And you, do you like the look on your partner's face?

"You know that typical night when you go out with a friend and go make a beer to have some fun?" Well, that's how, in the most casual way possible, actor Paul Berrondo met Jose, a set designer. "He appeared suddenly at the bar of a nightclub: first I saw a smile, but a smile that made me say 'what's that?' and a pair of eyes that were fixed on me. I've always been very bad at tying people up, I'm very clumsy, but that was a flash. We started talking and look, now, we look.

A partner, says Paul, is a mirror, a reflection. "And I love what he reflects of me. The part of me that I see is that part where I feel I am most myself. We all have many faces and many characters within us, and those relationships in which what you see reflected is what you most identify with or what you like most about yourself are the best, the purest."

For the Basque actor, love is a feeling that cannot be provoked, "that is born from deep within the stomach," and that characterizes us as humans. "As a teacher once said, love is ultimately the only answer to all the questions you may ask yourself in life." That is why, above all, what he values about his relationship with Jose is their love and respect. "Saying that we love each other very much seems obvious, but it isn't: for the other person, you have to be there."

Paul assures that his partner is a very important part of his creative process. "I am very intense, I have a lot of the Cantabrian Sea in me and whether you like it or not, that gives you a disposition and a character. He, in this aspect, is calmer, he is Uruguayan with Galician parents, and he has a very calm listening style. When I write or direct, if he tells me that something doesn't work, then my is one as one is, then my is one thing doesn't work, then my is one and then it's symbiosis," he explains.

The days they enjoy together are those that seem simpler: "Before breakfast we go for a bath, we pass through the shower and breakfast, always with lots of music. We also like to go for walks and go see a play or have dinner, and if we make love, perfect."

The actor feels that he "has reached maturity" and that means he feels more at peace with himself, and calmer "with the shit and the beautiful." "The first half of life is about knowing what you don't want, the second half you can dedicate to knowing what you do want," he concludes.