TUCSON - Mexican actor Brandon Peniche thought he had experienced almost everything during his years in television, but nothing could have prepared him for filming his new telenovela, Tierra de Amor y Coraje, which premiered this week in Univision's prime-time lineup.
Peniche plays Jerónimo Coraje, the middle brother in a family fighting to preserve the ranch that has belonged to them for generations. Charming, spontaneous, ambitious, and known for his way with women, Jerónimo believes that life rewards the person bold enough to take what he wants.
The character must confront grief almost immediately when Juan Manuel and his wife, Patricia, are killed. Their deaths leave Jerónimo and his brothers, Juan and Lalo, responsible for protecting the family land while trying to determine who is behind the violence threatening everything their parents built. The problem? Juan Manuel Coraje is played by the actor's own father, veteran telenovela star Arturo Peniche.
"It was surreal. At first, I felt very, very strange. It was not pleasant," Peniche told this reporter while describing the funeral of the Coraje parents, the tragedy that launches the telenovela's central conflict and emotional journey.
"Eventually, you get used to it and draw on all your experience as an actor to enter the character's world, but I'm not going to deny that it was intense and it took a minute to establish inside myself that this was happening to Jerónimo's dad," he added. Otherwise, it was "a pleasure, a real treat" to have his dad with him in the project.
Arturo Peniche became one of the genre's most recognizable leading men through productions including María Mercedes, La usurpadora, Amor en silencio and En nombre del amor. His participation as Juan Manuel allowed father and son to share the screen while also giving Brandon one of the most emotionally unsettling scenes of his career.
Arturo Peniche became one of the genre's most recognizable leading men through productions including María Mercedes, La usurpadora, Amor en silencio and En nombre del amor. His participation as Juan Manuel allowed father and son to share the screen while also giving Brandon one of the most emotionally unsettling scenes of his career.
Filming the funeral was not the production's only challenge. During an interview in Tucson, Arizona, where the outdoor sequences were shot, Brandon appeared alongside Emmanuel Palomares and Emilio Osorio, who play Juan and Lalo Coraje. He said the fight scenes and the region's extreme weather also tested the cast physically.
"There were some scenes in which we got hurt and others where we felt like we were dying from the cold or the heat, depending on the day," he said. "It was a different experience, but a very exciting one. We are doing something different and taking the telenovela to another level. Personally and professionally, it was a very rewarding challenge."
The rugged Arizona landscapes give Tierra de Amor y Coraje the appearance of a modern Western, complete with sprawling ranches, horseback confrontations, family rivalries and a battle over land concealing a potentially valuable treasure. The story centers on the conflict between the Coraje family and the neighboring Barrios clan, led by the powerful Rogelio Barrios.
Complicating that feud is Clara Barrios, played by Sofía Castro in her first leading telenovela role. Clara becomes romantically entangled with all three Coraje brothers, placing love, loyalty and family honor on a collision course. As Jerónimo competes for her affection, he must decide whether his ambition is stronger than his devotion to his brothers.
Produced by José Alberto "El Güero" Castro for TelevisaUnivision, the series is inspired by Janete Clair's classic Brazilian telenovela Irmãos Coragem. Its ensemble also includes Sergio Goyri, Mar Contreras, Patricia Navidad, Natalia Esperón, Dalilah Polanco, Moisés Arizmendi, Arantza Ruiz and Iván Arana.
Tierra de Amor y Coraje first became available on ViX on Aug. 7, with new episodes released weekly. The telenovela made its Univision debut on Sept. 7 and airs Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, turning the most unsettling fictional funeral of Brandon Peniche's career into the beginning of the Coraje brothers' fight for survival.
