In Netflix’s surprising sequel, Murder Mystery 2, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, the sleuthing couple is off on their next adventure, this time to a gorgeous private island. Another whodunnit packed full of insanity and mystery means a whole cast of new characters under the scrupulous Spitz eye. During the junket, Collider’s Steve Weintraub got to sit down with one of those new faces, Enrique Arce, who plays Francisco, a sly, persistent ex-football player. Arce, who’s best known for his role in Netflix’s acclaimed series Money Heist, tells us what it was like working alongside comedy greats like Sandler and Aniston, and the imposter syndrome he felt he first stepped on set.
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Four years since their European debacle, Nick (Sandler) and Audrey (Aniston) Spitz are struggling to get their own private eye agency recognized. Having solved their first mystery, how hard could it be? When the couple is invited to a luxurious wedding by none other than The Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), that very question is put to the test. The Spitzes set off to a private island, where a new crop of suspects – er, guests – are ready to party. Soon, however, The Maharajah is taken hostage, and it’s up to Nick and Audrey to sort through the clues and the mayhem. Murder Mystery 2 also features Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent, John Kani, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jillian Bell, and more.

During the interview, which you can watch in the player above or read below, Arce reveals what happened to the original Money Heist series, and why it was canceled. He shares his experience being offered his role in Murder Mystery 2, the disbelief he felt before that first rehearsal, the kindness and humility of Sandler and Aniston, and breaks down his character for us.

COLLIDER: You’ve done a lot of stuff in your career. If someone has actually never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you want them watching, and why?

ENRIQUE ARCE: Wow, good question. I guess Money Heist just because it’s the one that allowed me to be here. Yeah, I would say so.

Image via Netflix

For fans of Money Heist, I have to do a follow-up, if you don’t mind, what do you think would surprise people to learn about the actual making of Money Heist that they wouldn’t know just from watching the show?

ARCE: Hmm. It was the history of a failure. We had a guy that came down to the set and said, “You guys gotta wrap because we’re not gonna do 18 episodes, we’re gonna do 15. You guys, this is it, we’re done. Your numbers are ridiculous, and we’re taking you out of the screen.” So, it is the history of a failure.

That’s crazy.

ARCE: I know, isn’t it?

Yeah, also the fact that the show is being remade–

ARCE: It was going to be 18 episodes, that’s what we stand for, and it ended up being 15 because one “executive director” came down to us, and said, “I believe in the show, but your numbers are very low and you guys are out.” Nobody knows this, you are the first one to know.

It’s so bizarre, and then the show, of course…

ARCE: It took off.

Yeah, I heard it’s popular. I heard people around the world watch it.

ARCE: Some people know me. In the last five years, I’ve signed, like, three or four autographs around the world. Who would have thought? I’m being ironic. It’s the biggest show in the history of Netflix.

Also, it’s being remade around the world.

ARCE: The Korean thing. I haven’t seen it. We promote it, but I haven’t seen it.

Who was the most excited in your life that you were going to be working with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler?

ARCE: When I received the email from my agent, I was flying from Spain to Chile, and I was doing a layover in Peru. I can’t really read well without my glasses. So I was like, “Okay, a movie with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, but where is the audition? I can’t find it.” He forgot to send me the audition piece. It ended up, it wasn’t an audition piece. They just offered me the job, and I just couldn’t understand why. Then, I knew. One of the producers, Jim, and the director, Jeremy, they were big fans of Money Heist. They were big fans and they love my character for some reason. And they’re like, “No, this guy has to be in our movie.” I didn’t audition for this, I just got it.

Image via Netflix

I’ve been fortunate enough to interview Adam and Jennifer a few times. They’re the nicest people.

ARCE: Aren’t they? It’s crazy how nice they are.

So I want to know what actually surprised you about working with them? Because everyone says how grounded they are and how nice.

ARCE: The first day on set, when I arrived with the driver, I didn’t know anybody. I just landed in Hawaii, and then it was all of this COVID thing going on, and so you had to be in a trailer, do the thing, and then they come back half an hour later with the results and I was like, “What am I doing here? Like, what am I doing here? Why am I here? This is wrong. I’m not good enough.” I saw the set and everything, and I was like, “There’s something wrong about this.”

You had a little bit of imposter syndrome.

ARCE: Totally. That is the word, imposter. When we were all clear from COVID, we had a rehearsal, and all that feeling of imposter syndrome, or being beneath – which I am, still to this day – it just went away because they make you feel that you are not just their equal, but even better than them. And that’s the greatness of these two. They are so humble in a legitimate and honest way, not just “being a humble guy.” No, they really are those people, and I’ve never met anybody in my life – and I’ve worked with a lot of stars, but these two are the best human beings I have ever encountered.

Yeah, everyone says that it’s, it’s so refreshing. I definitely have to ask you a little bit about your character, and the fact that you are constantly pursuing Jennifer Aniston through the movie–

ARCE: [Laughs] Oh, and it’s been cut a lot! Yeah, I’m a womanizer in the movie, and a football player. I have like 80 kids with 80 different women. This guy would be… if this was real life, he would be–

Image via Netflix

Oh, he would be canceled in a second.

ARCE: [Laughs] He’d be dead! But I had a lot of fun doing it because I understand that guy. Not necessarily [that] I am that guy, but I love football, that’s my passion. Women too [laughs], and I was like, “I know this guy, he’s Spanish, an ex-football player, has all the women he wants,” and I understand that guy. I can play that guy.

Because it’s not so much about the character, man. It’s about the tempo, the finesse of doing comedy with this deal, and I learned so much. A character is just a character. This is not Hamlet, this is not “to be, or not to be,” but I had fun, and they made it very much fun.

Murdery Mystery 2 is now streaming on Netflix.