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Main Characters
Alessandro Sansonetti
Played by: Alessandro Tiberi
The direction's young intern, Alessandro joins the set in the first episode and serves as Audience Surrogate.
- Audience Surrogate: The closest to a viewpoint character, as the show starts when he joins the set.
- Bedmate Reveal: In season 4, Allison wakes him up in the middle of the night for a call. The girl sleeping next to him wakes up as well to complain — and it's Lalla, the new intern.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Initially with Arianna. He sees her as a Mean Boss but the Ship Tease between the two is evident from the beginning.
- Butt-Monkey: Often comically mistreated and pushed around by everyone around him. This only gets worse in season 2 and 3. Downplayed in season 4, but despite his successful career, he still doesn't have the happiest life.
- Chick Magnet: Several girls show attraction to him, like Elena (until she dumps him), Arianna, Karin and Lalla.
- Endearingly Dorky: He is pretty young, naïve, has a dorky charm, and manages to attract women like Arianna and Karin.
- Extreme Doormat: Due to being an intern, he lets everyone walk all over him, especially Stanis.
- "Eureka!" Moment: He's actually the one who finds a way to salvage the The Eyes of the Heart 3 pilot and pad it out until the minimum required length: repurpose the "gritty" footage of Stanis shot for Medical Dimension and say it's Giorgio's evil twin Eric who's impersonating him to soil his reputation.
- First-Name Basis: Despite being one of the main characters, his last name is never mentioned aloud. It only appears on his CV in a Freeze-Frame Bonus in "Another Television Is Possible (part 2)".
- Hey, You!: To evidence the other's lack of respect for him, he's rarely addressed by name. Stanis calls him Cuttlefish, René often calls him by random male names, other characters occasionally call him "Thingy", including Arianna in early episodes (although she starts calling him Alessandro after she mellows out), and Valerio one time calls him Monica. When he's not around, the others often refer to him as "the intern". There's one scene where Alessandro makes a good point and Lopez says "Maybe the cleaning boy is right".
- Hidden Depths: Sometimes he comes up with good ideas for the series, which are even recognized by the people who usually dismiss him as a slave intern.
- In-Series Nickname: Stanis always calls him Cuttlefish for... some reason.
- Loser Protagonist: The main character who has the least important job in the crew, and is the second biggest Butt-Monkey on the show. A few times, he considers the idea of leaving, but his love for Arianna keeps him there. Zigzagged in season 4, as he's no longer an intern and he has become the manager of an important streaming service, but at this point he's arguably no longer the protagonist.
- Mushroom Samba: In season 4, he accidentally takes a swig from the water bottle where Lorenzo dissolved his LSD. He starts having hallucinations on set, like Biascica as a Big Red Devil, Lalla being pregnant with his child, and Allison glitching through his phone screen and into his arms.
- Naïve Newcomer: In season 1, he is unaware of how things work in the Eyes of the Heart set and finds out that TV world is different from the way he has imagined.
- Nice Guy: He means well most of the time and seems nicer than the rest of the troupe.
- No-Respect Guy: One of the most down-to-earth and sympathetic characters, but hardly ever gets respect from anyone.
- Official Couple: With Arianna, as seen in The Big Damn Kiss at the end of the movie. Subverted in the revival, as they are no longer dating (with no explanation for this, but to be fair it's been a decade In-Universe and they may have simply grown apart) and they barely interact.
- Only Sane Man: He is a relatively normal guy who has to put up with a lot of crazy people. No wonder he ends up falling for Arianna, who is the only reasonable person in the troupe.
- Out of Focus: Arguably the main character of the first two seasons. In season 3, the movie, and the revival, he doesn't do much and the main focus is clearly René.
- Rank Up: In season 4, he's no longer a production intern but the Platform's delegate (essentially taking over Lopez's role in the original seasons).
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Stanis's Manly Man. All their interactions are about Stanis acting macho and belittling Alessandro, who is a meek Extreme Doormat.
- Straight Man: Aside from being The Chew Toy, he has no comedic quirks and he is often there to be the everyman to the others's antics, especially Stanis.
- Token Good Teammate: At least, a relatively nice guy compared to the sociopathic people he works with.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Becomes less of an Only Sane Man as the show goes on, due to the other characters' influence. In a season 1 episode, he was the only one in the room not laughing at Martellone's extremely lame jokes, while in the final movie, he was laughing at the same jokes along with the others, before Arianna stops him with a Death Glare.
Renato "René" Ferretti
Played by: Francesco Pannofino
The director of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Benevolent Boss: Often pretends to be one, but sometime he really is.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Seems apathetic about the quality of The Eyes of the Heart, but when he actually works seriously, he’s a good director. Drops the "lazy" part in season 3 when he is actually determined to make a good show called Medical Dimension, but sadly, the show is just a farce destined to flop.
- Catchphrase:
- Often refers to Corinna as a "cagna", which literally means "bitch" (female dog) but he mostly uses that word to say she is lame and talentless.
- And, of course, "a cazzo di cane" (literally "like a dog's dick", meaning "sloppily"), which perfectly encapsulates his work ethic.
- He often says "Dai, dai, dai!" (meaning "Come on, come on, come on!"), usually used as a friendly encouragement before starting to shoot a scene.
- Celibate Hero: We don't know anything about his love life, he doesn't seem to care much, and never shows attraction to anyone. However, in the revival it's mentioned Duccio is the only asexual member of the crew and René is surprised to find out that about Duccio, so it's possible René's love life is simply off-screen... he has a daughter after all, and mentions having (had?) a wife.
- Chekhov's Skill: In season 4, we see he's a pretty passionate dancer when he starts coaching Salome's actress on her dance scene. It comes in handy later on when he convinces the Platform's lawyers to drop the case against him for the use of stolen footage.
- Consummate Liar: Often he is able to deceive the actors (especially Stanis) by pretending to fawn over them and be enthusiastic for their work, when he actually thinks the exact opposite.
- Deadpan Snarker: A variant in that he usually snarks behind people's back (especially about Stanis and Corinna) rather than to their faces.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After Dr. Cane confirms that Medical Dimension was set to fail from the start, he goes on a bender with Duccio and arrives on set late and hungover.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Tries to be calm… until he blows up and starts yelling. In his defence, he is Surrounded by Idiots.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: The aesop he learns at the end of both season 3 and the movie. Every time he puts his effort into directing something serious, everything goes wrong, and then he goes back to direct the usual cheap works he despises.
