José Eduardo Derbez and Sofía Castro star in the comedy “Hotel Todo Incluido”
Por Miriam Gonzalez ·
After several years in the industry, actors José Eduardo Derbez and Sofía Castro are not burdened by the fact that they are the children of renowned Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez and former first lady and actress Angélica Rivera, respectively, nor by the massive box office success their characters and films have achieved.
“A few days ago, I was talking with people in the industry about the responsibility that comes with being at the top of the box office while also taking care of your career so that people keep watching your work. You have to choose your projects very carefully to maintain these numbers and even surpass them—it’s a bit of a burden, but here we go,” explains the 34-year-old actor in an interview with EFE.
Following the success of films such as “Mesa de regalos,” the second-highest-grossing Mexican film of the 2020s, Derbez has become one of the country’s most recognizable faces, starring in the reboot of the comedy series “Hotel Todo Incluido” for the ViX platform.
In the series, Eduardo (Derbez) is a humble hotel worker who, after a disastrous interview, is surprisingly chosen to be the manager of a hotel in Mexico, where he will realize he has a special gift for fulfilling his guests’ wishes.
After 16 years of acting in dramas, this will be Castro’s first foray into comedy. At 29 years old and having worked on numerous projects with her mother, such as *Con esa misma mirada* (2025), she isn’t afraid of comparisons and is taking on the challenge of being one of the series’ lead actors, which premieres this Wednesday onstreaming platforms.
“It’s about making a name for yourself, and even though there will always be comparisons—because the resemblance to my mother is striking—it’s the result of a lot of hard work, both on my part and on José Eduardo’s, in our artistic careers,” the artist says with a smile.
José Eduardo Derbez and Sofía Castro on Fixing Mexico
If, in real life, Derbez could fulfill the wishes and needs of Mexicans just like his character Eduardo, the first thing he would do is make sure his compatriots “were happy” and enjoyed “good health,” although he finds it hard to choose just one thing in a country where there is “much room for improvement.”
“I’d go around town fixing the streets—a pothole here, another there, the lady’s store that’s leaning a bit,” the actor lists the things he would fix in his country if he had a magic wand.
In a country as service-oriented as Mexico, Derbez and Castro are tasked with using humor to portray the challenges behind a service industry as demanding as the Mexican hospitality sector—just a little over a month after the country co-hosted the World Cup.
“I’m very proud to be Mexican, and I feel a deep sense of pride in my country and in what Mexico stands for. This series is going to highlight that, just as it did during the World Cup. Mexico is so much more than the negative news stories that circulate around the world—it’s a really awesome and badass country,” Castro declares.
In any case, the two artists believe that “Hotel Todo Incluido” is the perfect opportunity for Mexicans to see themselves reflected in the show and for the rest of the world to see how they are able to work in any kind of situation—and to elicit more than a few laughs, according to Agencia EFE.