Actress Lili Rentería is better than ever: "I want to live in an imaginary country called Paxia"

November 9, 2023

The beloved Cuban actress Lili Rentería will co-star alongside Venezuelan star Lupita Ferrer in the Spanish-language staging of the play "A Doll's House 2: The Return of Nora", by American author Lucas Hnath adapted and directed by Venezuelan Juan Montero.

Lili could not be better accompanied: she shares the cast with the admired "queen of telenovelas", Venezuelan legend Lupita Ferrer, as well as actors Ariadna González and Raúl Cruz. The production will be in New York, at the Queens Theatre, on November 11 and 12, at 8 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

It is no secret to anyone the acting background of Rentería (affectionately remembered by many as "Lili, from 'Para bailar'") which includes memorable film performances in several movies such as "Los sobrevivientes" by renowned director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, as well as her performances in theater and television both in Havana, Caracas and Miami, the city where she has lived for several years. Currently Lili continues her acting work and has pursued her natural passion for astrology.

Speaking exclusively with ADN América en Español, this is what one of the most well-known and beloved faces of the Cuban entertainment world told us.

"My father urged me to be free through his example," says the beloved actress Lili Rentería.

What is your main character trait?
Saturnian perseverance.

What quality do you appreciate most in a person?
Honesty.

What do you expect from your friends?
That they be... true friends.

What is your main defect?

Red Cross complex.

Your favorite occupation?
Astrology.

Your ideal of happiness?
To be free in nature.

What would be your greatest misfortune?
I don't even want to mention it.

What would you like to be if you weren't an actress?
A film director.

What would you like to do when you're older?
Write a book.

In what country would you like to live?
In an imaginary one, called Paxia.

Your favorite color?
All colors.

Your favorite film?
"The Books of Prospero", by Peter Greenaway, a version of "The Tempest", by Shakespeare.

Your favorite television series?
"Foundation", a science fiction series on Apple TV, based on the fundamental works of Isaac Asimov.

Your favorite actors or actresses?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Luis Brandoni, Vanessa Redgrave, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, [my parents] Pedro Renteria and Lilian Llerena... The list is endless!

In theater, who are your favorite authors?

Federico García Lorca, William Shakespeare, Virgilio Piñera, Tennessee Williams, and Carlos Celdrán.

Your favorite poets?

Eliseo Diego, Jorge Luis Borges, Edith Llerena, Alejandra Pizarnik, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Joaquín Badajoz.

A fictional hero you admire and why?

Don Quixote, the Knight of the Lions, by our extraordinary Cervantes, because he represents ideals such as freedom, justice, beauty and madness, which is a symbol of altruistic freedoms, as well as for honor, one can and must venture one's life.

A fictional heroine and why?

Asteria, goddess of prophecies and oracles. She is considered one of the powerful divinities of antiquity. She has control of the sky, the stars, the moon and its cycles, of time. She is credited with the creation of the universe itself. She watches over its maintenance. Protector of travelers and those who seek knowledge.

Your favorite musician?

There are so many I like that it cannot be just one. Pat Metheny, Villalobos, Chopin, Caetano Veloso, José María Vitier...

Your preferred painter?

Michelangelo, Gustavo Acosta and many more who move me.

Your hero in real life and why?

My father, for urging me to be free through his example.

What habit in others do you not tolerate?

Gossip.

What is it that you most detest?

Lies.

A historical figure you cannot tolerate?

Hitler and all those like him.

A historical event you admire?

The Renaissance.

A historical event that terrifies you.

The Holocaust.

What virtue would you like to possess?

Patience.

Since we are all going to die, how do you imagine your own death?

From the emotion of very good news.

What is your most common state of mind?

Joy.

What defects inspire you to greater indulgence?

Selfishness.

Do you have a life motto by which you live?

"Let people live and don't break their balls...", from the character of Luis Brandoni in the series "Nada".