- Jaded Washout: A washed up director who, despite his good potential, is aware of the bad quality of all the series he directed in the past. Now he's working on The Eyes of the Heart, a blatantly awful series everyone knows it's going to suck from the beginning. He seems to regret his bad choices, but he knows it's the only thing he can do to have a career.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a short-tempered and cynical Manipulative Bastard, but deep down a human and caring person. He cares about Arianna, his goldfish Boris, his daughter Fabiana, and his old friend Duccio. Also, while he's not above insulting and taking advantage of Alessandro, there are moments where he respects him and thanks him for his efforts; he even offers him to stay at his house when nobody else would.
- Large Ham: As a director, René is very loud and gesticulates a lot, especially when he gets angry.
- Manipulative Bastard: He can be very persuasive when it comes to convince others and get his way. It helps that he's a very good liar.
- Mistaken for Cheating: For whatever reason, in season 4 Stanis convinces himself that Corinna is cheating on him with René, and demands a public apology from the director.
- No Indoor Voice: Yes, he will shout if he needs to. There are times where he just can't help himself.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Usually just René. Only some characters occasionally call him Renato, like Stanis and Duccio, who's also his closest friend.
- Only Sane Man: Despite his flaws, René is one of the most rational troupe members, and is often annoyed by the mess caused by the others's antics. Unlike Arianna, however, René simply goes along with some of the crazy antics that happens on set.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: While people who work for him tend to be annoying and incompetent, René himself is not much better, especially in early seasons. We see him falling asleep on the set, forgetting the character's names and the plot of the series he's directing, and even encouraging the actors to work carelessly in order to shoot a scene quickly.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Rene's way to manipulate the narcissistic actors into making them do their job is showering them with praise.
- Sir Swearsalot: Especially when he gets angry, he starts throwing many Cluster F Bombs and all swear words possible (dickhead, piece of shit, etc.) during his rants, as seen here
. Even his two catch-phrases above include swear words. - Stepford Smiler: Behind his cheerful and easygoing exterior, he's a cynical Jaded Washout. He easily drops the façade any time his temper and frustration get the best of him.
- Verbal Tic: He usually lets out a high-pitched "wheeey!" when greeting someone (especially when he's feigning goodwill towards said person). He also shouts "motore!" ("camera!") as "motorey!", which gets made fun of in the film.
- Would Hit a Girl: During an argument, he slaps the actress Cristina… who slaps him back and then headbutts him.
Arianna Dell'Arti
Played by: Caterina Guzzanti
René's first assistant director.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Initially with Alessandro. He sees her as a Mean Boss but the Ship Tease between the two is evident from the beginning.
- Brainy Brunette: Brown hair and very intelligent, in contrast to Dumb Blonde Corinna.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: To everyone, including René, as she often tries to keep him in check.
- Color-Coded Characters: Her orange sweater makes her pretty recognisable.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Especially in season 2 and 3. She becomes less uptight and shows she can be very warm and caring (especially around Alessandro and René), although she remains Married to the Job.
- Fanservice Pack: Despite her obvious good looks, she starts off as plainly dressed and unfashionable. By season 3, she starts wearing more revealing outfits. Averted in the revival, where she goes back to her season 1 outfits.
- Forceful Kiss: She plants one on Alessandro in "Like Lars von Trier" to try and reassert her femininity.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: To René. She always knows what is the right thing to do and does everything flawlessly most of the time.
- Married to the Job: Even after admitting she likes Alessandro, she puts her job above her romantic life and is still pretty standoffish around him.
- Mean Boss: She's often harsh and bossy to Alessandro, even when it's not necessary. He nicknamed her "the Hyena" in season 1. Downplayed but still present in later seasons: in the episode "La qualità non basta", she defends him against Stanis's abuse, but still agrees with Stanis about Alessandro being a "pussy". In the revival, she can also be harsh to Lalla and Fabio, the two new interns.
- Mistaken for Racist: In "My Africa (part 1)", when she demands that Amadou (the actor playing the village chief) speak with a stereotypical African accent. She's catering to the intended audience of the soap opera, but Amadou accuses her of being racist.
- Not So Above It All: Gets two pretty bad ones: In season 2, she gets drunk and sleeps with Stanis, of all people. In season 3, she's revealed to be a Berlusconinote supporter, to Alessandro's shock.
- Not So Stoic: Even she breaks down in tears during a surprisingly well-acted and sad scene of the soap.
- Number Two: To René, she's his most trusted assistant, serving both as the Straight Man and Hypercompetent Sidekick to him.
- Official Couple: With Alessandro, as seen in The Big Damn Kiss at the end of the movie. Subverted in the revival, as they are no longer dating (with no explanation for this) and they barely interact. She has a kid now, but he's never implied to be Alessandro's son.
- Only Sane Employee: The only person in the troupe who knows what she's doing and takes her work seriously.
- Only Sane Woman: By far the most grounded and reasonable character on the show.
- Perpetual Frowner: She hardly ever smiles, although she gets slightly better in season 3.
- The Stoic: Always serious, rarely shows emotions, never loses control.
- Straight Man: Her specialty is remaining serious and calm, while being Surrounded by Idiots.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: In season 1, she describes herself as a tomboy and has a tomboyish appearance. Corinna, by contrast, is a ditzy, girly prima donna.
- Tomboy Angst: She's clearly upset when René diminishes her femininity in "Like Lars von Trier" (by saying that he doesn't care being naked alongside her since she's One of the Boys - It Makes Sense in Context).
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Her default hairstyle is a ponytail.
- Tuckerization: Named after the real assistant director of Boris, Arianna Dell'Arti. The way Caterina Guzzanti portrays the character is also inspired from her.
Boris
The title character, Boris is René's lucky charm goldish.
- Legacy Character: The original Boris was apparently killed, as seen in Replacement Goldfish.
- Living Prop: He's just as relevant to the plot as you would expect from a goldfish.
- Morality Pet: Literally to René, who has a soft spot for him.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Specifically, the tennis player Boris Becker.
- Replacement Goldfish:
- Boris is just one of the long list of René's goldfish, all named after tennis players.
- In the season 1 finale, Itala accidentally kills him and Alessandro secretly replaces him with another goldish from a shop, without telling René about this change.
- In the first episode of season 3, René replaced him with another goldfish from his fish tank named Federer. Alessandro and Lorenzo accidentally break the tank, causing all the fishes to fall on the floor including Federer and Boris. Alessandro put a random fish in the fishbowl, which was supposed to be Federer. Only towards the end of seasons 3, it's revealed it was Boris all along, after René recognizes him.
