“The House of the Spirits”, interview with showrunners Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola

Debuting on Prime Video from April 29th in over 240 countries and territories, “The House of the Spirits” is the first Spanish-language serial adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel.

Produced by FilmNation Entertainment, the Oscar-winning company behind “Anora” and “Conclave”, the eight-episode saga spans half a century and three generations of women: Clara, Blanca and Alba, navigating love, magic and political upheaval in a conservative South American country.

The series stars Alfonso Herrera as Esteban Trueba, with Nicole Wallace and Dolores Fonzi sharing the role of Clara del Valle, and features an extraordinary pan-Latin American cast. Isabel Allende, Eva Longoria and Courtney Saladino serve as executive producers alongside showrunners Francisca Alegría, Fernanda Urrejola and Andrés Wood.

A dream that took years to come true

For Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola, the project began long before cameras rolled.  “It has been an amazing journey, a dream come true”, they say, right at the beginning of the interview. They had initially thought about adapting a smaller Allende novel, something no one could have the rights to when finally FilmNation brought them the project. “It was very serendipitous and magical.” As Chilean women, they knew exactly what this novel meant: “Isabel Allende is a hero, she wrote this novel during the dictatorship, in exile, not knowing how long it was going to last.” The trip to Berlin, at the 76th Berlinale, where the show was presented ahead of its global launch, felt like the final stretch of a very long labour. “It’s like giving birth to a child”, they both declare.

A prophetic novel

The timing of the adaptation feels anything but coincidental. When they first received the news that they would be adapting the novel, it was right after the Chilean social revolt of 2019 with the wound of the dictatorship reopening, people confronting the police in the streets. “It felt like a collective emotional awakening” they say, “and we thought: we’re adapting this novel now.” Sadder still, the feeling has only grown since. “We see this rise of violence and fascism and suddenly we feel that we are not so free after all.” Chile, they note, is a country that has never fully reckoned with its history as two versions of the past live in parallel, never coexisting. “We need to stop talking about right and left and start talking about humanity and how to take care of each other.” Telling this story now, through the eyes of Alba, a granddaughter who can finally articulate what the women before her could not speak out, felt not just timely but necessary.

Patriarchy, feminine strength and the way forward

Isabel Allende herself told them that her novel was, at its core, about how patriarchy operates and destroys everything. What Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola wanted to preserve was its vision of female power: not a power modelled on male violence or dominance, but something quieter and more radical. “These women are powerful because they are women, in a very feminine way. They don’t need to become like men and fight with violence in order to be heard.” Clara doesn’t fight back, she creates a different reality for herself and her loved ones. Alba, at the end, doesn’t respond to horror with hatred: she focuses on healing, on compassion, on understanding that things could now be done differently. “It’s not about revenge. It’s not about women being more powerful than men, it’s about collaboration.”

A life-changing experience

When asked how this experience shaped them, both personally and artistically, Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola confirm that it was, for them, a life-changing experience. “I am completely a different woman after making this show,  in all the senses,” says one. “We were not only talking about story,  we were healing our own stories through writing.” On set, they created spaces of nurturing for the actresses , circles of conversation, not rehearsal, where emotions could be held safely before demanding scenes. “ It is, they say, precisely the kind of care that the industry too rarely offers and exactly what this story asks of everyone who tells it.

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