Rodrigo Garcia’s first Netflix series, “Santita,” bows on April 22, with exclusive first-look photos— including behind-the-scenes shots with the Emmy-nominated director—unveiled in Variety.
“Santita” follows María José Cano, aka Santita, who after a car accident leaves her wheelchair-bound, ditches the love of her life at the altar. Two decades later, she is forced to confront her past when he unexpectedly reappears. Called Santita (Little Saint) despite her less than virtuous nature, María José’s story unfolds as a wickedly irreverent and unconventional love tale.
Paulina Dávila plays opposite Gael García Bernal in this poignant drama produced by Panorama Entertainment. It also stars Ilse Salas (“The Good Girls”) as Bernal’s wife and Erik Hayser (“Ingobernable”) as Davila’s colleague/lover.
Set in Tijuana, the story revolves around this flawed but deeply human being who “moves through the world like everyone else, disability be damned,” García told Variety.
What drew him to the project was precisely Santita’s provocative character, who aside from being a competent doctor, plays poker, bets at cockfights and craves for a better sex life. “She’s someone with a disability who is not only successful professionally but who also lives a pretty free and wild personal life in ways that we don’t expect from this kind of person,” García pointed out.
The seven-episode series was written and created by Luis Cámara (“You’re Killing Me, Susana”) and Gabrielle Galanter (“Steel Trap”).
“We did a lot of research to try to keep it as grounded and as real as possible, especially with respect to Santita’s sex life. This is someone who, because of her disability, has not had an orgasm for close to two decades, but she knows that some women with similar injuries do reach orgasm. So, she has been searching for it,” said García.
He related that during the writing and pre-production phases, they relied heavily on insights from people within the community, particularly from a woman dedicated to advocating for the rights of individuals with various disabilities. She emphasized that no two experiences are alike, highlighting the diversity within the community.
Finding the actress to play Santita involved casting a wide net and while they saw a number of actresses who could have fit the bill, Davila came closest to the character they wanted portrayed.
While they saw many of the best actresses in Mexico during the casting process, he realized that casting isn’t just about acting skills. With everyone so talented, it was about finding the person who embodied Santita as they envisioned her.
“I thought Paulina was great. She’s a very good actress and projects a lot of complexity and a lot of fun. She’s someone that you can forgive for her bad behavior because she has such charm.”
“Gael is always kind of a first choice because he’s a very good actor, is very charismatic and has a good sense of humor,” he mused but although Bernal and Davila were friends, they had never worked together.
“You always hope for chemistry,” he noted. Luckily that chemistry was obvious from the very first scene they shot in the hospital cafeteria. “It also helps that they’re both beautiful.”
Garcia’s body of work includes such noteworthy pics as “Nine Lives” (2005), “Mother and Child” (2009), “Albert Nobbs “(2011) and his 2000 directorial debut “Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her,“ which took home the Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the NHK Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
He also worked on such acclaimed series as “In Treatment “(2008), “Big Love “(2006), “Six Feet Under” (2001), “The Sopranos” (1999) and “The Affair “(2014).
He is next executive producing and directing four of eight episodes of an FX limited series in Toronto called “Cry Wolf,” created by Sarah Treem (“The Affair”) and starring Oscar winners Olivia Coleman and Brie Larson. He’s also an executive producer of Netflix’s epic saga “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” based on his father Gabriel García Marquez’s seminal novel, which bows its second and final season in August.
Panorama founder Gerardo Gatica and Leandro Halperin, García, Cámara, and Galanter served as executive producers of “Santita.”
English (US) ·