Edgar Vittorino: “At Pride, I am the first to go with a banner next to my brother”

January, 10 p.m. (one more hour on the peninsula). Edgar Vittorino He has just landed in Tenerife and he already has plenty of clothes. The 20 degrees marked by the thermometer give him the first connection with the island. “The temperature is similar to that of the Caribbean. In Madrid now we are with the cold, you come here and you are in summer “he comments, revealing a certain longing for the predominantly warm climate of Colombia, his country of birth.

“In Totally Completely Fine It is the first time that I play an LGTBIQ+ character, and it is a responsibility to do it well”

Although it is still curious that just three hours ago he was in Madrid warm up to his eyebrows; With the passing of the days, he understands that the meteorological question is not the most important peculiarity in common with his land. “Here the character of the people is just as friendly and smiling. The calm rhythm of life, the island atmosphere, the music… Joy is something else!”.

The definitive test that links him to the essence of Tenerife comes when he discovers the importance of carnival for them and that the carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital, has been declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest. “I am from the city of Barranquilla. There is also a very important carnival there and it is celebrated at the same time as the one here. It is a party that, perhaps, both of us carry inside”. And as in any good carnival worth its salt, in both, cross-dressing is part of the tradition. “There you see more than one potential drag queen!”loose between laughs.

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He promises to do everything possible to return to Tenerife to live the carnival. “Let’s see if I organize myself and come, because that way I can enjoy it and… and I can dress up as a woman!”he jokes, launching a captivating laugh. “Not seriously. What I would like is to be able to come to make the most of all this paradise”. And although we are convinced that he will put his will, because we can assure you that Edgar has the carnival party he was talking about inside but also outside, it would be practically a miracle if he could do it for this year. “Before, I used to take long trips with my father and my brother. Right now I don’t have much time to travel for pleasure, but every year I have to go to a different place in the world to work”he admits, knowing that he is privileged for having a full schedule of gigs.

“With RuPaul’s Drag Race I learned that drags are part of a community and take care of each other”

The last times he has had to use his passport for filming have been to fly to South Korea and Australia. Almost nothing. The first, to record narcosantos, a miniseries about drug dealers based on true events that is already on Netflix. That was an experience that he defines as “weird”but from which he learned a lot. “In Korea they take acting in a very transcendental way. They had everything super organized. They were going to sack Sometimes I wondered: “When do we stop for a coffee?”. The second, to surrender completely to Totally Completely Finea Sundance TV production that has not yet been released and that has him especially excited. “We felt that the whole team worked as if they were making a super work of art”.

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This Australian series talks about suicide and in it his character has a key role, because “It teaches the three protagonists how to be more united with the people around them”. She admits that she really wants us to see her. You need to know our opinion because “It is the first time that I play an LGTBIQ+ character, and it is a responsibility to do it well”. Whom Totally Completely Fine, plays a gay paramedic who “He is the boyfriend of one of the main characters. A couple who met and fell in love, curiously enough, in Tenerife!”announces as if he had not noticed this new, and striking, coincidence before. “We mentioned Tenerife in a series recorded in English, in Australia!”he repeats surprised.

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He wanted to prepare this role so conscientiously that he had a coach exception, his gay brother Brandon. “He came home, we read the scripts together. He told me that I had to put more spark in it. ‘Be quick, make a joke out of all situations. Don’t take everything so seriously’, he kept repeating to me. I think we got it. He helped me a lot”. Brandon also recommended that she soak up the LGTBIQ+ culture. “One of the things I did was watch the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I learned that what at first seems to be a competition between cats that are going to skin each other to see who is the best… nothing to do! What that program showed me is that they are part of a community and they take care of each other.”.

“Society has opened up and, therefore, now we must also talk about it on TV and in the cinema”

Seeing the affection with which he talks about his brother, the good harmony he has with him shines through. But it was not always like this. Edgar He confesses to us that he was not able to really understand him until he read Strongfrom Tenerife by adoption Roy Galán (another matches with the island). “In the book, Roy opens up his heart and shows everything that was taken from him as a child, or what he took from himself because he was gay. Things that a straight person did, like holding his boyfriend’s hand or kissing him on the playground. Thanks to the book, I understood that sometimes I have said things to my brother that, believing that they were doing him good, were making him feel bad. That’s why one day I sat next to him and said ‘sorry, now I understand why you distanced yourself so much from my parents and me’.

From that moment everything changed. “Now when there’s a Pride march, I’m the first to go and put a banner next to it.”. That is why he did not miss the Madrid Pride of the past, and he promises to get on the Shanghai float this 2023. “I defend the rights of the LGTBIQ+ collective just like my brother. I would never say something like ‘Hide it because if not, maybe they won’t give you a job’. Also, if they don’t get it because they’re gay, the problem is with them. I understood all of this in time, it opened my soul and the relationship with my brother healed.”.

SWIMSUIT: AUSSIEBUM

He has no doubts about the evolution of LGTBIQ+ fiction, and he answers with conviction: “Stereotypes are being broken. In Spain, series such as poison, everything else either To be or not to be, where the protagonists are trans. This is happening more and more naturally, and it is what it should be. In the end, TV and movies are a reflection of our society; society has opened up and, therefore, now we have to talk about it in our scripts too”.

It is precisely in his recent TV projects where he has come across his last connections in Tenerife. “In disappeared (Amazon Prime Video) I worked with Michelle Calvó, who is also from Tenerife. She escaped here every weekend… and now I understand why ”. The final nexus is even cooler. “I have just started filming a daily comedy series on prime time. It’s going to be very entertaining because Antonio Resines, Toni Acosta are there… Of course, Toni is also from Tenerife! Definitely, he was predestined to come here.”.

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4 keys of Edgar Vittorino in the south of Tenerife:

1. Beautiful beaches (but much more)

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“I had heard little about Tenerife for how incredible it is. It has beautiful beaches (like the Guíos beach), a very interesting environment and impressive landscapes and hotels. It is a destination that should be in the minds of foreigners worldwide”says the Colombian actor after discovering the south of Tenerife in this luxury getaway.

2. Enjoy unique moments

Watch the sunset in Playa de Las Américas while you have a cocktail at the OA Beach Club It is essential if you move around the south of Tenerife. An idyllic setting for Edgar, who is in a more relaxed and liberated moment. “I am increasingly clear that you have to worry less and enjoy more”.

3. Healthy mens in healthy body

Although he is trying to cultivate his spirituality more, Edgar does not neglect his physique. “For the characters, for life and for the photos of Shanghai You have to prepare thoroughly”. He reveals his secret to us to look this great in the infinity pool of Royal River Luxury Hotel: “I train in Wild Point, a method created by my ex-girlfriend Virginia (we are still good friends). They take care of my health, they guide me in my diet and in my sports routine”.

4. Get lost to find

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