Entertainment

'Wizards: Tales of Arcadia' Release Date: Diego Luna Is Done Recording

The 'Narcos' star loves recording '3Below' after a day playing a drug lord.

by Eric Francisco

For the past few years, Diego Luna has lived two lives: By day, he’s Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, the “Godfather” of the Guadalajara Cartel in 1980s Mexico. By night, he’s Prince Krell Taron from Akiridion-5 who crash-lands on Earth and learns to make new friends in the town of Arcadia.

Diego Luna, the 39-year-old Mexican actor best known for his roles in films like Y tu mamá también and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, tells Inverse that he finds relief lending his voice to an alien know-it-all in Guillermo del Toro’s animated series, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, after spending the rest of his day playing a drug lord in Narcos: Mexico.

“I have to say, it’s a beautiful thing for me to do,” Luna says. “To go back to this character, to this universe that is inspiring and leave my adult work behind to do stuff that I can share with my kids. It’s a special thing.”

In Season 2 of 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, streaming now on Netflix, Diego Luna returns as Prince Krell, a brilliant engineer and rad music dee-jay who hides on Earth with his sister, Princess Aja Tarron (Tatiana Maslany) and his bodyguard, Commander Vex (Nick Offerman).

Developed by Guillermo del Toro, 3Below is the second in the “Tales of Arcadia” trilogy on Netflix. A sequel to Trollhunters, 3Below introduces space aliens who learn to co-exist, and defend, both humans and trolls on Earth. Picking up where Season 1 left off, Season 2 finds the stranded Akiridians still trying to keep up their ruse while the evil General Val Morando (Alon Abutbul) closes in on their location.

Both Trollhunters and 3Below will collide in a big way in del Toro’s third and final series, Wizards, which will air later this year on Netflix. Luna confirms he will return as Krell in Wizards, and that he’s finished recording his lines unless del Toro says otherwise.

“I’m done. I’m done unless there’s notes from Guillermo,” Luna says, laughing. “And now I know the complete arc of the character and the story, and I am sure audiences are gonna love it. I’m happy with the result.”

Prince Krell Tarron (right, voiced by Diego Luna) with his sister, Princess Aja (Tatiana Maslany), in '3Below: Tales of Arcadia.'

Netflix

Because of Luna’s work in Mexico, he records 3Below remotely using Skype. “I’ve been shooting for the last two years in Mexico City, so I go to this room and connect to the team in Los Angeles and work with all of them through whatever we use,” he says.

While Luna has done shows for kids once or twice, he’s more into family entertainment now that he’s a father.

“I did scenes before I had kids and I didn’t get it back then,” he says. “Now that I’m a parent, I realized how crucial it brings families together. I don’t want to sound corny, but I believe that if you see a story as a kid and you share it with your parents, you share that experience. I saw a lot of content for kids that is absent of intelligence or brilliantness, they repeat a joke over and over.”

The aliens take on human disguises when running around the town of Arcadia in '3Below.'

Netflix

Since starting work with Guillermo del Toro, whom Luna describes as “methodic” and always thinking out of the box “which I love,” Luna says he finally gets how crucial it is to make meaningful art for kids.

“You can’t patronize kids,” he says. “There’s a chance to bring layers that can resonate with people of many ages, and that’s not an easy thing to do. I believe Trollhunters, this universe, has it. I was a fan of Trollhunters with my kids, so when they invited me, I was thrilled.”

Luna admits he used to be loose-lipped around spoilers for 3Below with his kids, who happen to be big fans. But with Wizards, everything has changed.

“With this one, I haven’t told them anything,” he says. “I know the complete arc of the character and the story, and I am sure audiences are gonna love it. Everyone at [their] school became fans and I don’t want to spoilt it for them.”

He adds, “I can’t wait to show it to my kids.”

Season 2 of 3Below: Tales of Arcadia is streaming now on Netflix.

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