Telemundo has a steamy new series titled The Scent of Passion (Café Con Aroma de Mujer). The telenovela stars an acclaimed cast led by fan favourites William Levy, Laura Londoño and Carmen Villalobos. In this chat with Laura, who plays Gaviota in the steamy telenovela, she discusses the theme of love in the series.
What did you enjoy most about filming The Scent of Passion?
There are several of them, but I will mention the freedom given to the main character, Gaviota. I played the main character and I loved that she was given the liberty to express different emotions. Sometimes when we put the traditional model roles for women, we want all women to follow her. I think we have, as an industry, made that traditional woman very cute and very polite, and sometimes way more silent than we should be in real life. Gaviota is not that traditional woman. Gaviota is someone that says whatever she has to say. She makes mistakes a lot also because of that impulse that she has, but that is real, and I value that a lot.
How would you describe Gaviota? And is there anything about her that you relate to?
She is very impulsive and so am I. That brings a lot of trouble in life but also brings a lot of mental peace because you put everything outside. You don’t swallow up any negativity. You say whatever you have to say that is important. So yes, I think we have that in common. We are both very impulsive. We are both very passionate about what we do as well. You are going to see a Gaviota that is deeply in love with coffee farming. I likewise am passionate about my job, and what I do too. I get very immersed in the roles that I play. This is something I also share with Gaviota.
What would you say is the most challenging thing about being an actress and shooting The Scent of Passion?
I could say that the schedule was the hardest for me. When I started shooting The Scent of Passion, I had my first child who was a year old. She would wake up a lot at night and I had to stay up with her during those nights. Also, we kept shooting for very extended hours. For 12 hours! That is a long working period. Then after the day, you have to go home and learn all the scenes for the following day. So, I would say the schedule. It was a very hard one. But then again, when you’re in love with what you do, you do it anyway and you wake up every day to do it.
What is the one reason that Nigerian fans should watch The Scent of Passion?
You are going to feel so many things including humour, love, hate and that is important. It reminds us that we have all the emotions. I go through emotions always. Of course, it is very important to think about life and ideas instead of love, but emotions and feelings are everything in our lives. That is what makes us remember that we are here. The Scent of Passion also has many complicated topics that are discussed, and you have all kinds of characters that you can relate to. There are also all kinds of love that you can relate to like romantic love. Also, the love for your mother, the love for your land and the environment that you see. If you haven’t had the chance to come to Colombia, you’ll see the views and the beautiful places we have here, and you’ll fall in love with them too.
Watch The Scent of Passion every night on Telemundo at 9 pm WAT on DStv Channel 118 and on GOTV Channel 14.