Jorge Cao explained why he did not join the comeback of ‘Pasión de gavilanes’: “With the pain of my soul I had to say no”

Jorge Cao is an essential figure for understanding the development of telenovelas in Latin America. The Cuban-nationalized Colombian actor has lived in the country since 1994 after developing a long career in theater and television on the island.

Once he arrived in the country, he began to gain strength through his participation in the Shadow of desire and The President’s wifethus setting the stage for his first productions in the United States. revenge and The passion of hawks (both for the Telemundo network in co-production with Caracol Televisión), turned him into an internationally sought-after actor, although he maintained regular appearances in Colombian productions such as The last happy marriage, With an open heart and Law of the heart 2.

You can follow us now Facebook and in ours WhatsApp channel.

Of all, and despite the fact that a significant part of his reputation was built on antagonistic roles, Perhaps Cao’s best-known figure is Don Martín Acevedo, grandfather of the Elizondo sisters in The passion of hawks. Her performance balanced comedy and sensitivity to guide her granddaughters and daughter Gabriela (played by Kristina Lilley) through life experiences through the hardships they went through during the soap opera’s 2003-2004 run.

When the return of the original cast for the second installment was announced, it was expected that the actor would reprise his role, but in the end it did not happen and Germán Quintero took his place. The Cuban talked about this absence in chiaroscurointerview cycle Spectator, in which he recounted how he developed the character and its impact on the audience, to the extent that it influenced his latest project: his participation in the film Initiates 2from Prime Video and inspired by the book by Mario Mendoza.

“When I did it many years ago, like 20 or 21 years ago, Passion Gavilanes and I started debating in the universities and all those things, I felt that the young people had a fondness for Martín Acevedo, the old man that I am, the grandfather,” he commented at first. “I said ‘what’s going on?’ because there’s too much going on. “It happened to me in Colombia, it happened to me in Los Angeles, it happened to me in Latin America, practically every country and I came to Spain and it was worse,” he said, pointing to the social dynamics that made him understand the reason for this fascination with his figure.

“I started looking into it and the fact is that the grandparents disappeared from our family. The wisdom of life, the unconditionality of a grandfather with his grandchildren, is no longer so much in the family (…) I realized that then the younger ones needed a grandfather,” he stated, stating that since then he has been dealing with this situation in various projects, which include the theater and now his presence in Initiates 2.

Next, Cao explained how he created the character of Martín Acevedo The passion of hawks. “I wanted to make the ideal grandfather, the person who bounces back from everything. That he really knows them all because he has lived through them. He has immense life experience, nothing scares him, but he has an immense heart and a huge zest for life. For a drink, for slapping an old woman on the ass in a bar, for falling in love, for being friends with his granddaughters, for us as men to make it clear to him what relationships should be, and he gave advice,” he expressed.

The actor described Martín as a “fantastic grandfather” and revealed that he was inspired by two of his relatives. “A great uncle who was such a crazy and funny old man who told stories, and another uncle who died of love,” he recalled, hinting that when he saw himself on screen, he embodied traits of both and that was the key to to become a character so beloved by fans. “No matter how fantastic I made it, it’s believable and gives you the illusion of saying ‘I want that grandpa,'” he said.

For this reason, when he reviewed the scripts for the second volume The passion of hawksthe actor did not feel as identified from the writing to achieve a similar interpretation. “When I read it, I said ‘no, Martín is not who I want to do. That Martín is not what the public watching me wanted to see.” With pain in my soul, I had to say no and withdraw from the contract. It was hard, but I did it.”stated