Marcelo de Bellis reveals his hidden talents, what he is “sick” of and the future of Married with Children

Marcelo de BellisDart Married with childrenis doing a theater season in Buenos Aires: she stars in Mama, at the Multiteatro, along with Betiana Blum, Alberto Fernández de Rosa, Romina Gaetani and Magela Zanotta.

In this Ping Pong with Vivatalks about passion for football, perfumes and mint gum. The friendship with Pity Martínez, River star. And he admits a defect: distraction.

-Very shy. I am an only child. My parents were very overprotective. My mom, especially. I remember that because of my shyness, it was difficult for me to go from kindergarten to first grade. But later, through theater, I gained a social place.

-You are doing the play Mama at the Multiteatro, do you feel anxious or nervous at the premieres?

-I am cold in those moments. I would tell you that I have the coldness of surgeons. It doesn’t change my mood at all. I take it as just another day, I sleep well the night before. I’m even calm in the theater, which sometimes irritates my colleagues (laughs).

-You have two daughters in their twenties and a 6-year-old boy. Did the type of parenting change with the last child?

-Yes, the environment changed. I have a different economic stability and that means I have more time to enjoy Bastián. I consent to it more. He is from Scorpio the crazy and has a lot of character. I choose to laugh although sometimes, I challenge it. I see myself reflected in a lot of things. Bastián looks a lot like me.

–Do you or did you do therapy?

-I analyzed myself when I was separating from my daughters’ mother. And I also did therapy, when I started to have a stable relationship with my current wife. In both cases, with the same analyst: a very cool guy, with a very simple mentality. I remember that the second time he told me: “This speaks well of you.” I felt that the bond with my current wife was so important that it was worth analyzing myself to be better. Plus, it’s good to work on aspects of yourself.

-Even as a child I knew that I wanted to act. They put me in all the school events. I played San Martín, from Belgrano; also from Chapulín Colorado and Minguito. My mom didn’t like me acting at all. (laughs). I called the school so they wouldn’t put me in. Later, in high school, I became a leader. We had a theater group and that’s where we started acting workshops. And the vocation began. I felt a very special energy on stage. And thanks to that, I justified finishing high school and stopped taking subjects!

-I read that you were friends with Maradona, is that correct?

-No, to I knew Diego when I was little. I played soccer for Argentinos Juniors and watched him train. It was a hello and bye. Diego would arrive at the club with a bag full of balls and teach everyone how to kick. I am a River Plate fan. Yes, I am a friend of Pato Fillol and Pity Martínez. Just the other day I had the privilege of having Pity cook for me at her house. He made meat and potatoes. What’s more: he came to see the play. He paid the entrance fee and then posted on the networks. It’s a crazy thing. He has a way with people. It’s a different one.

-What was it like to make the series Married with Children, a program in which you starred alongside Guillermo Francella?

-There was a formal proposal and I think it is still latent. I would like to do the series because we are all more mature. I enjoyed the return on the Gran Rex (in January 2023) in a different way. It was an unforgettable and unrepeatable experience. There were blocks of queues at the exit of the theater to greet us…

-Did you suffer from being an only child?

-No, I was raised with a lot of love. We lived in a chorizo-type house in Villa Urquiza. He played a lot with a paper ball, which he had taped with Scotch tape, and he would report games.

-I imitate people. I can imitate guys like Eros Ramazzotti or Larguirucho very well. I also have a talent for sports. I play soccer very well. And I juggle. You give me three tennis balls and I have them for a long time. It could be at any traffic light (laughs).

-Are you afraid of something?

-For something to happen to my children. That is the only truly conscious concern.

-What do you enjoy most?

-I love teaching acting and I love being a dad. I feel like I’m a working father as an actor. Today, my career is not the most important thing in life. I feel like life happens on the other hand.

-I really like to make a fire and have the fireplace burning in my house. When I get home from the theater, I throw a couple of logs. It’s therapy for me. I uncork a red wine and lie down in the living room to listen to the roar of the embers. There I lower the decibels.

-The distraction. It would seem like a contradiction, but when it comes to listening to others, at some point I get distracted. I kind of lose my attention span. I listen on a time-limited basis, you might say.

-Any thoughts before going on stage?

-Now in Mom, the last person I touch or kiss is Paco Fernández de Rosa.

-You live on the outskirts of the city, why?

-Because I love living in the countryside. I have a lot of green and I wouldn’t change it for anything. In a pandemic, with my wife and daughters we planted everything. We have tomato, basil, rosemary, mint and green onion. Also, strawberries. Sometimes when I make a barbecue, I grab some spices from the garden. And we have a German Shepherd.

-Any dream or pending subject?

–I would like to work with Ricardo Darín. He seems like a master to me, a guy who believes everything he does. It is the art of acting. It is very natural and very organic. The last time I saw him was at Carlín Calvo’s funeral. We left the cemetery walking together.

-I eat a lot of gum. I like to smell like mint. Actually, I’m a sucker for smells. I live with perfume: when I get out of the car, before going to sleep, I put it on my wrists or behind my ears. I use the Terre d’Hermès.

-I am very simple. I was never a complicated or twisted person.