EXCLUSIVE: “We discovered the end at the last minute”, says creator of La Casa de Papel

After 5 seasons, this Friday (3) debuts on Netflix the end of the global phenomenon La Casa de Papel, a series that began airing in 2017 on the streaming platform and which won the Emmy for best drama series in 2018. Part five of series, which concludes the plot, was divided into two parts – the first premiered on September 3rd of that year.

CNN Brasil obtained an exclusive interview recorded by Netflix with the creator of the series, Álex Pina, and actors Jaime Lorente and Esther Acebo, who play Denver and Stockholm in the Spanish drama.

Pina said she changed the ending she had planned for the series and that she wrote between 32 and 34 versions of the outcome of La Casa de Papel. “We had a pre-created ending, which had been there since we created the series. Before season three, we knew what the ending would be. But when we write, we think ‘it sucks, right?’”.

“When people watch, they’re going to think ‘this is what was planned all along.’ No sir, it wasn’t planned. We discovered this at the last minute”, he adds.

In the interview, Alex also commented that he was surprised by the success of the series and that he received phone calls from great personalities such as Stephen King and George Clooney, who are fans of the plot – and that he even received an invitation from George Clooney to work as a screenwriter for a sequence of 11 Men and a Secret.

The creator of the Spanish drama also confessed that if he had known that La Casa de Papel would have such a long life, he would have spared the character Moscow, played by actor Paco Tous, and that (SPOILER ALERT) dies in part 2 of the series. “He was a character who offered a lot of comedy and who, for me, still had a lot to give. If I knew we would have a longer life, I might think twice.”

Actor Jaime Lorente, who plays Denver, commented that this has been, for him, the most challenging season to shoot. “I think this is La Casa de Papel taken to the next level. I think all relationships explode, actions explode, the level of tension, everything explodes. I mean, everything is forced to a very difficult degree.”

Lorente commented that he lives a kind of mourning with the end of the series and that, for him, finishing La Casa de Papel is like “burying something very, very powerful”.

WORLDWIDE SUCCESS

The Spanish series comes to an end with impressive results. Currently, Parts 4, 3, and 5 rank 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in Netflix’s Top 10 Non-English Language Series. The list is made based on the hours seen in the first 28 days of the title on the platform. La Casa de Papel is second only to another worldwide phenomenon: Round 6.

To give you an idea, part 4, which occupies the 2nd place in the ranking, was seen for more than 619 million hours in those first days.

Actress Esther Acebo, who lives in Stockholm on the series, commented in an interview obtained exclusively by CNN, that for her, this is an undeniable challenge, but also a gratifying one. “For me, as a person, it’s been an amazing opportunity, not just as an actress, you know? I’ve done a lot of theater in really small, unfamiliar places, and now my role is being seen by the whole lot. So at times it can be overwhelming. But despite that, it’s very rewarding. There is a small percentage of people in Spain who make a living from the profession, and I am in that group, with a role that is seen around the world.”

The creator of the series, Álex Pina, also comments on the success: “It was something very inaccessible for us for a long time. We have been making fiction in Spain for a long time and it was very difficult to be seen outside the country. And now, all of a sudden, we get to be seen all over the world and compete with big American series.”

Despite the success, Pina guarantees that, at least for the time being, the saga of the Spanish assailants that has been followed around the world has in fact come to an end. “Now the matter is closed. I don’t know what will happen, an idea might come up. But it really seems unlikely and impossible for us to take up La Casa de Papel. But…I will deny having said that.”

The videos with interviews by Alex Pina, Jaime Lorente and Esther Acebo about the end of La Casa de Papel will be available this Saturday on CNN Brasil Soft’s Youtube channel.

WANT MORE TIPS THAN WATCHING OR LISTENING TO THE STREAMINGS?

The interview with the creator and part of the cast of La Casa de Papel was obtained exclusively by the Em Alta CNN team. The program presented by Mari Palma and Phelipe Siani is aired every Saturday, 12:30 pm, on CNN Brasil, and brings tips for movies, series and podcasts for you who, like many other people, want to know what’s worth in streaming.

The previous episodes of the program and all the interviews made with actors and content creators are also available on CNN Brasil Soft’s Youtube channel.