From 1984 to 2005, Teresa Figueroa (Quito, 76 years old) had one of the craziest jobs imaginable in the world of cinema, that of press officer for Warner Bros. Spain. Not only did he have to deal with the press, but he also organized the promotional visits, at that time very numerous, to Spain of the international film teams, but starting with the 1992 Olympic Games, many European promotions were carried out in Barcelona, which multiplied his work. They were also pre-internet decades; Film screenings for the press were called by letter and fax, the material (slides, cassettes and videos) was sent by mail and interviews were scheduled by telephone.
However, the best and the worst came with the stars, and he has written a book about them, Diary of a publicist (self-publishing), which is cleverly subtitled Anecdotes, whims and cravings of Hollywood stars. In its pages, Figueroa maintains her eternal image of a “lady”: she never writes about prostitutes or cocaine, but she finds enough literary cracks through which she slips the description of those whims and understands that yes, Steven Seagal didn’t just do gaslighting. his wife, Kelly LeBrock (whom he was a bodyguard rather than a consort), but he thought he could sleep with Ana Obregón: using money from Warner he bought her a bracelet and showed up at the actress’s house, only to discover that Obregón He was waiting with his entire family, and what had been called as a social event was, in fact, a social gathering. Seagal returned the bracelet, although on his subsequent visits to Spain he maintained his nonsense.
Ask. How much have you not counted?
Answer. I have told what needed to be told. When I began to collect the material I produced a rough version of this book. But you have to be responsible enough to know what you say and how you say it. I was fired very abruptly, true. However, my personal and family life was always different from my work. Being in a luxury or starred hotel has always been the same to me.
P. He studied Tourism Business and came to his position from film distribution. Did that help you in your press work?
R. It helped me because I was very organized, with notebooks and agendas with everything written down. That’s how I was able to write this book.
P. Her great regret is not having met Sean Connery for a week, the week she was missing on maternity leave. In return, he writes among his joys that he had dinner with Charlton Heston. You are a classic.
R. Well yes, I’m not fooling you.
P. He doesn’t forgive Seagal, Mel Gibson and Oliver Stone one bit.
R. The first one only had one thing on his mind. And I still remember the call from the poor driver telling me about the bracelet paid for with a company card that he had to keep at home to return to the jewelry store in the morning. On subsequent visits, Seagal laid hands on me to share energies. Anyway… Gibson was, mentally, a teenage hooligan. In an interview with Rosa Montero he dedicated himself to throwing little papers at her, he did things like that. Oliver Stone was always worse: a boor.
P. They don’t ask for as many whims as they do.
R. And sometimes you understand them more. Glenn Close went to San Sebastián in the middle of her divorce battle and with her young daughter, waiting to see if her husband would appear. It was very cold, although I understood it. Then you meet people like Sandra Bullock or Jodie Foster who are calm, natural, and who enjoy the moment and everything goes well for them. Nicole Kidman had transparent skin, which is why she was so difficult to photograph. She began her career in Hollywood because she was going to film with Tom Cruise… Over time, her life and her physique deteriorated.
P. There is little dope in his book.
R. Maybe they didn’t ask me, but rather my bosses or their bodyguards.
There were A-class girls, models; from class B, who were already having a drink and chatting, and from class C. Some agencies were in charge of that and it was organized above me. In the beginning I didn’t even believe it.”
P. And his classification of the girls who were invited to the parties is curious.
R. There were class A models; from class B, who were already having a drink and chatting, and from class C. Some agencies were in charge of that, and it was organized above me. In the beginning I didn’t even believe it.
P. The film you most enjoyed promoting?
R. The mission. What a movie! It was also one of the biggest promos I have worked on, along with the saga Harry Potter. Y Sweet November, I like cinema of that genre. Charlize Theron came, impressively, with her mother, and at the press conference the first thing they did was face the death of her father (The actress was 15 years old when one night her father, an alcoholic, shot through the bedroom door where he was hiding with his mother. She responded in self-defense and killed him) to defuse the problem and continue with the promotion.
Kevin Costner has very pretty eyes… that don’t convey anything. You saw Russell Crowe and you didn’t understand anything about his fame. Of course, he opened his mouth and what a voice! “Cher was scary”
P. They declare themselves a fan of Antonio Banderas.
R. Like everyone, right? He still had a house on Calle Mayor and in the development of The mambo kings I wanted to walk places, I refused to take the car… He has always been charming, he understands all the problems that arise and helps to solve them. In London, with murderers, He deceived his publicist to dedicate more time to the Spanish press.
P. It also has its own “tastes”.
R. Kevin Costner has very pretty eyes… that don’t convey anything. You saw Russell Crowe and you didn’t understand anything about his fame. Of course, he opened his mouth and what a voice! Cher was scary, she didn’t move a muscle. I watched a lot when they introduced me at the beginning of the promotions. I was always quiet, I didn’t say more than enough and I tried to be very concise so that they didn’t have to think too much about me and make changes. Because for me the changes meant having an entire team upside down for two stupid things. And I want to make one thing clear: the Spanish press has a wonderful reputation in the rest of the world, they came away delighted from the interviews because of how prepared you come.