Next December
La casa de papel
it will end a second time. Its first final aired on November 23, 2017 on Antena 3. It started at 10:53 p.m. The robbery of El Professor (Álvaro Morte) and his henchmen at the Fábrica de la Moneda y Timbre, which had begun by sweeping 4.5 million viewers, ended 15 episodes later, having lost half of that audience along the way. “The series was closed. It ended when they considered that it had to end, ”clarifies Jaime Lorente (Murcia, 29 years old), the actor who plays Denver, the coolest thief in a gang that is already quite badass. “It started with a large audience because it was released after a Champions League match, a Madrid-Atleti”, adds Miguel Herrán (Málaga, 25 years old, Rio in the series). "Then it went down, but that is normal in any Spanish series."What is not normal is everything that happened next.
The fifth and (this time) last season of
La casa de papel
started on September 3 with a run of five episodes.
The series, which tells the spectacular robberies of a gang of thieves to multi-million dollar institutions (never people), says goodbye in a world completely different from the one where it was born, not only because of the pandemic but because Netflix, the platform that resurrected, it has changed the rules of the audiovisual industry.
Today it is the fourth most viewed fiction in its catalog, to which more than 208 million subscribers in 190 countries have access.
Miguel Herrán wears a Dolce & Gabbana sweater and trousers, Nike shoes and Cartier jewelry. Max Vadukul
If this last season comes in two batches, it is because, when they published the trailer in spring, most users on social networks assumed that its premiere was imminent. Netflix decided to advance the release of the first half. After all, the
La casa de papel
phenomenon
began with a popular outcry. After its broadcast on Antena 3, Netflix included it in its catalog through the back door and its popularity grew exclusively thanks to the fact that users recommended it. On April 17, 2018, the platform announced that it was the most viewed non-English-speaking series among its titles. The next day, he announced that
The Paper House would
continue on Netflix. The perfect symbol of the new audiovisual ecosystem.
Jaime Lorente wears Hermès windbreaker, Levi's jeans and Quality Sportswear Vintage polo shirt. Max vadukul
Lorente remembers perfectly the first time she realized the fervor that the series aroused outside of Spain.
I had to go to a Netflix event in Rome, but when I was shooting
Elite
He arrived later than his companions and none of them warned him that there were thousands of people waiting for him alone.
"I opened the car door, the security guards grabbed me by the armpits and carried me flying like a little fish," he recalls.
Miguel Herrán remembers once again in Sardinia: “They took us out of the hotels, people chased us down the street, others stopped on the roads with flags to greet us.
We rented a boat and people chased us with yachts, when we stopped they came swimming and got on our boat.
We were locked in a restaurant, the police had to come to evict the town ”.
Miguel Herrán wears trousers and sweatshirt printed with Snoopy Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, his own cap and Cartier jewelry. Max Vadukul
In a matter of weeks, a cast that, at the beginning, if something drew attention was precisely because of the absence of stars (except perhaps Úrsula Corberó and Alba Flores), had become famous in 190 countries. Jaime Lorente was just someone among the Spanish after-dinner audience (his only experience had been several episodes of
El Secreto de Puente Viejo
in 2016) when, overnight, people began to imitate him on the street. They imitated Denver, of course, because the only thing Jaime has as a brute is his jaw: he has published a book of poetry
(About your mouth,
edited by Espasa es Poesía), he spent his confinement reading Lorca for his 14 million followers on Instagram and has spoken openly about depression and anxiety. After making his film debut under the direction of one of the most respected filmmakers in the world, Asghar Farhadi, in
Todos lo saber
(2018), Lorente has headlined the most expensive Spanish series in history,
Cid
(Amazon Prime Video).
And while it may seem contradictory to reject fame and continue to get into ambitious projects, he trusts that the more roles he does, the less people will pay attention to him.
Whatever you do, it will be in Spain.
“I don't want to go, why should I want to go?
We do things that are the host, we live in a country that is the host and right now we have a kind of responsibility.
My country has given me a lot, "he says.
Herrán agrees: “As a Spanish actor I want to bet on the industry of my country.
I mean, do you give me success and take it and get off with it?
They offered me to go and shoot in Miami and as soon as a movie came up, I stayed here.
If I can choose, I will stay here ”.
Jaime Lorente, with Prada turtleneck sweater and Bvlgari.Max Vadukul jewelry
Miguel Herrán was met by Daniel Guzmán on the street (literally) and offered a role in his directorial debut.
In exchange for nothing
(2015) he gave each one a Goya and at age 20, for the first time in his life, Herrán found a direction: he left street life behind and focused on pursuing a career as an actor.
The paper house
precipitated events and he lost his position. “When a project came to you, it was clear that you had been taken for your talent, you trusted more in yourself and in your tools. Now I always doubt if they catch me because of me or because of the image that is sold of
La casa de papel ”, he
confesses. The first thing he did when he met the director of his next film was ask him why he had signed him. "Because you did the best
casting, "
he replied.
