Alex Béjar, from “Elite” to “AFHS”: the accident he had in the Netflix series, how he got to Peru, Merly Morello and more

In the fiction of América TV, Béjar plays Laia Sanz, a young Barcelonan, girlfriend of Cristóbal Montalbán (Franco Pennano), whom she met in Spain when they studied cooking together.

“She came to Peru to see Cristóbal because she still has feelings for him, and as if to test the ground, she asks him to work in her restaurant.”, he refers.

The actress arrived in Lima in February of this year to be present at the premiere of “A retreat to fall in love.” And she took advantage of this visit to contact casting directors, such as Jorge Sánchez from “Al fondo hay sitio”. “Coincidentally, I was looking for a Spanish woman with my characteristics for the series. So, I took the test and they chose me”, he narrates.

The first time Alex performed he was 7 years old. It was in a short film produced by audiovisual students from a Spanish university. “Since I was very little I just had fun. I loved it, I found something I liked, I was passionate about, and little by little I fell in love with acting.”. “Then I did a lot of advertising, web series, specific things”, he remarks.

At the age of 20, Béjar took one of the most important steps in his career, joining the acting cast of the second installment of the famous Netflix series, “Elite”.

How did you come to this production?

I am very insistent and heavy, and if I want something I don’t stop until I get it. When I found out they were going to do a second season of this boom show, I sent a bunch of emails to the casting directors and executives. I talked to everyone. Weeks later they answered me. They told me that they had closed the casting, but that there was a small role to say like 4 or 5 sentences. I applied and they chose me.

—How was the experience of participating in this powerful production? What obstacles did you find?

I felt a lot of nerves, a lot of pressure. I speak super fast, I don’t vocalize well, and when I’m nervous I go even faster. I was afraid of getting stuck, also of falling because they put me in heels two sizes bigger than the ones I wear. They told me to try to walk on tiptoes so the sound doesn’t filter through, and because I was nervous, I tripped over some cables. They had to cut the scene and make me up because I turned red (laughs).

—In “A retreat to fall in love” you made a pretty nice friendship with Merly Morello. How did you take the fact that people believed that they are a couple in real life?

It was very funny, because I said that she was my Peruvian girlfriend and she said that I was her Spanish girlfriend. People took it literally and we had to clarify that we were referring to our roles in the film. It didn’t bother me, I thought it was fun.

—After “Al fondo hay sitio” what’s next in your career?

At the moment I am devoted in body and soul to this production. Then, by the end of the year, I have another film also in Peru, with the same director of “A retreat to fall in love.” A long stay awaits me in this beautiful country that completely changed my life and gave me the opportunity I needed to show what I can achieve after so many “no’s”.

—Did you ever think about declining your dreams?

I almost gave up when I applied for a Spanish series. After five castings, we are only two girls. They chose the other girl, but since there was a problem, they later called me. She was very happy, but that happiness ended when they summoned her again. I came to nothing. I cried a lot. I wanted to die. However, I did not give up, and here I am sharing with first-class actors in a wonderful country.