The Professor is now known worldwide as the man with the plan you need to pull off a perfect heist, which is why he is who every fan thinks of whenever Money Heist is mentioned. The four seasons of the show have made his face and the Dali masks immortal, and many fans want to know more about the man behind the greatest criminal mastermind on Netflix.
Alvaro Morte, who portrays the now globally acknowledged king of crime, has garnered a cult following, with over 10 million followers on Instagram and an equally massive following on Twitter. He wasn't so famous before Money Heist, though, which is why most fans didn't know much about Morte. Alvaro Morte has been acting for decades, and his real life is very different from The Professor, thankfully - yet, it is still very interesting.
Early Life
Born Alvaro Antonio Garcia in Algeciras, Cadiz, Spain, Alvaro Morte is a Pisces that has beaten the odds to make it on the big screen. He grew up in a middle-income family and is fluent in both Spanish and English. However, one thing to know about him is that he doesn't need glasses in real life. This was added to his character, although he wears them so well in the show, always pushing the glasses over his nose.
He went to drama school at a young age and landed his first acting role in 2002, playing the firefighter in the film Hospital Central, which aired on Spanish TV. His defining role came in 2007 when he played Ray in the Spanish TV film Plan 25. He also appeared in the film Lola The Movie in 2007, a film about Lola Flores, the grandmother of his fellow Money Heist actress, Alba Flores, who plays Nairobi.
Battled Cancer Before Money Heist
Before getting global recognition, Alvaro Morte had a brush with cancer and had a feeling that he wouldn't make it. He was diagnosed with a tumor in his leg in 2011, which turned out to be cancer. Morte thought he would be dead in three months and wondered if he was ready for it.
His treatment went well, though, and he was declared cancer-free a few months later. After getting past his scary experience, he vigorously resumed his acting career, landing the role of Sergio 'El Professor' Marquina in La Casa De Papel a few years later, which was the rebirth of his career.
It Took Five Auditions To Become The Professor
Becoming El Professor meant that Alvaro Morte competed for the position of the best criminal mastermind in the history of crime drama. To bag the role, he had to beat the likes of The Blacklist's Raymond Reddington and Prison Break's Michael Scofield. The directors wanted a 50-year old man with the looks of a Havard-like professor to fill the post, which was just over five years above Morte's actual age at the time.
The directors had worked with him before, though, so they quickly recommended him. He, however, had to audition five times over two months, getting it wrong each time before nailing the role after his fifth attempt. The first time, he thought Money Heist would copy Ocean's Eleven, and he needed to be more like George Clooney, but he got it right in the end.
His Real Life Professorship
Alvaro Morte is now called El Profesor by many fans when they see him in public, but he hasn't achieved that name from any academic qualifications, yet. He is, however, a professor in his own right since he gives lectures to students on literature and Stage Management at Tampere University in Finland, where he studied on a scholarship after his studies in Spain.
There are few details about the nature of his role at the university, but it is rumored that he gives part-time lectures, which would make his scenes as Sergio Marquina teaching the gang feel rather familiar.
His Bromance With Pedro Alonso
Alvaro Morte took his time studying the characters of Money Heist and suggesting what each character should look like and what their relationship with the other members of the gang should be. However, when he started working with the stars, he and Pedro Alonso (Berlin) became so fond of each other that they decided to change the script.
They decided to change the Professor and Berlin to be brothers in the show, hence the plot twist in the first season. Pedro Alonso seems to have stolen the entire cast's hearts since Alba Flores also said that he was her favorite co-star.
He Studied Engineering
Alvaro Morte is a great actor and director and owns his own theater company, called 300 Pistolas, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a plan B. In Money Heist, The Professor's engineering background always comes in handy whenever the gang needs to dig through something, and Alvaro Morte's engineering background may have something to do with that.
Before switching to full-time acting, Alvaro Morte was a practicing engineer. There are few details on the extent of his practice, but he is a qualified communications engineer, which is relatable to his role in Money Heist.
His Opinion On The Professor's Love For Raquel Murillo
Raquel Murillo, played by Itziar Ituno, is one of the most interesting characters in the crime drama. She switched from being the inspector charged with arresting the Professor and his gang to the woman that sits next to the Professor in the van, helping the gang pull off the perfect heist.
El Professor and Murillo, aka Lisbon, are in love, and Alvaro Morte wasn't very comfortable with their relationship. According to Alvaro Morte, the Professor is emotionally closed off and doesn't know how to behave in the relationship. He said it was great that the two don't make a perfect couple, but he feels like his character should be allowed to get more emotionally involved in the relationship.
His Love Life
Unlike The Professor, who had little luck with love until The Inspector came along, Alvaro Morte is a happily married father of fraternal twins. Since joining the cast of La Casa De Papel, his Instagram account is covered in Dali masks and photos from the set, but before that, it was mostly of his wife Blanca Clemente and their twins, Julieta and Leon.
Clemente is a stylist and co-owner of Morte's company, 300 Pistolas. They live in Madrid, although he enjoys holidaying in London. Being a busy actor and businessman, however, means that Alvaro Morte doesn't get to spend much time with his family.
His Best Money Heist Season
Before Netflix took over the distribution rights for Money Heist, the show only aired on Antena 3, which meant that its audience was mostly Spanish. Netflix made it a global hit, and its following became massive, especially with the second season and the pressure that led up to the third season.
However, Alvaro Morte's favorite season was the first, when there was little pressure from fans and media about what they expected from each character. He enjoyed the freedom of choosing what to do on set and how to play around with characters. He, however, appreciates the fact that the show has been appreciated worldwide.
His Hardest Money Heist Scene
Ursula Corbero, who plays Tokyo, made news after the third season when she confessed that the whole crew suffered from seasickness and heat stress while filming the scene in season 3 in which The Professor tells everyone that they have crossed into international waters. This came after the crew escaped from the Royal Mint, which made the first and second season.
The scene, which was shot off the coast of Thailand, was believed to have been the hardest one for the whole cast, but not for Alvaro Morte. Morte said that his hardest scene came in the last episode of season 3 when the Professor had to deal with his perceived murder of Raquell Murillo. In the scene, he has to deal with lots of emotion, scream but not produce a sound, and still direct the gang to handle an advance on the bank.