Lili Santiesteban: «I lost my name. I am now the delegate»

She is awash with complaints due to the lack of water supply, the lack of public lighting in a neighborhood park, she is fighting hard to present before the government a project of a gym for the community, while delivering food to vulnerable people amidst a pandemic without precedent in Cuba.

After a very long day, full of problems, which could well be hers, she comes home and her partner is a musician who, while creating melodies from the comfort of a personal computer, has barely gotten dinner ready and, of course, she has to do it by herself.

This is how the Yaquelin’s life goes, the delegate of a district, a role played by actress Lili Santiesteban in the Cuban soap opera Tan cerca y tan lejos. She spoke exclusively with the Cuban Agency News about her character who, along with others, is broadcasted prime time on Cuba’s TV channel Cubavision.

Yaquelín came to me because Alberto Luberta Martínez, one of the two directors, called me to read that character in the script and after doing a short rehearsal, he let me know that he was fascinated with my performance, she said.

During the interview, Santiesteban explained that it was not difficult for her to find the psychology of her character out of the script, and "I was inspired by the Cuban women, especially those bearing such a responsibility, who has limited time,” she said.

I was also inspired by those who, during COVID-19, came home and had to face their marriages and family members, who were sometimes misunderstood, she said.

When asked if Yaquelín is the ideal governmental representative, Santiesteban stated that the role she plays in the drama is close to what Cuban delegates should be, because they are concerned people who do not want anything in return and try to do their best for the community, whether they have or not the necessary resources at hand.

A delegate is the one who fights to get answers and Yaquelín is like that. She is an enterprising girl who wants real answers and she does anything to get them in favor of her neighbors, which I sense is the yearning of every neighborhood, or at least, this is what people tell me in their comments and phone calls.

In “Tan lejos y tan cerca,” Yaquelín is the target of criticism by some neighbors and even his husband due to her closeness to a homoaffective couple. They do not conceive her friendly relationship with two women who love each other and help her in the task to be a district delegate.

At certain moments, this young woman doubts her sexual orientation and moves away from her friends to avoid people’s comments, but she reflects and changes her mind as prejudice are not part of her.

It was good that the scriptwriters dealt with the issue of gender equality because today's society moves at a different pace and we cannot remain anchored to taboos and prejudices, she stressed.

I fully advocate for equality and it was an honor for me being one of the characters involved with the subject in the soap opera. Even though Yaquelín serves to prove social complexes and prejudices at the beginning, she later shows that we must be ourselves and the need to support and respect diversity regardless of sexual orientation, added the actress.

Santiesteban commented that she was very nervous about her character’s acceptance on screen. She thought that people, when comparing Yaquelín's experiences with theirs, would say that she is an idealistic or fictitious official.

But the opposite has happened: "the public has not focused on the negative, but they have thanked me for the character and let me know that they want a delegate like her," she stressed.

The interviewee also represents a person who feels lonely and in need of affection, said Santiesteban, but she recognized that as a woman and mother, she did not have to live experiences similar to those of her character in the midst of the pandemic, due to the great family support she had.

Thanks to my family, I had everything in place at home and after long hours of filming, I only had to spend time with my baby (who was little at the time) until I put him to sleep and start studying for the next day to return to the set, she confessed.

The plot of “Tan lejos y tan cerca” develops in each episode. Yaquelín is torn between her infidelity to Marcos and the love she has found in the young Alexeis, without quitting her tireless work as a delegate; meanwhile, Santiesteban does not intend to give any spoilers.

She stressed that the experience in the soap opera has been great as she had the support of Eduardo Emil as the actor’s director, together with the general direction of Loisys Inclán and Luberta, and a production staff that tried to launch this project in the midst of a very tough situation.

I have already lost my real name: Lili Santiesteban, I am now the delegate. People in my neighborhood sometimes forget I only played a character. They forget that I am an actress and they approach me with the problems of the apartment building I live in, which is very funny, and gratifying at the same time.  

While Yaquelín aims to resolve her love issues, Lili ventures into musical theater through the Verdarte company, directed by Jorge Pedro Hernández, where she combines acting, singing, and dancing.

I have always been very versatile, but if there is something I would like to do, it is to devote myself to singing professionally, either with my own group or with a solo career, because singing a song denotes sensitivity and is closely linked to when one gives life to a character, confessed the actress whose resume speaks of her time in cinema, theater and, of course, television.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff