Jaime Riba (‘La que se avecina’): “I promised myself to treat Giorgi with respect”

With twelve seasons and fifteen years behind it, “La que se avecina” has become one of the longest-running and most successful series in the history of Spanish television. For season 13, the first three episodes of which are already available on Amazon Prime Video, the neighborhood community will not only undergo a change of building (from the Mirador de Montepinar to the central Contubernio 49), but, of course, will have new faces in this group heterogeneous of people. Between them, Jaime Riba will play Giorgi, a gay boy with a chronic fear of an environmental cataclysmwho will share an apartment with two other students: Andy (Elizabeth Larena) and Karma (Álex de la Croix).

Born in Almería in 1992, Jaime Riba has always been a fan of films and series. “I can’t remember the exact moment my mind clicked”begins the young actor, “I’ve talked about it with people, like Jota Linares, who remember that moment. Mine was something more progressive. I never imagined that I would end up working as an actor. I remember as a teenager watching movies like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and saying ‘Who is this actress?’ And it was Meryl Streep.”. Riba explains how she created her new project, the ‘Bloopers!’ podcast, from Podimo, about trivia from your favorite movies and series: “I think it’s that conjunction that I like movies and series so much, and at the same time being a gossip”. The Andalusian actor does not want to let any train pass: “I’m discovering the formats and I say ‘I want to do this’. I wanted a conversational podcast but it’s true that there are already so many, and I wanted to distance myself and try to do something new”. To distance himself from the overbooking of current podcasts, Riba wanted to follow his instinct to do what he feels like: “My maxim is that the more personal, the more universal”.

However, his life changed when Alberto and Laura Caballero called him to play Giorgi in season 13 of ‘La que se avecina’. “Interestingly, I didn’t feel the pressure”comments Riba, “It was very different than if I had any expectations about being on this show. Suddenly you meet colleagues who have been on television and who have marked your life. I dissociated a lot. There was a big difference between what I expected and what it was.”. Riba, like all good people born in the 90s, appreciated “There’s no one living here” as much as anyone else: “It caught me right in the transition from adolescence to something more mature”. But, when she finished shooting ‘La que se avecina’, she thought: “I said to myself, ‘You’ve worked with the best comedians in this country.’ I was so proud of myself and to be there.”.

“When you arrive on set you discover the people”continues Riba, “You don’t expect to arrive and be insulted by Petra Martínez, but then you discover that she is a wonderful woman”. Though she separated the character from the actor, Riba couldn’t help but make connections: “I was there for a month and I saw Eva Isanta approaching Luis Merlo, and of course I said ‘Bea and Mauri'”. It would have happened to anyone. As for the transfer, Riba explains his experience: “I haven’t been to Montepinar, but I’ve been to Contubernio, it’s a great pleasure to be able to slam the door and not make the whole wall shake”.

The importance of representation

“I think Giorgi is the typical character that you don’t like at first but immediately like”says Riba digging into her alter ego, “He always has an ugly face. Giorgi never ceases to represent that gay boy who belongs to that part of millennial society or the first generation Z. He gives a certain importance to the things that are important to him but not to society, who has experienced a crisis, who can’t find a job… but who doesn’t even move from the couch. He has this constant restlessness of being angry at everyone. Saving distances reminds me of the character of Belén (Malena Alterio), of wanting and not being able”.

However, and despite being a totally successful series, ‘La que se avecina’ has been the subject of numerous criticisms for the trivialization it has carried out on various subjects. Without going any further, the trans character of Alba Recio, played by Víctor Palmero, was good proof of this. Riba doesn’t care about this: “Really, ‘La que se avecina’ is a parody of everything. I wanted the character to be a bit of a parody, but I didn’t want to glorify the pen as if it were a stereotype. A parody is not a stereotype. For instance,” the Cam’s character in ‘Modern Family’ has a pen and is by no means a stereotype. He is a rich character, where the actor has worked on the context of the character. With Giorgi I wanted it a bit. I promised myself to treat him with respect, to work with him like a normal character. They give you a heterosexual character and you don’t even consider him to be heterosexual. What I’m afraid of is that the character becomes a point of reference. I hope it helps a lot of people, but I’m not a guru nor do I represent the whole collective. I feel part of the collective but I don’t want to be a bishop”..

The first three episodes of the thirteenth season of ‘La que se avecina’ are now available on Amazon Prime Video.