Álvaro Morte, the fifth act of the “professor”

This article is published in Vanity Fair issue 34-35 on newsstands until August 31, 2021

Four years ago Alvaro Death he was a complete stranger, just like his alter ego “the professor” as he planned the millimeter robbery at the center of the series The paper house. Five seasons and 11 million followers later, the actor has three international projects underway and a great desire to reinvent himself as a performer, director and producer.

Four years and five months ago, the phone rings in the editorial office of GQ Spain: an agent offers us an interview with Álvaro Morte.

«He is the protagonist of a series that is about to come out on Antenna 3 and it will be a bomb ». At the other end of the phone was me. That visionary agent seemed to have been wrong at first, because The paper house it was not a hit when it aired in prime time on the private channel. Yet the first two seasons, initially self-contained, had a second (golden) life when Netflix revived and redistributed them on an international scale, transforming the series into a mass phenomenon on a global scale (Top 10 Series in 62 countries in the first month of issue of the last part). About to launch the first part of the fifth season (September 3; the second will arrive on December 3), Sergio Marquina, alias «the professor», laughs when I tell him the anecdote: «What an eye. The truth is, I didn’t expect it either. It was an explosive success. I remember we had a WhatsApp group and at one point someone wrote: “What the fuck is going on?”. So it’s normal that in 2017 they would say to me, “How about this guy? Who knows if we will be able to earn something … ”».

In this moment of his life, the actor – melomaniac, a lover of cooking and DIY – wants to focus on other characters. “I know that” the professor “was very important because of all the expressions of affection I received, but I wish they could also see me as the Oscar of the Red pier (Movistar +, in Italy on RaiPlay), or the Ramón of The Head (Hbo), or as the character I play in The Wheel of Time (the new Amazon Prime fantasy super bet based on a bestselling saga) ».

We do this interview during a pause while filming Boundless (Rtve and Amazon Prime), a miniseries in which he plays Juan Sebastián Elcano, member of Fernando Magellano’s crew – and the only Spaniard present – in the first world tour by sea, completed in the sixteenth century. Twenty minutes late on the appointment, Álvaro Morte answers the phone from Seville apologizing for at least 15 seconds. His kindness precedes him, along with a great mooddespite the reasonable fatigue they had already warned me about.

“Excuse me, really,” he repeats.

Do not worry. Indeed, he seems very kind to me: so all the interviews I have read, in which his proverbial good character emerged, did not lie. Do you identify with this description?

«I believe that life should be taken head on and with irony. It is the only way to overcome even the inevitable adversities ».

They will have asked her a thousand times how she reacted to this stellar success. The thing that interests me most is to know which resources he has leveraged in order not to freak out.

He laughs. “I didn’t do anything special, apart from looking in the mirror and trying not to take myself too seriously: I always remind myself that I started from scratch. I didn’t have a mentor or someone to open doors for me. I studied dramatic art and attended the worst theaters in Spain like many others, so I try not to forget it ».

How many of your friendships have you managed to keep since 2017?

«Very many, I would say all of them. I always try to separate work from private life, so my old friends treat me as usual and are as surprised as I am by the absurd things that happen to me thanks to my profession ».

What was the first whim he indulged himself when he learned that the series was triumphing?

“I think I said to myself: ‘I’m a father, I have children and if this keeps me from thinking about how to pay the rent next month, so much the better'”.

In Italy it is considered a sex symbol. What does it feel like?

“I don’t think I am! But if that were the case, it seems to me a good thing that “the professor” is considered a sexy guy for his intelligence: especially in a world where sculpted abs and a tan are most important, the fact that all of a sudden this guy appears. a bit nerdy, with hunched shoulders, and people like it, it seems to me a good attack on frivolity ».

But he also played real playboys, like Óscar del Molo rosso, for example. The choice to make “the professor” ugly is like Brad Pitt’s absurd haircut in the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. He liked it anyway.

«For Il molo rosso they suggested that I join the gym because for half of the shoot I would be half naked: I certainly didn’t become a training freak, but I got a taste for keeping fit. I couldn’t get tortoiseshell abs, because I’ve never had them and I don’t think I’ll ever have them, but I like to feel good, especially when I have to work twelve hours a day, like now on the set of Boundless ».

I seem to have understood that the filming of the fifth season of the House of paper overlapped with those of the biopic on Juan Sebastián Elcano.

