Something is brewing in the Thyssen. On Wednesday, June 15, there are still a few minutes until 10:00 and the museum opens its doors, but unlike other days, there are two queues around the building. A line of tourists is waiting at the main gate to view the art collections in a relaxed atmosphere. But on the other side of the block the vibe is very different. In the back, about twenty people dictate their dates while waiting for the call. The sensations are reminiscent of selectivity. “This is much worse,” you hear. In a few moments, they’ll face the casting of Pasapalabra, the first face-to-face since the pandemic as the program searches for its new star.
More than a hundred people will go through the selection process throughout the day. Among them people of all ages and with very different profiles: university teachers, students, freelancers, administrative staff, interpreters… All of them loyal supporters of the show, which is broadcast on weekdays from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Antena 3 and fans of the donuts Some even give admit that they only appear because the experience is the closest match to the competition. Others because they wanted to see Roberto Leal, presenter since 2020, who, to the disappointment of some, did not appear at the museum. Whoever welcomes the applicants on the fifth and top floor of the Thyssen is a jury of seven people, including the casting team, Felipe Pérez, executive producer of Pasapalabra, or Lucía Sesma, the program’s linguist.
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The first to cross the threshold is Maite Francisco from Valencia. She is 52 years old, she is a nursing assistant; He came to the capital just to take the test and will leave as soon as he’s done. He first tried it 12 years ago, through the other kind of casting that’s out there, the phone. Then she dropped out in the second phase, but now, after several months of preparation, she decided to try her luck again. “I’ve been training although I still don’t see myself ready because I always think it’s never enough. But I wanted to take the opportunity with the open casting. Otherwise, you have to pass a phone test and wait for them to come to your city,” he explains just before the exam. Francisco, like many of his classmates, has spent these months practicing with donuts, the emblematic test of Pasapalabra. He confesses that while he’s “most” correct, he’s never completed an entire one because “there’s always two or three that are super difficult: the author’s last name of this or the author’s name of that.”
The applicants are already seated before they start the exam on the top floor of the Thyssen Museum: Claudio Alvarez
The donut, which is usually his biggest hobby in everyday life, will be his obstacle on set this morning. Several meters above the works of the Thyssen collection and the first 24 applicants, who have already taken their seats and prepared for the questionnaire, examination coordinator Montse Ramos explains what the examination will look like. “You have to fill out two donuts from the program. You have 10 minutes and you can distribute the time as you like. Once we’ve corrected the threads, it’s off to a camera test.” The aim is to identify both the candidates’ knowledge and their on-screen reactions. “Intellectual level is always rewarded, but let’s not forget that this is a television program,” he clarifies.
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After 10 minutes, the hopefuls leave the room and talk about the donuts in the hallway. They agree that the second was much more difficult than the first, just as the authors intended. And that too was one of the difficult ones in the letter M, which read ‘soldier of a privileged militia of the sultans of Egypt’. They look in the dictionary and confirm that he was a Mamluk, to the delight of some and the regret of others. Amidst the uncertainty, the visit of Paz Herrera, a contestant who won a €1,310,000 jackpot in 2014, provided a moment of relief. Meanwhile, the casting team is fixing threads as fast as they can. They agree that the level is good, but what really stands out is the one leaf that they didn’t have to scratch. She will go home not knowing that she scored 25 out of 25 on both donuts; although he had dreamed that it would become empty and it would end fatally.
The candidates for the casting of ‘Pasapalabra’ take the exam of the two donuts. Claudio Alvarez
She is an art, drawing and Chinese teacher. Her name is Ana María Morales, she is from Las Rozas and it is also her birthday. She is 59 years old, but before going out to dinner with the family to celebrate, she goes to the test accompanied by her youngest daughter Silvia, 25 years old. She also made the two donuts to be able to be inside with her mother, but she’s preparing for the Resistance and isn’t interested in being chosen. “She loves to study and to be asked questions. That will definitely happen,” he says while his mother is standing in front of the second phase in the next room. Morales presents himself in front of the cameras as a curious person and emphasizes that he has never been on any show. He says he had a great time, but doesn’t even remember signing up. “It must have been a few months ago,” he clarifies after completing his presentation, “for professional reasons I can only watch the show on Fridays, so it must have been a time when I did well with the donut.”
With the hardest part done, now all you have to do is wait for a call. Given the candidates’ uncertainty, they make it clear from the program that “it could be in three weeks or in six months, it depends on a lot of things.” Now they have to filter all the options they have collected to find the best profiles. That they can handle both the donut and the rhythm of television, something essential to win viewers’ affection.
Additionally, for Pasapalabra, the most watched non-informational space on TV, the difficulty level of the questions is another key. “We try to have varied topics, to be entertaining and to have fun at home,” says Sesma, who has been a linguist on the show Home Can I Play since 2011, that’s the main thing. That they look at it, answer it out loud and enjoy it. That’s what we’re looking for.” Pérez, his executive producer, emphasizes that “in a great moment” they are supported by the viewer, “who is very loyal”. And now, in the digital age, “also supported by social networks”, he finds after 23 years of broadcasting, “Pasapalabra is infinite”.
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