19 FACTS ABOUT MUTED

Sergio Ciscar is released from prison six years after having killed his parents when he was still underaged. During that time, Sergio hasn’t said a word nor has he collaborated with the justice system, so the motivations for the crime and the intentions he has by now are a mystery. Ana Dussel, a young psychiatrist, and her team are in charge of determining his potential danger to society by secretly watching him day and night as if he was an animal.

Where was Muted shot? Who’s in the cast? Which former Élite actors were cast? Who’s lead actor Arón Piper? Who’s the successful showrunner of Muted? Will there be a season 2? Discover 19 Facts About Muted.

The new Spanish mini-series premiered internationally on Netflix on 19 May 2023. Its original title is El silencio (the silence).

Two days later, on 21 May, it was already the third most watched series in the Netflix Global Top 25 of the week and number one in several countries like Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Muted was created by Aitor Gabilondo, a 49-year old screenwriter and TV drama series producer from San Sebastián (Basque Country, Spain). It is the first show he created for Netflix. Aitor Gabilondo is best known for his very successful series El Príncipe (2014-17), Vivir sin permiso (2018; Unauthorized Living on Netflix) and Entrevías (2022; Wrong Side of the Tracks on Netflix).

The Netflix show, which was directed by Gabe Ibáñez, was shot in Bilbao and Madrid, Spain. Bilbao is the biggest city in The Basque Country, the home region of showrunner Aitor Gabilondo. The shooting and the production of Muted involved 240 people.

1000 extras were cast for the series, 25 percent of them were originally from Bilbao.

Arón Piper plays Sergio, a youngster who was sentenced to prison for allegedly killing his parents. The 26-year-old actor was born in Berlin, where he lived until the age of five, before moving to Spain with his family. His father is German, his mother Spanish. (In this video, you can hear Piper talking German, while in this video, he speaks English).

Arón started his acting career at the age of 14. In 2018, he rose to international fame when he started playing Ander, a gay student, in the Netflix show Élite. In 2020, he had a leading role in El desorden que dejas (The Mess You Leave Behind on Netflix), and in 2022 a supporting role in the Spanish thriller Código Emperador.

Arón Piper has 12.9 million followers on Instagram. He had a relationship with Spanish influencer Jessica Goicochea from 2021 to 2022. In June 2022, he was spotted dancing with Dua Lipa in a club in Madrid.

The psychologist Ana Dussuel, who is linked to Sergio’s past, is played by Almudena Amor. The 29-year old Spanish actress, a former model, is best known for her roles in the horror film La abuela (2022) and El buen patrón alongside Javier Bardem (2021). Almudena Amor has 32700 followers on Instagram.

Cristina Kovani plays Marta, a young woman who used to write letters to Sergio when he was in prison. She even visited him once. She is attracted both to Sergio and by her boyfriend Eneka. Sergio, who knew Marta before the crime, needs her help to contact his sister Noa.

Cristina Kovani is a 21-year-old actress who had only had minor roles in two series before she landed the role of Marta in Muted. In an interview with Grazia, she said that working with Arón Piper had been a unique experience, especially because he’s a calm actor. “I admire his calmness, because I’m hyperactive, I’m very young and my brain is always very active. I was lucky because Arón’s energy calmed me down in this process.” Cristina Kovani has 8900 followers on Instagram.

Natanael, the evangelical pastor who taught Sergio to have faith in God, is played by Ramiro Blas, a 56-year-old actor from Argentina. From 2007 to 2023, he mostly worked in Spain. He’s best known for playing Dr Carlos Sandoval in the Netflix series Vis a Vis. Ramiro Blas has 95100 followers on Instagram.

Manu Ríos plays Eneka, Marta’s boyfriend who works as a real estate agent. The 24-year old actor, singer and model rose to international fame in 2021 thanks to his role as Patrick Blanco in the Netflix series Élite.

At the eight of eight, he began to upload his cover version videos on his Youtube channel, a year later he had his first TV appearance as a singer. He also took singing and dance classes (ballet and hip-hop). In 2013, at the age of 15, he moved to Boston and later to Miami with his family for a musical project. In the States, he also signed with the model agency Next Models. He also hit the catwalk in Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Los Angeles.

In May 2023, Manu Ríos had a special red-carpet moment in Cannes when he climbed the steps of the Cannes film festival with Pedro Almodóvar and Ethan Hawke. They presented Almodóvar’s new film Extraña forma de vivir. Manu Ríos has 11.1 million followers on Instagram.

WHAT ILLNESS DOES SERGIO SUFFER FROM?

Lead actor Arón Piper describes the illness as a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). People who suffer from NPD are self-centered, lack empathy and have a great need for attention and recognition. “Sergio feigns feelings and also manipulates people around him. In the past, he was angry with his parents, now he’s mad at society.” The actor claims that silence is a very powerful weapon.

“In this series, silence is a weapon for manipulating people,” explains showrunner Aitor Gabilondo. “If people are watching you and you remain silent, they feel anxious and afraid. Silence also increases fear.”

Sergio doesn’t care about anyone – except for his sister. He uses people around him and manipulates them, including Marta, to reach his targets. “Finding his sister Noa is his only motivation,” explains Arón Piper.

WHO JUMPS FROM THE BALCONY AT THE END?

The end, to be honest, is not very logical, because psychologist Ana Dussuel completely loses control of herself. She acts as if she was on drugs. When Noa enters the flat, the plot hits its stride and …

The question remains: Who jumps from the balcony at the end? There’s no answer. You can only guess. In our opinion, Ana is the one who jumps. Because she has lost everything – her career, her family and her convinction that Sergio was wrongly sentenced for a crime. She failed as a psychologist, as a wife and as a mother.

She’s the last person who was manipulated by Sergio. Muted begins and ends with two nearly identical scenes, a woman jumping from the balcony.

LOCATIONS OF THE NETFLIX SHOW MUTED

After being released from prison, Sergio takes the metro to go to his parents’ apartment. He soon discovers that someone is following him. These scenes were shot in the underground metro station of Bilbao.

The modern building next to Sergios apartment is the control center in which the psychologist Ana Dussuel and her team watch all of Sergio’s movement on big screens. The building is located in Calle Uribitarte in Bilbao.

The big apartment in Bilbao which the crime took place and in which Sergio returns back after his release from prison is the building in which Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Bizkaia (the professional association of lawyers of Biscay) has its headquarters.