Spaniard silences critics in Cantinflas biopic

Cantinflas: The Movie tells the story of Mexico’s greatest and most beloved comedy film star Mario Moreno. Oscar Jaenada plays the star and explained the time frame of the film: “It starts off around the time where he’s called to work on Around the World in 80 Days. That came during a point in his career where he was able to break barriers in not only Latin America but to crossover to Hollywood. That’s where we focus but selfishly for Mario, I really focused on how an actor can maintain the same character for so long.”

With his performance as Cantinflas, Spanish actor Oscar Jaenada has silenced critics who believed that a Spaniard could not credibly play the Mexican comedian.

But he said he understood the character he was playing: “Why did I understand this so well? During all the infinite interviews they did with Mario, when they asked him to define Cantinflas, his personality, they asked him to define him in one single word. He insisted and his only word was always Mexico. Cantinflas is Mexico because I am Mexico, Cantinflas is Mexico. So in a way I am interpreting a character that is Mexico. Mexico, he emphasized this in every single one of his words. So I understood this skepticism completely. I felt a tremendous amount of respect.”

Cantinflas: The Movie is out in the United States now.