At 29 years old, Barcelona-born Marina Gatell has already made a name for herself in the Spanish TV industry. One of her first big breaks came when she landed a role in 2000 on Telecinco’s 7 vidas TV show as recurring character Esther Castro. Getting the part was not easy, though. Gatell, then 19 years old, had to go through seven auditions before being cast.

Gatell also has appeared in films such as comedic drama Nosotras as Mireia in 2000 and in the 2007 thriller The Perfect Witness as the character Jennifer.

Currently, Gatell stars in the Antena 3 Televisión series Lalola as a chauvinistic man named Lalo who has been turned into a woman named Lola as a result of a curse by an angry former flame. Gatell has said the role is difficult because her character has a sort of mental schizophrenia.

Gatell also has a screenplay in the works and has finished another movie, Intrusos. In Little Ashes, Gatell plays Magdalena, whose character is based on Margarita Manso, writer, friend and muse to Federico Garcia Lorca, played by Javier Beltran.

Just yesterday, we exposed an interview with Little Ashes actor Matthew McNulty. Now, we reveal an interview with actor Javier Beltrán, who potrays poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, conducted by Windy City Times. In the interview, Beltrán speaks out about Lorca's work, homosexuality and his opinion on gay marriage in the US. Read the interview in its entirety at the website.

- - -

WCT: Lorca is highly revered, obviously, for his writing but do you think are people aware of his gay sexuality?

JB: Yes; the whole world knew. I don't think it was any secret. Everyone in Spain knew that he was gay. It was another thing about whether people talked about it or not. His secret was out there but what people cared more was his poetry [ and still do ] -not necessarily if he was gay or if he wasn't.

WCT: In your research did you find a poem of Lorca's that helped you find the key to his character or his relationship with Dali?

JB: Many, many-all of them, actually. A Poet In New York is my favorite Lorca book. I loved the whole book. It's very difficult for me to choose only one.

When we started this promotional blitz site, one of the first things we ever did was to contact Javier Beltrán. We consider it a privilege to get to know more of the man and the actor. Javier is simply an amazing actorand very nice individual who gave us his time and answered, to the best of his abilities, all the questions we asked of him.

The whole team salutes you!

- - -

Javier: First and foremost, I want to thank you guys for your interest in this film. Having said that, let's go by parts. I will try to answer everything as best I can. I will answer in Spanish, if you don't mind, I express myself better than in English.

Tell us about yourself: A look inside Javier growing up, a bit of background information...

Javier: My full name is Javier Beltrán Andreu and I was born in Barcelona on May 18, 1983. As far as my life, not that interesting, nothing outside the normal thing. I studied in a school in Barcelona and then started the university (degree in Humanities, also in Barcelona), at the same time I studied dramatic art in the Nancy Tuñon y Jordi Oliver actor studio. Four years at the university and another four years studying interpretation (acting).

Our friends and partnersover at the Little Ashes Movie Blog have posted a very intriguing and fascinating interview from actor Javier Beltran. You can check out and read their stellarinterview at: Little Ashes Blogspot. You can also read it in Spanish as well by following the link!

Here's just a little taste:

- - -

How was it to work with Robert Pattinson? How is he working on and off the set?

Javier Beltran: Robert is an exceptional guy, on and off the set. Generous and very nice. A professional from head to toe. I can't tell you anything else. It was a pleasure to work with him and meet him in person. I've just have goodwords for him, the same with the rest of the cast and the shooting team.

Congrats ladies for an exceptional interview revealing additional information on this very cryptic and talented actor!

Beginning May 18, 1983, in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona, Spain, Javier Beltrán's path towards illustrating novelty via his vast range of perfecting entertainment officially began. Studying humanities,  Beltrán attended Pompeu Fabra University while living in Barcelona. A native speaker of Spanish and Catalan, Beltrán also can speak English well. In addition, he displays his flair musically on guitar.

