All about the diva María Félix in the new series about her life

Mexico City — Few Mexican women were as famous in the 20th century as Maria Felixand possibly so little understood beyond its public face. The Serie Maria Felix, The Ladywhich debuts this Thursday with the launch of the ViX+ streaming serviceintends to portray how one of the most famous actresses in Mexican cinema was formed, her personal dramas and, above all, her most intimate side, to which very few had access.

Also read: Images of Sandra Echeverría as María Félix

The series stars Sandra Echeverría, Ximena Romo and Abril Vergara, who take turns playing Félix from his childhood until he was in his 80s. The star of movies like hidden river, In love Y The kneeling goddess He was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1914 and died in Mexico City in 2002, at the age of 88.

“María is somehow so vast, her life is so incredible, so complex, that we had to be three actresses who personified her, because I think that each one of us brings something unique and something special to each moment that touches us,” he said. Romo told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Romo plays Félix from his last years of adolescence until he entered the cinema at the age of 29, in the film “El peñón de las ánimas” from 1943.

The series unfolds chronologically and, after presenting Félix as a rebellious girl (played by newcomer Vergara), addresses one of the most tragic and complicated episodes of her life: the violent death of her brother Pablo, whom the actress once he said that “the perfume of incest does not have another love”. Pablo died while studying at the military school in Mexico City where his parents, who suspected the relationship between the brothers, sent him.

“There is no historical evidence of what happened between the brothers. We cannot say that they had sexual intercourse, for example,” director Mafer Suárez said in a telephone interview. “It seemed to us that touching it delicately, leaving it with evidence, but delicately, was first of all to preserve the dignity of Mary, which for me was something very, very important… It is not about not saying it, but about finding a way balanced, aesthetic, respectful, loving to be able to talk about something so particular”.

The project, produced by Carmen Armendáriz, daughter of Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz and who got to know Félix in person, took its time. It took place over more than five years and went from being a series of dozens of chapters to a miniseries of eight. For Suárez, who studied a master’s degree in history, the change in format allowed them to have more precision and take care of all the details, including the language of the time.

“Everything is painstakingly worked on,” said the director, also mentioning the custom-made costumes. “Everything changes over time, the way they cut their hair, the colors they used, the textures of the dresses… and in particular María, how she was becoming María Félix.”

Echeverría said that the son of a friend of Félix lent them clothes from the time that they had bought together.

“I put it on and it was amazing to be able to actually be in clothes that Maria had bought,” she said. There are also hats, jewelry, cigarette holders, and replicas of some of Felix’s most famous jewelry, such as his Cartier crocodiles, were commissioned.

Pablo’s death is only the first blow Maria suffers. When she got married, she entered an abusive relationship that led her to have a son, also an actor Enrique Álvarez Félix, in a quite violent way. After deciding to separate, her ex-husband took her son from her.

“That was one of the reasons why she decided to enter the cinema and why she also sought to be an important figure and above all she sought to have power,” said Romo. “It was not only about being beautiful and that people gave her things, but that she really had a position of power so that no one would take away what is hers… That was the most interesting thing of all that touched me, that quest for power that spoke to me very personally.”

Echeverría, on the other hand, had to play Félix when she was already in control of her destiny and when, after years of smoking and acting, she had the fake voice for which she became famous. Echeverría, who is also a singer, sounds quite different from Félix in real life.

“Do not be guided by my sweet voice, I also have my dark part,” said the actress, who sought to replicate the voice and cadence when speaking of Félix to capture his changes from 30 to 80 years. Curiously, Echeverría said that one of the moments in which she looked more like Félix was when she was already very old, thanks to the makeup team of the series: “When people saw me they were shocked,” she said. her.

He also recalled that Félix said that “he had the soul of a mariachi.” One of her most famous relationships was her marriage to Mexican singer-songwriter Agustín Lara, who dedicated “María Bonita” to her, among other songs.

“She loved music, and I think that’s what led her to fall madly in love with Agustín Lara,” Echeverría said.

But in the years that she interprets it, there is also a lot of drama due to the death of Álvarez Félix, her son, in 1996.

“Despite always being surrounded by people and having rubbed elbows with the most important people, she experienced a lot of loneliness and, on the other hand, she experienced a lot of death,” Echeverría said.

Maria Felix, The Lady premieres its first two episodes on Thursday with the launch of ViX+, TelevisaUnivision’s new streaming service, followed by a weekly episode until completing eight, all one hour long.

Rodrigo Mazon, executive vice president and general manager of ViX+, expressed himself “very proud” to start with the bioseries, part of some 70 original productions that they plan to premiere in its first year.

“The truth would tell you that, apart from the period, it is an incredible production quality, an incredible performance and it really makes us know (even) those of us who are already fans of María Félix from before… who she was and who she was , and why it was so important for the history of Mexico and for the history of Mexican cinema,” said Mazon.

For Echeverría, Romo and Suárez, this is the perfect moment to review Félix’s life through a lens renewed by feminism.

“A woman like her in the 20th century, in Mexico, was to have courage,” Suarez said. “She managed to be free, to do what she wanted, to be with whoever she decided to be … which does not mean that she has not paid the price.”

The price, said Romo, was to be classified as bad or arrogant, something very different from what he found reading it.

“He was so smart, he could keep up with the brightest minds of his day. She was close friends with artists, intellectuals, politicians, poets, writers, who respected and admired her not only for her beauty and personality, but also for her thoughts,” said Romo. “All that universe and all those ideas that I found in María, which have a lot to do with feminism, was what surprised me the most.”

Echeverría pointed out that one of Félix’s great lessons from this project was learning to set limits and please herself first.

“The truth is that I applaud him,” he said.

*AP journalist Sigal Ratner-Arias contributed to this report from New York.