Eugenio Derbez and Pedro Alonso star in Final Verdict, an eight-episode legal thriller on Prime Video. Inspired by real events, the series follows a teenager and her father as they navigate a flawed judicial system after she is assaulted by a classmate—all while facing a wealthy father determined to protect his son at any cost.
For Alonso, it was “important not to trivialize the harm or re-victimize the victims,” while still “craft[ing] a plot that invites people to ask questions.”
“I’m of the opinion that justice isn’t the same for everyone,” he said. “I think there’s something perverse about the fact that if you have a lot of money, you can hire a team of lawyers who, regardless of guilt or innocence, are capable of dismantling a single cog in the judicial process and getting a case thrown out. To me, that is a perversion of justice.”
Derbez, who plays the girl’s father, agreed. But both emphasized that shades of gray make for more compelling characters. “I think the balance that Daniel [Krauze] found is that there are going to be many moments where you’re going to put yourself in both their shoes, because you’re going to say, the villain is right, and the good guy isn’t that good either. You’re going to be continually debating who’s right, and what would you do if you were in their shoes,” Derbez said.
Alonso also shared that, when he’s getting into character, he doesn’t turn to music. “I love music, but for me, I find that kind of connection in painting. I actually paint a lot while preparing my characters and during filming, too. It’s about connecting in a way that’s increasingly intuitive and less cerebral. Because you might have 20,000 incredible arguments in your head, but when it comes to the actual performance, that’s not how it works. You have to work more with gut instinct. And painting really helps me establish that kind of connection, where I stop thinking and focus more on feeling.”
Derbez and creator Daniel Krauze might not paint, but they spoke to us about women’s soccer, the excitement around the upcoming World Cup, and having a Mexican woman nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
“I can tell you that I used to have arguments at home, for years, actually, because I like watching the Premier League, the men’s,” Krauze shared. “And my daughter—I have a nine-year-old daughter—would say, ‘Dad, I want to watch women’s soccer.’ And I’d tell her, ‘No, sweetheart.’ But then one day I realized, you know what? I should just put on women’s soccer for her. And seeing her reaction when she watched it made me realize why I should have listened to her years ago. She connected with it on a different level.”
“Suddenly I saw her smiling; she started to like soccer.”
Derbez was paying attention. “That’s a great story. I want my daughter to watch soccer, and sometimes she’s struggled to get into it. I’m going to put on women’s soccer for her,” he said.
He also took the time to celebrate Scarlett Camberos. “What a source of pride. I didn’t know what you just told me. It’s something to be proud of. And it’s a source of pride that she’s Mexican.”
Next for Camberos, hopefully, is next year’s World Cup. And for Derbez and Alonso, you can watch Final Verdict on Prime Video.