The actor from ‘Elite’ and ‘To be or not to be’ tells us about his career, role models and how he has become an inspiration to many.
When Ander Puig enters the Webedia offices, he does so as a somewhat shy young man who doesn’t want to attract much attention either. He is kind but his curious look gives him away: inside he is burning. It doesn’t take us a second to realize that his answers are forceful, full of reason and security. Puig is only 22 years old but it seems that she has had a hundred lifetimes to learn and reflect on.
The actor has achieved fame with Elite, where he gives life to Nico, the first trans character in fiction. He had previously been Joel in To be or not to be, also a trans guy. In real life, Puig is a trans boy who not only talks openly about his transition, but also about other aspects that would make any twenty-something person red-faced. He talks about his vulnerability and not feeling good about himself, but also about how he’s gotten over it and learned to want the camera to follow him.
I think to be an actor you have to be very honest with yourself first. Obviously, it is impossible to know yourself 100%. I know, but I’m just saying be a little honest. If I’m a boy, well, I have to tell him and I have to defend him.
Like the actor, we are all vulnerable and lost, but he has something really special: he has become a role model for other young people. The papers of him in Elite either To be or not to be they are not a question of “inclusion quota”. They help people. He has lived it in his own flesh. “I remember once I went to some awards and there were two trans guys who had been waiting for me downstairs in the hotel since 7:00 p.m. and it was around 12:00 p.m. and they told me. And I: ‘Wow, but what are they doing? Come up!’ And they came up and we were talking. In her faces I saw admiration. It was very cool. Obviously, I can’t refuse to talk to them,” she confessed in an interview with SensaCinema.
It is a kind of recognition -or consequence- for that truth and heart that he has poured into his career. Puig has used his own experience to build his characters. “In To be or not to be 70% was my personal experience because I have gone through the same story. I have had a different kind of story, but I did put all the pain he feels, all the rejection, all that internal pain and that fear of saying it. It was showing that vulnerability,” she confesses.
What made you want to be an actor?
When I decided that I wanted to be an actor, it wasn’t because of a series or a movie, it was because I signed up for acting classes and it was out of curiosity. Then I discovered that he was transmitting, that he was expressing me, as if he was letting off steam and also that he was enjoying it and that I was good at it. I realized that maybe it was something I could bet on and so I bet on it. It was also closely linked to my transition. I started acting and it was like feeling good about myself and looking good on screen. Before, maybe I couldn’t have done it.
In this process when you are preparing to be an actor as mentors or models, did you have a model that you followed?
Yes, I really like River Phoenix and also Leonardo DiCaprio, which is a bit of the same style. River Phoenix I think he had a very powerful look and was a very special person.
while promoting Elite You said that you could receive “either a lot of hate or a lot of love”, what happened?
Many people ask me. Obviously, much more love than hate has come. Much love, many messages of gratitude from many trans kids who say thank you for these papers that I have done. And many people also who have received the message and are happy.
Have you found someone for whom you are a model?
Yes, yes, I have found it. I have met people who have seen the series and they have stopped me on the street. When I have gone to awards there have also been people from the film industry who have told me, which has been an inspiration for them. Trans guys who wanted to see me… I remember once I went to some awards and there were two trans guys who had been waiting for me downstairs in the hotel since 7:00 p.m. and it was around 12:00 p.m. they said. And I: ‘Wow, but what are they doing? Come up!’ And they came up and we were talking. On their faces I saw as admiration. It was very cool. Obviously, I can’t refuse to talk to them. I have to talk as much as possible with them because they need it and I am here for them.
Your reaction then is to support them
Yes total. And to listen to them too. I don’t want to be the protagonist of the story, I have already been the protagonist of the series, and when I see them I don’t want to put myself at the level of ‘they are the fans and I am the actor’. I don’t want that, I want to hear too. Let them see that I am there for them too.
The two most outstanding series of your career right now are Elite and To be or not to be. In both you are a trans boy, have you used your experience for the characters?
Yeah. To be or not to be It was my first series, so I didn’t have many acting tables either. I learned a lot with a coach named Yasmina. I let myself flow more into acting. The first few days it was like I didn’t feel anything. I was very tense. I didn’t want to get sensitive. But later I was flowing and more and more acting came out of me. And yes, I also put a lot of myself, my personal experience. I think 70% was my personal experience because I have gone through the same story. I’ve had other types of relationships with girls, I’ve had another type of history, I didn’t do a stage high school, I did an audiovisual artistic high school. It wasn’t the same, obviously, but I did put all the pain he feels, all the rejection, all that internal pain and fear of saying it. It was to show that vulnerability, because he is a character who is totally vulnerable and that is something that is seen with courage, but also vulnerable. So yes, I know that because I went through it in certain phases.
So has acting helped you transition a bit?
Yes, it has helped me a lot. Now I like that the camera is close to me, that it looks for me or I look for it. I look comfortable. It’s like I want to be recorded. Before, if I had acted, I might have liked the profession, but I wouldn’t have fully enjoyed it because I wasn’t comfortable with myself. He hadn’t made peace with me. So if he had seen me on the screen, he would not have seen something that I liked. I think to be an actor you have to be very honest with yourself first. Obviously, it is impossible to know yourself 100%. I know, but I’m just saying be a little honest. If I’m a boy, well, I have to tell him and I have to defend him. I can’t not defend it because it’s easier not to defend it. It was very comfortable not to say it, but I was very unhappy and that’s why I didn’t continue there.
Before, if I had acted, I might have liked the profession, but I wouldn’t have fully enjoyed it because I wasn’t comfortable with myself. He hadn’t made peace with me
What prejudices or clichés do you keep seeing in trans characters?
We are now at a point where homosexuality in trans boys is not shown much. We are also at the beginning of the trans phenomenon, showing on the screen that trans people exist. There is a belief that if you are trans and you want to be a guy, you have to be an alpha male, you have to break down walls, have strength and you have to like women. And no, maybe someone is gay and maybe someone is a guy, but he’s a little more feminine and it’s okay. People have a hard time believing that. I’ve seen it a lot, but mostly older people. People who support you 100%, but this part costs more.
How do you see yourself ten years from now?
I don’t have a dream role because I would like to do many roles, experience various stories and express them. But I would like to make a character that has character, that has a strong personality. A character that had a lot of presence because he has very clear ideals and that the story revolves around this character. That the character also has a conflict with himself at the same time.
I would like to do comedy too. Or drama. Those are the genres I’d most like to work on in the future and I think I know how I could get the most out of them.
Did you have a story in mind while talking about your dream character?
Yes, it’s a book called The catcher in the rye and the character is a mess. And that’s a conflict, but he’s also very human. When you read the book you also see how human it is and how human we all are. And how crazy it is sometimes to be human. Sometimes we think of something and in five seconds we think of something else and then we jump and go to something else. We’re a little crazy as humans, but that’s okay because everyone is like that.
