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Mercedes Hernández Overcomes Telenovela Prejudices, Finds Empowered Roles
🇲🇽 Mexico /Culture & Society

Mercedes Hernández Overcomes Telenovela Prejudices, Finds Empowered Roles

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Actress Mercedes Hernández overcame her initial prejudice against telenovelas by participating in "Mi rival."
  • She found the role of a cook to be more empowered than similar characters in the past.
  • Hernández also learned to work faster during the four-month filming period in San Luis Potosí.

Mercedes Hernández, known for her work in Mexican cinema and an Ariel Award winner, has shed her reservations about telenovelas after starring in "Mi rival," which recently concluded on El Canal de las Estrellas. The actress admitted to having significant reservations, initially declining offers because she associated telenovelas with a lesser form of acting compared to film and theater.

I had many reservations. They approached me, but I didn't want to, saying ‘what do you mean, telenovela? I do cinema, theater’

— Mercedes HernándezHernández describing her initial reluctance to act in telenovelas.

"I had many reservations. They approached me, but I didn't want to, saying 'What do you mean, telenovela? I do cinema, theater,'" Hernández recalled. However, she was eventually persuaded to take on the role of a cook in the series. To her surprise, the character was portrayed with more agency and depth than she might have expected from similar roles in previous decades.

"That cook would have been different 25 years ago than the one we could create now. The respect, the recognition was felt; it was a character who grew, empowered, not someone quiet and serving plates as could have been before," the actress reflected. The production, which also stars Ella Velden, Sebastián Rulli, and Alejandra Barros, explored a love triangle involving the mother and daughter characters falling for the same man.

That cook would have been different 25 years ago than the one we could create now. The respect, the recognition was felt; it was a character who grew, empowered, not someone quiet and serving plates as could have been before.

— Mercedes HernándezHernández discussing the evolution and empowerment of her character in 'Mi rival'.

During the four months of filming in San Luis Potosí, Hernández discovered a new professional rhythm. "I learned to work faster, to resolve quickly, and it was like relaxing. It was like, 'We got it (the scene), it's done, you can't ask for another, what's more, we're already on to something else,'" she commented. Looking ahead, Hernández will appear in "Digger," a film starring Tom Cruise and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, set for a worldwide release in October. In that project, she plays a Mexican housekeeper navigating life abroad.

I learned to work faster, to resolve quickly, and it was like relaxing. It was like, 'We got it (the scene), it's done, you can't ask for another, what's more, we're already on to something else.'

— Mercedes HernándezHernández explaining the benefits of the faster-paced telenovela production schedule.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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