Omar Franco: "The Cuba of today and the immediate future is very sad"

The actor had given many examples of histrionics Omar Franco throughout his extensive career; However, the character who elevated him to the respect and affection of all the people of Cuba is his Rupert, the storyteller, womanizer, worshiper of Cachita, a very nice member of the family of the TVC comedy program Live the story.

Well, who tells you that the Lord Omar Franco He gave me an interview during his intense pilgrimage through Miami, where I imagine the Cubans there love him like those here?

Typecasting Franco as the film's mechanic Play Station, a murderer in Following the Trace, the officer in another police program, just to mention some of his roles on television, without counting his other appearances in Cuban cinema and theater... it would be very complicated!

It's simple, a strange being in a world devoid of wonderfully strange beings.

Starting from that base, how did the Cuban public in Miami, who follows Pánfilo and his troops, receive you?

First, I would like to give you a prologue because you have made me proposals for pitches that you want me to hit: in the style of the supersonic Chapman, others with good placement like Duque or Arocha did and some questions that are similar to Rogelio's fork, that excellent pitcher. who was a victim of Marquetti's famous home run in 1986 and with which Ruperto fell into a coma... hahahahahaha.

I will try to connect your submissions and ensure that those who read us are pleased. You and I have in common, Cubanness and sports, so let's move on.

Now, answering your first question, the reception has been very good. There are many factors that help: the same motivations to leave the island as hundreds of thousands of Cubans, my previous tours to the United States with the program that identified with me through humor, in addition to having seen me in movies, detectives, anyway!

Luckily for me, I have been able to exchange with emigrants who have been here for 50 and 60 years who had no references from me and to whom I have adapted my presentations. Travels made with the group Humoris Causa through Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Spain have also been very useful to me to universalize my humor and not remain only in our Creoleism.

It is curious, Cubans who never thought of seeing me in person, for example, coming from eastern provinces that I stopped visiting due to the continuity of the rehearsals of Live the story, they greet me, they share with me on the street, in the stores; we portray ourselves. It is a reciprocal well-being.

You know that I love baseball, I am a baseball player and baseball players adjust depending on the team they play for. Well, I made my readjustments, which have not been difficult for me since, already in Cuba, I did both comedy and tragedy that I adapted to my companions without any problem.

And I tell you something, many tell me: “how Ruperto is missed in Live the story”But everyone, without exception, congratulates me for the step taken, knowing how beneficial it is for my family and me. That good reception has stimulated me to continue creating in complete happiness.

Is it difficult for you to talk about yourself?

A lot, especially being a public figure. It's already been 30 years of artistic life; The people accept me, respect me, love me, which is the most important thing. In addition, I have received national (16) and international (2) awards that also support me, such as those received at the New York International Festival, award for best supporting performance for the film Pablo, among a thousand films and at the Puerto Rico International Festival, award for best leading actor for the film glooms, among 650 samples.

In Cuba I have been recognized for plays, films and for my character of Ruperto on television. In other words, he hasn't stuck to one genre or medium, and that flatters me. Five Caricato awards make me proud.

And, in the history of great Cuban actors of all time, Omar Franco appears with golden letters even though he says otherwise. For me he is a great actor “from the spikes to the cap”. Where are you from, how did you get into acting, do you have another profession?

I was born in Havana, son of Villa Clara residents. We are four brothers. I have been married since 1989 to Marlem, the love of my life. In Mantilla I built my house with my hands for thirteen years.

I am an electronic engineer, although I did not last there for a short time, four years, because already in 1992 Osvaldo Doimeadiós suggested that I join a dramatic theater group and that is when drastic changes began in my life: I left Antillana de Acero with my one-year-old son, I stopped earn money but I earned what I am today.

The group was directed by Armando Suárez del Villar, to whom I owe my training as an actor. I do not come from the ISA; I am an empirical actor and I always had the book under my arm. How do you become an actor? by Stanislavski.

I had the support of greats like René de la Cruz Sr., Luis Alberto García Sr., Roberto Perdomo, Hilda Oates, Liliam Courí, Laurita de la Uz... With them I learned about acting but, above all, about human values. I was the “newbie” who came from an amateur world because I had performed with the Hepatics of the CUJAE of the student movement (1987) that Virulo promoted in the 80s. In the Hepatics I shared with Otto Ortiz, Carlos Vázquez (Rikimbili), José Tellez.

