Today on Noticias Directo TV we resume our ‘Chronicles of the Heroes of Seville‘ section with a live interview, here on our set in Seville, with actor Manu Salas. The until recently unknown Sevillian actor has become a celebrity, not only on social networks, but also on the street as witnessed by the hundreds of fans who besiege our set today, after his heroic acts during the #SevillaDisaster.
For those who do not yet know him, Manu Salas has become a celebrity after an intense campaign on social networks to discover the identity of the mysterious young man holding an injured teenager who appeared in a photo that was on the cover of Times magazine. After a week of searching non-stop, Manu finally decided to go public and today we have him with us so he can tell us how he feels.
JOURNALIST: WELL MANU, TELL US, AFTER SEEING THE ONE THAT WAS PLACED OUTSIDE WHEN YOU HAVE ARRIVED WITH HUNDREDS OF FANS WAITING FOR YOU, HOW CAN A YOUNG ACTOR LIKE YOU DIGEST THIS SUCH SUDDEN FAME?
Manu: Hello, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. The truth is that I’m doing well. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming but a person like me, who has trained in acting and who hoped to become famous for his work, prepares for this life. I love that my fans come up to me to take photos with me or ask for autographs. It is something that flatters me a lot and a price to pay in exchange for everything they give you.
J: BEFORE THE #DISASTRESEVILLA YOU WERE A COMPLETELY UNKNOWN ACTOR, BUT NOW THE OFFERS WILL BE RAINING YOU, RIGHT?
M: Let’s see, as much as it is unknown, I was about to take the big leap, I had many interesting projects in hand. I have always stood out for my ability to interpret all types of characters, whether in theater or on video. The only thing that luck had not been with me until now. Something that has already changed. Right now I’m reading several scripts and I’ve even received an offer, which I’m carefully analyzing, to sell the rights to my story for a Hollywood film.
J: AWESOME MANU! LET’S GO BACK TO THE MOMENT WHEN YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS OF SEVILLIANS CHANGED. WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN THE 2012 UA STARTED ITS ATTACK ON THE CITY?
M: Well, like many other people, I was downtown with some friends having a few beers. When the explosions started we took refuge in a bar. The truth is that they were moments of panic and terror. I tried to calm and encourage everyone who was there. I felt that if we lost control things would be worse for everyone. One of my friends lost his temper and if I didn’t catch him he would have gone out into the street just as an explosion caused the building next door to collapse.
J: IN THE WORLD FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH, YOU ARE SHOWN FROM THE SIDE, WITH YOUR FACE BARELY VISIBLE AND OUT OF FOCUS. THE FOCUS IS CENTERED ON THE GIRL YOU HOLD IN YOUR ARMS. SHE WAS VERY BADLY HURT. HOW DID YOU GET THE COURAGE TO MAKE YOUR PATH THROUGH THE RUINS AND SAVE IT?
M: I think we all have within us a spark of infinite courage that we are unaware of. A hidden value that is hidden waiting for the moment to emerge. In my case it was at that moment. After the building collapsed and I stopped my friend, I could hear someone screaming. While he remained curled up in a corner paralyzed, I did not hesitate and went out through the smoke and dust toward the ruins. Outside only explosions and the flight of fighter planes could be heard. I don’t know how I managed to locate the girl but I did. She was trapped behind a beam that had crushed her legs. With a force I didn’t know I managed to pry up with an iron that I found and free her from it.
J: WEREN’T YOU AWARE THAT YOU WERE BEING PHOTOGRAPHED WHEN YOU WENT OUT WITH HER IN YOUR ARMS?
M: Not really. Furthermore, there was no time for anything because at that moment one of those ships approached, they call them spiders, and fired into the sky almost from where we were. I had to run away with her and the next thing I remember was leaving her with people from Civil Protection who took care of her.
J: HAVE YOU NOT MANAGED TO CONTACT HER? SURELY IF SHE SURVIVED YOU MUST BE VERY GRATEFUL.
