Canarian by birth and heart, Madrid native by adoption, film, theater, dubbing and television actress, Ana Wagener is one of the protagonists of Privacythe non-English speaking Netflix series that is sweeping the world, with a total of 45 million hours viewed in 10 days, an intelligent and intimate proposal that invites us to reflect on the seriousness and consequences of cybercrimes that attack our privacy, with a feminist and brave perspective.

She is close, generous, energetic and vulnerable, she is determined and transparent in her treatment and expression, a passionate, self-demanding, self-taught and vocational actress who for more than four decades has made herself slowly and with determination, carefully delving into their characters.

He has crossed the screens in a multitude of series, such as Mrs either The other lookand has just recorded in the series you would do it too by David Victori, in addition to the second season of Welcome to Eden for Netflix and on The nights of Tefía, signed by Miguel del Arco for ATRESPlayer, which she is enthusiastic about.

We chatted in his bright and cozy Madrid house. They rest in the bookstore Numerous awards, like the Goya that he has treasured since 2011 for his performance in The sleeping voice by Benito Zambrano.

QUESTION – When the scripts come into your hands PrivacyWhat impacts or surprises you the most about the proposal?

ANSWER – It catches my attention to come across a story starring women and also touching on a topic that, currently, is affecting us fully: how a simple click can change or completely destroy your life, how exposed we are on social networks and the lack of morals or the unawareness of the seriousness of sharing any filth that comes your way.

The culprits are not only those who send intimate files but all those who forward them. In Privacy The cases of two women of different ages, backgrounds, character and social stratum are exposed, who suffer a serious crime of violation of their privacy because videos in which they have sexual relations are disseminated; I was very interested in the theme and the feminist perspective. It really impacted me, it is a very necessary series.

The creators of the series, Laura Sarmiento and Verónica Fernández, have managed to place a women’s story at the forefront. Do successes like this reinforce the education or awakening of the viewer towards greater visibility of women?

Both, Laura and Verónica, are two feisty women, I call them ‘pico pala’, with a long career and a lot of feminist culture, yes, they have focused the series on six very powerful women characters but also – and I want to emphasize this because I think it’s very important—some of them are mature women, which is unusual. Women over 50 have great stories to tell because we carry heavily loaded backpacks.

Having an advanced age erases us from the map and excludes us…

That’s right, they make us invisible because we are not in the market of desire or sex, when you are over 40 or 50 years old, you don’t sell. If you are going to look for a job at 40 years old, they consider you an old man, when I believe that it is about the opposite, about valuing your background, your resume, having an agenda of contacts, travel, and a deep knowledge of human beings. .

That is why I think it is so important, not only that we are made visible but that value is given to what it means to grow old or grow up, as the Argentines say, with dignity. We still have sexual desire and intellectual desire. I have the feeling that the reception of the series, which for me has been surprisingly wonderful, has been because many feminist women, and men, have identified with it.

What have you discovered and learned from Alicia, the inspector you play?

By immersing myself in the world of Alicia, an inspector in the central information technology crime section, I understood the complexity of her work: if there is no complaint it is very complicated, not only to investigate but also to accuse those responsible for the crime. There are many cases of women who live or commit suicide with shame, fear, and guilt.

The work that these specialized professionals do requires great delicacy, preserving and giving maximum importance to the privacy of the people who come to your table. That is why I have worked on the character of Alicia as a psychologist more than as an inspector, from listening, so as not to block the person in front of you, without violence, with sensitivity and discretion, because the victims of this type of crimes tell very intimate things.

How can we free ourselves or escape the fear, the shame that women feel here and now in these situations of danger and harassment?

Fear exists because danger exists. There is still a lot of danger in this society for the mere fact of being a woman. The laws have to be greatly strengthened and we have to invest more because there are daily deaths. There are even people who find it difficult, today, to admit that gender violence exists.

Do you think that audiovisuals can serve, not only as mere entertainment, but also to denounce injustices, stir consciences and provoke reflections?

Yes, I think the arrival of platforms has helped a lot to spread these topics. Production has also been decentralized and other cities are now reflected, not exclusively Madrid or Barcelona; It is magnificent how Bilbao is portrayed, in Privacy.

There is a lot of entertainment production but it is increasingly packed with series in which you have to listen, be attentive, which lead you to reflect on relationships, work or other various conflicts, and when you finish watching them you feel that something in you is changing. has modified, that is wonderful. Audiovisual and theater are social tools. For me, the ideal as an actress is to participate in projects that raise awareness.

Why do you think you are usually offered characters of strong women with character? How do you prepare them to become real women?

Within what I call ‘human landscapes’, my physiognomy is that of a strong woman and I consider myself a woman with personality. For me, embodying a character is always a new adventure, it produces a lot of excitement but also vertigo. Almost all the characters have a kind of label, the good, the bad… I erase that label, I’m not interested, I don’t believe in the labels they give us.

I always look for the character’s weakness, his Achilles heel, and if it’s not in the script I make it up. Then his humanity appears, which is ultimately what interests me; I believe that no one is good or bad, a liar or authentic, everything is under suspicion and anyone who says otherwise is lying, we all have secrets, defects, miseries.

What are the tools and values ​​that have helped you maintain continuity in your work?

The important thing is to maintain yourself, but with dignity. Whenever I say yes to a project it is to give it my all. I consider myself very lucky, I have gone little by little and I have made a place for myself. For me, empathy is the fundamental value. Empathy with the entire team, from the person who picks you up in the morning to the person who does your makeup or the one who feeds you on set, and also transfer that empathy to the characters you play.

You always have to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, and that requires openness and honesty, because everyone has insecurities and fears, you have to understand reactions: listen. Empathy, respect and knowing how to be in your place is something that we always have to remember and teach to those who are starting out. But, in addition, we actors have to always be in tune, it is our duty whether we work or not, and that is also the driving force that moves me.

I believe in work, and I’m not talking about perfection, I adore imperfection, but about dedicating yourself to work. Behind the result, behind what the public sees, behind the awards or the outfits, behind all that there is a lot of effort and sacrifice, which is why I believe that this is a profession with high physical and emotional risk. Learning has to be continuous, you have to die learning.

In your personal life, what do you hold on to or what things sustain and drive you to move forward?

I cling to the people I love, feeling loved and loving is the driving force. Furthermore, I extract everything from my emotions, I nourish myself from the family that I have left and from my family of friends, from human relationships. Not sharing with people the things that happen to you, good and bad, would be like making life a soliloquy, a monologue. So my driving force is love and of course study and preparation, which are demands without which I do not understand my life.

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