What do you prefer: fierce criticism or being ignored?

Phew! You threw a tight fastball that you have to get your arms out of quickly, Yulieski style. I prefer criticism but with a good vibe, that which helps does not destroy. I experienced that with Pablo, a baseball coach from the Ciudad Deportiva and with Armando Suárez del Villar in the theater. Being criticized for good is the best; Poor person who lives on flattery and only wants to hear nice things. Living in a bubble is not good.

With whom, actress or actor, have you felt better, with what director?

You have put me in three and two and we have to shoot at whatever comes in the zone. I don't know if I strike out or hit a home run because you threw a pitch at me that could perhaps hurt someone, something far from my feelings.

In humor I choose Iván Camejo, we grew as comedians working together for 16 years; in the drama, Aramis Delgado He is someone I love like a brother, we made the movie together Pablo, with which I won the acting award in New York. He helped me a lot.

In terms of direction, Armando Suárez del Villar. For me, theater, without disparaging other media, is the cradle where great actors have been forged and with Armando I learned what I know.

Look, the play glooms In the ninth quarter of Amadito del Pino, dedicated to sports, it received the approval of the audience and later a film directed by Charlie Medina was made, for which I was awarded at the Puerto Rico Festival. I keep that work in my heart and I was able to act it in two different media, what more could I ask for?

Where do you find inspiration? And I'll give you, for example, your Ruperto, who often overshadowed the rest of the group.

I had a very humble life. I came to have a television when I was 18 years old. He rode a bus, that is, like a normal Cuban. Just to tell you that I had a car parked at home for two years due to lack of metal, but leave that for another interview because if we talk about things about our country... well!

I told you that, living in Mantilla, I had to cross four municipalities to get to Vedado, which was where the cultural focus was, and that riding buses or almendrones makes you brush up against each character that pa'qué; you absorb stereotypes, personalities.

I am “Stanislaskian”, I build characters from the inside out, but that does not prevent me from talking, exchanging with people. In my case, Ruperto is a mix of those older people I met, friendly, happy, witty.

Then Ruperto arrives Live the story with his Cubanism, womanizing, boastful and… triumph! Add to that Cachita (Irela Bravo) and my sister's gay son, Isidoro (Marlon Pijuán) who complemented the story.

What has it meant in your personal and professional life? Live the story? How do you get to that program that for me is the only one that can be compared with Behind the Facade, The Peladero and Cases and Home Things?

Of course it has meant a lot. I tell you that I was never a lover of television humor to do it, but to receive it. I remember those programs that you mention and I liked them, as well as foreign proposals. And I agree with you, for me Live the story It is a continuation of those spaces that we enjoyed so much through the small screen.

Done with very good taste, decent defense of the characters. I had participated as a guest in 2012 but until 2014 I could not accept being a regular due to my participation in four films: Omega 3, Wedding dress, Habaneras Boccaccerias and The Foam of the Days.

The proposal they made to me was a character who came out of a coma that he had entered after being hit by the ball that Agustín Marquetti bounced out of the park, leaving Pinar del Río on the field in the 1986 championship. Can you imagine?

When that Ruperto appeared, taking one step forward and two steps back and mentioning Marquetti, a flagship baseball player who did not live in Cuba... the advisors and some ICRT leaders said but because of this and because of the character's way of walking who did not live in Cuba. It's more than Cuban society, when it seems like you move forward you go backwards. But hey, it liked it and it stayed.

With Ruperto it was justified to talk about past issues because, simply, he did not know what had happened during the period when he was in a coma and another character could not do that as it would be very confrontational. The writers saw in Ruperto a way to say without saying.

I would like the program to continue, I wish it the greatest success; There are many families, not just those of the actors, who benefit and of course, making people laugh is a way out of the problems that plague Cuba at the moment.

Do you miss your Cuba, your people? When do you make the difficult decision to emigrate?

Of course! The town criers, the sound of the dominoes, the atmosphere of the city, the question "did something arrive at the winery?"... That is strange. But I left Cuba prepared, you have to shield your heart. In Miami, luckily, I have my Cuban audience.

Years ago, my family and I had thought about emigrating, but it came to fruition in July 2021. The last straw was the repression after July 11, 2021: attacking the slaves who raised their heads, going against of boys who want to have the same thing that the children of the leaders have, establish prison sentences beyond all logic.

