For Eugenio Derbez, Acapulco is more than just a series; it’s a chance to tell an authentic story — one he feels will resonate with communities of people in Latin America and tell it in the most realistic way possible.
The actor, who spoke with Remezcla in the leadup to the release of Acapulco, the new bilingual comedy series airing on Apple TV+ today, was clear on what he wanted from the series. He was also very candid about the extent to which he felt the series had achieved the lofty goals he’d set for it.
“There are a lot of different cultures [in Latin America],” he told us. “I wanted to reflect that in the series and be authentic.” This understanding is why, in Acapulco, when you hear someone from Mexico speaking, they speak in a Mexican accent. And if they’re from Colombia, they’re speaking in a Colombian accent.
Plus, people speak Spanish when talking to other Spanish-speaking characters, something that makes sense, but we don’t always see on TV. “I fought for that,” Derbez shared, “Because at first, they were like, this is an English-speaking series for the general market.”
He continues, “I was like wait, guys, wait …we want to make this thing real,” then adding his personal experience to the story of how he sold the bilingual nature of the show: “Me, as a Mexican, I hate when I go to the movies and watch a movie that’s supposedly happening in Mexico, and people are speaking in English. That’s not real.”
And Acapulco isn’t sacrificing laughs or any entertainment value just to be realistic. “We wanted to make a series that could be entertaining but authentic at the same time,” Eugenio shared. And they also wanted the series to “have depth, have heart.”
That’s achieved through the story of a young man named Maximo (Derbez plays the older version). He’s the one telling the story and just “wants to succeed in life,” the way we all want to. “He dreams about working at Las Colinas because that’s the hottest resort in Acapulco, and he feels that working there is going to change his life.”
And it does. Derbez adds, “But he realizes that he has to navigate this complicated world, where he learns that not all that glitters is gold.”
How much are you willing to do to achieve your dreams? That’s the underlying question of Acapulco, the question before Maximo, and the question Derbez feels is the most interesting starting point for a story that will make you laugh, make you feel, and hopefully also make you think.
Maximo’s got his answer, and you can see if he “crosses the line” or if he sticks to “morality and his principles” when Acapulco premieres on Apple TV+.
The first two episodes of Acapulco are available to stream today, Friday, October 8, on Apple TV+, with an all-new episode premiering every Friday after that.