Hovik Keuchkerian on the global success of 'Money Heist': It's just because of the series that I'm on the 'list'

Hovik Keuchkerian, renowned for his role as Bogota in the hit series 'Money Heist,' will be switching sides, and taking on the role of a cop in the new Spanish crime thriller, 'Reina Roja'. As the actor gets ready to bring another compelling character to life, he sat down for a candid chat with ETimes, and shared his excitement about playing a cop, reminiscent of the classic noir genre.

During our chat about his new Prime Video series, Hovik shared his perspective on the perks of playing a 'bad guy' vs the 'good guy' on screen, and also reflected on whether fame and the monumental success of his past work have altered his life in any way. Excerpts:

Hovik, in the series you throw in a couple of names, like 'Men in Black', and 'Hitchcock'. Who were your inspirations for this character?
This relation that Jon has with the movies, is like part of the character. It's like he always talks, says to Mentor always, sometimes about Hitchcock and the birds. And in the room, you can see the posters of movies. I didn't know that, I didn't work to get to that point, but director Koldo and Muru Zabal were saying during the shoot, that Jon was becoming like a kind of detective from the 60s - like Bogart.

What were some of your favourite detective series?
I always say that I don't know a lot about cinema, I just know about my roles. When I was watching the series, Jon's the kind of detective that you don't see very often. There were series like 'Hilla Street Blues', where the detective didn't wear a uniform, was petite and with a moustache, but a very strong personality. That can be one of my favourites, and of course 'Columbo'.


Hovik would you say Money Heist changed the game for you on a global scale?
Not really. It's just that because of Money Heist, as the American people say, 'You're on the list'. That's it. Maybe four years ago, in Australia, Germany, Argentina, or the States, they didn't know who Hovik was. They knew there was an actor in Madrid, Spain, and probably thought 'He could work, he starred in Money Heist, let's see if he can do this'. So, that's the real change. Nothing more. It's just that you have to be lucky.


You have a formidable role as a cop in this series, but do you like playing the good guy or the bad guy?
It's good to play the bad guy. You always listen to actors say that playing the bad guy is good, because you can do bad things and nothing happens. You don't have to pay the consequences. Usually, in real life, you pay more consequences if you're good, than if you're bad. That's the word. So, there has to be something there in the role. Good or bad, for me, it's just to put up a powerful performance.

Will you be back for Reina Roja Season 2?
We don't know. We can't say what's going to happen, but cross our fingers and let's see if we can do it