La desalmada (English title: Heartless) is a Mexican telenovela produced by José Alberto Castro for Televisa. It is based on the 2008 Colombian telenovela La dama de Troya created by Felipe Forero, Alejandro Torres and Guido Jácome. Livia Brito stars as the titular character, alongside José Ron, Eduardo Santamarina, Marjorie de Sousa, and Marlene Favela. It aired on Las Estrellas from 5 July to 29 October 2021.
Contents
Plot
Fernanda Linares is a woman who only seeks to avenge her husband, who was murdered on their wedding night, where in addition to this unfortunate event, she was raped. Fernanda's memory is not clear, which leads her to doubt and making mistakes in judgement. When she meets Rafael Toscano, she falls deeply in love with him, but confuses him with the man who harmed her. Over time, as her memory clears up, Fernanda realizes her error and that it was not Rafael, but his father, Octavio Toscano, who ruined her life.
Cast
Main
Livia Brito as Fernanda Linares
José Ron as Rafael Toscano
Eduardo Santamarina as Octavio Toscano
Marjorie de Sousa as Julia Torreblanca de Gallardo
Marlene Favela as Leticia Lagos de Toscano
Azela Robinson as Martina Fernández de Estudillo
Sergio Basáñez as Germán Gallardo
Alberto Estrella as Carmelo Murillo
Kimberly Dos Ramos as Isabela Gallardo
Gonzalo García Vivanco as Rigoberto Murillo
Francisco Gattorno as Antonio Estudillo
Verónica Jaspeado as Juana Durán
Laura Carmine as Ángela Hinojosa
Alejandra García as Rosalina Santos
Julio Vallado as David Estudillo
Gabriela Zamora as Flor / Dora Franco
Mauricio Abularach as José Vargas
Gaby Mellado as Clara Ochoa
Gonzalo Vega Jr. as Piero Vázquez
Cecilia Galliano as Miriam Soler
Macarena Miguel as Mary Pérez
Recurring and guest stars
Yahir as Santiago Ramírez
Espinoza Paz as himself
Fernando Robles as Calixto Linares
Rosita Bouchot as Chona
José Montini as Moreno
Alfonso Iturralde as Alberto Tsubaki
Jackie Sauza as Brenda
Mónica Ayos as Viviana
Homero Ferruzca as Rosendo Futanasio
Pedro Moreno as Caimán
Production
La desalmada was announced on 15 October 2020 at Televisa's Visión21 upfront. The main cast was revealed on 11 March 2021. Filming of the telenovela took place from 17 March to 21 August 2021. On 17 May 2022, TelevisaUnivision confirmed that the series had been renewed for a second season. By August 2023, however, production on the second season had been put on hold due to cast members moving on to other projects.
Reception
Critical reception
Writing for Milenio, Álvaro Cueva predicted that La desalmada will be the most-watched telenovela in Mexico by stating, "something tells me that this is going to become a cultural reference that is more powerful than the versions of Rubí and Teresa made by this great producer. This is a José Alberto Castro traditional elevated to the n-th power, with all this experience, but refined and enhanced with the technical and editorial possibilities of 2021." He added that the story has "all the love, but also the female empowerment, the family values, and the search for justice." Cueva praised La desalmada as a magnificent serialized melodrama with colossal mastery for its cast, storyline, theme song, musical scoring, editing, locations, camera direction and image design. He also congratulated the telenovela for its deserving success by stating, "not only they're doing a great job, they're proving that telenovelas are more alive than ever, that there is nothing more powerful than free-to-air television, and that the traditional Mexican telenovela continues to be the queen of the market."
La desalmada was also honored as the only Latino fiction title highlighted by The Wit's Fresh TV Fiction session at the MIPCOM.