So what would be the Portuguese historical character who would like to portrait?
JD: I really like poetry, though not physical for it, I liked to play Luís de Camões, although it has been done in the late 40 early 50. As the most recent characters, I've had the good fortune to play Mário Sá Carneiro who is a poet that I love and I appreciate the first republic and I am not talking about a specific phase, it was a time was linked to the First World War. We speak very little of this very troubled time in our history, it was an era when people came to the street, there were armed uprisings and there is no much reflection about it. There is also character from the nwe state, Antonio Ferro, is a mystical personality because assessed culture and gathered people around this cause, this ideology that then dispersed, he was in some way left aside, was an ambiguous personality, it would be fun to play as an actor.
So you do not like linear characters? More characters with nuances?
JD: Actually who is quite good? Or bad? I'm not talking about tv shows, I am addressing the real life and things are not so black and white, people are merged, are not one thing or another, this aspect also represents the human wealth. And I think it is interesting the characters that evolve and has the capacity to learn from their mistakes, that I enjoy, so there plain that I do not enjoy playing the same type of characters, because it is part of the human being learning about life, to grow, we have an essence of Indeed, but if we are thinking beings we are able to reflect about our experiences, we will be able to somehow go modifying and correcting to what we do wrong. In the end I do not like linear characters, is always the same from beginning to end.
Who you have approached fifty, looking back, what is the reflection that you do? Looking at this career that is already long.
JD: It's not that long, I'm a boy (laughs). We have to have some distance, critical capacity and cannot destroy what we do or what we've done. We have to learn, I do not Khow honestly if it comes from the theater, which is my school, I always try to throw out what I did in the past, is not refuse, is somehow "undress" to use a different guise, though, sometimes I can even use some of that clothing, because happen to be links, as is the virtual life there are links so to speak. The actor is in a fight, is a renewal, we cannot sit on the laurels. I think it's dangerous, we have to put ourselves in question.
And reporting a little to television. Have you done so many series and soap operas, in retrospect what do you think
JD: I think there were major developments in techinical terms, from the actors and even in the stories.
But it is said that in the writing of the scripts there are still many gaps in terms of characters cores such as in Brazilian soap operas.
JD: Sometimes the writing is tested, criticized and the subject of much dispute. But the truth is I wouldn't like to be in the shoes of an author of soap opera, in the sense that when they begin to write an argument to be produced there is a such a great time and the writing is the most hard things to do. If we think in a building, are the foundations and must be well secured or the building will collapse to write it takes time, research and some investment and there is not always space. So, if you bet a lot of money there will be weaknesses in the writing, of course, and when we received the scripts we tried to tourn these shortcomings, with the help of everybody, everyone tries to do their best. It is said that there are gaps, perhaps, when you say to a writers group in a month we are recording and the theme is x, it is impossible not to have failures.
And for you, as an actor, which improved or worsened?
JD: Of all the tv shows and series that I attended with greater success, I notice that there is a greater care in pre-production, in time before writing the script. When you have that space for writing, directiong and production to make a good selection of real scenarios and decors and when everything is designed with some time, runs better. But I also understand that for those investing time is money, there is always this urge to see the footage and the first episode already assembled and this creates a certain pressure. The truth is that not everything is well prepared before perhaps they spends more money and lose more energy. It is a very complicated world, because there is a lot of financial investment, then we are in a time of crisis and people get nervous, but the truth is that they also chose this area to invest and there must be a balance.
No regrets about being an actor in Portugal?
JD: No, we have to fight for things.
Had it not been actor what profession would you have followed?
JD: Probably marine biologist. It was what I thought when I was in high school, I love science and the sea. It's something that is not indiferent to me, I read some articles and when I have time like to investigate. It is not my life, but is not something distant from me.
