Warning: Contains spoilers for Money Heist seasons 4 and 5.
Money Heist star Enrique Arce, who plays the show's controversial villain Arturo Roman, begged the writers not to include his character's most disturbing scene. Netflix recently released the first part of the fifth and final season of Money Heist, also known as La Casa De Papel in Spain. The Professor (Álvaro Morte) and the Salvador Dali-masked criminals attempt to succeed in their most ambitious heist yet - or, in many cases, die trying.
Arturo has been a staple on the show since Money Heist season 1. He was a hostage who had a shady background, known for having an affair with his secretary Mónica Gaztambide/Stockholm (Esther Acebo) and getting her pregnant. He is the show's consistent de facto villain outside of the police, since he tends to cause even more problems for the bank robbers than he's worth. And throughout his time on the show, Arturo made several questionable decisions that range from shocking to downright disturbing.
In an interview with Radio Times, Arce explained that he begged the Money Heist writers to omit his most controversial scene from the season 4 script. In season 4, Arturo turns on his own hostages, particularly Bank of Spain employee Amanda (Olalla Hernández). In a confronting turn of events, he ends up drugging her and sexually assaulting her in the bank. Arce said he was disappointed by the scene, as he described it as "killing the soul of this character." Arturo, in his opinion, was already miserable in an almost comical way, but the graphic scene took it to another level. Read Arce's comments below:
"And I pleaded, I pleaded, I couldn't sleep for days thinking about that scene, because I really don't even believe in that as fiction. So, when that happened and I had to do it… OK, fine, but then I was like, 'Oh, you killed the character. You killed it'."
Arturo's character certainly gets darker as the Money Heist seasons progress. Initially, he voluntarily made himself a hostage during the second heist in an attempt to take down the bank robbers due to his own pride. However, his fellow hostages turned against him after his atrocious violation of Amanda, and his attempt to do the same to Manila (Belén Cuesta). Going into season 5, Arturo still has the need for revenge, showing his unfortunate bravery in an attempt to defeat the Money Heist robbers in action.
Season 5 shows Arturo attempting to yet again rally the hostages, but this time, he gets his hands on some truly dangerous weapons. It completely backfires, however, as he puts not only himself but his fellow hostages in the line of fire due to his poor planning. And after all of his antagonizing behavior toward Stockholm, it came as no surprise to audiences that she had to shoot her old lover to save her friends and the Professor's plan. Whether or not he survives will be determined by Money Heist's final few episodes. Until then, Stockholm will clearly not come to terms with her actions against the biological father of her baby.
Source: Radio Times