Production of Relaciones Peligrosas

Casting

The headlining actor of Relaciones Peligrosas is Sandra Echeverria, who had already acted in large Telemundo roles in El Clon and Marina. She had even worked in films, such as Universal Pictures' Savages, before taking on the female protagonist in Relaciones.

Other big names include Jeannette Lehr and Ana Layevska.

But in addition to these more seasoned actresses, Telemundo brought on 11 brand new actors for Relaciones Peligrosas. These 11 young actors were chosen from Telemundo's own six-week acting workshop (Taller de Actores), selected from 120 participants age 18-22.

Gabriel Coronel, the male protagonist, may not have come from Telemundo's Taller de Actores, but - while talented - he was almost as inexperienced as them, as Relaciones was his first major role.

Writing

This telenovela is not an original. Roberto Stopello adapted Relaciones Peligrosas from the Spanish television series Física o Química, which ran from 2008-2011.

Locations

Telemundo is based in Miami, and the plot of Relaciones Peligrosas is conveniently set in Miami. This makes it possible to have scenes shot out in the streets; however, for cost and convenience, most scenes still take place on sets, primarily Cervantes Academy of the Arts.

Miami has become incredibly important for telenovela production. Some say that there is no other city that films as many novelas as Miami, outside of Mexico.

Filming

As is the norm for telenovelas - a necessity, in fact - Relaciones was shot with the 3-camera method to cut down on video editing time and costs. All 108 episodes were shot in about 2 months.

Consumption vs. Production

The novela started out in a way that was very much de ruptura. Nothing was traditional except that the main characters were heterosexual romantic partners. However, as the story progressed, it received lower ratings than Telemundo would have liked. A little less than halfway through, some storylines were abandoned in favor of the main romance and dramatic stories between the adult characters rather than the teenagers. The entire novela started to lean more towards the rosa style. No matter whether the writer wanted to continue to break stereotypes, he was pressured by executives to change his material in order to find something that works with audiences.