Acapulco: Chatting with stars Fernando Carsa and Camila Perez

This Friday is the global premiere of the new series Acapulco Apple TV+ a bilingual comedy series starring Eugenio Derbez and inspired by How to Be a Latin Lover (2017). This heartwarming comedy-drama is set to become the next big hit for the streaming service and should appeal to fans of Ted Lasso.

Acapulco Apple TV tells the story of a young Maximo Gallardo (Enrique Arrizon) who dreams of working at the hottest resort in Acapulco. But once he makes that dream come true, he quickly realizes that working at the resort will be far more complicated than he ever imagined. The series is narrated by Derbez, who plays the present-day adult version of Maximo, while Arrizon plays the 1984 version.

Fernando Carsa and Camila Perez tease the first season of Acapulco Apple TV+

Show Snob had the chance to chat with several cast members of the series, including Fernando Carsa, who plays Maximo’s best friend Memo, and Camila Perez, who plays Julia, the resort’s receptionist and Maximo’s love interest.

SHOW SNOB: Can you tell me what attracted you to Acapulco? Fernando, if you’d like to go first.

FERNANDO CARSA: Yeah, for me, what was really attractive is it has Eugenio Derbez attached to it, and he is a Mexican icon at this point. But also the fact that it was with Apple and the fact it was a bilingual series, and when I read my sides for the audition, the Latinx community was being portrayed in a very positive light, which meant a lot to me. I could tell from the get-go that it was a very special project.

CAMILA PEREZ: For me, I loved I was able to get a few episodes from the different sides. I loved it. I loved the people attached to it, Eugenio I grew up watching, especially La familia P. Luche. I loved how Julia is a very complex character. You’re going to see her in a different light throughout the show. I think she’s her own person.

She’s very ambitious, she’s very independent, and she has a lot to share not only within the resort she helps, especially Maximo. Most of my scenes are with Maximo, but she gets to share her ambition and creative side with everybody.

SHOW SNOB: Along those lines, she has the romance arc with Maximo, and you also worked with Chord Overstreet. Can you talk about what it was like working with those guys?

CAMILA: I’m obsessed with them. I’m obsessed with my co-stars.

FERNANDO: [Starts laughing]

CAMILA: Why are you laughing?

FERNANDO: Because of when I met Chord Overstreet, I’m reminded of going back to when I met Chord.

CAMILA: Oh, yeah! He was fangirling over Chord. [Laughs] He watched Glee obviously, yeah?

FERNANDO: Of course!

CAMILA: For me, I never watched Glee, so I was meeting my castmate. But I loved working with them. They are so generous when it comes to doing scenes with them. They’re sweet. They’re committed, they’re professional, I got to learn so much from them. I just hope we get a season two because I want to keep learning.

FERNANDO: We have such amazing acting veterans like Damián Alcázar, Vanessa Bauche, Jessica Collins.

CAMILA: We’re learning from the best on this show.

FERNANDO: Oh, definitely.

SHOW SNOB: Fernando, your character gets a lot of comic relief. Was that fun for you to do?

FERNANDO: Yes! I got to play a lot, play around a lot and just have fun, make choices, make bold choices, run, jump. My character can get very physical as you get more into the season. It was a lot of fun. I wanted to become a performer because I love making people happy, and this was a great avenue to do it.

SHOW SNOB: I love the relationship he has, I mean, I love the bond he has with Maximo, but also with Lupe. They’re so funny together!

FERNANDO: Yeah, I had a blast working with Regina [Orozco], who plays Lupe. I also am a huge fan of her, and the fact that I got to share a screen with her, I also screamed and fangirled a little bit. [Laughs]

SHOW SNOB: What’s the best part of playing in the 1980s? That had to be fun.

CAMILA:  Absolutely. We Were born in the ’90s, so we didn’t experience that but getting to live that on this beautiful set that was larger than life. The costume department was top of the line, the hair department. It was just fun to experience that but still make it a show.

FERNANDO: There are also two incredibly awesome musical elements in our show, and I don’t want to give it away.

CAMILA: They’re in the trailer, so you can say their name!

FERNANDO: Oh yeah! Augusto and Adriana, watch for them because they’re like the soundtrack to the story.

CAMILA: They have a soundtrack for a lot of scenes. They’re just always there, it’s like the ghost of us. [Laughs]

SHOW SNOB: The set itself is so vibrant and colorful, it’s amazing to watch in that regard. Can you talk a little about working on that set? Was it all on location or a built stage?

FERNANDO: Well, there were a couple of built sets, not stages.

CAMILA: Maybe like 3, we lived on set.

FERNANDO: It’s an actual hotel in Mexico.

CAMILA: We lived at the resort.

FERNANDO: Yeah, for the whole shooting of the show. It is an actual hotel in Mexico, and then they built some other—

CAMILA: They built sets.

FERNANDO: They built sets for some of their stuff. I mean, we were genuinely like, completely—

CAMILA: Stunned.

FERNANDO: We were immersed in this world 24/7.

SHOW SNOB: That had to have helped with your performances too.

CAMILA: Absolutely, our costumes, our dialogue too.

FERNANDO: And the fact we were with each other the whole time really strengthened our chemistry and relationships.

CAMILA: I think you guys are going to be able to see that as episodes go by, the chemistry just built up and built up. I think living together helped that.

SHOW SNOB: How do you feel like you relate most to your characters, and how do you feel like you differ most from your characters? Camila, if you want to start.

CAMILA: We definitely share the same ambitions, were both very independent. We go for what we want despite what people think. And different…I think she’s very calm. I’m more of a fire, I think she’s water, and I’m fire. What else is different? She’s more understanding than I am, and that’s something I learned from her and am definitely going to apply in my life.

FERNANDO: For me, I relate, this is my TV debut, so this whole experience was like every day was a discovery for me, and that’s what Memo is doing. Every day at his job, he is discovering this lifestyle he has always dreamed about, so it was easy for me to relate to his story. But he’s definitely braver than I am, and he’s more of a go-getter than I am.

CAMILA: Go-getter?

FERNANDO: He’s more…he doesn’t question anything. He just goes into it.

CAMILA: That’s true.

FERNANDO: I overthink too much.

CAMILA: He doesn’t.

FERNANDO: Memo does not overthink at all. [Laughs]

CAMILA: He’s like, ok, I’ll jump, no consequences, just do it.

FERNANDO: Just do it!

Acapulco Apple TV+ premieres globally this Friday, Oct. 8.