Mexican multi-hyphenate Eugenio Derbez, best known for his comedic performances in such hits as “Instructions Not Included,” “How to Be a Latin Lover” and “Overboard,” is taking on his first dramatic lead role in a series, Prime Video’s “El Juicio.”
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He joins “Money Heist’s” Pedro Alonso, Karla Gaytán (“ El amor invincible”) and Iker Sánchez Solano (“Bardo”) in the eight-part series inspired by a real-life crime case. “El Juicio,” which means “The Trial” in English, follows a teenager and her father in their struggle for justice after she is sexually assaulted by the scion of a successful businessman. Not only will the father and daughter have to navigate a failed judicial system, but they must also contend with a wealthy adversary bent on using all his power to protect his son.
Derbez’s first lead dramatic role in a film was in Sundance audience award-winner “Radical,” about a teacher whose unorthodox teaching method draws unexpectedly positive results in a border town school.
“My entire career, I have sought to challenge myself, and ‘El Juicio’ represents one of the greatest acting challenges I have faced. Exploring terrifying situations and feelings took me to new places in terms of acting,” said Derbez, who also stars in AppleTV+ series, “Acapulco.”
“It is complicated and devastating to bring to the screen the story of a father who seeks justice for his daughter, facing numerous obstacles that reflect many aspects of the reality of our country,” he noted, adding: “This is possible thanks to a great showrunner and screenwriter like Daniel Krauze (“Luis Miguel: The Series”), the experience of excellent directors like Roberto Sneider, Belén Macías and Jorge Michel Grau, and the collaboration of a very talented actor like Pedro Alonso, as well as an extraordinary cast.”
“After the demanding but stimulating last two and a half years, I had firmly decided not to film anything as an actor in 2024… until I read the script for ‘El Juicio,’” said Alonso, who toplines the “Money Heist” spin-off, “Berlin.”
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He added: “It is not easy to get into a story about such a delicate matter, in a way that avoids the temptation of the easy plot, one that can reduce the plot to a tendentious, populist or sentimental story, where everything is limited to get rid of the pressure and pointing out the culprit. I think that Daniel Krauze has known how to go much further in his account of the events, to touch, without denying the thriller, something that ultimately commits us all and portrays us. For me, this is a story that not only talks about seeking justice but also about something structural, systemic. I have no doubt that the series will generate a necessary discussion.”
Filmed on sets in Puebla and Mexico City, “El Juicio” is produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Derbez and Ben Odell’s 3Pas Studios and Mexico City-based production service company Visceral as well as transmedia production company Reclaim Entertainment Ventures.
“The series addresses deeply sensitive, complex and urgent topics, which required a bold and empathetic vision, something we achieved with the exceptional mastery of our talent in front of and behind the cameras,” noted Alonso Aguilar, head of local originals in Mexico for Amazon MGM Studios.
The series will be released exclusively on Prime Video worldwide, with Derbez, Odell, Daniel and León Krauze, Sneider (“Arráncame la vida,” “Frida”), Visceral’s Javier Williams and Pablo Calasso as well as Reclaim Entertainment’s Mauricio Mota serving as executive producers.
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