Continuing to inhabit the Spanish peninsula,  Beltrán enrolled at the Nancy Tuñon Studio, an institution that helps each student “investigate and discover its own expressive mechanisms.” While trying to formulate the actor within,  Beltrán further amplified his skills by participating in a theater dance course. Striving to become an exemplar of acting, he persisted as a pupil in a Mesisner acting technique class in the Actor’s Workshop BNC.


Read 0 Comments... >>

Actor Matthew McNulty has quite a rap sheet if you were unfamiliar with his work antecedent to Little Ashes. We next delve into a couple of McNulty's other films. The first movie we look at was at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Looking for Eric, in which McNulty plays "a postman and United supporter who seeks out his hero Cantona for some advice after he encounters troubles in his life." Then, we look at an older film, The Mark of Cain, "a fictional drama based on testimonies of soldiers serving in Iraq." Both movies have received positive feedback.

- - -

On the face of it, British filmmaking veteran Ken Loach and Eric Cantona are strange bedfellows. But it was the ex-Man Utd player - football's philosophising peacock - who initiated Loach's latest film, ‘Looking for Eric': Cantona wanted to produce and appear in a film that described a friendship between a footballer and a fan. He made approaches to his favourite filmmakers and Loach and his writing partner Paul Laverty leapt to the challenge.

Theirs is the story of Eric Bishop, a Manchester postman whose life is fraying at the edges: when Eric begins addressing a poster in his bedroom of his footballing hero, little does he know that he'll turn round and find Cantona talking back to him. Within minutes they're sharing a spliff. From there unfolds a tender comedy about modern male alienation and disappointment that sprinkles a little fantasy - and not a few laughs - into the harsh real world that Loach has been exploring over the past five decades of filmmaking.

In an interview with Toronto's City News, Matthew McNulty speaks out about his opinion about his depiction of filmmaker Luis Buñuel, his use of accents, and filming in Spain. You can visit the site to read the remainder of the interview which includes what McNulty has to say about Buñuel's demeanor and frustrations.

- - -

McNulty found out three weeks before the start of shooting that he was going to be playing Buñuel, and though he leapt at the chance to portray the legendary director he had a hard time seeing himself in the part.

"I don't look anything like Buñuel," the 26-year-old Brit admitted to CityNews.ca in a phone interview from his hometown of Manchester. "Physically, I'm nowhere near him, I'm probably the opposite. I'm a skinny, sort of, little weakling to be honest, and I thought, 'How can I play this Spanish icon renowned for being athletic and physical?' It was a shock but at the same time I was relishing the challenge in it."

Part of his preparation for the role was learning Castilian Spanish, which most notably comes across in the pronunciation of a soft ‘c' as a ‘th'. For example the word Barcelona would be pronounced ‘Barthelona.'

McNulty says he didn't want his accent to come across as too severe in the film - it doesn't - and when asked about Brit actors' seemingly-limitless ability to do accents, he suggests it's because they first have to learn the wide variety of accents found in their own country.

"In England there are so many different accents," he says. "I never get to play my own accent. I'm a Manc and I'm always doing different versions of the English accent in any production that I do. I think the diversity of accents helps you adapt to the different accents around the world."

Matthew McNulty, who plays Luis Buñuel in Little Ashes, has recently conducted an interview with Digital Spy regarding the film. In the interview, McNulty explains his knowledge of the characters prior to the film, gives his opinion on the much talked about love scene in the film, offers insight into Luis Buñuel's hostile behavior and his homophobic disposition and about his other projects outside of Little Ashes. Visit Digital Spy's website via the link for more.

[ The photo of McNulty below is courtesy of both the Little Ashes Spanish Blog and the Little Ashes Movie Blog. ]

- - -

- - -

Were you a fan of Dalí and Buñuel before you took the part in the film?

No, I wouldn't say I was a fan. I knew of their work - more so Buñuel. I did a module at university of some of his films. I appreciate his work, I think he's a fantastic director, but I didn't know anything of Dalí and Buñuel the people, so this film and this script was an eye-opener in that sense for me.