Alvaro Morte - Man With The Plan

A small Spanish production named La Casa de Papel was almost cancelled. Then Netflix renamed it Money Heist and it became an international hit with its critique of capitalism. Was it planned?

- Jonathan Ho

For Actor Alvaro Morte, playing The Professor for the last time in Money Heist season 5 has been an emotional roller coaster. His character was already reeling from the deaths of Berlin and Nairobi, when he was caught off-guard by Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri). While The Professor has shown himself to be a master planner in earlier seasons, having studied police procedures and human behaviour, Alicia’s unpredictable nature makes her a dangerous adversary. He is well aware too that, in life, one can do everything right and still lose.

Morte knows just how huge Money Heist’s impact has been. The fact that people were wearing the show’s iconic masks and jumpsuits during demonstrations as a symbol of resistance, is not only testament to its pop cultural kudos, but also a reflection of the growing dissatisfaction with the inequities of late stage capitalism. We sat down Morte to understand his part in the international phenomenon that has become a zeitgeist.

How hard is it to say goodbye to a show such as Money Heist?

It’s difficult because you’ve worked five years with the same people. You’ve been shooting with the cast and crew every day and at the end of it, it’s not only the connection with the character, or the production, or the story, it is the journey that you’ve made together as characters and as actors. It’s something very beautiful. The last day was especially beautiful because I was shooting with the same team as I did on the first day, so there was a sensation of coming full circle and it felt emotional.