After starring in a number of shows in her home country of Mexico, Gabriela Cartol is making her American TV debut with The Resort. Cartol stars in the series as Luna, a concierge working at the titular vacation spot who potentially holds connections to the mystery at the heart of the show.
Alongside Cartol, the cast for The Resort includes Cristin Milioti, William Jackson Harper, Skyler Gisondo, Nina Bloomgarden, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Nick Offerman and Ben Sinclair.
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with star Gabriela Cartol to discuss The Resort, exploring the layers of her character, developing a family relationship with her castmates and more.
Screen Rant: The Resort really took me by surprise and was a blast from what I’ve seen so far. What about it really drew you to want to be a part of the project?
Gabriela Cartol: Everything about it, the story, the cast, the crew, the creative parts, the fact I got to travel to Puerto Rico, the fact that it was my first American show. And for me, that’s a challenge as an actress. I live in Mexico City, I come from Mexico, so everything about it just seemed like the show that I would kill to be a part of and when I saw the first episodes, I was like, “Yeah, this is amazing.” And it’s not because I’m in it, it’s because it is, you know?
Yeah, absolutely. The pilot was a great start for it and it only got better from there. I love the way your character evolves as the show goes on and the mystery unfolds. What was it like exploring all of those layers for your character?
Gabriela Cartol: It was delicious. That’s the word. As an actress, I got lucky, because I got to play two people at the same time. As an actress, you want to play every single role, you want to be different people, and with Luna, I had the opportunity to play Luna before and Luna after 15 years and that was quite a ride, I loved it.
Now, with that said, obviously most productions tend to sort of shoot out of order. Did you find it occasionally difficult to remember what timeline you were shooting in?
Gabriela Cartol: Yeah, for sure, especially with makeup. We would be like, “Oh, is it 2007?” same with costumes as well. [Laughs] Sometimes we would get into these discussion where I would be pretty sure that we were back in 2007 and they were like “No, it’s 2000. No, wait, it’s 2022.” That was the hard part.
What was it like getting to travel back in time, even if just a brief little period?
Gabriela Cartol: I think it was great, because it made me question myself. Who was I 15 years ago, me, Gabriela? I was a completely different person, I didn’t speak the way I speak now, I didn’t look the way I look now, I didn’t think the way that I think now. So I had that opportunity with Luna to do the same and to think, “Who was she back in 2007? What did she like? What does she dress like? What what what kind of music did she listened to? What would we her hobbies are now back in 2022? What are her priorities? What did she learn? What has she changed?”
Yeah, definitely. With a show like this, too, it’s always great to see the ensemble be able to play off one another. What was it like for you developing the rapport with so much of your cast before filming?
Gabriela Cartol: Well, I had the opportunity to work with Luis for a bit. As soon as we met, we started getting the work done and started talking about the relationship and what we thought about it. With the rest of the cast, I was saying this to Andy, what a great eye, because we didn’t know each other. We got there and as soon as you’ve got us, “3,4,5, go,” it was as if we were family. As the days went by, it did become a family, so the chemistry is such a key part in an ensemble cast like this.
What was it also like for you getting to work alongside Ben, where he was both in front of and behind the camera for this one?
Gabriela Cartol: It’s crazy. I just think of that word, to describe this show, to describe working with Ben. He’s awesome and he knows what he wants and he’s so creative and I think so playful and I love that. I feel like I was playing the whole time.
The Resort Synopsis
A multi-generational, coming-of-age love story disguised as a fast-paced mystery about the disappointment of time. An anniversary trip puts a marriage to the test when the couple finds themselves embroiled in one of the Mayan Riviera’s most bizarre unsolved mysteries that took place fifteen years prior.
Check out our other interviews with The Resort stars Cristin Milioti & William Jackson Harper and Nina Bloomgarden, as well as with creator Andy Siara. You can also catch our previous interviews with William Jackson Harper for We Broke Up and Midsommar.
The Resort begins streaming on Peacock on July 28.