'We want La Vorágine to reach every corner of the country': José Lombana

In the competitive world of Colombian television, José Lombana has emerged as an indispensable figure, becoming one of the most versatile actors. With a career spanning nearly 15 years, Lombana has not only captivated audiences with performances in productions such as "Rigo," where he played Nicolás; "Leandro Díaz," with Pepe Hinojosa; and his most recent role as "Néstor" in the Darío Gómez series.

However, his talent goes beyond acting; José has also established himself as a visionary producer, behind projects such as "Emma Reyes" and, soon, the ambitious series "La Vorágine," inspired by the literary classic by José Eustasio Rivera , which will premiere on regional channels (Telecafé, Teleantioquia, Telecaribe, Telepacífico, Canal Capital, Canal TRO, Canal Trece, and Teleislas) starting July 7.

"We want La Vorágine to reach every corner of the country, so people can experience this production made with 100 percent Colombian talent, filmed in real locations, passing through Cundinamarca, Tolima, the Eastern Plains, and the Amazon Rainforest, starring 48 actors and a technical crew of more than 120 people, to achieve the greatest epic series on Colombian television," says José Lombana, actor and producer of La Vorágine.

Although José began his television career as an actor, he acknowledges that he always felt the need to create stories, which is why, for almost six years, he has been part of Quinto Color, an independent television production company that created the series La Vorágine. "Everything is connected; acting and producing, for me, are part of one whole, and what I love is creating," he comments.

“It's an honor for me. Imagine being the producer of La Vorágine. Telling that story. Telling a story about a country that's never been told before. This happened in 1910. But it's the Colombian plains and jungle in 1910,” says the actor and producer. He adds, “We had to create it, and it's not just about telling the story, it's about telling the story of Colombia at that time, and that has an important visual presence.”

I'm one of the executive producers. There are three of us leading this series: Jorge López, Rosemary Muñoz, and I. I have two fellow executives with incredible experience in Colombian television and film; they've done very important things, but I feel like my generation is coming along with strength, innovation, and a much more grounded vision. In a few years, I'll probably have to change partners and look for people younger than me. That's the life story: combining experience with innovation.

That's what I bring. An artistic vision that comes from a career as an actor, and I think that's a plus. The details are in the artistic vision of the actor who produces. When an actor produces, there's a distinct vision. It doesn't mean it's better; it's simply a differentiator among all the products on the market. I would love to invite my fellow artists to also begin to be part of the creative process because I believe that's where there's room for us.

That happens all the time. These jobs require a lot from you. The actor leaves the set, but they've worked with it all day. The cameraman turns off the camera; the lighting technician turns off the lights, but the actor worked with themselves, and with that same body, they have to go home to live their real life. To eat, to talk to their family, to take the dog outside. That's where I find my moments, where I need to return to myself. To step out of character. To step out of the actor's role and go home.

I feel like the normal routines of my life are where I find the greatest moments of creativity. When I return to my humanity, to my normality, not on the set. It's very important for me to connect with my everyday life, with my humanity, with my dogs, with my pets in my house. That helps me a lot.

It's just that, for example, when you get involved in these videos, it doesn't mean that if you play a killer, you're out to kill people. Sometimes people confuse that. It's not that you're stuck with that context, but there are very small things about the character that I don't think he gave you, but rather that you gave them to him.

In my case, it happened with a character named Pepe Hinojosa in Leandro Díaz's novel. When we were on set, the director told me, "Okay, but I want you to have more points than Leandro," because we're fighting over love. So he asked me, "How could that love choose Leandro over you?"

Then it occurred to me that the character was getting dizzy. Well, I can tell you that I had dizzy spells that whole year. There was so much suggestion, constantly thinking about when the character would get dizzy to sabotage himself, and it got to the point where I finished filming the series and days later I had dizzy spells for that whole month. I began to realize that these were things the character had, and I had noted moments in which characters would get dizzy if they felt this way.

I feel there are many artists from the last century who are still unknown, not because they aren't popular, but in a way that honors their art more than their lives. We typically focus bio-novels and biographies on him, on his life, but not on how he achieved these accomplishments and how that left a legacy. So for me, we need to tell the story of Lucho Bermúdez, who internationalized Colombian rhythms. I would love to represent him. Just like Lucho, I feel there are several artists from the last century who deserve recognition. We need to go back in time and honor them, and for me, Lucho would be a beautiful gift that I would like to perform.

There are several artists from the last century who deserve recognition, we must go back in time and acknowledge them.

I really like that character because I was able to play an antagonistic character, I was able to show mischief in a smarmy character. That was the director's instruction—you're going to be the lover—but he doesn't mind being the lover; on the contrary, he's proud of it. He doesn't mind sneaking into the neighbor's house at 10 in the morning to sleep with the neighbor's wife. When the director told me that, I put a couple of friends in my head and I said, "Of course, this is what they are—this is what a shameless person is," and that was the path . That's what made him connect with the audience, because he never judged himself, never thought he was doing anything wrong. When the series aired, I thought people were going to hate me, but they didn't.

If you ask me today, it would be about production, because, for example, I'm currently filming a vertical series, in a reel or TikTok format, which is the future. I believe this horizontal concept has its days numbered, and we're going to start telling all stories this way. I think it's wonderful to be in the future, innovating the format and telling stories. So if you ask me today, I'm grateful for life putting me in the role of producer.