M: Not really. I have tried but I’m afraid she didn’t survive. Her legs were shattered and she had lost a lot of blood when we were separated. She seemed like a very sweet girl, it’s a shame.
J: THROUGHOUT EVERY DAY SINCE THE DISASTER WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HEAR MANY TESTIMONIES BUT YOURS HAS WITHOUT A DOUBT OVERWHELMED US, MANU. HOW HAS ALL THIS AFFECTED YOU PSYCHOLOGICALLY?
M: Well, more than I want to pretend. Although people see me as a superhero and that I’m not afraid of anything. Inside this attractive face there is a person with feelings who suffered a lot from everything that happened that…
J: SORRY FOR INTERRUPTING YOU MANU, BUT WE HAVE A LIVE CALL FROM SOMEONE WHO YOU’LL BE EXCITED TO HEAR. IN REAL LIVE, WE CONNECT WITH BEATRIZ ROMERO, THE GIRL YOU RESCUED!
M: This can’t be…
J: QUIET MANU, NOW YOU CAN TALK TO HER. GO ON BEATRIZ, YOU ARE LIVE AND YOUR SAVIOR, MANU, IS LISTENING TO YOU, AS WELL AS OUR ENTIRE AUDIENCE. ARE YOU REALLY THE GIRL IN THE PHOTO?
Beatriz: Yes… it’s me.
J: TELL US BEATRIZ, HOW ARE YOU? MANU, WHO IS VISIBLY EXCITED TO LISTEN TO YOU, HAD TOLD US THAT HE HAD LEFT YOU VERY BADLY HURT.
B: They had to amputate my left leg, but I’m alive. But if I am, it is not thanks to that coward and fraud named Manu Salas.
J: HOW?! BEATRIZ, HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER HE SAVED YOUR LIFE? (TO THE PROGRAM PRODUCER IN A LOW VOICE: ARE YOU SURE THAT THIS GIRL IS THE REAL ONE?). I AM SHOCKED…
B: If there is any truth in what this individual has said, it is that he is an actor who puts a lot of face into the matter. He probably believed that I was unconscious the whole time, that I didn’t realize anything. But it wasn’t like that, it was Javi, his supposedly cowardly friend who saved my life, not him.
J: MANU, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT?
M: Unfortunately, fame is linked to things like that, people who seek attention at your expense. I fear that we are faced with an example of this. This girl is looking for her moment of glory at my expense…
B: It’s easy to prove it. If you look at the photograph, the boy holding me has a green shirt while in this other one (the image is shown on the screen), shared by Manu Salas himself on his Twitter account just before the attack, he was wearing a blue shirt. Next to him, you can see Javi, wearing a green shirt. He was the one who came to my aid when my house collapsed. He was the one who desperately shouted help to Manu to help him free me from the beam that had trapped me. The same one he asked to help him pick me up and carry me before that damn spaceship arrived. This individual who has posed as a hero only knew how to cry and run away. He left us abandoned and thought we were dead when that spider shot and several buildings collapsed.
But I didn’t die, it was Javi who gave me life and hope back without asking for anything in return. He was badly injured protecting me and has been in bed all these days watching helplessly as someone else took the credit for him. He didn’t want to say anything, because he knew that for a long time you, parasite as you are, had been craving the media spotlight and he, who is a good guy, didn’t want to ruin your opportunity, even though you abandoned us. But this interview has already been going too far.
That night I lost a leg but I gained a friend and a person to whom I can never be sufficiently grateful. You just lost your dignity. I have nothing else to say.
J: WELL THIS IS SOMETHING UNHEARD. I WANT TO APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF THE PROGRAM AND THE ENTIRE CHANNEL FOR THIS. WE WERE COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF THE REALITY OF THESE FACTS AND WE CANNOT BUT CONDEMN WHAT THIS INDIVIDUAL HAS DONE, MANU SALAS, HOW COULD YOU HAVE ACTED LIKE THIS?
M: I… Everything she says is a lie… She’s… a… phony…