The soap opera Contigo is about to come to an end after six months of broadcasting. Ignacio Sada's production, starring Danilo Carrera, Alejandra Robles Gil and Brandon Peniche, won over the evening audience by presenting a classic Mexican melodrama with plot elements that talk about current issues.
In conversation with Infobae Mexico, Daniela Zavala, who gave life to “Adela Hidalgo” on the Televisa soap opera, told about her experience with the project.
“It was unexpected, I had done television more than ten years ago, and after several projects I decided to leave the company, as if I wanted to do more things, I was anxious to explore other formats,” he said.
Daniela, who is also a writer and producer, has always had the concern of telling stories and representing characters “with carnita”, so she did not hesitate to cast for the soap opera which today comes to an end:
“I developed outside Televisa, then comes the invitation of producer Ignacio Sada to test for the character 'Adela'. When I was invited and I read the biography of the character, I was totally captivated by the story, I found it very interesting that 'Adela' was a woman who accidentally lost her memory for 13 years and then was in search of who she is, after her family. It seemed to me that there was a lot of carnita for me as an actress with this character.”
As it is a classic soap opera that presents a love story, this new adaptation of the work written by the late Inés Rodena was refreshed and social aspects were added to the plot with which the public can identify.
“There was a very fortunate update, there were topics that ten years ago it was impossible to talk about, for example, in Contigo there is a homosexual marriage, there is a girl who has AIDS, the issue of sexism in couples is addressed, there are many topics that are current that need to be talked about and it is important that they be talked about in telenovelas of them,” he added.
And it is that the reach of the broadcast television signal is so great that for the graduate of CEA de Televisa and the Casa Azul ARGOS acting school, the contents to be presented must have a good dose of social perspective and representation:
“Broadcast television reaches every corner of the Mexican Republic and even other countries, it is important to normalize these issues, to be able to speak and watch them freely on television without having to pay for it. It has a responsibility, the fact that you turn on television and you can look like that story in any corner, in any economic kitchen, in any home in Mexico is a responsibility,” he added.
When Daniela Zavala took a break from the soap operas in 2011, there was no such wide range of digital platforms as today. The rise of streaming services has changed entertainment consumption habits, and there has been a drop in audience compared to previous years. Given this, Daniela says that there is still a captive audience for which “all kinds of stories must be told, from different angles”.
“I think open television is a format that will continue for a long time, there is a private audience to watch this format, what I can tell you is that I notice and I really liked it is also to see a change in the stories... New stories must be explored and I can tell you that I am seeing an opening, a real change,” he said.
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