Who is Claude Pinoche from the Count?

Before Augusto Pinochet, there was Claude Pinoche . And before the 1973 coup, there was the French Revolution. The vampire who plays Count It has been feeding on hearts for over 250 years, a point that Pablo Larraín’s latest feature film is dedicated to examining in detail in the film’s opening minutes.

In France at the end of the 18th century, marked by the fall of the monarchy, Pinoche reveals himself to be a leech after biting a prostitute on the neck. He is arrested and, while he is on a stretcher, he pronounces – in French – the memorable response that Pinochet had given in 2005 to judge Víctor Montiglio for his responsibility as direct head of the DINA: “I do not don’t remember, but it’s not true. It’s not true, and if it was true, I don’t remember it.” And later, he brutally murders those who try to stop him.

Larraín needed a young actor to embody this passage in his new film, corresponding to the early years of the protagonist, and he turned to Clemente Rodríguez, who He lived between two and ten years in France .

“All my life, I have studied the history of the French Revolution. On several occasions, I had to work on the day in 1793 when Marie Antoinette was beheaded. It was crazy to actually see what I had studied throughout my schooling,” the interpreter explains to Worship who also took his first acting lessons while living abroad.

Known for his work on the series The pack and the mega soap operas poor boyfriend And 100 days to fall in loveRodríguez had to change his usual appearance when the production of Count He asked him to let his hair and beard grow. A request that he accepted with pleasure, because he declares himself an admirer of figures like Christian Bale, accustomed to physical transformations.

But, at the same time, Claude Pinoche is an invention of Larraín, so he could look whatever he and his team wanted. “It’s not a documentary. It’s not about Pinochet and, in my case, the character has a different name. He is a being inspired by the historical character, but in Pablo Larraín’s version,” he emphasizes. “My role is the bloodiest and the most instinctive, and it metaphorizes what the film wants to tell.”

The sequence in which the character shows his most brutal side was his first day of filming and required special work. “Physically, he looks much bigger than me in real life. We played a lot with the costumes and camera movements, which emphasized how omnipotent and monstrous the character was,” he explains.

Although they do not share moments in the film, Rodríguez met with Jaime Vadell several times before filming began. “He’s a wonderful actor. “He makes things incredible,” he emphasizes about his former comrade’s new performance in the TV series. doll house. “We discussed some of my scenes. It’s a lot of fun and a big responsibility to record these crazy scenes. He also briefly met Antonia Zegers, who played his mother in The Pack. “This time I was his father.”

After completing his first year of theater at Catholic University, he put his studies on hold and planned to move to France to study. “I always wanted to come back and now I want to get there as soon as possible,” he said. “I could come back before I’m done or stay there forever.” “I am open to everything.”