Diego Maradona lived many lives in one life: 'Maradona: Blessed Dream' stars

It was a roller-coaster ride for actors Nazareno Casero and Juan Palomino to play Diego Maradona in "Maradona: Blessed Dream", a show that explores different facets of the soccer legend's life.

The show, which currently streams on Prime Video, charts Maradona's humble beginnings in Argentina, his game-changing career through Barcelona and Napoli, and his role in taking his national team to win the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.

The 60-year-old footballer died in November 2020 following a cardiac arrest, two weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain.

"Maradona: Blessed Dream" stars Argentine actors Casero, Palomino and Nicolas Goldschmidt portrayed Diego Armando Maradona through different stages of his life in the series.

"It was a roller coaster ride and this is what the series wants to show. The series presents so many chapters from Madonna's life. And we showed some very specific ones. We could say that Madonna lived many lives in one life," Casero told PTI in a Zoom interview.

The show started streaming on Prime Video on October 29 and is available for Indian subscribers in Spanish as well as dubs in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and English.

For Palomino, the opportunity to portray the soccer star was a chance of a lifetime.

"As an Argentine, it was the opportunity to perform such an iconic character. It was an honour and pride, especially as it comes along with such an amazing production. We knew that the project would go high places and will be known worldwide because the production was very solid," he said.

Palomino said Maradona was someone who was both a rebel and a flamboyant person.

"His life was 360 degrees. It was important to understand his time, not only in Argentina but the time he had to live and go through in Argentina and in Europe as well. It was the man against power.

"It was a man who spoke for those left behind... It was important to explore the man, his construct and his identity. He was someone who was a rebel and irreverent. And at the same time, he could show solidarity for those left behind."

"Maradona: Blessed Dream" also stars Julieta Cardinali, Laura Esquivel, Mercedes Moran, Pepe Monje and Peter Lanzani in prominent roles.

Produced by BTF Media, in co-production with Dhana Media and Latin We, the biographical series was filmed on location in Argentina, Spain, Italy, Uruguay and Mexico.

Alejandro Aimetta serves as the showrunner and director of the episodes filmed in Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, and is also one of the show's writers alongside Guillermo Salmeron and Silvina Olschansky.

Roger Gual and Edoardo De Angelis directed episodes shot in Spain and Italy, respectively. 

Francisco Cordero, Liliana Moyano, Mari Urdaneta, Ricardo Coeto and Luis Balaguer serve as the executive producers.