By Durga Chakravarty

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS): Love him or hate him but you surely cannot miss Arturo Roman from the popular Netflix series ‘Money Heist. Ever since the show gained popularity, Arturo has been one of the most discussed characters on social media.

Actor Enrique Arce, who plays Arturo in all the five seasons of ‘Money Heist' also known as ‘La Casa De Papel', has talked about his character, who can be described as a narcissist and believes himself to be a hero.

Talking about being one of the most hated characters by the fans, Arce in a chat with IANS shared that he feels that Arturo Roman would be liked years down the line.

"Do you know what I think he is? He's one of those characters... I am saying it not as Enrique and there is no ego involved, but I think this is one of those characters that when you are not involved, when the five seasons are over and it has been two years, if people watch it again I think they would like the character rather than hate him," he said.

"When they will get the emotional distance I think they will say he was funny, he wasn't that bad after all..."

The 48-year-old actor said that his character brings in "comic relief".

"I don't think Arturo is precisely necessary in the show... I think he's a comic relief, it comes from the old theatre. It's one of those characters that are put in to take the stress out from the main focus and it's a very common role in theatre..."

The actor added: "But this character people will say ‘I don't hate him actually' give it time. Just hate me all you want right now, one year from now ‘eh, kind of like him'."

"Money Heist" was initially intended as a limited series to be told in two parts. It had its original run of 15 episodes on Spanish network Antena 3. Netflix acquired global streaming rights in late 2017. By 2018, It was the most-watched non-English-language series and one of the most-watched series overall on Netflix.

The series received several awards including the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series at the 46th International Emmy Awards. The Italian anti-fascist song "Bella ciao", which plays multiple times throughout the series, became a global hit.

What made the show so popular suddenly?

"I think this show has a lot of word of mouth meaning that people tell their friends, parents and family members ‘you know I watched this show it's amazing and it was great' that I think was the main cause and then it is my understanding that it's because of social media."

He also talked about how personalities such as Paulo Coelho and Neymar said wonderful things about the show, which helped grab eyeballs.

Arce also shared that "Money Heist" was not only a "fictional show but has an emotional connection with a field of possibilities".

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)

--IANS

dc/in