A long-awaited finale! While Netflix unveils this Friday the second part of the final season of La Casa de Papel, the Los Gatos platform announced on Tuesday that a spin-off dedicated to Berlin, one of the fan favorite characters, in 2023. “It’s the end of one cycle and the start of another” , rejoiced his interpreter, Pedro Alonso. Before getting down to his new project, the Spanish actor took stock with 20 minutes of five years spent in the Professor’s gang.
What was the atmosphere like on set on the last day of filming? How did the farewell go with the whole team?
The last day, I shot all alone… No other actor was present, I was all alone. After five years together, no boyfriend was there! I had to do a very technical sequence, a madness. That morning, I had the feeling that I had taken some distance, taken a step back with lots of things. I felt ready to end this cycle. But when they said: “cut! I was handed a letter written by Javier Gómez Santander, one of the writers of the series and a very good friend. Without even reading it, I knew what he wanted to tell me, that he was going to tell me about everything we have been through together, and that it was going to touch me. I started to cry. I then realized how much that meant to us, not just as an artist, but also on a personal level. Afterwards, I learned that all the other actors had also burst into tears in other settings!
Do you have any memories of the shoot?
Yes, all thongs with gemstones! (laughs) I kept a mask and a small plate that a technician gave me, that’s all.
How do you see the phenomenon that “La Casa de Papel” has become over the seasons?
This phenomenon struck me, if I may say so, at one point I had launched very hard into personal work, also associated with the death of my father. I felt that a door opened with as much wealth as danger. I made a huge effort to take a step back and keep my feet on the ground. I worked intensely on the set, but I continued my personal activities, writing, painting, my travels. I did not want, once the phenomenon passed, to find myself like a plucked chicken. I am very grateful for the affection I have felt, for everything that has happened to me… But the work is not the noise that surrounds the work. I am very careful to differentiate these two things.
What is the craziest thing that has happened to you thanks to “La Casa de Papel”?
Lots of very crazy things have happened to us! I found myself in the middle of the Amazon jungle, and then, all of a sudden, someone came out because they knew that Berlin from La Casa de Papel was here. In Turkey, the Minister of Culture offered to send me a plane to meet me. Finally, Erdogan’s Minister of Culture! I try to keep a cool head, even though I can’t always do it. I really want to focus on my destiny. This kind of attention can be wonderful, but it can also be disturbing. If you’re not careful, a tsunami can happen!
You have often said that Berlin’s death was a good thing, how do you see its trajectory so far?
Dying totally resized everything Berlin had done before. It goes back to something almost mythological in terms of fiction. When I read the script at the end of the first season, I thought to myself, “This is crazy! I felt it was positive. When the series continued, Berlin became another character, who became something else, who became something else… Like a kind of Russian doll.
What did you learn from this character?
Berlin allowed me, more than learned, to go very far in terms of breathing when playing something. A metaphor for fiction, which is, in my opinion, the art of stopping time. Life doesn’t allow you to do that. Fiction holds back life so that we can get lost in the present. Berlin is a wonderful vehicle to do this. This guy takes his time in a different way… As an actor, being the instrument of Berlin has really been an incredible gift. I threw myself head to tail into this character.
Over the seasons, we discover, in particular, thanks to Berlin that “La Casa de Papel” is ultimately a family affair …
Completely ! At one point, I stopped saying that it was a robbery story but rather that of a broken family, out of all conventions. A family that learns to love itself, sometimes, despite itself. The series itself demanded this. In season 1, the Professor and Berlin were not expected to be brothers. But that energy sprang up when we were working with Alvaro Morte. We discussed it, we spoke to the director who told us: “You are nuts! “. With Alvaro Morte, we said to ourselves that even if he refused this idea, we were going to play as if we were brothers. Finally, it fell on us! And we’re part of a kind of lineage that curiously devotes its life to doing heists.
There is always a lot of expectation with a finale, are you afraid of disappointing the fans?
Not at all ! If you let yourself be carried away by the expectations and the pressure that there was around the series, it devours you. I focus on what to do. The commitment of the whole team was extraordinary, they really gave of themselves. I think people will recognize it and do what they want with it. It’s part of telling stories, people do what they want with them. This is how !