Miguel Bernardeau has found a mischievous way to answer a very personal question about his latest screen role.
The Élite actor’s appearance on Spanish talk show Al cielo con ella has resurfaced in an October 27 Out interview about La Bola Negra, the film taking him into a story of gay desire and historical repression.
Asked about prosthetics, Bernardeau initially answered no. He then corrected himself and joked that his character’s wounds were, of course, artificial.
The exchange leaves the question about his full-frontal scene open to interpretation. His teasing response offers no clear basis for a definitive claim about what audiences see.
A role reaching into queer history
Bernardeau plays Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, a historical figure associated with poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.
In the film’s 1937 storyline, Rafael is a wounded Republican soldier held by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. His guard, Sebastián, is played by gay singer Guitarricadelafuente, making his acting debut.
Their encounter brings intimacy into a setting shaped by violence and fear. As a new Film Updates interview with both performers explores, the relationship gives Sebastián a glimpse of being seen without having to hide.
Rafael was a real person; Sebastián is fictional. The drama combines historical material with imagined encounters, rather than offering a documentary account of every relationship it depicts.
More than a revealing scene
Speaking to Out, Bernardeau described a demanding performance that required emotional exposure alongside physical vulnerability.
“You have to show everything!” he said.
For directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, desire is part of the storytelling. Ambrossi also emphasized his wish to reach audiences beyond the LGBTQ+ community: “They are for everyone and we can prove that.”
The film connects stories set in 1932, 1937 and 2017. Its cast also includes Carlos González, Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close.
Finding a connection to his own family
In a separate interview with W, Bernardeau explained how preparing for the film brought him closer to his grandmother’s memories of the war.
He recalled listening to her stories about brothers who left to fight and the losses that followed. Researching Rafael’s world helped him connect those family memories with a wider history.
He also described the immediate chemistry he felt when reading scenes with Guitarricadelafuente at a callback, after spending days convinced that he had lost the part.
Bernardeau does not identify as queer. The intimacy between the performers belongs to their characters’ story.
The playful prosthetics exchange may draw viewers in, but the film offers a larger invitation: to spend time with gay lives that repression pushed out of view.
La Bola Negra is playing in select theaters. Out reports that it will arrive on Netflix on December 2.
📷 Kacy Bao / Netflix.
For more LGBTQ+ stories, visit B-Gay on YouTube.