The transformation of Maite Perroni’s image in the last three years has been so radical that the hackneyed figure of 180 degrees feels too small to describe it. And it is that before arriving at her very sexual and sensual characters of Adriana Romero and Alma Solares, in ‘El juego de las llaves’ and ‘Dark desire’, respectively, the Mexican artist had played roles very close to the one that made her a figure adored by millions of teenagers worldwide.
“They are both fabulous characters, which made it worthwhile to take a little more risk and get out of my comfort zone playing very different women than what the public was used to,” Perroni told us when promoting the first season of ‘Dark Desire’, an original Netflix series, in which she became Alma for the first time, who at 40 years of age goes crazy with passion for a young man, to the point of betraying her daughter and destroying her marriage.
Her daring sexual scenes left many with their mouths open, even those who had already seen her as Adriana in ‘El juego de las llaves’, the Amazon Prime Video series in Latin America and PantaYA in the United States, which told the story of a group of couples who participated in bed-swapping activities.
The passionate encounters between Adriana and Sergio (Sebastián Zurita) were a revelation in 2019, when it was unimaginable that Perroni would allow himself to be filmed in a bra and with a character in sexual relations.
Until that moment, the artist who became famous as the shy Lupita Fernández from ‘Rebelde’ had remained, if not within that mold, quite close to him. Her strategy had paid off and she had even allowed her to develop a successful parallel career as a singer. However, Perroni wanted more and it was what she actively sought after she was no longer a contract employee of Televisa.
“Freedom, when taken after deep self-reflection, takes you down extraordinary paths,” said the star. So extraordinary were they that, once the commotion had passed, the public supported it energetically and both productions are now in their second seasons, with more intrigue and more sex
To live Alma’s experiences in that second season of “Dark Desire”, the artist said in an interview with People en Español that she was advised by psychologists and other specialists. In the practical aspect of recording the most daring scenes, Perroni explained that for her the essential thing is “respect on set. Respect for the codes that we have and that cannot be broken for anything. There are codes that are very clear and that are established.”
“From the direction, the photographers and our partners on stage and also the fact of being able to have the peace of mind that it is what is going to be done: they are very careful scenes, that are discussed much more, that are choreographed, analyzed and determines when what happens, how and why,” he said.
These are challenges that did not exist even when he began starring in soap operas in 2008 with ‘Cuidado con el Ángel’, where he shared posters with William Levy. This was the first production of the Cuban actor in Mexico and Televisa made a significant effort to promote the couple in front of and behind the cameras.
Then came ‘My sin’ with Eugenio Siller, and ‘Triunfó el amor’, with Victoria Ruffo and again with Levy. The chemistry between the two young leads was powerful. So much so that he made sure that it was the product of a romance between them. The artist was then in an official relationship with Elizabeth Gutiérrez, mother of his two children. In addition, he assured that things ended badly between them and the efforts to keep them apart since then seem to confirm those versions.
Even so, Maite Perroni’s good image was left intact.
Her next telenovela ‘Cachito de cielo’ caused controversy again. The story in which she shared the leading role with Pedro Fernández was that of a young woman whose great love dies and is reincarnated in the body of a priest. The physical scenes between Perroni and the Mexican actor outraged the most conservative sectors of Mexican society and led Televisa to cut the length of the production.
Rehabilitation of the artist’s image was not necessary. For her fans, she was still as pure and innocent as Lupita.
‘La gata’ with Daniel Arenas, ‘Antes muerte que Lichita’ with Arath de la Torre, and ‘Papá a toda madre’ with Sebastián Rulli cemented that version of the artist, who promoted a more sensual image through her musical presentations.
In 2016 he released ‘Adicta’, part of the soundtrack of the movie ‘Thirty, single and fantastic’. Then came ‘Loca’, a pop reggaeton with Colombians Cali and El Dandee. In 2018, she released ‘Como Yo Te Quiero’, a harder reggaeton with Puerto Ricans Alexis and Fido.
However, once ‘El juego de las llaves’ came out, fans had to accept an adult and sexual Maite Perroni. The bed scenes, alone and accompanied, raised the temperature with intensity. Even so, they were very careful and without reaching the partial nudity of their co-star Fabiola Campomanes.
Dark Desire’ completed the metamorphosis.
By accepting the role of Alma Solares, she abandoned modesty and her fans abandoned the idea of an eternally adolescent artist. Although she seems to have drunk from the fountain of eternal youth, Perroni completed the process by participating in the 2020 RBD reunion concert. Seeing her singing and dancing to the hits of yesteryear made a difference and solidified reality. The time has passed.
As a finishing touch to the process was the controversy unleashed in the artist’s personal life, when actress Claudia Martín mentioned her as the cause of her divorce with producer Andrés Tovar in mid-2021. All the refusals remained false when months later Tovar and Perroni announced their relationship.
Both ‘El juego de las llaves’ and ‘Dark Desire’ already have two seasons, which have successfully navigated the competitive waters of Amazon Video, PantaYA and Netflix. Proof that the adult Maite Perroni is as popular as the teenager.
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