- Secondary Character Title: Boris is a Living Prop at best. In many episodes, he's not even called by name, he's just somewhat present in the background.
- Team Pet: Can be this to the troupe, though the only one who seems to care about his existence is René.
The Cast
Stanis La Rochelle
Played by: Pietro Sermonti
The protagonist actor who plays Dr. Giorgio Corelli, the hero of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Alessandro's girlfriend Elena in season 1, to Cristina and later Arianna in season 2. He's not ugly, but the girls are put off by his obnoxious personality.
- Attention Whore: Always tries to make every scene of The Eyes of the Heart about himself.
- Big Bad: He's functionally this in season 4 (along with the Platform's Algorithm), as he's now co-producer and imposes his artistic vision on the series.
- Casanova Wannabe: While it's stated that Stanis has fangirls among middle-aged viewers of The Eyes of the Heart, his approach to hit on women is pretty terrible, but he still thinks all women find him irresistible. His co-star Cristina even stated that, of all the men who hit on her, Stanis is the worst. He manages to have sex with Arianna (just because she was drunk, she actually can't stand Stanis) and Karin (who would sleep with anyone).
- Cast Incest: In-Universe in season 4, he plays Jesus. His wife Corinna plays Jesus's mother Mary.
- Casting Gag:
- Stanis plays Dr. Corelli in the Show Within a Show The Eyes of the Heart. His actor, Pietro Sermonti, is known for playing a doctor in another real Italian series, A Doctor in the Family.
- In two episodes we see a girl named Elena (Alessandro's girlfriend) who is annoyed by Stanis obnoxiously hitting on her. Her actress Margot Sikabonyi is known for playing Sermonti's epic love interest in A Doctor in the Family.
- Character Catchphrase: "Very Italian", his way to complain about anything he doesn't like, and "Not Italian" (or sometimes "very American" or even "Anglo-saxon") is his way to say something is good. In season 4, he even named his production company "S.N.I.P." ("So Not Italian Productions").
- Crazy Jealous Guy: In season 4, where he's married to Corinna, he convinces himself that somewhy she's cheating on him with René, and as such demands them a public apology.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Stanis is blatantly Italian like the other characters but hates anything associated with Italy (see Catchphrase). His real name is Enzo Facchetti but he goes by his non-Italian sounding Stage Name, Stanis La Rochelle.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Nobody in the troupe is really fond of him. Especially Alessandro, who has to put up with Stanis's Jerkass antics a lot. The director René says that he would rather get rid of him in season 3.
- Giftedly Bad: His acting skills are below average, especially his facial expressions, but he's convinced to be great and brags about his talent and his past acting experiences.
- It's All About Me: The idea that the world doesn't revolve around him is unthinkable to him.
- Jerkass: He's insufferable pretty much all the time. Even when he is trying to be affable, he comes off as a condescending jerk.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While usually a Casanova Wannabe, season 2 suggests he may have some Hidden Depths when he falls in love with Arianna and claims that he would do anything to win her heart and marry her. But after he (shockingly) manages to have sex with her, he loses any interest in Arianna, except to brag about her being one of his sexual conquests to feed his own ego.
- Large Ham: With his overly pretentious and flamboyant ways, Stanis is this both on and off camera.
- Lethally Stupid: After meeting a fan who knows him as a doctor in the Soap Within a Show, he prescribes medication for her, pretending to be his character. This ends up putting the woman into a coma. When Arianna calls him out on it, he said he thought it was going to work, because it was the same medication he prescribed to a patient in one episode of the soap.
- Meaningful Name: His Stage Name Stanis is a reference to the Stanislavski's Method Acting. As for his fake surname "La Rochelle", there's no apparent reason except maybe Everything Sounds Sexier in French, even though he's obviously not French.
- Narcissist: Even the opening of season 2 and 3 features Stanis looking at himself in the mirror.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Stanis, a Jerkass actor, plays Giorgio Corelli, a goodhearted doctor and the hero of The Eyes of the Heart. Although he also plays Giorgio's Evil Twin Eric…
- The Nicknamer: He always calls Alessandro "Cuttlefish" ever since their first interaction in the pilot.
- Official Couple: He and Corinna are married in the revival, despite the fact that they hated each other in the original series. They don't get along that well, even as a married couple, but Stanis claims he really loves her. Being Stanis, it's hard to tell.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Alessandro's Sensitive Guy. All their interactions are about Stanis acting macho and belittling Alessandro, who is a meek Extreme Doormat.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Played with: Stanis actually is the biggest name in the cast, but that still makes him not even nearly as important as he thinks he is. In one episode, he suggests René that he should fire his co-actress of the soap and hire Uma Thurman because, in his opinion, she would play the character better (he wasn't joking).
- Stage Name: His real name is Enzo Facchetti, but of course he chose the international-sounding "Stanis La Rochelle" because that is so not Italian.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 1, he shared The Prima Donna role with Corinna but he was the lesser of the two evils. After Corinna is Put on a Bus in season 2, his obnoxious narcissism is exaggerated, and he also becomes a bully to Alessandro.
- Yandere: Non-romantic example in the film — although, given Stanis's narcissistic love for his own presence, who's to say? He tries to emotionally manipulate René into giving him a lead role in The Caste by threatening to commit suicide, even swallowing a full bottle of pills at one point (he gets better). Later on, when the young lead actor dies of a heroin overdose, Stanis claims (at his funeral!) that he was his best friend and he was asked by the dead man himself to take up his role, only because he cannot conceive not being the protagonist in the eye of René's camera.
Corinna Negri
Played by: Carolina Crescentini
The "actress" who plays Giulia, the female protagonist of The Eyes of the Heart in season 1.
-
Actor Leaves, Character Dies: When she leaves The Eyes of the Heart to star as Young Mother Teresa, the writers decide to kill off her character Giulia by making her drown herself in an African river for no real reason. - Alpha Bitch: The female lead of the show and acts like a spoiled diva with It's All About Me tendencies.
- Back for the Finale: After being Put on a Bus after season 1, she's seen again in the season 3 finale and the movie.
- Bad "Bad Acting": She's absolutely dire at acting.
- Brainless Beauty: She is very pretty, but has almost nothing in the brain.
- The Bus Came Back: In season 4 she's back to main cast status (both Out- and In-Universe).
- Butt-Monkey: René always makes jokes at her expense (behind her back), even after she's Put on a Bus. During a scene where she can't pronounce a word after multiple attempts, even Stanis keeps laughing at her. In the season 3 finale, she works for Glauco, who openly insults her and comically pushes her around... unlike René, he doesn't bother to hide his disdain for her.
