To the Joaquin Phoenix, on the stairs of 'Joker', in the Bronx. Total look by Dior Men.
Javier Rey's anecdotes about the people who stop him on the street, he touches him without warning and asks (and wishes) the most abstruse things are to laugh and cry, one after another. "Although if someone stops me because they've seen Endless, we're off to a good start," he clarifies and lets out one of his funny laughs, with which he seems to elegantly fit in these and other surreal situations. He enlivens the evening with these amusing stories at one of the long, chandelier-lit tables at the Buddakan Asian restaurant in Chelsea Market, and the one he refers to is to the romantic drama with touches of science fiction by the brothers César and José Esteban Alenda, that he starred with María León and that received such good reviews, one of his most special works.
And the fact is that he is willing to talk about cinema, good cinema, with whomever is necessary, for example with any of the many who We have seen him in the television hits Fariña, Hache, Hispania, la leyenda and Velvet, or in the movie El silencio de la ciudad blanca, co-starring Belén Rueda, who he says, by the way, that he is the kindest person in the industry.
He makes everyone feel so comfortable that although he intrigues us, We don't want to mention the gossip magazines stolen from him on the cover, nor the persecutions of these fervent fans, sometimes more interested in the selfie than in the cinematographic debate.
Katz's, the deli from 'When Harry Met Sally'. Total look by Dior Men.
When we finally do, Javier laughs about it and one thing is clear to us: this guy has great magnetism, on and off screen. a journalist from a fairly conservative women's magazine – we remind you – once described him as disturbingly attractive and the nicest guy in the world. “OMG!” she laughs. “To a certain extent she makes me blush. It's nice that they speak well of one and say things like that. I feel grateful, but I don't feel any pressure in that regard."
What he likes is talking about cinema, we insist. Even more so being as we are in a city that looks like a set or, as he comments, a Woody Allen set. But let's go back to the beginning of the story. As soon as he landed in New York, Javier met us in the lobby of the Soho Grand Hotel, in Downtown, to dine with the whole team at Milos, a sophisticated fish and seafood venue in Midtown.
Javier appears with a short-sleeved shirt and a beard that, we can't help it, makes us look surprised. Perhaps because we have spent the flight from Madrid in the company of Sito Miñanco, the drug trafficker who plays in Fariña, we expected to run into a seventies mustache. "I don't know why I left it, really", he defends himself with a smile, and he absently adds, "Maybe I get tired of not having control over my own appearance."
Katz's through glass, on a rainy day.
already on the table, Javier gives his approval (with the authority conferred by being born in Noia) to a delicious octopus. Neither jet lag nor fatigue prevents him from paying attention to names, interests and hobbies of all of us. He tells us that he pays a lot of attention to hands and looks, in real life and in performances (“I see the work, the acting process of my colleagues”, he explains), and I add that of course he does it, while he listens to you hyper-smiling, with all his attention and energy. What is said about the evolution of flamenco and Rosalía? On with that conversation. What is there to recommend series? Butt too. “The last ten minutes of Six Feet Under are magic!” he proclaims, and he pretty much asks the whole table to sign that we're going to see it that very night. The personified enthusiasm is concentrated in this 40-year-old Galician, willing to row in favor of this report whatever is necessary and more. Low temperatures, long distances and traffic jams, nothing discourages him, what charges his batteries is getting into the role.
Having a drink at Katz's, the famous deli on the Lower East Side. Total look by Dior Men.
With this spirit, Javier has interpreted Dior's new men's fragrance for Condé Nast Traveler in the city featured in the campaign, touring the settings that inspired Sergio Leone, Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, Rob Reiner... and Woody Allen, that could not miss.
If you want a boxer / I will step into the ring for you / And if you want a doctor / I'll examine every inch of you of your body), whispers Leonard Cohen in the short film performed by Robert Pattinson for the new version of Dior Homme, a woody eau de toilette, with moist and fresh notes, that fits perfectly with Javier's olfactory tastes.
Katz's, a movie set.
“I usually opt for scented waters, nothing complicated. For a long time I didn't use perfume, but then you try it and you notice that everything is impregnated, the clothes, the sheets... Someone writes you a WhatsApp at a certain moment saying that he has come across a person who reminded him of you for the smell As the years go by (he just turned 40), I like him more and more.”
curious by nature, Javier wants to know more about the figure of François Demachy, the house's perfumer, find out what exactly his work consists of and even look for a photo of him on the internet to see if it fits what he imagines. “There is one thing that happens to me with tradition and good work. It is a value that I respect a lot”, he explains to us. “No one arrives at a place by chance and maintains it, it is something almost impossible. So when someone gets it they deserve all my respect. The house of Dior has it. And knowing how to reinvent oneself, which also has its merits”.
Javier Rey on Wall Street, inspiration for so many film directors. Total look by Dior Men.
Javier confesses to us his growing taste for playing on the red carpet and defining himself through clothing. “There will be people who believe that it is only clothes, but if you think of that group of creatives in front of a blank sheet of paper, building something, it is art! The construction interests me, the artistic fact, that has a value. Then there is the one that each one wants to grant... but it has a power. For example, I have a torn shirt that I don't throw away because I love it”.
