Joaquín Furriel tells about his role as a father, the mystery of his new film and his return to Shakespeare

On a hot summer afternoon, we went up to the 20th floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, where a room offered a stunning panoramic view of the citywith trains moving in the immensity of the urban landscape. On each side of the room, two large posters highlighted the film a silent deathcreating an atmosphere that anticipated the conversation.

Upon entering, Joaquin Furriel was sitting. A journalist was interviewing him, while he responded with a combination of seriousness and enthusiasm, completing the professional atmosphere that surrounded the event.

When he received us, he greeted us with a fist gesture, explaining that he had been having a sore throat. Despite this, his kindness was clear when he asked us where we preferred to do the interview, he made sure we felt comfortable and created a warm and friendly atmosphere to start the conversation.

Initially he shared details with us about his performance in a silent deathstarring alongside Soledad Villamil and Alejandro Awada: “Octavio is a man from the ’80s, alone, in Patagonia, physically powerful, but with enormous emotional fragility. Showing that contradiction was the biggest acting challenge,” he commented.

The setting was key in the construction of his interpretation. “The landscape of Patagonia, in southern Argentina, was almost another character: the mountains, the lakes, the snow… All of that helped give authenticity to Octavio’s world,” explained Furriel.

The film directed by Sebastian Schindel presents Octavio, a 45-year-old man who carries a deep melancholy and an emotional burden that runs through the screen. His only source of happiness is his niece Sofíawhose murder sparks a search to find the culprit, sowing suspicion among everyone in the town.

“Is a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The plot, acting and setting are incredible. Sebastian achieved a film that is not only visually beautiful, but emotionally powerful. If you like intense stories and unexpected twists, this film is for you,” invites the actor.

Furriel collaborates for the third time with Schindel. First he was in The pattern: x-ray of a crime (2013), and then in the son (2019).

One of the most shocking scenes occurs when Octavio finds his niece Sofia dead.. “Sebastián and I talked a lot about this scene. It is one of the most difficult that I had to act in the movie“, said.

Furriel was visibly moved. Before answering, he paused reflectively to try to describe how that moment remained deeply etched in his memories, evoking emotions full of love and tenderness.

She confessed that it was defiant and after a sigh she expressed: “There is a gesture that he has with her. Very soft. I remembered a very intimate physical gesture: like when I caressed my daughter when she was little and asleep -Now she’ll give me hell if I wake her up!- that caress you do without waking her up. Somehow, I saw that image at that moment. That memory helped me show Octavio’s guilt and love in a heartbreaking way.”

Joaquín Furriel and Paola Krum They met in 2005 during the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After several years together they became parents of Eloísa, who is currently 16 years old. Despite being prominent public figures in showbiz, they kept their relationship private until their breakup in 2011. However, after separating, Both continued with a joint and harmonious upbringing of their daughter, prioritizing their well-being and development.

The love he feels for his daughter is unquestionable. As he began to respond, his tone of voice became more affectionate and his gaze shone with a special intensity, that which only arises when talking about someone who holds a deep place in the heart.

And Eloísa has shown great talent for music and composition. Although Joaquín prefers that he live his adolescence without external pressures or expectations. “He is studying piano, singing and musical production, but I want him to enjoy this stage without rushing. He has time to grow and show what he does, which is already beautiful. It is important that you keep your world intimate and healthy,” he said.

The actor recalled how his adolescence was crucial for his formation and hopes her daughter has a similar experience. “I had the adolescence I had, in my neighborhood, my school… Then I went to study at the Conservatory, I studied dramatic art, I started working at 23 years old and it didn’t go badly for me. I had the stages that I had to live through. And I want my daughter to have her stages, the time will come. The serenade is long,” said Joaquín.

Likewise, he highlighted how the Today’s society lives in constant accelerationmarked by immediacy and the demand for immediate results. “There is something these days where it seems that the serenade is short and that the boys have to go out on the field and I don’t see him healthy. I want him to continue being a healthy person. May the times be sickdoes not mean that one cannot teach healing,” he explained.

