Talking about Diego Armando Maradona is much more than just talking about football: it is also talking about an almost sacred figure in Argentina -where the Maradona Church even exists-, about a legend whose name transcends the whole world and, at the same time, about a man with very dark episodes in his life.
Amazon Prime Video premiered on October 29 Maradona: Bendito Dream , a bioseries about the phenomenon footballer (for some the best in history) and this week its final chapter opens .
The series tells the life of the Argentine world champion, who passed away on November 25, 2020 . Even today, the scandal haunts him.
A few days ago, Mavys Álvarez , Maradona’s ex-partner, revealed to Infobae that in 2001, when he was 17 years old, the soccer player sexually abused her and led her to drugs.
Álvarez pointed out that the case is to be taken to a criminal trial and hopes that her voice will help other women who have gone through similar situations.
Different women have accused Maradona of rape, abuse and psychological abuse, including his ex-partner Rocío Oliva, his ex-wife Claudia Villafañe and the Russian journalist Yekaterina Nadólskaya.
Maradona’s life on the small screen
At Animal MX we had the opportunity to talk with Juan Palomino and Nazareno Casero , the Argentine actors who played Pelusa in the series, at different times in his life.
“It was innovative work, new, because I had never done something like this. It was also very interesting because all of a sudden you had to act and tie with the other actors you had on your sides”, says Nazareno Casero , who gives life to Maradona in his golden age.
For Juan Palomino , who at almost 60 years old had to gain 20 kilos to play Maradona when the former soccer player was going through his most difficult time, participating in this production was a wonderful and unique experience in life.
Juan Palomino gained 20 kilos to play Maradona.
“It was not easy at all, it was quite a challenge, and while I was gaining weight sedentarily, I reviewed all the material around Diego Armando Maradona and said ‘let’s see, what notes of mine am I going to play to lend them to this immense man known in everyone’, Palomino details.
“A great responsibility”
Despite being a great challenge and an enormous responsibility to play one of their most famous compatriots in history, both Nazareno Casero and Juan Palomino felt very proud to have been chosen for the role.
“It has been a great responsibility, we have put the best of ourselves, a lot of love, a lot of conviction, we have put our souls, our mysteries, our doubts, our successes, our abandonments, our solitudes, our tortures… everything is put there and that makes him very happy because it is not easy to convince guys who know what little car he bought, what he ate, where he bought his newspapers, what boots he wore”, admits Palomino.
“Naza” explains that if he didn’t want that kind of pressure to play roles of this magnitude, then he would do something else.
“It’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s also very rewarding when someone approaches you and says ‘I’m crazy about the series, we see Diego and we cry.’ They get excited, it’s being able to be just the avatar of a figure that did a lot for people,” says the 35-year-old actor.
Finally, Nazareno Casero points out that Maradona means a lot to a huge number of people, so it means more than just the life of a footballer.
“To many people it means something, it means a moment of communion with their families, friends, with their father who is no longer here or longing for a stage that is gone… an era. It is something so strong and so big that it swells my chest with pride”, concludes Casero.
Ask Alexa about Maradona
In addition, as part of the celebration for the end of Maradona: Blessed Dream , Amazon Prime Video put together a mini interactive museum where Alexa tells you everything about “Diego”.
The museum, which was installed inside a replica of the truck that took the Argentine team that won the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, was full of articles and images of Maradona.
And once inside, you asked Alexa specific things like how many goals did Maradona score in the World Cup, how many titles did he win, who was his first team and more.
At home, if you have a device with Alexa you can also ask her everything about Pelusa so you can enjoy the Maradona series as it should.