His interest in fashion comes from his time with Velvet, where he "got the point" preparing for his character. "Even she designed a collection," jokes Bea, her representative, alluding to how seriously she takes the preparation of the papers. “I have learned that there is no single working method. It may sound strange, but I feel that the character is asking me for things. Sometimes I prepare it with my coach, others only with the director, sometimes I do an exhaustive job, sometimes I am the one who wants to be on the tightrope and I go with everything but tied. But it's all part of a lot of preparation at home, on my own, reading, looking for information. Thinking about the childhood of the character, although it is never talked about. I like to investigate it and, if I don't have that data, I make it up. Because all that work means that on any given day, a fragment of the text leads you to an image and that reaction you have is golden. It's a small thing, but it gives a lot of layers to the characters. I stop, but I could talk for hours and hours about this.”
The city of New York, an eternal decoration.
During this trip we talked a lot, a lot, about the movie Joker and Joaquin Phoenix's tremendous performance. “In Spain there is not as much time as in Hollywood to thoroughly prepare a character. It is an economic issue. If you only have two weeks of rehearsals with all your actors, it's because you don't have more money to do it. To get into a role like this in our country, the nutritionist would have to pay you and while you would do other jobs”, Rey jokes, and assures that he might be more interested in the story of the one who doesn't reach the top –“The last man in the New York marathon... is a god!”– than that of a winner. Again his passion for the process, for the way.
With total look of Dior Men in Central Park.
The actor - who The series Mentiras has just premiered and the thriller Orígenes secretos and the romantic drama The summer we live are pending release. he has super clear ideas but, at the same time, willingly lends himself to whatever is asked of him. “I have assumed the hierarchy and it is something that I will never skip. I like to propose and convince but, in the end, I am very obedient”, he smiles.
He has ever mentioned the dark side of interpretation, in reference to the resignations that his profession entails. “Not many, but some yes. I'm not saying it with drama, huh. If it goes well for you, you give up a quiet walk down the street, you have to travel a lot, not be with your daily friends. An intimate does not want to worry you because you are focused and you find out a month later about something that has happened to him... You get away from the day to day. This profession gives you an amazing lifestyle, I would be very sad if I had to give it up, but there are things that I would not want to lose. I can't have everything”, he concludes.
Life in hotels is hard and lonely and, for this reason, he explains to us, he gets so busy on filming. Rey says that, when he meets the teams, he immediately sees the profile of each one and takes into account that these people are the ones who are going to "save" him in the coming weeks or months.
Central Park has inspired numerous scenes from Woody Allen's movies.
Based on intense filming, he got to know Conil, Vitoria (“I am fascinated!”), Barcelona and even Galicia, where he rediscovered incredible places. But the trip that changed his life was New York. "Whenever I come it's a hit for me." How much competition must there be in a city like this, we wonder, what would it be like to try to succeed in a place like this or Los Angeles? "I don't even think about it," he flatly rejects. “What if Tarantino called him? “I would tell him ‘Thank you Quentin, the money is also very good for me, but when I finish making the movie I will return to Madrid”, he affirms between laughs.
Another trip that marked a before and after was when he moved to Madrid at the age of 19. "The adventure of going alone, on the train, meant a lot to me." He dreams of visiting Japan, where he has never been. “I am fascinated by the cinema there, the aesthetics, how they move. I would like to go early and immerse myself. A friend has a Japanese relative and we plan to go as a group of four or five.”
Javier Rey, in the Bronx, one of the key settings of 'Joker'. Total look by Dior Men.
AN EVENING IN THE BRONX
We have traveled with Rey to the New York settings of the classic Once Upon a Time in America, the romantic and acid Café Society, the hysterical The Wolf of Wall Street and the orgasmic When Harry Met Sally, and he enjoys himself like a child in an amusement park. One night we drove to the mythical stairs of Shakespeare Avenue where Joaquin Phoenix let loose as a Gotham villain to the rhythm of Rock and Roll, Part 2, by the British Gary Glitter.
Javier, who, by the way, is a comic book reader and a big fan of Alan Moore, he does the same, performing a histrionic dance before the amused gaze of some residents of the Bronx. We want to know what movies have really marked him and he thinks about it.–“I want to be precise and not say anything to say”– before opting for Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance) and Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón) and confessing that science fiction drives him crazy. All because of Star Wars, which he and his brother watched on a loop as children. He also declares his weakness for Manuel Martín Cuenca (La flaqueza del bolchevique, El autor).
Javier Rey, next to the Manhattan Bridge. Total look by Dior Men.
We feel that we return knowing him a little, although he maintains that maintaining the mystery is important, not only to protect his privacy and that of his loved ones, but also so that it does not affect his credibility as an actor. Hence, he does not show much in networks – “Each one has to find the voice with which he feels comfortable”, he comments – and that he should worry a little about what we are going to put in quotation marks.
We seem to remember him about a hostel, near where his brother lives, can define him quite well. “There they always serve me offering the best, what they have and what they don't have. It's not a very fancy place, but it's my favorite hotel. They know who I am, but they have never mentioned it, they don't want to bother me." it is clear to us what Javier likes: movies, movies, movies; have the space of him; listen; the creative processes... and, he reminds him, if you stop him on the street, let it be to comment Endlessly.
*Photography assistant: Alejandro Quintano
Makeup and hairdressing: Mara Fervi for Dior*