The story begins with Clara Lago, born in Madrid in 1990, and Tamar Novas, born in Santiago de Compostela in 1986, who stepped into show business early. Lago became a Goya Award winner for her role in Inside the Sea while still very young, and Novas built a reputation through projects like Companions and Carol’s Odyssey. Their latest project is a Netflix series titled Clanes, where they play lovers caught in a web of drug trafficking and vendetta set against a dangerous backdrop.
-Are there many shades of Romeo and Juliet in the bond between Ana and Daniel, your characters? They carry a weight of family history that shapes their choices.
Tamar Novas: The dynamic carries strong Shakespearean echoes. There is a sense of Hamlet’s duty guiding a son who must respond to a parent’s legacy.
Clara Lago: The fiercest crossfire of rival households lands with Nuno Gallego and Marta Costa. In Daniel and Ana’s case, the problem isn’t just forbidden love; it’s a conflict of interest that tests Ana’s loyalties and goals.
-Daniel operates outside the law, yet his humanity remains evident, especially in his protectiveness of his godson.
Tamar Novas: Reading the script felt electric. My influences as a viewer lean toward Scorsese, Coppola, and television worlds like The Sopranos and The Wire, which map ecosystems to explain how power structures function. The appeal lies in watching a lawless figure who holds firm personal principles that viewers can relate to.
The audience follows Ana as she arrives at a destination already shaped by decisions made offscreen.
Tamar Novas: It’s a place where prejudice and information collide, where you enter the world of criminals. The crime against public health frames the stakes, but fiction thrives when audiences see charismatic characters endure brutal circumstances and still choose what they want. That tension makes the story compelling—the kind of choice that feels both dangerous and relatable.
-Clanes draws inspiration from real events, a point that raises a question about the surname Padín. Is the name a nod to a protected witness in a high-profile case?
Tamar Novas: The creator Guerricaechevarría is the one to answer that. Padín is a surname he favours, and the series draws on real-life threads without being a strict biography. The intention is to weave truth through fiction, letting research guide the texture of the world.
Clara Lago: The resemblance to real events adds credibility to the storytelling, yet the show remains a crafted fiction rather than a biography of any one person. Guerricaechevarría conducted deep investigative work, assembling fragments from various true stories to build a believable universe. The result feels authentic because the narrative pays close attention to how these environments operate.
-A recurring question in the series asks whether love can outlast revenge. Do Ana and Daniel stay true to themselves, or does revenge blur their choices?
Clara Lago: The answer isn’t simple. The world around them operates on forces that demand tough decisions, and while love is a driving force, the reality is harsher and more complicated than romance alone.
Tamar Novas: The real-world backdrop carries a chilling weight. The dynamics of power, fear, and retaliation mirror the broader tensions seen in today’s conflicts, offering a stark lens on what drives people to act in extreme ways.
-Tamar, as a Galician actor, do you feel a sense of fatigue about Galicia being tied to drug trafficking in fiction?
Tamar Novas: It is a recurring motif in the industry, and the series leans into that cliché while also subverting it. Being from Galicia, I hear about both local life and the broader world of crime. The opportunity to explore through two series, Fariña and Clanes, helped me understand this subject from multiple angles. It’s a chance to push beyond stereotypes and show nuanced characters navigating these spaces.
This project also allowed you to lean into your Galician accent on screen.
Tamar Novas: Adapting the voice was part of grounding the character. The accent isn’t an attempt to imitate; it’s a tool to make the world feel lived-in. Much of the work involved learning practical skills in specific scenes, more about the craft than about sounding a certain way.