Javier Castillo (‘The Snow Girl’): “Milena has a very particular look, it’s how I imagined Miren’s eyes”

This January 27 arrives on Netflix ‘The snow girl’, a six-episode miniseries that adapts the book of the same name by Javier Castillo, what it was “the most read novel in Spain during confinement”. It is the first work of Castillo (who has already published 5 the best seller) in jumping from the pages to the audiovisual format, so we wonder what it was like for him to see for the first time one of his characters, his Miren Triggs, come to life with the face of Milena Smit: “I find it very surreal”he tells us sitting next to the actress, “She has a very particular look, that’s how I imagined Miren’s eyes, that fragility. Then you meet her and she’s not fragile at all, but there’s a fragility that seems to convey at the same time that she has a very particular strength. I think I had it all. It’s very exciting to be here with her now.”

Since its release “The snow girl” has sold more than a million copies and has a second part entitled “The game of the soul” (2021, SUMA). This means that the story of the young and traumatized Miren and her mentor (Jim Shmoer in the novel, Eduardo in the series) already has a legion of fans around the world to please, in addition to newcomers to the series: “I tried to do everything with respect”Smit assures us, “Respect for the character that Javier Castillo had created and that was later remodeled and adapted into fiction. […] Once watching the series I thought “God, I really hope this fits with people who’ve read the novel, that they like it, that it doesn’t disappoint.” But I feel super proud, I think it’s a series you can watch without having read the novel.”.

Although originally set in New York, the story takes us to Malaga, January 5, 2010, the night of kings. The Martín family is enjoying a magical moment in the parade until little Amaya disappears into the crowd. Thus begins a marathon of years to find the girl that neither Miren, a young trainee journalist of Diario Sur, nor Inspector Millán intend to give up. This change of location isn’t the only difference we’ll find between the series and the novel, and for example in the book, from the police (or rather from the FBI), it’s a man, Ben Miller, who leads the investigation. , while in the series it has become a duo formed by Aixa Villagrán and Marco Cáceres. How did Castillo deal with this transformation of his work? “In the end there were completely different changes than I imagined. But in the case of Jim the teacher, in my head there was always a person like Jose Coronado, it wasn’t the face of Jose Coronado, but it was a shadow with the voice of Jose Coronado and that made it very easy to adaptation .” .

It’s clear that Castillo takes the licenses that writers and directors take when it comes to making far better versions of their novels than Stephen King, but even so, we wonder if he wouldn’t want to be ultimately responsible for all those decisions and sign adaptations himself : It’s something I’ve thought about many times. About writing something that is a script from scratch, original or adapting something of my own. I have it in the air. It’s true that with the publication rate I have and the fact that all my novels reach other countries it implies a lot of international promotion, it’s very complicated. I’m looking for a way to make it happen because it’s one of my dreams, to write something of my own that goes from my head to the screen.”

curious and perverse

The genre of ‘La chica de nieve’, a mystery thriller with a police and journalistic investigation, is one of the most popular in any narrative, fiction or documentary format. true crimebut what is it that we find so attractive about disappearances, murders and kidnappings? “We are very curious by nature, everyone”reflects Castillo, «And the thriller has one thing that is that from the very beginning it presents you with a very clear question: «What happened? What happened? Where? the first five minutes and leaving this question unanswered is very difficult if you are even a little curious so you already see the whole series, that’s what makes it work or read the whole book. I’m very clear that people are curious and a little perverted.”

For Smit, what makes ‘The Snow Girl’ so appealing is its proximity to the audience and the pace of the series, but also all that is hidden away: “I saw her in one day. I know there will be people running marathons, but it is a series that I would recommend to see it twice. It’s fine the first time to figure it all out, but once you know it all you find so many nuances on second viewing that it’s nice to realize they were there.” ‘The Snow Girl’ will be available on Netflix in full from January 27th.