- Cast Incest: In-Universe in season 4, she's cast as the Virgin Mary in the same series where her husband Stanis plays Jesus.
- Casting Couch: She's sleeping with Dr. Cane, and it's strongly implied that's how she got the acting job in The Eyes of the Heart.
- Character Development:
- When she reappears in the movie, her acting style has evolved from Dull Surprise to Ham and Cheese. Not that this helps René in any way.
- In the revival, she's way more perceptive than before, and as a result she Took A Level In Cynicism (though not without her usual moments of idiocy, like wanting to speak with the Platform's algorithm). She even does a well-acted scene for maybe the first time in her career!
- Distaff Counterpart: A female Stanis, except dumber and even worse at acting.
- The Ditz: A typical airheaded bimbo with no qualities aside from her good looks. Her extreme ignorance is almost embarrassing.
- Dumb Blonde: A perfect airheaded foil to Arianna's Brainy Brunette.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: René hates her, and everyone else finds her annoying as well, except Gloria, her makeup girl.
- In-Series Nickname: René usually calls her (behind her shoulders) "cagna maledetta" ("damned bitch").
- The Millstone: Is this in the film, when after casting talented young actor Francesco Campo René is forced to cast Corinna as well, because they belong to the same management agency and are offered as a "package deal". It only gets worse after Campo dies of an overdose but Corinna sticks.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: She's a vain and arrogant airhead while her character Giulia is the heroic female protagonist. Even more so after she leaves The Eyes of the Heart to star in another series as Young Mother Teresa... Hilariously, she doesn't even know who she is.
- Oblivious to Hatred: She's usually blind to the fact that most of her co-workers can't stand her. Even in the movie, when she finally learns about René's infamous hatred for her and calls him out on it, René denies everything and still pretends to adore her.
- Official Couple: She and Stanis are married in the revival, despite the fact that they hated each other in the original series. They don't get along that well, even as a married couple, but Stanis claims he really loves her. Being Stanis, it's hard to tell.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 2 of season 4, having caught wind that they're planning to sabotage her scenes, Corinna goes to Lorenzo and promises him a "good service" if he does a great photography on her. Lorenzo hesitates, flashing back to their fling in the movie... Corinna doesn't understand and replies that she's talking about a bribe.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When she gets angry, she drops her fake "classy lady" act and starts shouting in a thick Roman accent on par with Biascica's.
- The Prima Donna: When it comes to narcissistic ego, she can rival Stanis.
- Put on a Bus: Corinna leaves the set after season 1 to work in another series, and her character Giulia is killed off from The Eyes of the Heart.
- Really Gets Around: Implied. Despite having a boyfriend, she has a sexual relationship with Dr. Cane in season 1. In the movie, she takes "slut" as a compliment, before sleeping with Lorenzo, the ugly Butt-Monkey of the troupe.
- She Really Can Act: In-Universe in season 4, when she gets cast in Life of Jesus, René and most of the crew try to sabotage her scenes to have an excuse to fire her. She catches wind of the plot and sets up her countermeasures, but eventually performs a genuinely well-acted scene as the Virgin Mary that convinces René to keep her.
- Small Name, Big Ego: More so than Stanis. She's a horrible "actress" to an almost embarrassing extent, but somehow she believes herself to be talented.
- Spoiled Brat: Complains and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way on the set.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is a ditzy, vain primadonna Girly Girl, while Arianna describes herself as a Tomboy in season 1 and has a tomboyish appearance.
Cristina Avola Burkstaller
Played by: Eugenia Costantini
An actress who replaces Corinna in season 2, playing Sofia, the new female protagonist of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Back for the Finale: After being Put on a Bus after season 2, she's seen again in the season 3 finale and the movie.
- Book Dumb: She apparently doesn't know the difference between stage directions and lines in a script.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: She is actually a good actress, but hates her job and often arrives late on the set or doesn't come at all when all the others are waiting for her.
- Brutal Honesty: She speaks her mind with no problem. She even tells René that the script of The Eyes of The Heart is ridiculous and most scenes don't make sense.
- The Bus Came Back: She's back in one episode of season 4 in the role of Herodias (Salomé's mother).
- Cloudcuckoolander: Prone to ramble on absentmindedly, even in her Establishing Character Moment.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: Corinna was a Dumb Blonde and terrible actress who actually has the ambition of becoming a star. Cristina is a good actress and Brainy Brunette who doesn't want to be an actress and is only part of the show because she is forced to.
- In-Series Nickname: "Mazinger's daughter", originally given by Sergio and referencing her family's privilege.
- Naïve Newcomer: While Alessandro was this in season 1, she takes the role of the clueless newcomer in season 2.
- Ping Pong Naïveté: She alternates between being a naive Cloudcuckoolander who thinks she can trust drug-addict Duccio as an acting mentor, and being a wise girl who knows she can't trust René or Stanis, and is aware that The Eyes of the Heart doesn't make sense.
- Put on a Bus: Cristina happily leaves the set at the end of season 2, so her character Sofia from The Eyes of the Heart is also Put on a Bus to Africa.
- Spoiled Brat: Unintentionally. Her father is stated to be one of the richest and most powerful men of Europe, and he's the reason why she got the role. Cristina can be inconsiderate and thoughtless (and gets away with it because of her father), but not on purpose and she is also willing to apologize.
- Upper-Class Twit: After coming back from a trip, she casually mentions that she was worried about losing 80 millions of euros on that trip, but that's ok because she only lost 10 millions.
Karin
Played by: Karin Proia
The actress who plays romantic rival Sandra in The Eyes of the Heart, brought on the show only for fanservice.
- Back for the Finale: After being Put on a Bus after season 2, she's seen again in the season 3 finale and the movie.
- Betty and Veronica:
- Her character Sandra in The Eyes of the Heart is the Veronica as a foil to the Betty of Cristina's character, with Stanis's character being the Archie.
- Karin herself is the Veronica to Arianna's Betty for Alessandro's Archie.
- Brutal Honesty: Very blunt about everything, even when she's not trying to be rude.
- Character Death: Her character Sandra after being shot in The Eyes of the Heart. She will come back to the show in the season 3 finale though…
- Fair Cop: Her character Sandra in The Eyes of the Heart is a cop and so attractive that manages to win the heart of the male protagonist Giorgio (Stanis).
- Femme Fatale: Brags about her ability to flirt and sleep with men to get what she wants.
