The Museu Nacional d'Art Contemporani (MNAC) and its views of Barcelona from Montjuïc, the Mapfre towers and the zoo are some of the locations where The Innocent, the new Netflix series starring Mario Casas, was filmed. Barcelona-native Oriol Paulo was in charge of directing this adaptation of the eponymous novel written by American Harlan Coben and filmed it entirely in Catalonia, with a team of 500 technicians, 140 actors, 100 specialists, and 1,800 extras and background actors. Casas is accompanied by Aura Garrido, José Coronado, Alexandra Jiménez, Juana Acosta, and Gonzalo de Castro.
Casas plays the character of Mateo, an ex-convict sentenced for murder. The prison where he will serve his sentence will be the old Figueres prison. Upon his release, his wife, Olivia, is pregnant, and just as they are about to start a new life together, everything becomes complicated again, and mystery and intrigue reappear in Mateo's life.
For Paulo, The Innocent has been the most complex and intense project he has ever undertaken. "It's a choral and polyhedral thriller full of light and shadow, a domino effect through which a series of characters carrying past burdens and fighting to find a second chance transit and collide," he explains. The director of Julia's Eyes, The Body, and The Invisible Guest also worked with Jordi Vallejo and Guillem Clua as screenwriters for this series, produced by Sospecha Films and Think Studio for Netflix.
This thriller is not only set in Barcelona. First, it goes on a route through the metropolitan area, to El Prat Airport, specifically to T1. In a now unusual image, Casas is seen surrounded by people dropping off their family and friends at the kiss and ride, all without masks and hugging without fear. This is because the series was filmed before the pandemic, with only some parts pending for after the state of alarm. It also goes further, passing through Sitges and Figueres.
The relationship between Netflix and Mario Casas with Barcelona
The Innocent is not the first production that Netflix has set in Barcelona. The first was Hache, set in 1960s Barcelona with a murky story as its plot. Crazy About Her has also been filmed in the Catalan capital. The film has just been released and stars Catalan Álvaro Cervantes and Basque Susana Abaitua, known for her role in Patria as Txato's daughter.
Nor was it the first time that Mario Casas was the protagonist of a filming in Barcelona. A generation of teenagers ---now adults--- will always remember him as Hache, who rode a motorcycle through the city in Tres metros sobre el cielo, taking Maria Valverde across the Vallcarca bridge. He doesn't forget it either, as he showed in his Goya acceptance speech for No matarás.
Featured images, by Quim Vives
- Filming with views of the Catalan capital from Montjuïc.
- Mario Casas, outside the MNAC.
- The actor during a moment of filming inside the museum.
- Oriol Paulo and Mario Casas filming at the airport.
- Filming at El Prat's T1.
- Exterior of the old Figueres prison.
- Mario Casas, in a scene as a prisoner.
- Scene in Sitges.