The next day, Marlem and I made the decision and left. Omarito was already in the United States. I left recorded programs and they were able to air because I did not make any statement. It was a difficult decision.

And I tell you something. Many say that Miami is the cemetery of artists. To me that is terrible rhetoric. I am willing to work on anything. And with my hands I feed my family and I can dream. I work at Univista. Carlucho opened the doors for me. I am very grateful to him and the television station. Different dynamics. I direct the Bodega, situation comedy. It's a challenge but I'm in my comfort zone.

Every day the number of actors, dancers, and singers who emigrate grows and many live in Miami. Have you not thought about joining an Association?

You don't know how many times I have spoken about the competition between INDER and the Ministry of Culture to see which organization contributes the greatest number of emigrants.

Athletes have a more ephemeral professional life and have to decide quickly; We artists have a greater choice. Among the artists I talk to you about the performing arts; Let's not go to literature, art, classical music, dance. In other words, it is not unreasonable to create an association among all of us. With the artists, of all the manifestations, that we have emigrated, many good things could be done. How good that producers could appear to unite us and shows can be produced!

Family theme?

All very well. I arrived in the United States with Marlem, with whom I have been married for 33 years. Our son Omarito, who was here five years ago, is now a US citizen. He lived for a year with my cousins in Chicago, one of the cities I like the most.

Hence the anecdote of the first pitch I threw in the game between the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins on September 11, 2015, invited by José Dariel Abreu. An event that was not disclosed because Pito had left Cuba and everything related to him was prohibited. Can you believe it?

Now the three of us live here in the City of the Sun and we have our sights set on a much better future, we have aspirations not of luxury, but of being able to live. The only adverse thing has been the loss of my father at 93 years old, but he left us proud of his son and lacking nothing.

Since your departure, our Cuba has regressed even further. Hunger is rampant, needs are swarming (your favorite verb is very well used), there are not even medications. What opinion do you have about it?

Julita, like a good closer, you left a 100-mile stretch for last. I wish I could hit that pitch as hard as possible. You can make an apology, well, another interview. From my humble and moral opinion I respond to you.

For me, the country's senior leaders, State Security and the Ideological Department are the ones who outline the policy and I tell them that this Cuban never abused power, stole or embezzled... Not even in humor you can steal a joke; I never sold the tables they gave you when you performed. I am an upright, civic-minded man; I can live anywhere on the planet.

The country was aging, tell me now with that of hundreds of thousands of young people who have emigrated. There is no workforce to maintain these senior citizens, the vast majority of whom gave their life to the revolution and earn a retirement with which they cannot afford even the minimum. They don't know how to wake up tomorrow. We are talking about elementary things, about surviving.

The issue of violence is another aspect of the situation. The atrocious misery, the absence of the basics generates dehumanization and the safe Cuba of yesteryear has been disappearing. A largely inefficient police force; soldiers asking for discharge. feminicide, There are already 34 murders this year. In 2022 there were 34. There is a degradation, that ancestral machismo, the loss of values.

We have been frozen in time. We talk about athletes and artists because we are more media-oriented, but how many professionals, engineers, doctors, technicians in different manifestations have left?

I return to sport, specifically to long-distance races: we comedians go out in a compact starting platoon; some hare escaped quickly, but then, little by little, they abandoned the race, one before another later.

Because? Because no one managed to fulfill their dreams. The Cuba of today and the immediate future is very sad. I wish for the best, I advocate for real change, not a veneer. Unfortunately, many have died and others live in a society with very strong anthropological damage, without hope. This without counting the divided families, the pain that represents.

To the left-wing hypercritics who don't know me, I can tell you that all Omar Franco did was satirize and reflect, through humor and my style, the Cuban society that has been degrading. And when I had to say within four walls or outside of them, without humor, the truths I felt, I did it and those who had to know it, knew it.

That's why, like a good baseball player, I made adjustments because here you can say whatever you want about Joe Biden. Here the government is to serve the people; There, the people are servants of a government that misgoverns every day, totalitarian and dictatorial misgovernment.

Now I just have to work, build, make dreams possible. We can only wait to see if we can see a different, free Cuba.

Talking seriously with Omar Franco does not make us forget Rupe, the womanizer, storyteller, although this time I have the sensation of a reflection made by a mature, serious man, lover of his girlfriend of three decades, father of a beautiful boy and friend of his friends… an ACTOR! In uppercase.