Alpha males: Raúl Tejón: “There are sexist women and gay ‘gentlemen’” | Television

Tejón arrives with his “14 year old” car from Getafe, where he has always lived, thinking about throw it away in a certain car park in Madrid and arrive in time to show up on time for your appointment at the University. But, at the last minute, he finds the road closed to traffic, he has to enter the labyrinth of the center and, like a good suburbanite, he informs us who are waiting for him by telephone of how much and how late he is. When he finally arrives, he apologizes, takes off the extra long down jacket with which he faces the cold that hits the Plateau today, and leaves a feather stuck to his shirt. I take it from him, I show it to him, he looks at me, I look at him and we both laugh without laughing. The laughter, and an occasional tear at the watering doors, will come later, in a generous and humorous speech of which the following is only an excerpt. Excellent conversationalist, a pleasure to listen to.

How long did it take you to come?

Nothing, 20 minutes. People who live downtown believe that Getafe is in the afterlife, far away, and often take longer than me to get to places. Those of us who live in the suburbs aren’t lazy about distance, right? We have the metro map and the Cercanías map engraved in our heads. I wouldn’t come to live downtown, even if I could buy an apartment, which I can’t.

From?

Because I like Getafe and what Getafe gives me: that I go to train every day with my friend Eduardo, that I go to Sergio’s optician, my schoolmate, and we go to drink a beer at my friend Use’s bar . I guess there are neighborhoods in Madrid where you can do that, but with gentrification everything is more soulless. To meet someone you have to schedule it within three weeks. And that doesn’t sit well with me.

Is he a suburban boy?

Totally. I can leave Getafe, because Getafe won’t leave me. I cannot nor will I deny the place where I grew up, where I became. In my school, in the 80s, heroin was rampant. We kids ran away from poor junkies who were willing to take the pesetas they gave us as pay. My grandparents immigrated from La Mancha. From now on I will try on a Pedro del Hierro dress for an event, because even actors sell illusions. But I’m a hard worker, working class, and that doesn’t make me any less class conscious.

Define “class consciousness”?

Knowing that there is no social justice, that meritocracy does not exist, that it is up to the parents. That, no matter how good things go for me, my obligation is to repay with my taxes the company that gave me everything, including the scholarships with which I obtained two degrees at the university of my city, Carlos III. Law and business administration. I pay them with pleasure and gratitude because they are for the citizens, not for the Government. When I pay a lot I am happy, because it means I have earned a lot of money. The more I pay, the more I earn. I have always been right there. I’ve never tried to be something I’m not.

In other words, you can put “entrepreneur” on your Instagram profile.

Hahaha, I could, what I will never say is entrepreneurneither good livingneither desire to travel Not even that shit that capitalism sells us. A respect.

He is triumphing with his character in the series “Alpha males”. Are you more macho or more alpha?

The alpha of my house is my dog, Roque. Jaime, his rehabilitator, told me this the other day and I really liked it. The alpha male, in dogs, is the one who maintains balance. And I, according to Jaime, am the “chocolate”, the one who keeps the pack together through play. I found it fun, because my way of being in life and work is to play. I arrive on set, or wherever, and people, dogs, children come up to me. I’m chocolate.

Has this always happened to you?

No, it’s happened to me since I decided not to get angry at the world.

Was it before?

Yes, I was very angry with life. I guess it has to do with a complicated situation in my childhood. My father left home and it was a traumatic separation. I felt abandoned and spent almost 20 years angry. From 17 to 35. Until I said: enough.

What happened to make it stand?

It happened that they abandoned me again. One Love. And then, I said, enough, I have to change the screen, I’ll solve this, the tango is over. The anger is over. And it changed my life. I recovered my relationship with my father. I accepted that I couldn’t change it. That my mother was like that too. I understood that people must be accepted as they are and not as we would like them to be. When you accept this, expectations and misunderstandings end and life becomes better. I have been in therapy for 20 years. I decided to be aware. Don’t be happy, be complete.

Has therapy cost you dearly?

Very expensive, but I think being wealthy is much better than being able to buy an apartment on Gran Vía.

Does this awareness coincide with your professional take-off?

Yes, although during the years of anger I took advantage of that energy. I’ve dealt with the whole gamut of bastards: rapists, pedophiles, murderers, corrupt police officers, the whole macho world. At castings they took me for exactly that. No one saw that I could be a comedian, that I could be, that I am in fact a rattlesnake in my anger. Until the arrival of the Caballero brothers [los productores de Machos alfa] and they saw it.

Are you sexist?

Of course I am, that it’s up to me, and I don’t realize it, because I grew up in the patriarchy. I was lucky enough to grow up among powerful women. My great aunt jumped on the train and she lost her legs before they found her with two ovaries. My mother carried on alone with me and my sister, but she still endured things that she shouldn’t have endured. This made me realize that women can be as powerful as they want, but that they also grew up in a patriarchal context.

In other words, there are sexist women.

Well, of course. There are a lot of sexist women and a lot of them gentlemen gay, because patriarchy cuts across the whole of society. But there are things I don’t face and I’m not even willing to discuss. Those who say that violence has no gender, for example, I don’t even argue. Total red line. Boy, go to therapy, I’ve been there for 20 years now. Those who deny genocides, for example, have another red line.

Are there none in your family chats, for example?

Well, sure, look at what I told you about my great aunt, for example. Until there is justice and restitution, there will be two Spains, of course there are. I’ve broken up a few relationships because of these things, I don’t have to put up with certain things that hurt me.

Is homophobia one of them?

Well, of course, if you don’t accept me as I am, that’s it: there’s nothing left to talk about. I don’t impose anything on anyone. She marries a man, a woman or a poodle. But don’t tell me what I can or can’t do with my life.

Does homophobia still exist in your profession?

Well, sure, tell me an explicitly gay actor who has won a Goya for a leading role. You will tell me that Javier Cámara and, yes, he is an exception. But historically they are won by perfectly heterosexual actors playing Iberian males. They tried to remove me from the cast because I was homosexual, hello? Has anyone tried to get Tom Hanks out? Philadelphia to be heterosexual? For this reason I believe that it is an act of reclamation and militancy to say who you are. Sexual orientation is not part of my private life.

Are you in favor of “exit”?

No, because everyone has their own personal struggle, their own process, and they have the right to say it when they want, if they want. But I also don’t understand why anyone would be offended by him saying he’s gay. Nobody gets offended because they say he’s six feet tall, or that he’s short. This is still internalized homophobia.

There, there, making friends on the bus.

Let’s see, the group is as diverse as society and has picked up some despicable vices. There is brutal ageism. The pen is prohibited in some areas. It seems like we all have to go to the gym, train to have the right goal. six pack and we like Benidorm Fest. Fuck you. We have fought our whole lives to be, feel and say what we want and now the collective will tell us who we are. Let’s be reasonable. We must make an effort to inform ourselves and deconstruct ourselves.

There’s a lot of talk about male deconstruction in ‘Alpha Males’. Have you already deconstructed your home?

Well, I have my readings and my things. I’ve been making an effort for many years, and this is going to look bad, not so much because I’m a feminist, but because I’m a better person.

Is happy?

Well look, yes. And I have reasons to be sad. My mother died this summer. I go every week to see Itxaso, my psychologist. It’s a daily job. And I do it because it’s what nourishes me as a person and as an actor. The only advice I give to anyone who asks is that knowing who I am and accepting it is what makes you different, what will differentiate you from others.

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