The fiercely talented queer performer Carlos González has yet to visit the Windy City in person, but he is set to appear virtually for two Spanish-language projects at the second-longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world.
La Bola Negra kicks off opening night of the 44th edition of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre on Sept. 17 and A Una Isla de Ti screens the following Sunday on Sept. 20 at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema.
La Bola Negra follows three generations of gay men in pivotal years of Spanish history, 1932, 1937 and 2017. The title draws inspiration from an unfinished work of poet Federico García Lorca and the black ball method used in a social club in Granada.
Reeling’s screening is an advance opportunity to see Bola before the theatrical run in October and streaming release. The directors, who were romantically attached for 13 years but remain friends, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, are taking home trophies for the unique war drama. Los Javis won the Best Director Award at the 79th Cannes Film Festival and on Oct. 2 the duo will be presented with a Director Award at the 6th annual Critics Choice Association Celebración of Cinema & Television.
González portrays gay historian Alberto in La Bola Negra then shows off his comedic skills in the supporting role of Pichi in Isla.
Hailing from the northern Spanish town of Cintruénigo, Carlos visited the United States for the first time this month at the North American premiere of La Bola Negra at Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.
Carlos called from the mountain town of Telluride to talk about his new life in showbiz.
Windy City Times: Hola, Carlos. Where do your Spanish roots begin?
Carlos González: I was born in Spain, in northern Spain, and I come from a very small town there.
WCT: When did you begin your acting career?
CG: At age 18, I decided to move to Madrid to study drama and train. For four years, I studied at Estudio Corazza para la Actuación, the same school where Javier Bardem also trained. I started on a series very soon after that and I have been fortunate to work steadily for many years.
I’m 29 years old and this is the first film I’ve done, so La Bola Negra is a big step up. I have a long-time relationship with the Javiers because I saw a musical they made called La Llamada several times in the theater.
WCT: What does La Bola Negra mean to you?
CG: For me, the black ball represents everything that a society tried to erase in some way, but still finds a way to survive. It speaks of memory, desire and family, but for a long time the story could not be told freely.
It is a very Spanish film in its origins, but I think that, emotionally, it is completely universal.
WCT: Your fictional romantic partner, Juan Pablo, in La Bola Negra is played by Julio Torres. Did you know him before this project?
CG: No, I didn’t, but it was lovely getting to know him. I flew to London to meet him in person before we started filming. It was raining at the time and we quickly put on the characters’ clothes to take photos around the streets of England to make photographs of us together for the set.
We connected really well from the very first moment we met. I went to see him in his live show one night and then we had dinner together with both Javiers in London.
It’s been incredible working with him. He’s a very generous and funny guy with a huge heart.
WCT: What attracted you to the character of Alberto in La Bola Negra?
CG: What interests me most about Alberto is that he isn’t a hero who arrives with all the answers in life. He is lost and has contradictions. He runs away from some things in his own life and through the investigation, he begins to face head-on what he had been avoiding.
I found it very beautiful to play someone who learns to listen to himself. Alberto believes he’s investigating a story, a story that isn’t his, and he ends up discovering that the story had been waiting for him.
He’s a historian who’s trying to understand something intellectually and then is completely affected by it. A family inheritance and an investigation related to the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca force him to look at his own story differently.
I’m very interested in this because his journey isn’t just about discovering the past; it’s about discovering what that past has to do with him.
WCT: How many times have you seen La Bola Negra so far?
CG: Two times and for me, that’s enough. I don’t like watching my stuff more than twice anymore because there’s something about the magic that gets lost. I don’t like seeing myself in the edit either. When I’m filming, I prefer not to know.
Being an actor is a very strange job. For example, I’ve had to strip away a lot of things about myself to play Alberto. I think it’s important for an actor to work from a neutral place to embody other characters. Alberto is the most different character I’ve played in my career. He’s completely different from me. I’m an expressive and emotional person, while Alberto is a rational guy.
