Woody Allen casts Peter Vives in his Madrid film

Peter Vives will star in Woody Allen's Madrid film

Peter Vives will be the protagonist of Woody Allen’s upcoming film, to be shot in Madrid. The actor, whose mother is New Zealander and father is Spanish, fits the profile the filmmaker has sought for decades: a Westernized appearance, the bearing of a classic leading man, and that European ambiguity Allen has always known how to place in front of the camera. The announcement reignites an uncomfortable issue: what remains of Allen's promise never to shoot in Spain again.

The heat of Madrid and the promise that falls apart

The director himself had said he wouldn't shoot in Madrid because of the suffocating summer heat. The argument unravels on its own: in Manhattan, where he usually shoots, the summer thermometer is not a deterrent. Pragmatists suggest that simply not filming in July and August would suffice. The truth is, Allen already filmed in Barcelona—that Vicky Cristina Barcelona—and in San Sebastián, with Rifkin's Festival, and neither project became a highlight of his filmography.

The casting choice that reignites the debate about his casting

Another current of thought points to a pattern that is difficult to refute: half a century of films, decades signing a title card annually, and barely a handful of actors in main roles who are racialized. Almost always relegated to supporting parts. The choice of Vives, with his unequivocally Western appearance, only reinforces this reading. Some call it aesthetic consistency; others call it something else.

With the camera yet to roll, the only certainty is the title: Allen is filming in Madrid. Whether the result will repeat the pattern of Barcelona and San Sebastián, or if Vives' casting breaks the inertia, is exactly what cannot be known yet.