When you're working, you can't think about pleasing the audience: 'Money Heist' star Ursula Corbero

It is the beginning of the end for the popular crime drama ”Money Heist” and actor Ursula Corbero, who plays Tokyo in the series, says the team is still surprised by the fan following the show has garnered in its four-year run.

Titled ”La Casa De Papel” (The House of Paper) in Spanish, it was initially intended as a limited series from the local network Antena 3 to be told in two parts. ”There is something about this craziness about ‘Money Heist’ which came in an unexpected manner to all of us,” Corbero told PTI through the help of an interpreter in a Zoom interview.

”Money Heist” follows two heists pulled off by a ragtag group of thieves dressed in red jumpsuits and a Salvador Dali mask, led by Alvaro Morte’s Professor — one on the Royal Mint of Spain, and one on the Bank of Spain.

The first part was released on December 20, 2017, followed by the second part on April 6, 2018. It soon gained a huge global audience and became one of the most-watched non-English series ever on the streamer. ”Bella Ciao”, the Italian anti-fascist folk song which plays multiple times throughout the series, become popular across the world after featuring on ”Money Heist”.

Such has been the fan frenzy around the show that Corbero recalled being stopped in the middle of a street to explain why the character of Nairobi, played by Alba Flores, was killed off in season four.

While the commitment of viewers towards ”Money Heist” is something the team respects, Corbero said they have stayed true to the essence of the show that made it a pop culture phenomenon.

”It’s fantastic to see that everyone around the world roots really strongly for all characters. And when you’re working you cannot think about pleasing the audience but you need to stay faithful to what the audience originally fell in love with.

”For example, people would stop me on the streets and ask my ‘Why did Nairobi die?’ We feel so heartbroken but this is something that had to happen,” the 32-year-old actor, who also serves as the narrator of the series, said.

According to the official logline of the fifth and final season, the gang has been shut in the Bank of Spain for over 100 hours. They have managed to rescue Lisbon (Itziar Ituno), but their darkest moment is upon them after losing one of their own.

The Professor has been captured by Sierra, played by Najwa Nimri, and, for the first time, doesn’t have an escape plan. Just when it seems like nothing else could go wrong, an enemy comes on the scene that is much more powerful than any they’ve faced: the army. The end of the greatest heist in history is approaching, and what began as a robbery will turn into a war.

The 10-episode final chapter, first part of which releases Friday, will be ”filled with a lot of realism” along with comic and action elements, said Corbero, who was joined by her co-star Jose Manuel Poga in the interview.

”The love for the audience is something we bear in our hearts but when you’re working you need to stay faithful to the script to the intention of the directors,” she further said.

Poga, who plays Gandia, the head of security at the Bank of Spain, said he has tried to add a layer of maturity to his character that was introduced to the viewers only in the fourth season.

”Once I got the feedback from the audience on how it has been perceived, I had one year from the fourth season to the fifth season in order to make my character more mature… To provide it with a deeper quality.

”So I can say, the character is more mature in the fifth season and I have been capable of playing it in a more powerful manner,” the 41-year-old actor added.

Poga also said the audience will get to see ”all the characters at their climax” in the last season.

”In terms of action and stunts, you are going to love it,” he promised. Corbero said the cast and crew have put their best foot forward ”in order to provide a powerful finale”.

”We all knew it’s coming to an end. ‘Money Heist’ is always topping itself season after season and I always wondered how do you top every time? (But) we have pulled all the stops out and poured our guts into everything we have done. We hope audiences like it,” she further said.

”Money Heist” is directed by Jesus Colmenar, Koldo Serra, and Álex Rodrigo, and produced by Vancouver Media.

The series also stars Pedro Alonso, Miguel Herran, Jaime Lorente, Esther Acebo, Enrique Arce, Darko Peric, Hovik Keuchkerian, Luka Peros, Belen Cuesta, Fernando Cayo, and Rodrigo de la Serna.

The remaining five episodes of the show will debut on December 3 on the streaming platform.