It was one of the best moments of his life.
Like his partner Jaime and other artists of his generation, Herrán has naturally approached his mental health problems.
If with confinement Lorente discovered that she did not know what her own hobbies were, Herrán saw that she was not able to enjoy the moment because she was always thinking about the following.
Anxiety, entangled with a vigorexia that he suffered in adolescence and whose ghost never completely disappears, has caused him a suffering that he prefers to explain: fucking mother because you are famous ”.
Miguel Herrán and Jaime Lorente pose for ICON dressed by Fendi.Max vadukul
Ironically, fame is the Achilles heel of these two stratospherically known men. While they were still learning to manage it, Herrán and Lorente appeared in
Elite
in 2018, another Netflix worldwide success that caused a curious statistic: Herrán became the fourth star of the platform that had gained the most followers on Instagram in 2018, Lorente was the fifth and María Pedraza, also a performer in both series, the sixth. "Sometimes I have had the feeling of being a
Netflix actor,"
confesses Herrán. The influence of the platform is such that even the meaning of the colors has changed: the other day Lorente went to the theater, the stage lit up red at the beginning of the play and thought: “Netflix”. “You just won a Goya [as a revelation actor in 2016, for
In exchange for nothing]
but they take you out of Spanish cinema and suddenly you are a Netflix actor who is going to do this and that.
Until the movie I starred in,
Hasta el cielo
(2020), it has been on Netflix as well ”.
The platform has announced that it will adapt
Hasta el cielo
to the serial format.
Miguel Herrán will not participate in it.
The paper house was
from the beginning such an exportable product — the Dalí masks worn by robbers, their aliases from international cities, the Hollywood rhythm of the storytelling — that it almost seems they had it all planned.
Except that if they had planned it it would not have turned out so well: there are shots that have to be improvised on the fly.
The
righteous
aspect
of the plot, a la
Robin Hood,
Ocean's Eleven
or
Snatch, pigs and diamonds
, caused the first readings of the phenomenon to be political. "The series makes a nod to the historical moment in which we are living, in which we all feel victims of a system that would only want our poverty,"
Il Corriere della Sera
analyzed
. "An incitement to rebellion?" Asked
Le Monde
. The former mayor of Ankara asked the secret services to intervene in this "very dangerous symbol of rebellion." Dalí masks proliferated on protesters against the Macri government in Argentina, on banknotes launched by Uruguayan anti-establishment artists, and at the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. “The original name was going to be
Los deshuciados,
because he was talking about people who were evicted and through [this robbery] they were looking for a new life, "says Lorente.
Jaime lorente wears Louis Vuitton layered striped shirts, Levi's jeans, and Bvlgari necklace and bracelet. Max Vadukul
But the dimension of the phenomenon ended up dissipating any sociopolitical reading. That resounding debut thanks to Madrid-Atleti de la Champions was no accident: the potential audience for this series is the same as football, that is, practically anyone. His fans include Neymar, Romeo Santos, Chiara Ferragni, most likely ourselves and a good part of the members of our families. The popularity of
La casa de papel
has benefited from its blunt simplicity:
La casa de papel
is exactly the series it sounds like, one in which the leader of the band uses expressions such as "let's mess it up" and in which the coffin from Nairobi (Alba Flores), murdered last season, had written "the whore loves." A series that has inspired the
escape room
largest in Europe.
His feat has been treated in the same terms as that of a humble football team that nobody sees coming (the Dépor of the
centennial,
Ranieri's Leicester in 2016), whose fans also support through badges, songs, tattoos and even a certain connection identity.
There is a national pride towards the triumph of
La casa de papel
only comparable to that awakened by Nadal, Gasol or Belmonte.
"It has the same elements as a football club," says Jaime Lorente.
"There is a coach, some players, a kit, an anthem, a color and some tactics."
When the third season of
La casa de papel,
the first on Netflix, there was more talk about its international repercussion than about the characters. Nobody cared what
La casa de papel
meant. The colors are above their players: the star of
La casa de papel
is
La casa de papel
. “You are a kind of
souvenir
. And very cheap ”, indicates Lorente regarding his role as part of the enormous gear. “You buy something at the supermarket and you want what's inside the box. Success is more difficult to manage than failure, because failure is forgotten but success cannot be taken away even with turpentine ”.
According to Miguel Herrán, some other teammate "got his head thrown off a bit" with the world ball. "It is that you can be an actor who does not like fame or you can be an actor who does," says Lorente. "And if you like it and something like this happens to you, there is a 99% chance that you will end up becoming an asshole." Both agree that those who do not like fame, as is their case, have a good chance of "ending up sad" and of considering abandoning acting. “I love my work but I don't like so much exposure. Suddenly I go down the street and they yell at me 'Rio!' and joke with me. That's what I hate the most, being treated like a dog: 'Hey you, Rio!' They do not value your work or your interpretation ”.
