Denys Ramos: always live up to a new character

These days when the play Requiem por Yarini returns to the stage thanks to Teatro El Público, directed by the National Theater Award winner Carlos Díaz, the popular actor Denys Alejandro Ramos Antúnez offered details exclusively for the Cuban News Agency.

For someone who has spent fifteen years working for this company, responding to the call of his director is a duty. I will never be able to refuse a call from maestro Carlos Díaz, and even less so if this call involves being part of a performance in which many would like to participate, Ramos said.

Along with actors Roberto Romero, Fernando Ramírez and Carlos Migueles, Denys plays one of the four Alejandro Yarini, a character based on the famous 19^th century Havana pimp, whose story in the San Isidro neighborhood constitutes legend in Cuba.

This classics lover embraces today his new role with that dedication and naturalness that characterizes him when he is on stage. Precisely, during the month of July you can find him at the Trianón Theater in Havana, where performances take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m.

For this young actor, it has been a pleasure to share stage with a star cast, which includes students who graduated from the University of the Arts and legends such as Cuban star actress Verónica Lynn.

Requiem por Yarini is another achievement of this "child" who arrived "playing."

Sat in the lobby of the Ministry of Culture and in a bit of a hurry to leave for rehearsals, he stated:

-Fun!

-Because?

—Because it all started by having fun.

That's how simple his response was, when asked what word he would use to describe the performance.

Since he was little he enjoyed imitating characters from adventures and cartoons. I remember one day when my brother and some friends were playing soccer, and I grabbed a doorknob and started: champagne, champagne... making a toast, and then I threw water at them, he said, laughing.

Coincidentally, he explained, that day a boy, Amaury Guerra, who was in Humberto Rodríguez's workshop, asked me if I liked acting. Without having any idea, I answered yes.

I played El Niño in the play Yerma, and I was there for a few months until my mother took me out of the workshop, because we were in the middle of the special period, with financial problems, I did not even have shoes. I finished rehearsals at dawn and, sometimes, I had school the next day, anyway..., the actor confessed.

This was the first step in an artistic career that came later, when he returned to acting at the age of 13, joining the project La Terraza, by prominent actor Adolfo Llauradó, where he learned what acting was and decided to study it.

This tall, elegant and serious man has had a remarkable presence on Cuban television, film, theater and radio, establishing himself as a figure whose career is full of successes and applauses.

Each role he plays takes him to fame and makes him endearing to the public, who enjoyed his role in the television series Los tres Villalobos; Ahmed, in the soap opera Historias de fuego; Rangel, in Tú; Pavel, in De amores y esperanzas; Lester in Zoológico; Shidarta, in Aquí estamos; as well as Rafael (Felo) in the new soap opera, Renacer, among others.

Shidarta, for example, was widely accepted.

He turned out to be a contemporary character full of conflicts, for which I had to work a lot. I had to take guitar, singing, dance, skating and even acting classes.

According to Ramos, in addition, he has had to practice horse riding, swimming or any other sport, to adjust to the demands of each director and the characteristics of a particular character.

Acting requires constant study. Every time you accept a new role you have to transform yourself and see how you intertwine your aesthetics with what they ask of you, to achieve a good performance, he clarified.

According to many, antagonists suit Denys better. However, he prefers characters that have an interesting story behind them and allow him to branch out and leave his comfort zone.

I am a person who enjoys every process, whether it is losing or gaining weight, or whatever it takes to embody a certain role.  The idea is to test yourself at all times and see what more you can give, he added.

Behind the camera, Denys is usually playful, family-oriented, prefers to share with friends, appreciates crafts, and in his free time he prefers to read, study, research, as well as working or going to the beach, and much more.

He always tries to be at ease, because he hates uncomfortable moments, places that generate tension, and if by chance there is tumult, he prefers to go unnoticed and meditate.

Whoever sees this young man confident of himself and capable of taking on any challenge, does not imagine that he is already 40 years old and fears having to adapt to new characters that will take him out of his boyish roles, and although he does not have children and has already played a father role, you feel that age can affect you at some point. By then, perhaps the child who came just to having fun will have mature.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translated Staff