With the intention of paying homage to Mexico, Eugenio Derbez presents the series ‘Acapulco’ (on Apple TV +), set in the eighties. The Mexican is the executive producer and plays the adult version of ‘Máximo Gallardo’, a character in the comedy ‘How to be a Latin Lover’. Comment that this time he wanted to show a story with more “heart” and family. “It is loosely based on the movie.”
His character, from a mansion in Malibu, tells his nephew about life in Mexico. Derbez tells us that he identifies in that regard. “I continually sit down to talk with my children and tell them a thousand stories, because I think the best way to educate is by entertaining and not nagging. And what can I tell you about my 7-year-old girl, she is just taking out Armando Hoyos glasses, the ‘Super Goalkeeper’ mask, of all my characters that I did on television. He looks at me with the face of: ‘What is this!’ My daughter was born so many years after I did all that, I’m going to have to tell her my whole life! “
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From the first minute of the series, the intention is to show the traditional. What has it been like to arrive in Hollywood and propose a series like this?
You cannot imagine the pleasure and pride that it gives me to be able to do it. I imagined that you had to be born in the United States to be able to do something like that. He saw it as something very complicated and far away. (But) it was the desire to claim to my country which motivated me to do this series. I was already tired of seeing how they always refer to Mexico with stories of narcos, drugs, violence, murders, yes, it is not that there is not, but Mexico is much more than that, there is another face that we have not taught, such as It is Acapulco, its people, they are good people. Then, for me it was very important to make a series that paid tribute to the positive side, to the beautiful side of Mexico.
Does part of the story have to do with your own career?
(Laughs) Totally! The truth is that when I made ‘Latin lover’ and since I was developing the series, it reminded me of my trip, my life, of when I left Mexico looking for the American dream. ‘Maximum’ thanks to certain decisions he makes – I’m not going to say it so as not to spoil the series – somehow makes him get to where he is in the United States. Yes, it has a lot of my life stuck there in history.
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Unlike ‘How to be a Latin lover’, the series is more familiar. Why did you decide to do it?
When I did ‘Latin lover’, I came from doing ‘No refunds are accepted’, I remember saying to the writers: “The film lacks heart”, that is, it is very funny, you laugh a lot, but I would like it to have more heart, more depth, and I could not convince them. Finally, they said, “It has to be a comedy period ”. So when we developed the series, I wanted the character of ‘Máximo’ to be deeper, more three-dimensional, with more layers, more conflict, not just comedy. That’s where the character changes and becomes more complex and with more heart. You will see that the series, despite being very funny, also has many dramatic parts.
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