Andrew Tarbet: "I spent a year without sleep thinking about weak pronouns"

BarcelonaWhen he was 34, Andrew Tarbet (Buffalo, 1971) made a decision that would mark his professional career and his life. The American actor left Canada to settle in Barcelona with his partner, the actress Laia Marull. At that time he was convinced that he was throwing his acting career overboard, but time has proven him wrong. Tarbet learned our language and burst onto the Catalan scene and audiovisual media with shows such as Things we said today (2010) and series like Unfaithful (2009-2011) and The Riera (2014-2016). Now he takes on the opposite challenge: he faces a show in English, In Macbeth song, which Oriol Broggi will direct from Wednesday at the Teatro de la Biblioteca, accompanied by live music from London's The Tiger Lilies and Màrcia Cisteró and Enric Cambray in the cast. In parallel, Tarbet is preparing a play about his experience in Catalonia over all these years.

What does this have to offer? Macbeth special?

— The obvious thing, of course, is the presence of the Tiger Lilies, which are wonderful. We look for a way to explain Macbeth with his songs, creating a very interesting hybrid between music and theatre. They are two worlds that occupy the same space. In addition, there is the text of Shakespeare, which in itself is already a challenge.

Is it easier for you, considering the show is in English?

— That's what everyone tells me, but it's not easy, because Shakespeare's language is different and we have to translate it, we have to find out what he wanted to say in his time and bring those ideas to today. The glory of this production is the magic of the music and the richness of the words. Shakespeare's lines take us to a deep and impressive place, and he does it all very beautifully.

Just done Romeo and Juliet at the Poliorama Theatre and The seagull at the Teatre Lliure. Is it a coincidence that your latest works are classics?

— Absolutely, I work where I am wanted. When David Selvas proposed me to do Romeo and Juliet, I got dizzy, because it was a Shakespeare in Catalan. And then, working again with Julio [Manrique] with The seagull It was fantastic.

How do you experience each creative process?

— I feel the same as when I was 22, but I suffer less now. The creative process is just as painful and complicated for me, because I punish myself quite a bit, but now I notice that I can live with it in a different way. I accept doubts, obstacles, moments of discouragement. The years have taught me to be patient. When I was young everything was on fire, everything burned intensely, and that is very attractive. But you can also have the oven simmering and cooking slowly.

You began your career at Cirque du Soleil. How do you remember that experience?

— It was right after I finished my studies at the National Theatre School of Montreal. We were doing our final year project and the director of Cirque du Soleil came to see us. A week later, he called me and gave me a three-and-a-half-hour audition. I was in great shape, and I remember that when I finished I could barely walk. They told me they wouldn't take me, but 10 minutes later they brought me back, gave me another audition and then they said yes, I would be back in two weeks. I was working on Shakespeare in the Park and I had already signed my first contract, so I told them I couldn't. I was committed. They gave me 24 hours to make up my mind. When I told the director of the play and my friends, they all encouraged me to say yes. So I called the director at four in the morning to take the job. He said, "First of all, don't ever call me at that hour again. And second of all, I already knew you would. In fact, I had no other choice."

You worked there for two and a half years. What did the circus give you?

— The theatre had taught me to act in a very Anglo-Saxon way, to control my body, to respect my voice and to give all my weight to the text. The circus was exactly the opposite. I was the master of ceremonies, I was alone in front of 2,500 people and I had to fill that space no matter what. All that training went down the drain. This was important, because I always try to be obedient at work. I am aware of this, and that is why there is often a moment when I turn to the director and ask for permission to not do it well. Being obedient in the world of creation is a mistake, because it takes you to a neutral place.

In 2000 he filmed the comedy Olé Coffee with the actress Laia Marull, who would become his partner and take him to Catalonia. What would have happened if he had not come to Barcelona?

— I would have gone to Los Angeles, I would have a career doing sitcoms, I would be rich and very sad. Five years after meeting Laia on that shoot, I came to live in Barcelona thinking that I was taking a shot at my professional career and that I should open a pizzeria. But acting is the only thing I know how to do. I have been very lucky that people like Julio [Manrique] have given me opportunities. They didn't care that I was from outside, I have been working and I have seen that being an actor in Catalonia in Catalan was possible.

Did you learn Catalan for professional or personal reasons?

— I needed to learn it, the tool of my work is language. My first intention was to study Spanish, and Catalan would come little by little, but in a few minutes I realized that I had to do the opposite. I live in Barcelona, ​​​​99% of the professional offer is in Catalan. For four years I did not take classes, I learned it by living, speaking, going to the market. In order not to die of boredom and blame my wife, I set up a film festival in the Empordà. I needed to fill my creative restlessness and keep busy.

Talking to him opened the doors to TV3 with the series UnfaithfulHow do you remember it?

— It was my first job at TV3. When the showrunner [Jesus Segura] signed me, there were two weeks left before the start of the shooting. I told him: "In such a short time, my Catalan is not going to improve." He replied that I could speak in English, as I was more comfortable. And right after that he died. I started to Unfaithful without my protector and with the figure of a linguist who corrected me all the time. It was a very long shoot and at the end of the day I exploded. If I was playing a foreign character, it didn't make sense dramaturgically for my Catalan to be perfect either. I spent a year without sleep thinking about weak pronouns. In the end they gave me a little more space.

In return, television gave him popularity.

— That's how Julio [Manrique] met me and then he started offering me work. TV3 changed my life, because it introduced me to Catalonia in a very powerful way. When we were working on my character's past, showrunner He told me: "He's going to be a bank robber." I replied: "You mean?" And a week later, he told me again: "I've got it, he's going to be an ex-porn star." I saw it very clearly, I was sure that the character would be a success. It was very funny. The day the episode aired, I remember Pepi, a neighbour who was a wonderful lady, who was waiting for me on the stairs to tell me, above all, that she had seen me on TV.

How do you feel, after all these years in Catalonia?

— Catalonia is the place where I have lived the longest of my life. It's very strange. I am of American and Canadian parents, I lived in the United States until I was 18 and in Canada until I was 33. I don't feel like I belong anywhere. Seeing everything that is happening in the United States, I feel very un-American. I am filled with shame and incredible anger seeing all this stupidity. Being Canadian seems so much better next to this madness, but I have changed countries so many times that I don't have a deep connection with the land. However, the Mediterranean has changed the way I am, the connection with food, the way we relate to each other, it has enriched my life. Everything is better. In Catalonia I have built a home that will be mine forever and I will stay. In fact, I wouldn't know how to go back.