- Jerkass to One: In her debut episode, she's an absolute Jerkass to Arianna for no real reason. She gets better in later episodes, although even her apology to Arianna was pretty much a Backhanded Apology.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's rude and slutty, but is one of the few people who care about Alessandro and actually give him good advice.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Her character Sandra on the soap is introduced to be the seductive Good Bad Girl (Dark) to Sofia's wholesome Nice Girl (Light). Downplayed but still present in real life, as she's much more sexually aggressive than Cristina (Sofia's actress in-universe).
- Ms. Fanservice:
- The entire purpose of her character in the Show Within a Show due to In-Universe Executive Meddling.
- Even when the role doesn't call for that — like Mary Magdalene in season 4 — it seems like she's only able to play such characters. She vehemently insists that the scene of Mary washing Jesus's feet is supposed to be a fetish scene.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: With her physical appearance, Roman accent, and Shameless Fanservice Girl behavior, she's a parody of Italian actresses like Sabrina Ferilli.
- Only One Name: We never learn her last name.
- Really Gets Around: Or so she claims. She had sex with both Alessandro and Stanis (the latter is also her Love Interest in the Show Within a Show).
- Romantic False Lead: Both in the series and in the Show Within a Show. She dates Alessandro for a few episodes but he ends things because they don't have much in common and he still carries a torch for Arianna. In The Eyes of the Heart, she plays a Fair Cop who steals the attention of the male lead from his One True Love.
Fabiana Hassler
Played by: Angelica Leo
The protagonist actress in season 3, who plays Chiara in Medical Dimension. She is René's daughter.
- Back for the Finale:
- After missing the actual Season 3 finale, she appears in the Boris film in a cameo.
- She's back again in the Season 4 finale, when she gives her dad a place to stay away from indiscreet eyes as he's editing his film I, Judas.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Don't dare to disrespect her father in front of her.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: To both Corinna and Cristina. She's both talented and hard-working, unlike stupid and talentless Corinna or lazy Spoiled Brat Cristina, and is also much nicer than either of them.
- Daddy's Girl: To René, they clearly have a close relationship, and she has a deep respect for him.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde, and a wholesome, naïve Nice Girl.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Oblivious about her father's shortcomings and the dark side of his workplace.
- Naïve Newcomer: In season 3, replacing Cristina in that role.
- Nepotism: Averted, then played straight. René refuses to let Fabiana be the star of Medical Dimension as she's secretly his daughter and he doesn't want to be accused of this, but later he has to ask her to take the role since the network's designated replacement actress proves to be utterly incompetent.
- Out of Focus: Introduced in the season 3 opening as the new female lead actress. Unlike the previous lead actresses Corinna and Cristina (and even Karin) who have prominent roles in their respective seasons, Fabiana quickly goes Out of Focus after her introduction. In fact, the season 3 finale brings back Corinna, Cristina, and Karin while Fabiana doesn't even appear.
- Remember the New Guy?: René never mentions any daughter in the first two seasons.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: She looks cute. Her father…not so much.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: So pure and naïve that she's unaware of the Crapsack World around her.
Mariano Giusti
Played by: Corrado Guzzanti
The actor who plays the role of The Count, the main villain of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Ax-Crazy: Mariano is certifiably insane and destructively violent, a fact the troupe tries to defuse by leaving Alessandro to keep him calm — a thing he does under Mariano's threat of death by baseball bat mauling.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Mariano's absolute and delusional insanity is played up. Made funnier by the fact that his actor Corrado Guzzanti improvised almost all of his lines.
- Crisis of Faith: Played for Laughs with Mariano often questioning his religious beliefs.
- Gun Nut: In season 4 he's always seen around the set with a loaded gun on his person (and, if Arianna forces him to leave the gun in his dressing room, he has a taser gun instead). He insists at gunpoint that the crew respects the shooting schedule, because he has to catch a flight to Houston to attend a gun convention.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Between season 1 and 2, he has some kind of epiphany and his religious faith makes him a nicer and softer person. Until he kills his mentor Father Gabrielli.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Mariano is one of the most hilarious and memetic characters in the series, though he doesn't appear in person until the start of season 2.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Subverted. In interviews, he claims to be different from the villainous Count he plays (especially after his Heel–Faith Turn) but Mariano is actually a psychopath like his character.
- Patricide: In season 4 he's particularly insistent on killing his father. He's distressed when dad goes missing — they even had a crematorium oven ready for him!
- The Sociopath: Both Mariano himself and the character he plays on the Soap Within a Show, as he's capable of murder without remorse.
Nando Martellone
Played by: Massimiliano Bruno
A "comedian" who plays the role of the notary, the Plucky Comic Relief of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Character Catchphrase: Has a rather vulgar catch phrase that made him famous during his sketch shows. He randomly screams "bucio de culo!" which literally means "ass hole!".
- Character Death: Not Martellone himself but his character (the notary) dies in one of the rare well-acted scenes of the soap in season 3. The entire troupe was crying, even Arianna.
- Fat Comic Relief: A fat comedian hired for the role of the notary, to raise the rating of the series and make it funnier. He's more obnoxious than anything, but everyone in-universe find him hilarious except the Only Sane Man characters (Alessandro, René, Arianna).
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's a caricature of comedians from Italian cabaret shows like Zelig and Colorado who often become popular thanks to a Catchphrase.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: The writers get rid of his character (the notary) in season 2 by putting him into a coma, after Martellone is involved in a scandal behind the scenes.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives a very epic and well-deserved one to one of the screen-writers. He left him speechless.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: All of his catch-phrases ("bucio de culo" and later "sti cazzi") involve swearing.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: In-Universe in season 4, he wants to invoke it for himself and transition to a dramatic actor. Unfortunately, everyone else still sees him as the superficial catchphrase-shouting vaudevillian.
Valerio Zanetti
Played by: Marco Giallini
The actor portraying the disabled psychologist in Medical Dimension.
- LOL, 69: The race number he wears on his jersey when cycling "as" Girardengo.
- Method Acting: In-Universe, to the Nth level. Since his character uses a wheelchair, he insists on acting like a real disabled person, meaning that Alessandro has to move him around in his dressing room. Unfortunately, since he's preparing for a role as famous cyclist Costante Girardengo, he also spends his mornings training causing him to have a terrible body odour.
- The Pig-Pen: As mentioned above, his "immersive training" for the part of Girardengo includes kilometres of training each day and no showers whatsoever. It gets so bad that Remo Arcangeli refuses to act any scene next to him until he washes himself. Arianna then tricks Valerio into filming an unplanned shower scene.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Medical Dimension starts to burst at its seams, he breaks character, stands up from the wheelchair and leaves the set.
