Born in Argentina, Natalia Verbeke moved with her family to Spain aged five. Having studied at drama school in Madrid, she starred in the BAFTA Award-winning road movie "Jump Tomorrow". The Oscar-nominated romantic comedy "Son of the Bride" is her first Argentine film.
How did you become involved with "Son of the Bride"?
It's a weird story. The makeup artist on my previous film, "Jump Tomorrow", became a really close friend of mine, and she told me that this Argentinean director, Juan Jos茅 Campanella, was going to make this movie. So I called him up and told him on the phone: "You don't know me, but I'm going to be the actress in your next movie, and if you don't have a role for me, you'll have to write one." He started laughing and asked me if I was a real actress. After seeing tapes of my movies, he thought I was perfect for the character.
What interested you about the script?
I fell in love with it! Sometimes you have just one decent character, but here everyone has their own personalities. My character Naty doesn't show her feelings, because she wants to keep her boyfriend Rafael [played by Ricardo Dar铆n]. I've never played someone before who believes so much in love, and who holds back her laughter and her tears.
Was it emotional to come back to Buenos Aires some 20 years after you emigrated?
I felt terrible to start with. I had so many feelings that it was too much. Even the smell of the city made me cry. It wasn't just that I was shooting a movie with a big Argentinean star, I was also visiting members of my family. And of course the country is in a serious economic crisis. What's funny is that psychoanalysis is very popular among Argentineans. Even the taxi drivers think they have the right to analyse you and your life, and they do it really well!
Why are so many interesting films coming out of Argentina at the moment?
I think Argentina has always had good movies, it's just that we haven't been able to see them. Before, they weren't distributed outside of that country. Now, because of the various co-productions with Spain, they are much more widely shown.
