenes of WickedThe beautiful thing is that now, when we're all in our thirties, whenever we've had the opportunity to do a musical, we've done it. Uri had been thinking about this project for a long time. He told me he'd like me to star in it, but I hadn't done a musical. He wanted an actress with singing training, but acting training was a priority... He didn't have a place to do it; he didn't know anything about the National Academy.

Have you not done musicals because you didn't want to or because they didn't call you?

— Because they haven't called me. I don't have the training as such. I started with musical theater at Eòlia, but at the Institut del Teatre I decided to only write text.SoulI saw that the casting directors I know or the theater producers I know are different from the ones they know.

There are actresses who fear being pigeonholed in musicals because of this...

— I can't pigeonhole because I haven't done it. It's a genre that I'm passionate about. To make SoulI had to work a lot on singing and dancing.

How have you managed all these years without stopping working? You haven't had a single month off in a long time...

— It's been a while. I haven't had a free month in a while. When I do, I'm terrible at it. I don't know how to sit and do nothing. It's something I'm working on with my psychologist. The thing about stopping, about enjoying stopping, about not experiencing it with anxiety. I have a hard time enjoying nothing. And we have to learn.

Is it scary to say no?

— A lot. Maybe you think that person will get angry or never call you back. But that's not the case. Luckily, I'm working and I rarely have any idle time. I'd like to make better use of the time I have.

And how has this affected your personal life?

— I'm very restless, and luckily, my partner is just as restless as I am. We get on with it. The good thing, for me, is that I take advantage of this time to see people I don't normally get to see. When you're doing shows, you live at different paces: people meet up for a vermouth and I can't go, nor can I make calçotadas.

You said before that you couldn't live without doing theater. Why?

— I really like rehearsing. A lot. And I really like performances. Theater has a certain craftsmanship. I don't want to say that audiovisuals don't, but here the speed is much higher, everything happens much faster, what you've filmed can't be repeated. I love repeating; because it's like analyzing. For example, in The spiderAt the beginning of the performance, there was a moment when people were laughing, and I hadn't been laughed at in a week. Why? I think I'm missing it anyway. And I started thinking: I think I'm taking a slightly longer break and taking my coat off later. I'll try it differently. And suddenly, they were laughing again. It's like a game board, and you can keep moving, polishing, polishing.

Perejaume says that only what is alive is repeated, that life is repetition.

— I really like to repeat and rehearse. Screwing up, trying things out... I wish we had more time.

Do you think it's easier to be successful on television than in theater?

— I don't know, don't believe it. In the end, there are so many of us, so many productions... Theater is perhaps a somewhat smaller circle. There are also fewer people making decisions. On TV, maybe there's a director who wants you to do it, but the producer wants someone more well-known. I don't know what to tell you.

What have you gained from working with Àngel Guimerà, Jordi Oriol, Thornton Wilder, Laura Wade...?

— Many things. For me, Our city, of Thornton Wilder was important because it helped me escape the shock of the big room, the Puigserver del Lliure. It was the first time I'd performed with a character with weight. And I realized that the important thing wasn't the size or the weight, but other things. I looked at Rosa Renom and didn't have to do much more. She looked at me, took my hand, and that was it, I had to let go. I've also been able to work with many people I've admired since I was very young: Renom, Rosa Boladeras, Mercè Pons, Carles Martínez, Mercè Arànega. Rehearsing with them is a school of thought. You see how they approach the roles, you see how they act, what they try, not always... It's very cool.

When you were little, did you go to the theater a lot?

— I've always liked it a lot. My grandmother did a lot of amateur theater, because my grandfather didn't let her go any further. Given the context of the time: "You go home, if you want, you can do the Pastorets and a little bit more." My grandmother had this thing about taking us to see plays. And so I really like it.

Because?

— Because it's a ritual, because it's live, because suddenly there's something that can't be explained: everyone breathes at the same time, even from the audience, watching that. When suddenly you get emotional. Because many things can happen. I don't know if what happened in Bad diction It could happen in the audiovisual world. You can give yourself permission to do something more everyday, or more traditional, and then do something crazier. Anything can happen on stage, and for me, it's very magical. With all the things that have happened, if theater hasn't died out, it never will.

She is the only one of the Mamzelles who has not gone over to the...

— Look, I don't rule it out. I really like writing. I think one day I'd like to direct. I'm also very afraid of it. I'm very hesitant. I think I should have a lot of company. I haven't done that for a while now, but I'm writing texts for myself. And I think yes, I would like to write and direct.

What kind of texts?

— I really like science fiction. For example, Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (Forget me): a love story that then goes boom!