- Split Personality: His extreme method acting borders on this. When he invites Alessandro out for dinner at the restaurant and then stands him up, he claims that the invite was made by his character, while he himself prefers to stay home on his own.
Marilita Loy
Played by: Rosanna Gentili
"The best actress in Italy", who joins the cast of The Caste in the film.
- Berserk Button: The mere presence of Lorenzo bothers her to her core, to the point that the normally extremely soft-spoken actress snaps and starts beating him at one point.
- Nightmare Fetishist: She keeps pictures of her dead father inside her wallet. As in, post-autopsy.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: She's a pretty transparent parody of decorated actress Margherita Buy, down to the name.
- Shrinking Violet: Despite her accolades she's very hard on herself and her way of speaking is practically a whisper. It wouldn't be a problem if this wasn't her acting style too, which makes shooting an exterior scene with environmental noise a big challenge.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In a weird roundabout way, René manages to convince Marilita to give a confident performance by pretending he's the one in need of a pep-talk from her.
Tatti Barletta
Played by: Edoardo Pesce
The actor portraying Judas in Life of Jesus in season 4.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: To his credit he's Surrounded by Idiots, but in his first scene he snaps at a camera operator because "he was mocking him" (the operator actually had a tic which made him shake his head while filming).
- Hypocrite: Glauco persuades him to renounce his strike with the promise of a protagonist role. Ana, the actress Tatti previously convinced to join his union, catches them in the act of working overtime and chews them out.
- Money, Dear Boy: In-Universe. Glauco's flattering and his promises of money and fame convince Tatti to take back his word and break his strike.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Engineered by René and Glauco In-Universe when they see how good of an actor Tatti is, increasing his role and eventually turning him into the lead actor of René's film I, Judas.
- Strawman Political: He founded an actors' union and has called for a strike. He's very persistent when convincing his colleagues to join his union.
- Unseen No More: His name was a Running Gag in the original series — notably, he was the one supposed to play the homosexual social worker in The Eyes of the Heart. He finally appears in season 4 with a major role.
The Crew
Itala
Played by: Roberta Fiorentini
The script supervisor.
- The Alcoholic: She is often seen drinking on the set.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems polite, but is actually as sociopathic and cynical as the others. She pretends to be sorry when Lorenzo was brutally beaten up but then it's revealed that she was also involved in the beating along with other people.
- Character Death: It's mentioned she's dead in the first episode of the revival, due to the actress's death three years before.
- Everyone Has Standards: When René arrives on set hungover in "Into the Network", even her is shown with a disapproving look.
- Lazy Bum: She doesn't care much about doing her work.
- Lethally Stupid: She gives ham to the original Boris towards the end of season 1, and this obviously ends up killing the goldfish.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is only one letter off "Italia" (Italy). She's the only crew member who seems to appreciate The Eyes of the Heart, and as such shares the tastes of the Italian public at large.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Despite being an ignorant, alcoholic Lazy Bum, she's not always as oblivious as she seems. At least once, she shows to be cunning enough to manipulate René.
- Only One Name: Another character whose last name is unknown.
Duccio Patanè
Played by: Ninni Bruschetta
The director of photography.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Can come off as laidback and even friendly, but a few scenes show that he can be a Jerkass like Biascica.
- Character Catchphrase: "Smarmella", most often said to Biascica as he's adjusting the set lighting. Meaning "just turn all the lights up" — literally it's "slather everything in jam".
- Celibate Hero: In the original series, he doesn't care about sex at all (not even when Ms. Fanservice Karin hits on him) and is stated to be asexual in the revival.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: He lectures Alessandro in the pilot that photography is not supposed to be good, otherwise it will make the commercials look bad. At first you'd think he's a Cloudcuckoolander, but the next episodes shows that he may have had a point all along.
- The Corrupter: He occasionally tempts his co-workers into taking drugs like him.
- The Cynic: Probably the most cynical character. He has no pretence of doing any quality work because according to him, the photography is not supposed to be good (or it will overshadow the commercials). He's still on board because he has bills to pay and a drug addiction to satisfy.
- Foil: To René, his close friend. René still dreams that someday he will do something meaningful in his career, Duccio has no such illusions.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He has been a close friend of René for a long time, and it's pretty much the only reason why René doesn't want to fire him.
- Hidden Depths: Season 4 implies that he may still be a competent director of photography and it's the cocaine that is holding him back.
- In-Series Nickname: In season 4 he gains the nickname "Duccio-no-shooting" from his Indian colleagues when he becomes infamous for refusing to work in most light conditions.
- Jaded Professional: As much as René if not worse. There are signs here and there that he may have been once competent in his job, but has long renounced to any pretense of quality in his work. He's Only in It for the Money.
- Karma Houdini: He's possibly the most incompetent member of the crew and is almost always high at work. The producers often tell René to fire him, but he never does.
- Lazy Bum: He hardly ever works. When he does, he's terrible at it.
- The Obi-Wannabe:
- He gives the actress Cristina advice on how to deliver her lines in one scene of the soap. His acting advice is absolutely terrible, but since Cristina is a Cloudcuckoolander, she takes him seriously.
- His advice to Lorenzo to distract him from his work: "You can't think about work all the time, there are other important things in life... drugs, for example".
- The Slacker: He has a lazy, cynical approach to life.
- The Stoner: Well... he is known for being a drug addict with cocaine.
- Token Minority:
- The only Sicilian, while most of the cast is from Rome.
- In season 4, he's revealed as asexual. This is actually a plot point, as it satisfies the Platform's request for behind-the-scenes diversity.
- Unusual Euphemism: He constantly refers to the act of assuming cocaine as "thinking".
Augusto Biascica
Played by: Paolo Calabresi
The chief electrician.
- Big Red Devil: What Alessandro sees him as during his unintentional LSD trip.
- The Bully: He emotionally and physically abuses Lorenzo for his own amusement and because he needs a "slave" to pick on.
- Fan Boy: Of the football club A.S. Roma.
- Fan Disservice: In "Like Lars von Trier" all the crew strips down to their underwear, but he misunderstands and goes full monty. We get several not-so-nice shots of his butt.
- For the Evulz: The reason why he keeps bullying Lorenzo.
- Freudian Excuse: Season 2 reveals that he grew up with a Dysfunctional Family and an abusive father, which left him emotionally messed-up. It's then Subverted when it's revealed that the true cause of his psychological troubles is... the unpaid overtime from April.
- Jerkass: He's a spiteful bully with sadistic tendencies. What do you except from someone who wears a hat with the word "asshole" on it?
