The new Spanish series on Netflix, Olympo, is going to get a lot of eyeballs, specifically because of its super-hot young cast, led by Clara Galle, of Through My Window fame. The show follows a group of athletes at one of the most competitive sports centers in all of Spain. From the outside, Olympo looks like a very exciting show about steamy dark secrets and competitive sports drama, but it’s a show that’s still formulaic and only shakes things up a bit to keep us watching. Unfortunately, it does get tedious at some point, but it’s the actors that keep the drama alive. The show features a large cast, and it uses them to show how similar things really are in a competitive environment across multiple sports, and everybody is somewhat important, so without further ado, let’s get into all the characters of Olympo.
Clara Galle as Amaia
I’ve already mentioned Through My Window, but Clara Galle has clearly given her all to this role as a swimmer. There’s acting, and then there’s looking the part entirely. I can’t imagine the training to play a swimmer could have been easy, but she nails it. However, I’ve got to admit Amaia is the annoying protagonist of this show. This is not because she’s highly driven and motivated. Amaia is righteous until she isn’t. It’s because she’s young and gullible, and she changes her mind when she’s forced into isolation. This is exactly the tactic Hugo uses against her, making her feel like she’s the one who is in the wrong for wanting to be clean as an athlete. But what she does in the end turns all her friends against her yet again, but this time on the opposite side. The way Amaia goes about the whole thing is wrong. If she had been nicer to her friends instead of blaming them by making herself sound like she’s above the rest, she wouldn’t have been left behind.
Nira Oshaia as Zoe
This is Nira’s first role, and she plays the traumatized Zoe. Zoe doesn’t want to run anymore, because she lost her friend in an accident a little bit ago. It looks like Zoe never got the closure she needed, and her parents are still pressuring her to keep running because she’s just that good. Zoe’s exactly what Amaia should’ve been in terms of righteousness and which side to pick at the appropriate time. Zoe makes friends pretty easily, but she also knows what happens when someone chooses the wrong side, from experience.
Nuno Gallego as Cristian
To be honest, Cristian almost feels like he’s there just to be Amaia’s boyfriend despite having a story of his own. He’s the star rugby player, Iker’s brother. Nuno was also previously in Elite, which is quite a similar series to this one, minus the sports stuff. Despite being among the best, Cristian doesn’t have the physique for rugby. Maybe that’s what Amaia and he had in common, because why else would they be together? I don’t exactly know. Later in the show, Cristian goes to Olympo to get fixed up and in turn gets the sponsorship too. When he comes back, he looks like a completely different person (much more buff) and expects Amaia to apologize to him for calling him out for doping. But he did take the PED! Cristian also has a superiority complex because of his brother.
Maria Romanillos as Nuria
Nuria is Amaia’s best friend, and in the first episode, they’re fighting because Amaia thinks Nuria isn’t giving the job her all. But Nuria ends up doing more spins than even Amaia can do, and this makes the latter realize that she’s doped. Nuria is a character who is willing to go to any length to get what she wants. Unlike Amaia, she doesn’t worry about moral ground; she’s mainly focused on being the best, even if it means using or changing as a person entirely. Honestly, we don’t really learn anything about Nuria, except that after she takes the drugs, she changes as a person and starts treating Amaia as scum. This is Maria’s first role in a Netflix show.
Agustin Della Corte as Roque
If you think this man looks familiar, you’ve probably seen Society of the Snow. Agustin Della Corte plays Roque, the gay rugby star of Olympo. Roque’s inner turmoil comes from wanting to be known for his rugby skills while being forced into flagbearing queerness in sports. He doesn’t want to be the face of queer rugby, but he’s forced into it, and he’s also forced to out his partner because of the sponsorship. Roque is confident and brave. He’s the captain of his team and knows he’s the best player, so he decides to use that to show people that it’s okay to be gay and play rugby; however, this is taken the wrong way.
Najwa Khilwa As Fatima
It looks like this might be Najwa’s first major role in a TV show. Fatima is Amaia’s nemesis. She knows she’s talented, but not as much as Nuria and Amaia, so she wants to use other tactics to get to Amaia. She pursues Cristian while he’s with Amaia, only to later make him realize she just wanted to sleep with him. Of course, to make Amaia jealous, but somehow he’s unable to see that. Fatima may become a big villain in the second season of the show (if there is one), because she’s left off at her absolute lowest. She falls down the stairs just before the competition, allowing Amaia to take her spot. She will definitely want revenge.
Marti Cordero as Charly
Marti Cordero is known for Una Vida Menos En Canarias. The actor plays the gray character in this show. Charly has the making of a big villain, in season 1. He isn’t entirely evil just yet, but he’s going to get there soon enough. Charly is the kind of guy you don’t want on your team because he’ll get in the way of people. He also wants to be captain even though he’s not as good as Roque, so he provokes him a lot.
Juan Perales as Sebas
Juan has also made an appearance previously on Elite. This is the classic example of someone being an outspoken homophobe to cover up their sexuality. Sebas is a quiet player and falls in the middle category. But he is a good team player; this is why he gets mad when Roque disrupts their team by announcing that there’s homophobia in the sport. It messes with his mind because he doesn’t want to be known as the gay rugby player. Ultimately, though, Sebas and Roque become a couple, and it’s pretty clear he likes him a lot and wants to help him with all the Olympo stuff.