Even so, he proudly highlights the his daughter’s artistic talent and the beauty of the compositions he creates: “What he writes is really beautiful and he has a beautiful voice, he interprets very well. I really like the voice he has, how he interprets what he writes. I love it. And I like that it is calm and I’m enjoying it.”

Not everything is cinema for Joaquín. This year he will return to the theater with Richard IIIunder the direction of Calixto Bieito, in San Martin. This work of William Shakespeare explores excessive ambition, power and evil.

When he began to talk about the work, he radiated genuine enthusiasm comparable to the amazement of a child trying something new for the first time. Despite his obvious emotion, he tried to organize his thoughts before responding, demonstrating how much this project that he so eagerly hopes to carry out means to him.

“Shakespeare is a school for any actor. In Richard III Not only do you play a complex character, but you face a treatise on evil. Classical theater forces you to go to the depths of your expressive capacity. It is like returning to the origin, to the purest part of this profession. Not only do you play a character, but you also face an enormous cultural legacy,” he said.

For those who do not know it, Richard III narrates the assumption of power by a cruel and manipulative man, willing to do anything to get the crown. In this version, Bieito proposes a contemporary vision that delves into the darkest aspects of the character.

Therefore, his commitment to the work and his desire to perfectly capture the evil that the director seeks in this version led him to rigorous preparation. He has read different adaptations of the play, takes swimming classes, studies documentaries, analyzes films based on the story and does field work. All this with the purpose of delving into the complexity of the character of Richard III, the last English monarch fallen in battle, and offering a unique and powerful interpretation.

“I have already started swimming to have my body trained for the stage and to be expressive as I think this character is going to need. I have also researched evil because this edition is going to be very special“.

Furriel reflected on the comparisons with Alfredo Alconwho also played Richard III. He showed deep admiration for his legacy, highlighting its impact on Argentine theater. However, he clarified that he does not perceive these coincidences as following in Alcón’s footsteps, but rather as the result of a similar training that led them to confront great classic works.

“He and I share a passion for classic literature that connects us, but each interpretation has its own path,” commented the actor with humility and respect.

He stressed that works like Shakespeare’s require a mastery of the lyrical and the epic, skills that, according to him, were more common in actors of previous generations like that of Alcón. “In his time it was common for actors to face this type of texts. Today, although it is less frequent, actors with my training or that of Alfredo inevitably come across these works. “They are part of the path,” he added.

For him, Richard III represents not only an artistic challenge, but also an opportunity to revive classical theater on the contemporary stage. “These works remind us why the theater remains a vital space, a ritual between actor and spectator that cannot be replaced by any other form of expression,” he concluded.

Theater occupies a fundamental place in Joaquín’s career, not only because it is the origin of his professional careerbut also because he has been doing it since he was 13 years old. The theater represents a unique space where you can display all his expressive capacity and adapt each work personally. “Every time I do theater my whole story comes to me. It’s something that doesn’t happen to me in movies or series.”

Furthermore, he expressed his preferences between theater and cinema in his acting career: “Each new project is like starting from scratch. I feel that the theater is the purest space for the actor. It is where it all began for me and where I return every time I need to reconnect with the essence of this profession. The theater has a living link, “a ritual with the viewer, which cannot be compared with cinema or series.”

He explains that in film and television, authorship belongs to the director or producers, while he considers himself a narrative tool to convey the story. On the other hand, the theater is perceived as the true territory of the actor, where he can develop his art with greater freedom. That’s why, organizes his schedule to return to the stage every three or four yearsthus maintaining a constant connection with this form of expression that he considers essential in his career.

This year, Furriel premieres Atomic shelterthe new series from the creators of The Money Heist, Sky Red and Berlin, which will be broadcast on Netflix. Filmed in Spain, the plot follows a group of billionaires who take shelter in a luxurious bunker, Kimera Underground Park, during World War III, while they watch the world being destroyed through screens.

The series promises a combination of suspense, drama and personal tensions in an apocalyptic context.

Additionally, he stars in the film Firewalla psychological thriller directed by David Victori, in which a grieving family faces a desperate search after their daughter disappears amid a forest fire alert.

“Both projects are very powerfulone at the American level and the other with global reach. “I am very excited about what they are going to contribute,” commented Joaquín.