The ring collection of the Mexican actress Adriana Paz has its own stories to tell. There is the mood ring a Swedish stranger gave her, once upon a time, at a “hippie hostel” where she literally sang for her dinner. And the ring made of silver hearts that the Spanish actress Maribel Verdú slipped on Ms. Paz’s finger while asking, in the style of a classic playground proposal, “Do you want to be my friend?”
But the rings that stand out most to Ms. Paz — who plays Epifanía in “Emilia Perez” and in 2024 won the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress prize alongside her three fellow stars, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña — are the two that keep her grounded amid a season of nonstop travel. In this interview, which has been edited and condensed, Ms. Paz talks about the provenance of both rings: the one her mother took off her own finger and gave to Ms. Paz to help her feel more confident on her press tour; and her wedding ring, which tethers Ms. Paz to her husband, David Trejos, an actor with whom she fell in love not quite at first sight, but close to it.
Talk to me about your rings.
This one is my wedding ring, and I have this ring, too. My mom gave it to me for this tour of “Emilia.” These are so special, and now I never take this off.
Did you and your husband pick out your wedding ring together?
When we decided to get married, we were so nervous. He was so afraid. He’s younger than me. And he was like, “OK,” because I proposed. We decided one day, and we got married a week after. So we didn’t have the rings. We just did a civil ceremony with the judge. I told my mom and my dad, like, two days before: “I’m going to marry him.”
And my dad was like, “Oh, with this Colombian guy?”
And I was like, “Yes.”
“Oh, OK. When?”
“Tomorrow.”
Are you normally impulsive?
Yes, I’m impulsive. But I never decided something like that before. I feel like we have just one life. And, I mean, it’s like I told him: “OK, maybe it’s not going to work, but we don’t know until we do it.” And he was like, “OK, let’s do it.” If this doesn’t work, OK, we can split and you can go back to Colombia, but we’re not going to be the same. You are never the same. And we don’t regret. I mean, we have been together for five years and it’s, like, one of the best things that happened to me.
So you got married and then found the rings.
We got married and then the pandemic started. He went to visit his mom and he is almost locked up in Colombia. He took the last plane from Colombia to Mexico. So he landed in Mexico City and the airport was closed. And then we moved to Puebla and we were locked up for, I mean, five months with my mom and my kids.
When we finally were able to go out, we went on our honeymoon, finally, like, seven months after. And when we came back from our honeymoon, I was like, “We don’t have a ring.” And he was like, “It’s fine.” And I was like, “No, it’s not fine. I want a ring.” And we went by motorcycle, in my brother’s motorcycle, to the downtown in Mexico City; we did the cathedral and the Zócalo, and I was like, “There’s some places where they sell gold and silver and we should go there.” And we got this one.
What is special about your mom’s ring to you?
She was using it three years ago or something. I told her, “Oh, this is so beautiful, Mama. Oh, it fits on me.” She told me, “Take it to your tour.”
The most difficult part for me of this career has been this other part: the merchandising, the red carpets and the interviews and everything. I mean, it’s easier for me to step in a character and get into set because I feel safe, because I work on that and I have read the script and I have prepared my role and I feel so confident on set. I really enjoy being on set and on the camper and the trailer and on the table readings, but I didn’t feel comfortable with me to the public. I don’t know anything about fashion. I don’t like to hear my interviews.
Do you want to pass these down?
I don’t know. I think I’m going to take with me this one. Because this is just me and him.
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