Two days before his death, Gonzalo Suárez told Charo López their short film was ready and needed only a producer. She offered to waive her fee to help get it made, but the project never got the chance.
López is preparing to go to the funeral home to say goodbye to the director. Suárez changed the course of her career, and their bond grew well beyond their first film. In their final creative exchange, they discussed work they still wanted to finish.
Suárez gave López her first film role in Ditirambo in 1967. He had seen her in Barcelona and offered her the leading part. It changed her professional life.
Their story began over lunch. López had completed Philosophy and was teaching Spanish to foreigners and secondary-school students. She planned to enrol and become a teacher, and liked the stability of that life.
A trip to Barcelona for a jazz festival changed her plans. After the event, Suárez invited López and her husband, Jesús García de Dueñas, to his home. Over the meal, he asked whether she would play Ana Carmona.
López did not know who Ana Carmona was or what the offer meant. García de Dueñas later explained that Suárez had just offered her the leading role in his first film. The choice was hers.
García de Dueñas told López to choose the life she wanted. She remembers that advice as her first lesson in feminism. The next morning, at the hotel, she told Suárez she would accept the role. It changed everything.
She left teaching for cinema. López later appeared in La Colmena by Mario Camus and Kika by Pedro Almodóvar. She still describes Suárez's importance in personal terms: he gave her the chance to become an actress, worked with her several times and grew into a close friend.
El Confidencial and other Spanish publications report that their work together continued after Ditirambo. Their later projects included El extraño caso del doctor Fausto and La Regenta, along with Parranda and Los pazos de Ulloa.
Suárez died in Madrid on 29 September 2026 at the age of 92. His family and the Spanish Academy of Cinema confirmed his death. The academy described him as a director and actor, and noted his work as a writer and journalist. The academy and the Spanish news agency EFE also highlighted his contributions to film and literature.
Recent obituaries described him as an unusual figure in Spanish culture. He experimented with genres and worked as a writer and director. The academy and other publications issued condolences after his death.
His way of working could confuse actors. He might ask López to perform a scene in a particular way, then tell her she had done none of what he requested. They repeated the take until she found the response he wanted.
Once she got there, Suárez stopped the process without further explanation and moved on. That was his method.
López also remembered how he acted in ordinary conversation. People who worked with him often spent time together away from the set because he liked to talk. His destructive sense of humour shaped their relationship.
Even when López thought she had completed a scene perfectly, Suárez might say it was not ready. That contradiction became part of the working language they shared.
López is preparing to leave for the farewell ceremony. An earlier report from the same publication concerned Victoria Luengo and a police investigation. López's account focuses on the loss of a collaborator whose influence began with one question and lasted for decades.
For López, gratitude remains bound up with grief. She says she owes Suárez a great deal, loved him and stayed close to him. He launched her acting career with a role and remained a trusted friend; his humour and challenges continued to shape their bond. Their proposed short film shows their creative connection was still alive until the end.
