After a long, unplanned hiatus, HBO’s critically acclaimed hit show “Los Espookys” is premiering its second season this week.
The bilingual comedy hit follows a group of friends who turn their shared passion for horror into a peculiar business, providing horror to clients who need it. Starring Bernardo Velasco (who plays Renaldo), Cassandra Ciangherotti (Úrsula), and co-creators of the show Julio Torres (Andrés), Ana Fabrega (Tati), and Fred Armisen (Tico), the second season of “Los Espookys” was a long-time coming due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a relief and it’s exciting because we had to play it by ear and there’s a feeling of if it’s not this year, could we do it next year? HBO had assured us that we’ll finish shooting, the show will come out, but once the pandemic started it felt like there were moments like, what if we don’t finish this?” said Fabrega.
The first season debuted in 2019 and found a lot of success. With the show predominantly filmed in Chile, the “Los Espookys” team was ultimately at the mercy of whatever COVID restrictions were taking place in the country when production was happening for season two.
“We had to stop doing what we were doing and then it was like, we’ll be back in two weeks and everyone’s saying two weeks is when this will blow over. Two weeks became a month, a month became 4 months, then became 6 months and a year,” said Torres. “It was different for us and different for this show because we shoot internationally.”
Eventually, season two was able to come together and the cast is super excited for the public to check out the new season of “Los Espookys.”
I think we’re [having] a big party celebrating this opportunity to be around again with this great show. It’s awesome, it was a very long wait. And during that wait, I was wondering if we would make it to keep going with the show because many things happened, many things transformed in the past year,” said Velasco.
“The response from the first season was so lovely and people loved ‘Los Espookys,’ it feels great to give them the second season and to continue the journey that we started with the public three years ago,” said Ciangherotti.
“Los Espookys” is predominantly performed in Spanish, with some English scenes throughout. The cast noticed that the response to this choice for the show has been overwhelmingly positive and not only appeals to the storytelling on the show, but also to the viewers as well.
“From the other side of the barrier, we’re seeing comedy in another language for a long time. I remember seeing Nanny Fine, a long time ago, Fran Drescher, maybe they were translated but they had North American jokes,” said Ciangherotti. “To watch comedy in another language gives you a different perspective of how comedy can work and the culture that that country offers. I think ‘Los Espookys’ is so great because you see comedy in another language and from different cultures, but also integrated in North American comedy.”
“I have gotten a mix of Latinx people who either had Spanish as their first language or grow up with Spanish, so the show speaks to them in that way. But also a bunch of people that don’t know Spanish at all, and I think that people are more willing to consume media from all over now,” said Torres. “When you think about the success of something like ‘Parasite,’ which was such a hit, with a language that is impenetrable to most of us, and yet we were able to relate to that and really enjoy it.”
“I think that in talking about diversity, it’s a great opportunity to open our perspective and point of view to all the situations happening culturally in the USA, like all the things happening at the same time in different parts of the country,” said Velasco. “I think it’s great that a show like this with these great artists have the opportunity to play with the language without taking it that seriously. It’s just people talking in another language.”
“I think people more people are willing to read subtitles than studios and executives might think. It’s also a short show, it’s funny, I think people think ‘Oh I gotta read subtitles, it’s gonna feel like homework or something,’ but people I think did not mind,” said Fabrega.
This new season of “Los Espookys” is going on a journey that digs deeper into the characters that were established in the first season.
“I feel like we sort of doubled down on these characters and what makes them specific,” said Torres.
“The second season is about a personal journey that every character has. The discovery of some self, questions that they are having right now, I don’t think we’re discovering much about Úrsula herself, she knows what to do, but maybe she’s stepping more outside of her comfort zone, not only helping the ones that are near her but the whole community,” said Ciangherotti.
“I think that for Renaldo, he is in the position where he needs to start self-observing or self-understanding work where he has been all this time devoted to his friends and the Espookys team, now he needs to start thinking about himself and explore more of his inner worth,” said Velasco.
“I think that the storylines in the second season overall, not just to our characters, feel a lot more intricate than the first season, more fun and dynamic or more specific to the characters. I think this comes with having a first season under your belt and knowing your characters better,” said Fabrega. “
However, just when you think you know what’s going to happen, the cast says that this new season is going to truly keep you on your toes.
“You’ll be having a great time. This season is a little more intense and if you’re on that inner journey, you’ll enjoy it as well,” said Ciangherotti.
“I think that one great thing about the second season, among all the great stars, talents we have around with these crazy characters, I think that when you think it can’t get more weird, it will,” said Velasco. “When you think it can’t get more crazy, it will. When you think it can’t get spookier, it will. It’s full of surprises.”
The second season of “Los Espookys” premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Sept. 16 at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
