“I HAVE ALWAYS PREFERRED EVERYTHING THAT WENT AGAINST WHAT WAS ‘IN’ IN FASHION. AND IT SEEMS LIKE NOW EVERYTHING THAT I LIKED BEFORE IS BECOMING TRENDY. BEFORE I WAS ALWAYS THE ‘WEIRD’ ONE FOR DRESSING LIKE THIS AND NOW IT IS WHAT EVERY- ONE WEARS. NOW I FEEL MORE IDENTIFIED AND AT EASE IN THE FASHION WORLD. AND I AM SO CONTENT WITH MY PARTNERSHIPS, I FEEL LIKE THEY REALLY REPRESENT ME. THEY FIT ME LIKE A GLOVE.”
The film had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and garnered Smit her second Goya nomination, this one for Best Supporting Actress, making it 2 for 2 in Goya nominations for her movies in her short, but very successful, career. From then on, Smit’s career ballooned, which saw her starting a new project as soon as the one before it wrapped. “You get to a point where you do not have time for anything,” she analyzes. “Not for yourself, or your family, or your health, or mental health, or to just check in and recog- nize yourself.” That is when she had to use the most important advice she received from both Almodóvar and Cruz: you have to learn when and how to stop. “That was the most important thing I have ever had to learn,” continues Smit. “And I have definitely noticed a difference, be- cause you start looking at projects in a different way, and you start living from a different per- spective, without so much stress, and enjoying what you are doing so much more.” With that advice in mind, she chose her next role very carefully: the character of Cata in the feature debut by Luc Knowles, Dragonflies . The film surrounds two friends who grew up in the outskirts of town, in a desolated neighbor- hood surrounded by mountains. They’ve spent their whole lives planning their escape in order to follow their dreams and forget their pasts. “ Dragonflies was a really small movie that I be- lieve we’ve made huge,” considers Smit. “It did not have a big budget or economical support, but the passion from all departments, and from the director, and all the actors, has made it so much bigger than it could ever be.” The roles of Álex and Cata garnered Smit and her Dragonflies co-star, Olivia Baglivi, the Best Actress award at the Málaga Spanish Film Festival. “She is my partner in crime,” com- ments the actor of her good friend. “She carries the weight in the movie, and I think we are a strong team. The chemistry we achieved in the movie is something that can be felt through the screen.” Of the film itself, she adds, “It has end- ed up being a movie with so much depth, with a beautiful message, amazing photography, and incredible acting. I really do believe we have received a final product that was so much more than we expected.” Lastly, Smit took part in her first TV series, The Girl in the Mirror , which premiered on Net-
flix this past August. It follows Alma (Mireia Oriol), as she tries to regain her identity and piece together the events of a mysterious trag- edy after losing her memory in a bizarre acci- dent that killed most of her classmates. “I am extremely happy with how it turned out,” says Smit. “My character in The Girl in the Mirror is a small one, but gives a lot of information to the viewer, as well as to the main character, to achieve her goal. It was a pleasure to film it, since it was the first time I ever shot sci- ence-fiction. And it is definitely challenging, since you have no idea how it’s going to turn out.” Smit continues, “And what a privilege that we are betting on these types of shows.
Especially in Spain because, in my opinion, this show is more related to an Amer- ican show, and it makes me proud that we can say that in Spain we can also do shows like that.” Now Smit is anxiously waiting for her upcoming projects to come to life. La Chica de Nieve, or Snow Girl, is a TV mini-series adaptation of the book by the same name by Javier Castillo. The story follows the disappearance of a three year-old in the middle of a crowd, leaving nothing behind but some strands of hair. Five years later, her parents receive a VHS tape of the little girl now at eight years-old. Smit plays the role of a journalism student that is drawn to the case, perhaps because there are some similarities between her life and that of the missing three year old. “In this series, I am truly the pro- tagonist,” smiles the actor. “I am so excited to see it. But to be honest, I think this show was one of the hardest challenges I have had to face. Obviously all filming is hard, and you have to be responsible always, but it is true that in a series, being the protagonist who needs to carry the whole show is another level of hard work.” Her latest upcoming project, Tin Y Tina, debuts in March 2023. Directed by Rubin Stein and starring Jaime Lorente, the film is based on the French short, defined by critics as “a cult short film,” nominated for the Golden Méliès to the Best European Fantastic Short Film. “It is about a couple,” describes Smit, “who want to adopt children, and they go to a religious orphanage to look for them. The movie has a lot of religious symbolism, but it is a horror film.” Not dissimilar to before her acting days, Smit’s Instagram showcases the actor playing with fashion in photographs from shoots with fellow photogra- pher friends. Only now she is creating the perfect It Girl, being an ambassador for brands such as Cartier and Yves Saint Laurent. “Since I was little, I have been more interested in ‘anti-fashion,’” she laughs. “I have always preferred everything that went against what was ‘in’ in fashion. And it seems like now everything that I liked before is becoming trendy. Before I was always the ‘weird’ one for dressing like this and now it is what everyone wears. Now I feel more identified and at ease in the fashion world. And I am so content with my partnerships, I feel like they really represent me. They fit me like a glove.” Smit’s life was turned upside down within a year thanks to an Instagram message. Now she is living the life she had never even dared to dream of. Her passion found her when she was least expecting it. Life works in funny ways, you never know what the calm and storms may yield, so make sure you are paying attention…and reading your DMs.
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