Raquel Murillo is one of the most interesting characters ever invented in the history of crime drama. She went from being a tough police inspector working for her country to being the second in charge of a gang of robbers. 47-Year Old Itziar Ituño is the actress tasked with portraying the amazing character on La Casa De Papel, and she has received global recognition for her performance.
Her life on the screen, which began in 1995, has been shaped by playing rather controversial police officers who follow their hearts rather than the law, since her time in the Spanish soap opera Geonkale. She is one of the most interesting Spanish actresses, and she has more things in common with Raquel Murillo than you may have noticed on Netflix’s Money Heist.
Updated on December 13th, 2o21 by Kayleigh Banks: Although Money Heist may have ended, the world doesn't have to say goodbye to some of the cast just yet since it has been announced by Netflix that there will be a spin-off, titled Berlin. Set to air in 2023, Pedro Alonso will reprise his role as criminal mastermind and heist member.
Since "Berlin" was killed off at the end of Part 2, it's likely that the series will be a prequel and will delve into his origin story (which means that Álvaro Morte and Martin Berrote could reappear too). While it's unlikely that Itziar Ituño will feature, many fans are still excited to see what she will feature in next, as she has proven to be extremely talented.
Her Early Life
Ituño is a Gemini, born Itziar Ituño Martinez in Basauri, Spain, on June 18, 1974. She is 47 years old, nearly the same age as Raquel Murillo.
She loved acting and took up classes in Basauri Theater School in the Basque Country (according to El País), but unlike her Money Heist co-stars Úrsula Corberó and Alba Flores, whose careers took off before their teenage years, Ituño had to wait until she was 21 before landing her first role in the short film, Sex Machine. She was then given a role in a 1997 Basque TV Movie named Agur Olentzero Agur (Goodbye Olentzero Goodbye), which became her first career-defining film.
Her Life Before Money Heist
Agur Olentzero Agur wasn’t much of a hit, but Ituño’s talent was noticed, leading to her first significant role in the Basque soap opera Geonkale, which received many positive reviews in Spain. The show is about a small street in a fictitious town in the Basque country. Ituño was on the show continuously for four years playing Nekane Beitia, a police officer.
She put up an excellent performance as a cop that followed her own will, which made her a great fit to play Raquel Murillo. However, before playing Raquel in Money Heist, she also played Raquel in the 2003 Spanish film El Final De La Noche (The End Of The Night), a role that made Raquel Murillo look very familiar to Money Heist’s Spanish fans. Loreak, released in 2014 in the US as Flowers in 2014, was Ituño’s first film that got nominated for the Oscars. It was also her first taste of international fame as her role of Lourdes was highly acclaimed.
Her Music Career
When Itziar Ituño is not busy being Raquel Murillo, she sings, which is hard to believe considering Murillo’s closed personality. Ituño’s music career is mostly notable thanks to her rock band, Ingot, which has received international recognition.
She has collaborated with other artists from the Basque country, especially for promoting specific causes, mostly against gender-based violence (via About Basque Country). She is also a member of two other bands, Dangslike and EZ3, which haven’t received as much global recognition as Ingot. Ituño has also produced singles such as Colors Of The Wind, which are quite popular in her home country.
Playing Controversial Police Officers
Ituño’s portrayal of Nekane Beitia in Geonkale was praised by many fans of the soap opera as it depicted a liberated police officer in a position to help other women in a country where domestic violence is a major problem.
When she finally took the role of Raquel Murillo, it was like an upgrade from her earlier role as she could now stand with El Professor in his Robin Hood-style activism. Ituño said that in her opinion, Raquel Murillo wasn’t manipulated into changing her views by The Professor; she just opened her eyes to the truth.
Her Love Life
Itziar Ituño is no stranger to romance on the screens since most of her work has involved playing characters that love deeply. Raquel Murillo, despite her conflicted opinion on politics, knew when to love and when to let go, which is why she fell deeply for Salva's charm. However, in real life, Raquel Murillo is very protective of her personal life.
She hasn’t posted any photos that may suggest romance with anyone on her social media, and she is definitely not dating Alvaro Morte, who plays The Professor since he is happily married and has two children. There were rumors that suggested she was married to Juan Fernadez but nothing has been confirmed. She doesn’t have any children either, unlike Raquel Murillo.