- Jerkass Has a Point: He's not wrong for wanting to be paid for the overtime from April.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As the series goes by he mellows out, showing that he actually cares for his fellow crew (though still expressing it as bullying) and is passionate about his job.
- Kavorka Man: He manages to win over Gloria, even if his flirting is laughable at best and creepy at worst.
- Lean and Mean: He's quite lanky and one of the most unlikable character in the series.
- Last-Name Basis: Rarely called Augusto. He's usually referred to as Biascica.
- Lower-Class Lout: Violent, gross, vulgar, obnoxious, and ignorant about everything except football.
- Meaningful Name: His last name Biascica literally means 'slurs' (as in 'to slur', the speech impediment) — a thing he does liberally.
- Mistaken for Racist: In season 4, Allison mistakes backstage footage of him picking his nose as him making a racist caricature against Asians. As a result, Biascica becomes particularly protective of a young actor of Vietnamese descent to "prove" he's not really racist.
- Never Bareheaded: Always wears a hat with a word in it… "asshole". Probably his co-workers are not familiar with that English word.
- Offscreen Romance: The one with Gloria: we only see when they get together and when they break up.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his sadism and extreme ignorance, he seems to love his family.
- Terrible Pick-Up Lines: His strategy to make an impression on Gloria: obsessively ask her whether she puts cherry tomatoes in her poached fish.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: In the second season, his wife is expecting a third child. He ponders about naming him Francesco Totti Biascica (yes, "Francesco Totti" as a given name). Which he does, as seen in the movie where he introduces little "Francesco Totti Biascica" to René.
- Whoopi Epiphany Speech: At the end of season 3, he rallies the crew pleading with them to keep working on The Eyes of the Heart 3 and bring René's vision to fruition.
Lorenzo
Played by: Carlo De Ruggieri
The photography intern, also known as the "slave intern".
- Always Someone Better: He has proven to be a much better cinematographer than Duccio, much to the latter's dismay.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Most of the time, he's an Extreme Doormat mistreated by everyone. When he wants to be, he can be a Jerkass like everyone else, and he's shown to be passive-aggressive since the beginning.
- Butt-Monkey: The only character who is treated worse than Alessandro. He is especially a punching bag to Biascica, who calls him his "slave".
- The Chew Toy: Even the opening credits (both the first and second one) make it clear that he is a "slave" and a punching bag.
- The Dog Bites Back: He tries to rebel in season 2, but it ends up blowing up in his face.
- Extreme Doormat: Especially in season 1. Biascica physically abuses him and doesn't even let him talk.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's probably the most disliked (and abused) person in the troupe. Although Biascica is the one who hates him the most, no one likes to work with him.
- Hidden Depths: Whenever they give him the possibility of working seriously, he's very good at what he does.
- No-Respect Guy: He's actually competent in his work, but nobody respects him anyway.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 2 of season 4, having caught wind that they're planning to sabotage her scenes, Corinna goes to Lorenzo and promises him a "good service" if he does a great photography on her. Lorenzo hesitates, flashing back to their fling in the movie... Corinna doesn't understand and replies that she's talking about a bribe.
- Rank Up: In season 3 and the revival, he's no longer an intern, but a camera operator.
- Straw Loser: Pretty much another Alessandro, but older, uglier, and more bitter.
- The Stoner: Falling under Duccio's influence in season 4, he starts taking LSD to "see" the Algorithm.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: As hard as it is to believe, he has sex with Corinna in the movie. This is mentioned in the revival, and Lorenzo still has a soft spot for her, even if she's married to Stanis now.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Every time he is promoted and thinks he is doing something right, he ends up being rejected and humiliated (and even beaten up in season 2). He gets better in season 3… until the final episode where he ends up as Biascica's slave again.
Alfredo Rocchi
Played by: Luca Amorosino
- Black Humour: In the film, at Francesco Campo's funeral, he barely keeps a chuckle when he holds his phone in the air and says "Non c'è più Campo" ("There's no more Campo"/"There's no more signal"). René doesn't find it funny in the slightest.
- Closest Thing We Got: In season 4 he handles the recruiting of a young Chinese actor to play a Race Lifted St. Mark. After several misses, he finally finds a talented Asian kid... who then says he's actually of Vietnamese descent. Alfredo just gives up.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: In season 2, although he remains a minor character for the entire series.
- Right Behind Me: When Cristina is once again late on set, he starts ranting to the whole crew about everyone being fed with her and her privilege. Of course, she arrives behind him at that very moment.
- Took the Bad Film Seriously: In-Universe. When René gets bowel pains and is unable to direct, Alfredo tries to put his vision in The Eyes of the Heart, with careful angles and lighting.
Gloria Spalloni
Played by: Ilaria Stivali
The make-up artist.
- Chatty Hairdresser: Actually a make-up artist, and the chattier one is Corinna, but they usually spend the make-up sessions gossiping.
- Flat Character: Doesn't get much characterization and is always Out of Focus.
- Nice Girl: Unlike most characters, she seems a relatively kind, if slightly vapid, girl.
- Only Friend: Seems to be the only crew member who's friendly with Corinna, and the feeling's mutual.
- Put on a Bus: She is fired in early season 2, but fortunately for her she lands another job thanks to connections, leaving the media industry. She only briefly reappears in an episode of Season 3, and is the only main cast member from the original seasons (barring Itala and Dr. Cane, whose actors passed away) not to reappear in Season 4.
- Satellite Character: To Corinna and, to a lesser extent, Biascica. In fact, after Corinna has left the cast in season 2, Gloria is sacked from the crew in the following episode.
Sergio Vannucci
Played by: Alberto Di Stasio
The production manager.- Animal Motifs: In the opening sequence of season 3 — where all the cast appears as different merfolk — he's half-shark, which fits his greedy and aggressive personality.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He only cares about money and would resort to all kinds of dirty tricks to solve the production's problems.
- Demoted to Extra: In season 4 he's currently imprisoned for some glossed-over fraud and as such appears only in a handful of scenes.
- Establishing Series Moment: Sergio has the honour of delivering the line encapsulating the entire premise of Boris at the very start of episode 1:Alessandro: The director, do you know where he is?Sergio: Go fuck yourself.
- In-Series Nickname: Cristina constantly calls him "Doc" because he reminds her of Doc Brown.
- Jerkass: He's sleazy, corrupt, opportunistic, and prone to Kick the Dog moments in most of his appearances.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Whenever he acts nice to someone, it's for his own benefit.
