page_title: The House of Flowers (TV series)
section_title: Casting and characterization
hierarchical_section_title: The House of Flowers (TV series) / Production / Casting and characterization
caption_attribution_description: English: Cecilia Suárez in a directors cut in early 2019
context_page_description: The House of Flowers is a Mexican black comedy-drama television series created by Manolo Caro for Netflix. It depicts a dysfunctional upper-class Mexican family that own a prestigious floristry shop and a struggling cabaret, both called 'The House of Flowers'. The series, almost entirely written and directed by its creator, stars Verónica Castro, Cecilia Suárez, Aislinn Derbez, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Arturo Ríos, Paco León, Juan Pablo Medina, Luis de la Rosa, María León, and Isela Vega.
  The 13-episode first season was released on August 10, 2018. A second and third season of the series were announced in October 2018; Verónica Castro had left the cast before the show was renewed and does not appear in later seasons. Season 2 premiered on October 18, 2019, and the final season was released on April 23, 2020. A short film special called The House of Flowers Presents: The Funeral premiered on November 1, 2019, and a YouTube TV special was released on April 20, 2020. The first season is exclusively set in Mexico, while the second and third seasons also feature scenes in Madrid, and the funeral special has a scene set at the Texas-Mexico border.
context_section_description: The casting of Verónica Castro, referred to as "Mexican telenovela royalty", was seen by Manuel Betancourt to be a real achievement on the part of creator Manolo Caro, who in effect was "getting her out of retirement" to make the show. Castro has said that getting back into acting with the show helped her mental health.
  Cecilia Suárez had acted in numerous other works created by Caro before playing Paulina. The character has been critiqued as a perfect fit for the show because she has "a personality that justifies going from drama to involuntary comedy", with the same review suggesting that Suárez had to "leave her comfort zone" to play Paulina, but does so successfully. Caro has said that he thought Paulina would be "polarizing" when he wrote her, that people would either love her or hate her, not expecting the popularity she received. The concept of second chances is the "backbone" of Paulina's character, according to Suárez, who said in 2019 that Caro had concerned himself with this concept through the first two seasons. Going into the show's sophomore season, Vogue described Suárez as "the new queen of the telenovela".
  Cisgender actor Paco León, who plays trans woman María José Riquelme, said that the production wanted to create a non-stereotypical trans character in his role, with Caro saying that he thinks media needs to "demystify" real people from LGBT+ stereotypes. León mentioned in interviews that he did not know why a trans actress was not cast, and that he understood the controversy of his casting; Caro explained that he wanted León for the role because of the actor's own work to create more visibility and opportunities for LGBT+ people in entertainment. After the show aired, it was reported that trans people had warmed to the character, and particularly her line: "I had a change of sex, not of heart". Though León's portrayal was accepted, the actor said that he will not accept more trans roles so as to promote more trans actors, but would continue as María José in the show.
  León also commented on the use of María José's characterization, with her being a trans woman, as part of the show's narrative arc, saying that "[she] goes by the rejection she receives, but throughout the series you realize that she is the most sane and focused, is emotionally more stable, her mental balance is greater than the rest of the family's. This is how you discover that the characters that apparently have a perfect life and are socially accepted are the ones with the most emotional problems."
  In an interview, León said that he was enthusiastic when offered the role, that he "shaved [his] legs and started to be María José", flying to Mexico straight away; he did, though, lament having to clean-shave his face every day and take painkillers to deal with wearing bras and heels. In terms of his approach to playing María José, he also affirmed that he "left the comedy behind" from when he had played female characters before in impersonation show Homo Zapping, treating the role seriously. In October 2019, León confirmed that he was appearing in season 3 of the show, joking that it was becoming the "longest cameo ever"; his role was supposed to be a cameo of "only fifteen minutes", first discussed in a casual mention when meeting with Caro.
  For season 2, actress María León was cast as Purificación Riquelme, the sister of María José. The casting was praised by Spanish media for using the real sister of María José's actor, suggesting that beyond looking alike, the siblings have very noticeable light-colored eyes and it would not have made sense to cast somebody else when María León is also an accomplished actor. Casting for season 2 was announced as it began filming, first on February 5 with Spanish cast members, and then with Mexican actors on February 18. David Chaviras also returned as the popular character El Cacas in season 2, with a larger role.
  On March 6, 2020, it was revealed that season 3 would have a "completely new cast", featuring actors playing younger versions of many of the established characters. Christian Chávez was repo
caption: Cecilia Suárez plays lead and fan favorite character Paulina de la Mora
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