At the age of 22, Lander Otaola was brimming with enthusiasm to explore Morocco. Now, at 37, he looks back and chuckles at a journey he admits would be much more challenging today. The tale involves a bus trip, a bag overflowing with vomit, and a cheeky hotel receptionist, all of which contributed to an unforgettable experience.
“A few friends and I traveled through the country, and on our return, we had to get back to Nador from Chaouen,” the actor recounts. Today, a quick check on Google Maps indicates that this journey should take approximately five and a half hours. However, they were promised a mere three-hour trip. “For some reason, it ended up taking 12 hours. I think that bus stopped at every town in Morocco,” Otaola humorously reflects.
The discomfort of the heat, the jolting of the bus, and other unknown factors led to one passenger becoming ill in a packed vehicle. At least, Otaola recalls, the vomit landed in a bag, although the foul smell permeated the entire bus. The journey was riddled with unexpected stops, with the driver getting off at bizarre villages only to return with a bottle or a bag. Otaola jokingly suspects that the driver may have had other business ventures beyond just driving.
After a day that felt reminiscent of a Victorian chimney sweep’s ordeal, with little food or water, Otaola and his companions finally reached Nador and arrived at the Marbella Hotel. The hotel manager was aware of their arrival and summoned them, leading the group to believe they might finally receive some refreshments. However, the reality was far from their expectations.
Instead of offering them snacks or drinks, the director invited them to a room to share his passion for wordplay. “He’d say, ‘The one who went to Seville…’, and we’d respond, ‘…lost his chair.’ Then he’d follow with, ‘The one who went to León…’, ‘…lost his armchair.’ He concluded with, ‘I love word games because I’ve lived in Marbella. That’s why the hotel is called Marbella,’” Otaola reminisces. This was the entirety of their welcome. “And I thought: ‘I’ve been stuck on a bus for twelve hours. I’m not in the right frame of mind for this.’” Once they recovered from such a bizarre and exhausting experience, they finally ventured out to eat and drink.
In light of his experience, Otaola offers a piece of advice to anyone planning to travel through Morocco by bus this summer: “Make sure to check the travel duration thoroughly and don’t forget to bring a bottle of water.” He chuckles as he emphasizes this point, noting that what was supposed to be a straightforward journey ended up being a day lost.
Strange Filming Experiences
Since he was 19, Otaola has been gracing stages and stepping in front of cameras, amassing nearly two decades of experience filled with various anecdotes. Some of these are shareable, while others remain unspoken. One particularly surreal tale took place during the filming of a TV movie at a convent.
The convent even featured a swimming pool, and what began as a seemingly calm shoot escalated into a scene that felt straight out of a Berlanga film. “The priest, who had been very formal all week, suddenly let loose and ended up swimming in his underwear,” he describes. The atmosphere became increasingly chaotic. At one point, an electrician accidentally cut himself on something on the floor—leftover bottles and remnants of an impromptu celebration—resulting in blood on the convent floor. “And suddenly, the priest was cleaning it up, in his underwear,” Otaola recalls. “And the director was going topless. You have to wonder: at what point does a relatively normal shoot turn into this?”
“It was like a party in a convent with the priest in his underwear sipping a gin and tonic, blood on the floor, and a crew trying to continue working,” he summarizes. “And that’s one of the calmer stories. There are others that can’t be shared.”
Upcoming Project: 'A Story from Bilbao'
The conversation takes place in a familiar setting for Otaola: the Teatro Arriaga, where he will premiere his new project as a director, 'A Story from Bilbao', this coming October. “I’ve been from Amezola my whole life,” Otaola shares. “I always dreamed of performing at the Arriaga, and if you had told that 13 or 14-year-old boy that he would end up performing there so many times… and that he would also be part of his own story.”
On stage, two actors portray different members of that family saga. “I believe it’s a very funny yet nostalgic story that speaks of an Euskal Herria that will never return: we’ve gone from Chernobyl to Eurodisney in just 30 years,” the actor previews. The play also draws on recognizable references for the audience, including 'Hook' by Steven Spielberg, 'Labyrinth' featuring David Bowie, and 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens.
Additionally, the Teatro Arriaga serves as the venue for the proclamation and the launch of the chupinazo that heralds the beginning of Bilbao's most special week: Aste Nagusia. As a true txirene, Otaola is genuinely passionate about the festivities, asserting that he would prefer to be the town crier rather than win an Oscar. “I’m from Bilbao, then from Bizkaia, and then Basque, in that order,” he states. “But I believe an artist should also give back to their city and their neighborhood.” In that spirit, he shares a childhood dream: “Being the town crier at Aste Nagusia would be an honor; it’s been my dream since I was little,” he concludes.
As reported by deia.eus.
