Ana Bokesa is a talented Spanish actress known mostly because of her performance in the Netflix show “Élite” with her character Rocío. Although she has started to gain fame and recognition the last few years you can tell this strong, honest woman is going to eat the acting world with her incredible work.
She has also worked in some other television series like “La que se avecina”, for example, showing her multifaceted face trying really different characters and genres like drama, comedy..
For the people that doesn’t know you, How would you describe yourself in three words?
Perseverant, proactive and honest
Why did you decide to begin your acting career?
Since I was a little girl, my parents enrolled me in advertising agencies, and little by little I was getting little things in series and movies that encouraged me to train in acting to be able to do the castings of main roles that caught my attention. And that’s what I did once I finished my university studies, I took time and money to train in what, in addition to the field of education, was also part of my aspirations for the future.
Your first television role was in 2015 on B&B, what is it like starting out in television? What advice would you give to someone going into their first role?
For me, working on the B&B series was a very important opportunity for the moment I was living, having actors I had admired around me was inspiring and a driving force to push me to what would later become my training. Although the appointments were sometimes very early, I remember always being very excited and eager to face the day (with all the hours of waiting that it entails), I enjoyed it very much!
My advice is that whatever you do, from a special appearance to a starring role, do it with enthusiasm, professionalism, humility and willingness to learn, because in this profession you learn at every moment and from everyone, it is very grateful, so go for it!
Throughout your career you have worked with great personalities, who has surprised you the most?
Just talking before about B&B, I remember the first time I had the opportunity to read the text with Belén Rueda and Gonzalo de Castro, for me two of the greatest actors of this country. It was a pleasure to watch them work, like I said, I went to work every day with eyes wide open to keep as much as possible.
Although you already had fans, Netflix has given you a great window for people to get to know you, what are your expectations for your professional future?
My expectations are to get up every day with the intention of continuing to work on myself so that I can continue working in what I like. In the end it is a complicated profession and you have to leave as little as possible to luck, so let’s work on ourselves to be prepared the day we have the opportunity to show what we are worth.
Regarding the platform, what is it like working for Netflix? Do you feel more pressure than in projects such as those of TVE?
I feel and will always feel pressure, and I think that the day I don’t feel it, it will be bad. I don’t want to get used to anything, I think every project has to be a challenge. So no, I always get as nervous and attacked (hehe).
Working at Netflix is a real pleasure, a dream that I have had the opportunity to fulfill and that I will never forget.
How did you feel when you received the news of being part of the new season of Elite?
I was in shock. I didn’t know how to answer my repress, I didn’t believe it, in fact it took me a long time to tell my family. I think I’m still not aware of it today. It’s just so huge!
How would you define your character, Rocío? Do you identify with her?
Rocío is pure energy, vindication and struggle, but she is also a girl who needs to identify and find herself, she is a love, my dear!
When I read the first lines of Rocío, I felt a very strong connection with the character, in the end everything we saw in season 6 of her, are things that have happened to me and things that I have felt too (not feeling neither from here nor from there, being confused simply because of a physical…), so all the work of that season was to try to give a voice to those people who, like me, also have an internal struggle, and try to bring the image of a girl like Rocío, who doesn’t have an accent, nor does she have to be from one social stratum or another because she is black. Season 6 was a gratifying work because I think it put in the viewer’s imagination a profile that we are not so used to seeing.
What can we expect of the 7th season?
More Elite universe, with mental health as a general line. We are sure you will be very surprised.
What are your current aspirations? What would be your next step?
To enjoy the premiere of the series. The rest of the projects for the moment (you know how this works) can’t be said.
In some interviews you have said that you considered leaving the world of acting, what would be your second option?
I’d never leave for pleasure, but it is true that it is a complicated profession to keep working continuously, but if by any chance one day I could not continue to enjoy it, I would try to find a job that unites community service, education, I don’t know, I hope not to have to think about it.
CREDITS:
Director: Alejandro Bernal
Photographer: Juan Bedoya
Photography assistant: Victor Bedoya
Makeup and hairdressing: Andrea Madruga, Paula Casamayor
Styling: Adrian Ciriza
Filmaker 1: Eva Sánchez
Filmaker 2: María Isabel
Edition: María Ascanio Coll
Text and interview: Gabriel Sánchez
Special thanks to:
Ayuntamiento de Villaviciosa de Odón
Casa Palacio Manuel Godoy
