‘The House of the Spirits’ Returns a Beloved Book to Its Origins

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchApril Streaming Picks‘Michael’‘I Swear’‘Over Your Dead Body’‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’‘Half Man’You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Alfonso Herrera first read “The House of the Spirits” in high school. Now he is starring in a lavish adaptation on Amazon.Credit...Martina Tuaty for The New York TimesSkip to contentSkip to site index‘The House of the Spirits’ Returns a Beloved Book to Its OriginsShot in Chile, this series will be the first Spanish-language screen adaptation of the Isabel Allende novel. The star Alfonso Herrera said the story is more relevant than ever.Alfonso Herrera first read “The House of the Spirits” in high school. Now he is starring in a lavish adaptation on Amazon.Credit...Martina Tuaty for The New York TimesSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTListen · 8:54 min Share full articleBy Carlos AguilarApril 28, 2026Like many people, the Mexican actor Alfonso Herrera suffered mentally and emotionally during the Covid-19 pandemic. He began therapy while shooting the Netflix series “Ozark” in Atlanta, and during one session the therapist asked him to restate in Spanish something he had just said in English — even though she didn’t speak Spanish herself.“I asked her, ‘Why do you want me to say it in Spanish?’” Herrera recalled recently. “She replied, ‘Because what you just expressed is something deeply important to you, and speaking it aloud in your mother tongue will resonate with a much stronger echo within both your conscious and your unconscious mind.’”Herrera, 42, believes that link between language and identity will infuse “The House of the Spirits,” a new series adaptation of the seminal Isabel Allende novel, with a powerful feeling of cultural and emotional connection. That connection stands to be more powerful, certainly, than that of the widely panned English-language film from 1993, in which Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep led a mostly white cast in portraying a Chilean family.The show, the first three episodes of which arrive Wednesday on Amazon Prime Video, will be the first Spanish-language screen adaptation of the novel, which was first published in 1982. Allende, who stars, is an executive producer with Eva Longoria, Courtney Saladino and others, and the series also stars Nicole Wallace and Dolores Fonzi. It was shot entirely in Chile.ImageHerrera and Nicole Wallace in “The House of the Spirits,” which spans decades within a Latin American family and nation.Credit...Amazon MGM Studios“The fact that this version was filmed in Chile, in Spanish and with Ibero American talent generates a very distinct DNA,” Herrera said.<div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i"><path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message" class="css-6yo1no"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or…

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