Pedro Alonso, much like Berlin, the character he plays in Money Heist, is distinguished, charming and charismatic. The success of the Netflix crime series has made the Spanish actor a global star and his fame has only gone up since the launch, on Dec. 29, of Money Heist prequel Berlin, in which he reprises his role as the conniving, manipulative thief who is also a hopeless romantic.

Alonso admits to feeling “vertigo” at the level of media exposure that came with the international success of Money Heist but says he doesn’t worry about being typecast in the role. Instead, he sees the chance to return to Berlin in the spin-off series a “vital gift [both] narrative and professional.”

THR Roma spoke to Alonso about why Berlin is as much a romantic comedy as a crime thriller, the “paradox” of its central character, who is both a romantic and “an emotional terrorist...