Netflix’s most-watched non-English-language series will stream two five-episode volumes Sept. 3 and Dec. 3, 2021, respectively
The Spanish network Antena 3 launched the original La Casa de Papel (“The House of Paper”), a 15-episode Spanish-language heist crime drama in May 2017, created by Alex Pina, released as a limited series to be told in two parts. But in April 2018, Netflix optioned the show and renewed the series with a significantly enhanced budget, increasing the series to a four-season run, renaming it, Money Heist. This resulted in the show becoming the most-watched non-English-language series and one of the most-watched overall on Netflix.
When discussing the show’s success, executive producer and director Jesus Colmenar says, “The series is driven by a criminal mastermind called ‘The Professor’ (played by Alvaro Morte) who has a plan to pull off the biggest heist in recorded history, robbing the Royal Mint of Spain. He recruits eight people with different abilities who have nothing to lose, code-naming them after cities, Tokyo (Ursula Corbero), Moscow (Agustin Ramos), Berlin (Pedro Alonso), Nairobi (Alba Flores), Rio (Miguel Herran), Denver (Jaime Lorento), Helsinki (Darko Peric), and Oslo (Roberto Garcia Ruiz). Aside from the exceptional performances from our amazing cast, what makes the series so exciting and popular are the scripts written by Pina.”
“That’s right,” says Corbero, who also narrates the flow of the action. “Pina is a last-minute writer, and he is obsessed with some kind of vivid inspiration that fuels the rock’n’roll vibe of the show. Everything happens so wildly.”
Born in Pamplona, Spain, Pina began his career as a journalist, eventually working at the Europa Press Agency. His desire to write for television led him to find work on many series as a writer and showrunner. Pina has also teamed with Netflix on the series, White Lines, a co-production with The Crown group, which began streaming in May 2020.
“Pina has his own way of working,” says Colmenar. “Not me, the director, nor any of the actors can know even two episodes ahead of what is going to happen. This works because it helps us in having more information about how the dramatic arc will work. It also helps us in providing more room in which to change the story. We have the master through the line of the story but the rest can easily change at the last minute.”
Through its four-season run, the series had received great critical acclaim for its sophisticated plot, interpersonal dramas and direction. In July 2020, Netflix renewed the show for a fifth and final season, which will be released worldwide in two five-episode volumes on Sept. 3 and Dec. 3, 2021, respectively.
When asked how this world-spanning release affects the actors, Morte, the series lead who originally studied communications engineering, shrugged. “When you work, you have to put aside your awareness that so many people are watching. I know with Netflix, there are 190 countries watching us. If I thought about it on the set, I could go crazy. So, I just follow the script and don’t think of the audience.” Morte landed his first main role in a feature film in the Netflix film Mirage (2018). In addition to his acting work, Morte owns a theatre company called 300 Pistolas, founded in 2012.
“I agree with Morte that the rapid changes could drive you nuts,” said Corbero, who has been acting since she was six. “But we had some pre-established rules before and during seasons one and two. By the time Netflix came into it, we had already lived the show and inhabited our characters, so we just continued on the same path. On a personal level, I’m still digesting all that has happened. I am aware of how unexpected and big this has been. But at the same time, it’s also beautiful.”
“What Ursula said is very accurate,” adds Colmenar. “We always try to work with the same passion regardless of the audience we are targeting. This is something we’ve held onto from the beginning, and we didn’t change when we became bigger.”
One thing that did change with the worldwide distribution of the series was the public attention the show received when shooting in Thailand, Panama and Italy, especially when adding the Covid protocols.
“We were mobbed with fans in Italy,” said Colmenar. “The show is very complicated to shoot, especially in the middle of the pandemic with all the security and safety measures.”
Colmenar just smiled when asked if he could offer a clue as to the evolution of the plots of season five and the final season. “I have watched it. I can tell you that this is the biggest and most thrilling end of a show. We have pulled out all the stops. This is the final battle. The audience will get a vision of everything. This is not the end of the bank robbery, but the end of Money Heist, which is quite a huge thing.”
Featured Photo: Money Heist (Credit: Netflix)