Berlin is a Spanish TV series created by Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato for Netflix. The series serves as a prequel to Money Heist.
Let’s find out more about the series!
- Berlin is a Spanish TV series.
- It is also known as Money Heist: Berlin.
- created by Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato for Netflix.The series serves as a prequel to Money Heist.
- It focuses on the life of Andrés de Fonollosa, aka “Berlin”, before the events of seasons 1 and 2 of the original series.
- It stars Pedro Alonso, Michelle Jenner, Tristán Ulloa, Begoña Vargas, and Julio Peña Fernández.
- The series premiered on Netflix on 29 December 2023.
- It consists of eight episodes.
- Money Heist: Berlin received mixed reviews with many critics feeling that it did not live to the hype of the original Money Heist.
- In late November 2021, just days before the release of the second volume of the fifth part of Money Heist, Netflix announced that it was developing a spin-off series, Berlin, for a tentative 2023 release.
- It was announced that Pedro Alonso was expected to reprise his eponymous role from the original series.
- On September 28, 2022, Michelle Jenner, Begoña Vargas, Tristán Ulloa, Julio Peña Fernández and Joel Sánchez were cast to co-star alongside Pedro Alonso.
- In March 2023, it was announced that Itziar Ituño and Najwa Nimri would also be reprising their roles as Raquel Murillo and Alicia Sierra from Money Heist.
- Filming began in October 2022.
- Filming started in Paris, France.
- The series takes place primarily in Paris.
- It continued in Madrid, Spain.
- It was also shot in the Spanish cities of Almería, León, Ávila, Segovia, and Toledo.
- Creators Alex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato wanted to do something “lighter” after their previous recent projects.
- In comparison to its parent show Money Heist, Berlin has more comedic tones and employed more actors and locations.
- The series was shot in a wider screen 2:1 ratio to give the characters “more of a scenic experience of their surroundings”.
- The Daily Beast’s Noel Murray felt the plot and new characters did not hold up to the original Money Heist.
- Its running time is around 58-61 minutes per episode.
- “It’s a trip through the golden age of the character, when he robbed around Europe crazy in love,” Pina told Netflix prior the series release.
- “I’ve often heard that Berlin is a cynic,” Alonso told Netflix prior the release. “Not at all. He’s sarcastic, he has a diabolically dark sense of humor, and he can be fascinating, a real prick, whatever you want, but not a cynic… He’s a man who’s committed to rediscovering a great life, falling in love in the face of common sense and logic — a man who’s made to love, in spite of everything.”
- Despite or even because of his questionable personality, Berlin was noted as a fan favorite by the producers and critics alike.
- Netflix’s announcement that Berlin would be in part 3 raised media speculation about his role.[
- For the role of Berlin, Alonso won the Actors and Actresses Union Award in 2018 in the category “Best supporting television actor”. Berlin was still just a character in the La Casa de Papel series.
- Alonso’s portrayal of the character was inspired by a chance encounter Alonso had the day before receiving his audition script with “an intelligent person” who was “provocative or even manipulative” to him.
- Writer Esther Lobato Martinez said Berlin was designed, like all the characters, with “shades of light and dark applied to each so they are both relatable and immoral” as the story unfolded, so that Berlin could be perceived as likeable despite being oppressive to the hostages early on.
- The family connection between the Professor and Berlin in La Casa de Papel was not in the original script, but was built into the characters’ backstory at the end of part 1 after Morte and Alonso had repeatedly proposed to do so
