Two years passed both from the premiere of the first season and within the plot. It is that sometimes reality and fiction are mixed, and often even exceeded. As well on Earth as in “The Kingdom”, whose last episodes have Diego Peretti y Peter Lanzani on his shoulders.
“I am very happy, very excited. The truth is a story that I love very much. It was very important to do the first season, and everything was also so open that we needed a second one to go to the bone and face all our demons, right? ”, says Peter, on behalf of both, in a chat with Filo.News.
That two-year period also marks another year of elections, a situation that did not go unnoticed with the premiere of the series, a sort of national political dystopia, which paints a dark picture: with Pastor Emilio Vázquez Pena, now as president-elect and his reckless tenure in terms of human rights and public policy. So at what point do its protagonists feel that the series is coming?
“In the case of Argentina, any time ‘El Reino’ arrives is going to be dystopian, so it’s always in good timing. The series has a very intense power that transcends. Let’s say that you can identify with a country in crisis, but the viewer will not feel that attachment when talking about Argentina, rather the problem is international. So I think that in that sense it fulfills its function”, says Peretti.
Diego Peretti and Peter Lanzani, in dialogue with Filo.News.
“It seems to me that beyond the fact that the series is situated as if he were the president of Argentina, it has seasonings that can happen in any country in the world, right?” — reflects by his side, Peter — “As what happened not so long in Brazil. Or in the United States with the shots of the Capitol”. “Or with Trump,” adds Peretti.
“In other words, extremist political centers, both from the right and from the left, take place in the world, so the plot speaks to anyone. In addition, this series has even fanciful seasonings that are interesting: it is a fight between good and evil for real. I think people liked it,” adds Peter.
Diego Peretti as Pastor and President Emilio in the second season of El Reino | Photo: Netflix.
“I feel great doing this series. It is a character that I like to characterize and ‘experience’ because of how complex it is. And it’s a pleasure because the books were very powerful. The cast is barbaric and the production is very good. So I am very happy, with a lot of expectation”, resumes Peretti, who told us about the composition process that a character like the Pastor requires, as well as that of Kloster in “The Wrath of God” (also a Netflix original) and how much he likes it. They attract from the acting.
“All my degree I did university politics and it helped me because there are all the forces of the right and left living together all the time. I feel transported to that time when I see the scenes”, Diego Peretti.
This season has the particularity that both actors do not share any scene. Rather, each represents the opposite universe. On the one hand, a young man who no longer hides and begins to revolt with speeches of justice that go viral on social networks. On the other, a president who redefines his political strategies to preserve his power: — I am more than a president, I am a Pastor, I had God with me —, we hear him reflect in the first chapter of this final season that leaves his characters in a sort of bewilderment.
The performances return by talents such as Mercedes Morán, Joaquín Furriel, Vera Spinetta, Sofía Gala, Victoria Almeida, Alfonso Tort, Patricio Aramburu, Nicolás García Hume, Nancy Dupláa and Santiago Korovsky; along with the incorporations of Diego Velázquez, Julieta Cardinali, the Chilean actress Mariana Di Girolamo, Maite Lanata, Agustín “Rada” Aristarán, Juan Ingaramo and Florencia Raggi.
As Chino Darín told us, the first thing the cast did was talk with the director Marcelo Piñeyro (also an author with Claudia Piñeiro) to situate themselves in a plot that they were discovering. “From the first start we had many talks to understand what happened in that time and what the characters are becoming” — details the actor — “It is always nice to return to Tadeo; he brings a peace and a well-being where it is good to return. In addition, I got some spectacular places, so I enjoyed a lot too”.
“I’m a little Tadeo, I choose to believe in people”, Peter Lanzani.
The scenes of this season found Peter touring the North of Argentina, mainly outdoors in Jujuy. Although they also took him inside the National Congress, where he entered camouflaged. While for his part, Diego Peretti, toured emblematic settings such as the balcony and the rooms of the Casa Rosada. He even leads a scene where he enters the legislative building as almost never recorded in a national production.
“It was very nice filming at the Casa Rosada”—he recalls— “After living in this country for so many years, and seeing it as such a historic place, being inside seemed intense and beautiful to me. And on that balcony, I felt intimidated above all, but with the desire to move expressively in that ending, ”he admits.
“You were missing the World Cup” — says Peter, who directed a promotional clip in the previous season. — “I missed the World Cup, of course,” confirms Diego.
* Speaking of the World Cup, there is an Argentinean ‘I choose to believe’ atmosphere that we keep very much in mind. What do you choose to believe today?
Peter Lanzani: In people. I choose to believe in people. It doesn’t always turn out well but I prefer to believe. It seems to me that if there is someone who can get us out of the places we are in, it is someone else. Happiness is with another, love is with another. It’s that, if we don’t have each other and we don’t believe in ourselves, we individualize ourselves, and if you individualize yourself a lot, you lose yourself.
* It’s very much your character of that, Peter.
Peter Lanzani: I’m a bit my character. Not to such an extreme, right? otherwise it would all be a embole.
Diego Peretti: The claw and emotion that Peter put into playing Tadeo is extraordinary. You are not like the character.
Peter Lanzani as Tadeo, in a scene filmed in Jujuy | Photo: Netflix.
*Peter, you were just talking a bit about “demons”, but I’m going to take you to the “demons” side as well.ángel”, which is something that accompanied you throughout your entire career, from “Casi Ángeles”, “El Ángel”, “Maradona: Sueño bendito” and now “El Reino”. There is as much angel in you. What do you feel that angel is in or what do you feel blessed in?
Am I about to die? (laughs). I am grateful. I work what I like and I meet beautiful people. There are many people who cannot live on what they want. Then there is a lot of work and a lot of things that happen by coincidence or causality, but I think that’s it: above all I am grateful to continue falling in love with my work. It’s like Gato Gaudio used to say when asked in an interview: ‘The sport you love the most? Tennis, and the one you hate the most? the tennis’. For us sometimes the same thing ends up happening. You love and hate what you do, but this engine is a bit too.
* Diego, this season also shows a bit the university world. Is it true that when you were studying you were a member of a political party?
The Intransigent Party. Yes, for a long time. All my degree I did university politics and it helped me, because there are all the forces of the right and left living side by side all the time. It is not like the neighborhood politics that have the basic unit and the committee separately. So you have to learn a lot to listen, to rank the difference between some adjectives and some words that mean certain things.
And in that series there is a lot of this. Piñeiro touches on university and political issues, also in other films, and he does it very well. I feel transported to that time when I see the scenes.
* And how do you get along with politics today?
With party politics, bad. I can’t find references anywhere but I have a political-social idea and I hope to feel represented at some point again by someone I can trust.
* Peter, I can’t ask you: how were these months for you and how did you experience the Oscar nomination for “Argentina, 1985”?
Peter Lanzani: Delusional. I still don’t know what time I’m living,
Diego Peretti: And of course.
Peter Lanzani: It was incredible. Win or lose, it’s a consequence, it’s all good. The most important thing is that we had and are a beautiful group. That we had fun, we accompanied each other, we were filled with anecdotes, and we got to know places and people. It was an unforgettable experience, of great growth, we are very happy and very proud.