“It is true. We shot The Paper House from August to May: we were supposed to finish in March but things took a long time due to the pandemic, so I had to work on both sets for two weeks, which were very hard, I slept most of the time. days in different cities. Shooting on location for Boundless is about to wrap up, and I’ll finally be able to take a few days off. Then, in September, I’ll make a small indie film, because after The Paper House and The Wheel of Time, I wanted to take part in a slightly more sober project ».

When you work only in micro theaters, you are always looking for the production that will make a splash, while those who find fans waiting for them at the airport try to go back to basics …

“I don’t like losing touch with everything that has brought me this far. My theater company, “300 pistolas”, is at a standstill because we do not have any subsidies and it is very difficult to put together economically viable shows until we can go back to filling the theaters 100 percent. That said, I love both worlds, just like you can go to a Foo Fighters megaconcert one night and listen to your favorite songwriter in a café-theater the next day. “

For Boundless she practically did the rounds with Rodrigo Santoro, him in the role of Magellan and she in the role of Elcano. It doesn’t seem very far from promotional trips for The House of Paper.

“We’ve been to a lot of places, yes. And they scattered us between Italy, France, England, Colombia or Argentina, the countries that have shown the most loyalty to the series. In addition to promoting promotion, we wanted to thank the fans and give them the opportunity to see Denver or Nairobi (played by Jaime Lorente and Alba Flores, ed) in a context in which they could really greet them and exchange a few words ».

The fan phenomenon is more common among singers than among actors.

“Yes, but we continue to witness many expressions of affection on social networks: it’s beautiful, but also disturbing, for example if you discover that someone has tattooed your face …”.

Too much responsibility?

«Exactly: and if the fifth season ends and at a certain point he doesn’t like what“ the professor ”does anymore? Images!”.

There are many fan theories about the conclusion of the series: since you are among the few in the world to know her, can you tell us if you have read any predictions that hit the mark?

“Something wonderful happens with the fans because they are often able to come up with completely crazy and very funny theories. Sometimes I thought they should hire some as screenwriters. ‘

Lost and Game of Thrones are not remembered for highly regarded endings, do you think yours will please the audience?

«I am very satisfied with the ending, but considering the millions of fans I am aware that it is impossible to please everyone. I hope the positive reactions will outweigh the disappointments. When we received the latest script from screenwriter Álex Pina we expressed some perplexity: “Are we really doing this?”. We discussed it with the director, Jesús Colmenar, and with some changes we managed to arrange the scene where it should be… ».

Before he had all the scripts, had he already guessed who was going to die this season?

“Why, is there someone dying in the fifth season?”

From the rumors it seems so. And you don’t have to be Einstein to figure out who.

“I cannot answer this question …”.

The typical answer that “the professor” would give.

“Ahahaha.”

Keep singing Hello Bella in the shower?

“No, because I’m not nostalgic at all. I’m more for taking the good of things and moving on and seeing what comes next. I like to think that there is life after “the professor”. This series has given me millions of things, all of them beautiful, and for this I hope it continues, with or without my character ».

So it doesn’t rule out the hypothesis that there is a sixth season.

“So. I, Álvaro Morte, cannot say whether my character comes to an end or not. Having said that, and let it be clear that I am not straying for one alternative or the other, because Berlin is dead and yet it is still there, and if an eighth season were made and Nairobi reappeared it would not be madness … So, if the thing went on and they wanted me in the team, I’d be happy, but now I want to do other things, also as director and producer ».

With the millions of followers you have on Instagram, have you ever received an unexpected like from one of your idols?

«More than a reaction on my personal profile, it was a real shock for everyone to read a tweet from Stephen King that said:“ The paper house, on Netflix: if you like stories of robberies, you will love it. It’s a bomb”. Here, that really left us speechless: the master of storytelling says that the series is a bomb, a series that we shot in Colmenar Viejo… ».

A sort of “paper house generation” has been created. Do you actors keep in touch?

“We have a superactive WhatsApp group. With Covid we have seen each other less, of course, but we love each other and we respect each other very much. I love all my colleagues and everyone alike, even those who are joining as they go into the new seasons, like Hovik (Keuchkerian, who plays Bogotá, ed), who is a treasure. For me the great discovery of the fifth season was Najwa (Nimri, Inspector Sierra, ed); I have always admired her and she is one of the people with whom I have worked most closely ».

Rumor has it that “the professor” will help her give birth in the first episode of the new season.

“Who said that?”

I read it on the internet. People.

“People have their theories; some are beautiful and some are not… ».

That’s all?

“That’s all”.