According to the canons of Hollywood, by which
La casa de papel
is governed
,
each new installment cannot be limited to continuing the story. It has to be made bigger than the previous one. From filming in Colmenar Viejo, they went on to do it in Thailand or Italy. The creator of the series, Álex Pina, admitted in an interview with EL PAÍS in 2020 that when facing his debut on Netflix, a panic invaded the empty spaces. “We were freaked out. We said to ourselves: 'I don't know if this is good or not, but don't let it be boring ”. After their move to Netflix, the robbers stopped having conversations around tables full of cans of Natural Honey shampoo, but on the other hand they were caught in a constant
“no balls”.
Of course, it is precisely that vocation to epate, to reach the next climax as soon as possible and to be a freak that awakens the euphoria of her fans.
“It's that the premise of
La casa de papel
was already very extreme, if you accept that, anything will fit in with you,” Lorente explains. "The intention was always to make great entertainment to watch with popcorn and coke, not to wake up a revolution in Brazil." Herrán believes that, as the screens have become small, it is the industry that has become too big: “It is consumed too much, there is too much supply and you have to distinguish yourself in something. And what are you doing? Take it all to the extreme. The perfect example is
Elite,
I have not seen it but everyone is telling me that this season is outrageous, that they have passed ... But of course, if not, you have ten thousand of the same products ”.
Lorente acknowledges that there are times when she has felt that so much noise was suffocating what really hooked the audience: her characters. "For me there are seasons in which things that should be resolved through a conversation were resolved in half a second or with a glance," he laments. "Yes, but I don't like it when in a movie they are in a fucking robbery with seven bombs and everything stops to hug the girl while the kidnapper is unconscious and has time to get up," rebate Herrán. “That does not happen here: the frenzy does not give you time to do absolutely anything, but the viewer is not going to notice it either. He is going to fixate on the bomb, on the look and when he wants to realize the series is over. In fact, I think that many people while watching series are looking for things on their mobile about the series, its actors ... ”.
The series has applied that of having to leave the party while it is still fun. But he is going to do it by blowing everything up: his last season is a
war
blockbuster
that towards the end will pick up the gear and focus again on his characters. So much war has left the actors with a certain post-traumatic syndrome and when describing the filming of these last ten episodes Herrán involuntarily evokes Colonel Kurtz from
Apocalypse Now:
"Infinites ... infinites ...".
"I've been shooting all ten episodes, man," Lorente says.
“Three weeks with a sequence in a kitchen that will then last three or five minutes.
All days the same.
My character has, I think, the strongest thing that has happened to anyone in the series, an emotionally and physically complicated scene, the fucking war.
There would come a point where I would get up and hear: 'Again ... Again!'
(Miguel Herrán)
I have spent three weeks throwing a grenade.
It's exhausting because I like to perform.
(Jaime Lorente)
That's it.
And there are days when you don't feel like an actor.
(MH)
Sure, you think, damn it, I'm a well-paid helper.
I'm here without saying anything, doing nothing, feeling nothing, with the camera so screwed up that I don't know if you're really looking at me.
Spending all my fucking energy to do the best I can.
And there comes a moment of despair in the second week when you say, 'Look man, I can't take it anymore.
And then they tell you to hang on a bit, then your short [shot] comes.
And you answer: 'Sure, but why didn't you do it a week ago!'
(JL)
Now you are empty.
(MH)
You are completely empty.
And doesn't one feel like a child playing hitting shots?
(MH)
In fact, it is not enjoyed.
Think of it as a weapon that weighs three and a half kilos, that you are pretending all the time because it doesn't really shoot.
And you don't see anything.
(JL)
The dust gets in your eyes, you cough, the effects one goes off the clamp and something explodes in your face.
(MH)
You have a firecracker here, a splinter comes out ...
(JL)
It's that you are scared sometimes.
Do you remember that bottle that was behind you?
It's dangerous man, it's dangerous.
(MH)
And that firecracker that they put you around here?
[points to arm]
(JL)
Yes, yes, I was shot.
Could it be said then that they wanted to finish?
(JL)
Yes, because the intensity that one lives in the filming of
La casa de papel
is very strong.
It is a climax of ten hours.
(MH)
Sure, all the conflicts are so big, so fat, so intense, that one ends up desperate.
Emotionally exhausted.
And how can something that has ended up being so great be closed in conditions?
(JL)
Going back to the essence of the characters, which was what people fell in love with in the beginning, the characters.
The war has come later.
Realization: Nono Vázquez.
Makeup: Lucas Margarit.
Hairdresser: Sergio Serpiente.
Photography assistant: Quique Escandel.
Digital operator: Javier Torrente.
Styling assistant: Martí Serra.
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