Her Favorite Money Heist Co-Star
Money Heist is an intense show, and the cast spent a long time together, as they were forced to develop strong bonds just like their characters needed to do. Pedro Alonso, who plays Berlin, emerged as her favorite person to work with after most of the cast said they loved working with him.
Ursula Corbero (Tokyo) also said that Miguel Herran (Rio) was her favorite co-star, which was rather interesting since their characters are a couple in Money Heist. Itziar Ituño, on the other hand, tries to avoid controversy in interviews so she said she loved everyone and that no specific person came out as her favorite (according to Identity Mag).
Her View On Raquel Murillo
When Raquel Murillo joined the show in the first season of Money Heist, she was disturbed, rigid, and unapproachable by her colleagues, including her deputy Angel. However, Murillo didn’t like the impression of being the cop negotiating with the gang at first until she read the script.
She later said that "Raquel is a strong woman" who is always after the bigger picture (via Identity Mag). Despite her love for the professor, she is working hard to ensure that everyone else is safe. Ituño said she doesn’t know much about why Raquel smuggled her way into the Bank of Spain at the end of the fourth season, with increased speculation that Raquel may have a lot to do with how the second heist ends.
She Tested Positive For The Coronovirus In 2020
Spain was one of the countries hit hardest by the first wave of Covid-19 in March 2020, and Itziar Ituño was one of the first known celebrities to get infected. She immediately took to Instagram to warn everyone to take caution. “I’ve had the symptoms since Friday afternoon, and today we got the test results which came back positive. Do not take it lightly, there are lives at stake, and we still do not know how far this will go,” she said.
The diagnosis came just a few days into the release of the fourth season of Money Heist, which got people worried, but she pulled through. She later said she was grateful and that getting through the symptoms was difficult but she was happy to be free of the virus at last.
Her Favorite Money Heist Season
Money Heist's third season had, at one point, been the highest-grossing season globally (according to CNBC). However, it wasn’t the favorite season for most fans. Itziar said filming the first season of the show was awesome because they had lots of nice scenes, but she loved the second season better (via Identity Mag).
The second season, which ended with the gang’s successful escape from the Royal Mint at the cost of Berlin’s life, didn’t use Raquel much in the action as the third season did, but it seems she liked it better.
Ituño Is "Anti-Idol"
With over 5.5 million followers on Instagram, Ituño has become one of the most popular Money Heist cast members on the platform. While she does like to use her platform to promote her projects and post selfies, Ituño does realize the power and responsibility that comes with it (which is why she is anti-idol).
In an interview with La Vanguardia, Ituño said that she "admire[s] many people but I don't idealize them" since placing a person on a pedestal can put pressure on them and make them feel like they are constantly in the spotlight. She further states that "the affection is appreciated" but she would rather be viewed as an equal rather than an a god of Olympus.
Ituño Was A Contestant On The Masked Singer
Since Ituño has such a great singing voice, it wouldn't come as a surprise to fans to learn that she entered one of the best and most popular singing competitions on TV. Appearing on the French version of the Masked Singer in 2020, Ituño appeared as "The Ballerina" and sang a beautiful rendition of Lady Gaga's "Million Reasons."
Although the judges were a bit confused at first, the clues to her identity became more apparent when the stage was set up with police cells and sirens, while two other people held several international flags (that were symbolic of the characters on the show).
Ituño Almost Turned Down The Role Of Raquel
While fans cannot picture anyone else in the role of Raquel/Lisbon, some fans may be surprised to learn that Ituño almost turned down the role. In an interview with the Observator, Ituño said that she initially gone to "the casting with some doubt. I didn't want to play the role of a policewoman again" because she was worried about being typecast.
However, what helped win her over was the fact that the two characters were completely different. "This role involved a lot of work, a lot of challenges, the tests the police are given, it's a very fast pace," Ituño explained. "And then the fact that I broke up and went the other way. You're supposed to see the action on the other side and it's really incredible."
Ituño Had Two Favorite Scenes
Now that the show has reached a natural conclusion and all character's arcs have been wrapped up, many of the Money Heist actors have begun to reflect on their journeys and discussed their favorite scenes. For Ituño, she had plenty of great memories from the show, but two particularly stood out for her.
One of them was was when they were chasing the Professor and Angel had to run back to the car to apply the parking brake since Ituño didn't know how to drive an automatic car (via Observator). Her other favorite scene was when Angel came into the tent to call out Raquel for being a traitor and she called him a "potato head" since it was "impossible to film that scene without laughing."