"I remember the first play I saw; my grandma was an amateur actress and was playing a nun. Until then I had always seen my grandma in the role of a grandparent, but when I saw her on stage, the magic she transmitted marked me."
Fast-forward 30 years and that small child from Mexico City is at Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the role of Calpurnia (wife of Julius Caesar) in Julius Caesar.
15 years ago Jimena Larraguivel moved to the UK with the dream of becoming a performing actress. "I never imagined myself performing Shakespeare in his country. In Mexico, I grew up with telenovelas (soap operas). But I didn't want to be another soap opera actress; I wanted to be on stage. I went to a very strict school, so when I started drama classes after school, I could be as free and vulnerable as I wanted. This was my way to express myself and learn to be comfortable with my body."
Even so, Jimena didn’t go straight for an acting career, but instead a career in Pedagogy. It was thanks to one education class that things changed.
"I remember in one class on education through the arts, an actress, a violinist and an opera singer came to talk to us about the importance of education in the arts. And I remember perfectly thinking: ‘But I don't just want to be educated in the arts; I want to do it.’"
Jimena started doing more intensive drama classes in her spare time. After she finished her bachelor’s degree in Mexico, she started working as a teacher, but in her free time, she went to classes at the Casa de Teatro arts centre in the south of Mexico City.
"It was a six-month intensive course and it shaped me as an actress. I thought we were just going to read scripts. But the physical exercises I realised are super important in the drama world."
Still working in education, Jimena stumbled upon an amazing postgraduate opportunity in Education in the UK, but again the pull of theatre won over: "I decided to go to Canada instead, where I took a Bachelor's degree in Drama. After two years there, out of the blue, London University contacted me and asked me if I was still interested. So I took the decision that changed my life and decided I was going to London."
Despite her Masters being about the Philosophy of Education, Jimena knew that London was the heart of theatre and opportunities were just around the corner.
"My path was not a straight one. Even in London, I worked different jobs that had nothing to do with acting. But I was getting closer, little by little. I got a profile on Spotlight and found a manager who got me one of my breakthroughs."
In 2014 Jimena fell pregnant. "I was so scared because I thought if I did it, then my career would be over and my best years behind me. But that didn’t happen; in fact, since being a mum, I have worked so much more. It didn’t end my dreams as I feared it might." Indeed in 2017, Jimena participated in a remake of the classic The House of Bernarda Alba at the Cervantes Theatre and then Nosocomial with the Camden People’s Theatre Company.
It was after these two plays that The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) came calling.
“Obviously, I knew about the importance of Shakespeare and I loved it, but almost every fellow actor, manager, and director told me, "don’t even try."
This was because she was Mexican and didn’t have the Shakespearean accent or the classic pronunciation that takes time to learn. Then she heard that The RSC was doing a play about the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, called Day of the Living.
"I went to the theatre and didn’t hear anyone with my accent. I wouldn’t say I gave up, but I just accepted it and was like, "Okay, that is the reality; I am going to do other types of work."
After Jimena got the part an opportunity to audition for Julius Caesar came up. Jimena wasn’t sure at first "but I had the urge to audition, even though I didn’t expect to get it. In the audition, for once nobody told me 'to sound more Mexican or look more Mexican.' Then got a call from my agent that told me I got the part of Calpurnia"
The new Julius Caesar production is directed by the acclaimed Atri Banerjee, who was awarded Best Director at the Stage Debut Awards and brings a new perspective to the classic, with a diverse cast, featuring different English accents, taking a more open look at Shakespeare's work, focusing on story lines that have never before been explored.
“I’m being made to feel comfortable speaking with my accent," Jimena says. “"I think the industry has changed in the last five years, its more open to diverse casts. Suddenly I don’t feel I am being cast as a Mexican, as its always been, I’m being cast as an actor.
Whilst grateful for not being subjected to the usual Latina stereotypes, Jimena feels proud to be representing her heritage.
“As soon as I got hired by the RSC, I wanted to share my story so that my fellow Latin actors out there know that, although the doors might seem closed, they are opening now more than ever."
In addition to playing the role of Calpurnia (Julius Caesar's wife) Jimena is also understudying two other characters: Pindarus and Cobbler.
“The most challenging thing about playing Calpurnia is that when her scene happens in the play, the stakes are really high and they are manifested in very big words and images. I'm always worried I'm paying her too big but then I'm reminded to trust in the words and find the pleasure in them. We have an incredible voice coach in the room who has been supporting me and the other actors throughout the process.”
And what of her Mexican heritage or perspective is she bringing to her part?
“I'm thrilled that as a Mexican I'm embracing my own accent, I'm even saying a few things in Spanish. I'm bringing my full self into the role, completely unapologetically and it is so freeing and refreshing. I don't have to pretend, try not to sound different. This is what excites me the most about bringing her to life, that my background and experiences as a Latin American woman will be in full display, whilst at the same time not playing a stereotypical "Latina"; I'm just being me.”
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar will be playing at ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE STRATFORD-UPON-AVON 18 MAR - 8 APR and touring from April 20th Tickets https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-caesar/
