What is the price of gold and who owns it when a treasure once lost to the sea is found 200 years later? This is the question of AMC’s adventure, La Fortuna after a treasure is found with priceless cargo from a 19th-centurary Spanish galleon sunk by the British near Gibraltar in 1804.
In this six-part thriller that spans the high seas of the 1800’s and the courtrooms of today, La Fortuna is a battle for gold, legacy and pride when Frank Wild, a treasure hunter (Stanely Tucci) come across what initially appears to be a pile of shells but turns out to be a vast cache of gold and silver coins, valued at half-a-billion dollars.
This discovery is not as simple as finders’ keepers but leads to an international courtroom battle between the Americans and the Spaniards, that focuses on both sides of the story. Stuck in the middle of the drama is Álex Ventura (Álvaro Mel), whose first week on the job goes unexpected but leads to being the Ministry of Culture in Madrid and joining him in the fight of the century is his more experienced colleague, Lucia Vallarta (Ana Polvorosa), a fearsome defender of Spanish cultural heritage whose previous efforts to protect her nation’s antiquities have alienated her natural allies at the ministry.
Alex, trained as a diplomat, is the yin to Lucia’s yang but their team up with the aid of the renowned maritime lawyer Jonas Pierce (Clarke Peters), wage a court battle that will have viewers on the edge of their seats.
In celebration of AMC+’s La Fortuna’s January 20th release, The Koalition spoke to Álvaro Mel about Álex’s growth, the importance of Álex’s relationship with Lucia and more.
Throughout the show, there is an unspoken its background with the preservation of Spanish culture that becomes the driving force of these characters. Unlike Frank, Álex isn’t driven by money but by duty. For Álex, “the important thing about this is the to be an unknown hero they are unknown heroes. The most important thing is do the right thing. You have to try; we can do this. He doesn’t care about the money.”
“He’s always been a good person, he wanted to take [on] this mission not for the money, not for the treasure, but for the feeling of doing things right, to things correctly.”
La Fortuna, adapted from the graphic novel El tesoro del Cisne Negro (The Treasure of the Black Swan), has the inexperienced Álex going up against the cunning Frank. While Álex is no match for the more experienced characters, viewers can’t help to root for Álex and his passion for his career and viewpoints. When we first meet Álex, he is bright-eyed and hopeful even if he has no idea what he’s doing; but because of his willingness to learn, he’s able to evolve.
“It’s the energy he brings to place [and because this energy] he’s so loyal, but what he needs the most is the character of Lucia [who] has this experience to live in the in the real world that he doesn’t have. He arrives thinking he’s going to be [working] one-on-one with the minister, but it doesn’t happen. [Instead of this pairing he] meets with Lucia [who] is good for Álex [and Álex is] is good for Lucia.”
Audiences get to see Álex’s evolution, ‘by episode six [he’s] a totally different person [compared to] the first episode. He has learned a lot from Lucia but he has learned a lot from himself in the real world. He has learned how to manage people. [He has learned] a lot from Jonas. He’s a totally different person. [I think] that makes him a better person.”
To learn more about La Fortuna, check out our full interview in the video above.