To bring Alberto to life, I had to make an effort not to taint him with unnecessary parts of my personality.
WCT: Is there a moment in La Bola Negra that stands out to you?
CG: There are many beautiful moments in the film, but one part that makes me emotional is during the conversation between Rafael and Lorca. They have a conversation in a bar where Federico García Lorca says to Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, “If they murder me, let the gentlemen find out.”
At that moment we see a side to Lorca that is beyond his work as a poet and a writer. The audience can see him as a human being, with his feelings, his contradictions and the love he feels.
WCT: Does the general population know about this personal side to Lorca?
CG: No, and this side of Lorca is overlooked in the school classroom. Students study his accomplishments, which is fantastic, but every work is connected to an artist as a person.
It’s important to talk about Lorca’s sexuality openly, because some people still feel uncomfortable talking about it. Lorca is a reference point for the Civil War and for everything that was done wrong in a country at a certain moment.
WCT: I’ve interviewed Glenn Close in person and her eyes are intense. Were you nervous being in scenes with the legendary actress playing historian Isabelle Durand in La Bola?
CG: I wasn’t nervous because she continues to have such a magnificent career and I assumed she was most likely not difficult to work with as a scene partner. I hoped that Glenn Close would be a humble woman with a huge heart and that’s how she was.
As soon as she arrived in Spain, she set out to do something very complicated, which is performing in scenes in a language that isn’t hers. She hadn’t practiced yet and she needed to run lines.
She was like just any other colleague I’ve worked with, where we go over the script. It was fun, but I didn’t forget that I was looking Glenn Close right in the eye, so I know what you mean.
WCT: What can modern audiences take away from this historical piece of work?
CG: Spain has changed so much, but I think we’re still learning to look at our past without looking away, so to speak. For a long time there were family stories that simply weren’t talked about. The beautiful thing about this film is that it opens up conversations about the past to improve our present.
WCT: Carlos, how do you land personally within the LGBTQ+ community?
CG: I am a person who recently discovered that I am a non-binary person, so I like to use both feminine pronouns and masculine pronouns for myself.
La Bola Negra is set in the past, but it shows there’s a need for these stories to find a community today that can receive them freely, as this film festival does, and there is something extremely moving about a story born in Spain being able to meet a queer audience here in Chicago.
WCT: There’s another movie you performed in that’s screening at Reeling called A Una Isla de Ti.
CG: Oh, I didn’t know that. I filmed that one just before La Bola Negra. I remember that I received the script for La Bola Negra while I was filming this movie. I have a small role, but I was excited to shoot the movie in the Canary Islands.
It’s a fresh new comedy with some fantastic actors like Toni Acosta.
WCT: When are you visiting Chicago?
CG: I have no idea. I am flying back to Spain right after the Toronto International Film Festival. Attending the Telluride Film Festival is the first time I have been to the United States. It has been incredible and the festival has touched my heart.
I have seen how people love cinema above all else and I have had many conversations about movies, away from red carpets and external things.
I think we’re at a time when everything is quite superficial, and art shouldn’t be superficial. Art is something very down-to-earth for me.
I’ve been very happy these days in Telluride, sharing and watching films, which is what festivals are for.
WCT: Would you like to make movies in English one day?
CG: I would love to. First and foremost, rather than thinking about the outcome, I need to get my act together with the language.
American cinema is something I have followed since I was a little kid and there are so many directors I’d dream of working with. I just met Sofia Coppola at Telluride Film Festival. I was also able to meet actor Andrew Scott and spend time with actress Julianne Moore.
These are people who I have admired for many years, so it’s been a gift to share even just a little bit of time with them.
La Bola Negra rolls into the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. and A Una Isla de Ti shines on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 2:15 p.m. at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St. Find tickets for these queer-centric films and much more by visiting reelingfilmfest.org.
Following Reeling Film Festival, La Bola Negra opens in Chicago theaters on Nov. 6, 2026.