Lalla and Fabio
Lalla
Played by: Aurora Calabresi (Lalla), Andrea Lintozzi Senneca (Fabio)
The new production interns for Life of Jesus.
- Advertised Extra: Despite appearing in the opening titles, their roles are pretty limited and maybe even smaller than other guest characters. Lalla has a small character arc of being involved in a Love Triangle with Alessandro and Angelo (the lead extra). Fabio not even that, and he's just there to be bossied around.
- Firing Day: Arianna eventually gets fed up with Lalla not following her job role properly, culminating in carelessly letting Stanis take a loaded gun and shoot some equipment, and fires her.
- No-Respect Guy: As the new production interns, being in what was Alessandro's role in the original seasons.
Glauco Benetti
Played by: Giorgio Tirabassi
An old friend of René and director of photography, he lives in South Africa and works internationally.
- Big Damn Heroes: He appears at the very end of the film as the one who successfully helps René and the screenwriters save The Caste by turning it into Christmas with the Caste.
- Brutal Honesty: His main characteristic is that he never sugarcoats his feelings. For example, unlike René who constantly uses false flattery on Corinna and then talks shit around her back, Glauco openly insults her to the point of tears.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Glauco belittles his actors, creates chaos for the sake of it, convinces René that a monkey is his network delegate... and yet he's a respected, successful and competent artist.
- Once a Season: He's one of the most recurring guest characters, making an appearance in every season and the film.
- Swapped Roles: He first appears with his director Albino Corradi when they have to sub for an absent René. Glauco and Albino swap their identities and roles for a day just to fuck with the crew of The Eyes of the Heart for giggles.
The Screenwriters
Played by: Valerio Aprea, Massimo De Lorenzo and Andrea Sartoretti
The three screenwriters of The Eyes of the Heart.
- Creator Thumbprint: Character descriptions such as "astonished" are found everywhere in the script, but this is just the result of laziness on their part and not an artistic choice (they even have such words mapped to the keyboard, to avoid typing them all the time).
- The Dividual: The three are always seen together, in a different place from the rest of the cast. Only in a season 2 episode, one of them comes to the set by himself and interacts with the troupe without the other two screenwriters.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: A blackboard in the movie reveals that they're called Aprea, Max and Zaghia, which are actually the real-life nicknames of their actors. This is confirmed by the Season 4 credits.
- Karma Houdini: Not only they get away with their terrible work ethic which is often source of trouble for the soap's crew, they even get paid for it.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: At least one of them gets it when he interacts with the crew in "L'affare Martellone" and is repeatedly insulted throughout the episode by René, Martellone, and Lopez.
- Killed Offscreen: One of the three dies sometimes between the movie and Season 4. This doesn't stop him from doing his screenwriting "job".
- Lazy Bum: They only care about their paycheck and don't put any effort in writing a good script. There's a reason why The Eyes of the Heart is such an awful series.
- No Name Given: Even the credits refer to them as just "the screenwriters". Funnily enough, when we see René's phone, one of the screenwriters's phone number was saved as "Dickhead #1".
- Promotion to Opening Titles: They appear since the first season, but are only added to the opening in season 3.
- Self-Deprecation: The Show Within a Show The Eyes of the Heart (as well as Medical Dimension in season 3) has three male screentwriters, just like Boris. They do not come out in a good light, let's put it this way.
- The Slacker:
- In season 3 they spend all their time slacking around in a boat, and avoiding to do their job at any cost. Sometimes they even rip off random scenes from obscure foreign series.
- In the movie, they force four interns to crunch a full film script in three weeks while they have fun before stealing the credit.
- Smarter Than You Look: They are revealed to be this in the season 3 finale. They actually start to work seriously, they discuss with René about the series while making good points, and all three are shown to be aware about how fiction works.
- Spirit Advisor: In season 4, Aprea is actually dead and can only be perceived by his two colleagues. He still works with them on their scripts. In the last episode, he becomes this to René as well.
- White Shirt of Death: The dead screenwriter in season 4 is perennially seen wearing a white shirt.
The Network and the Platform
Diego Lopez
Played by: Antonio Catania
The network delegate. In season 4, he's instead executive producer with his new company QQQ (Quality, Quality, Quality).
- Brick Joke: In the film, he mentions being close to being demoted to the movie department, where they all wear ratty pullovers and round glasses. Sure enough, once he reappears a couple of scenes later he's been demoted to the movie department and he's in a ratty pullover and round glasses.
- Consummate Liar: Often. Even his encouraging speech to the troupe in the pilot is full of Blatant Lies.
- Last-Name Basis: Aside from Biascica, he is the only character who is constantly referred by his last name. Oddly enough, the titles of season 4 refer to him as "Diego".
- Professional Butt-Kisser: He sucks up to his superiors and even to the actors.
- Punch-Clock Villain: In the film, he's the closest thing to a main antagonist since this time he tends to take more the Network's side rather than René's. And yet, this is only because the Network is his employer.
Dr. Cane
Dr. Cane's face (spoilers)
Played by: Arnaldo Ninchi
The network director.
- Back for the Finale: After being absent for most of the Boris film, he appears briefly in the audience watching René's movie.
- Big Bad: He doesn't want to stop the protagonists, but causes all the meddling that troubles them. He fits the trope in season 3, when he's actively planning to make René's work a disaster.
- Casting Couch: Corinna landed her lead role because she's one of dr. Cane's lovers.
- Dirty Old Man: He's old, powerful and has several young lovers.
- Executive Meddling: He is the meddling executive In-Universe.
- The Faceless: For the first two seasons, he's always seen from the back. Averted in the third season.
- Faux Affably Evil: Once he finally appears on screen. He acts cheerfully with René, but he's just kicking the dog.
- Meaningful Name: "Cane" means "dog", but it's also used as an insult with the meaning of "despicable person".
- Unseen No More: He spends most of the show either as The Ghost or The Faceless. When he's The Faceless, he's usually seen from behind, sitting on a chair and talking to the character in front of him. His face is revealed for the first time in the next-to-last episode, although he oddly goes back to being The Faceless in the finale.
Allison Daltman
Played by: Emma Lo Bianco
The European manager of the Platform producing Life of Jesus.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Dr. Cane from the original seasons. He's the old, severe director of a traditional TV network, he ensures that their productions respect the country's varied political interests, and his face is never seen on screen until the very end of season 3. She's a nice middle-age regional manager of a streaming platform, her only interest is the Platform's commercial success worldwide, and she appears in full view in the very first scene of season 4.
- Executive Meddling: In-Universe, like Dr. Cane before her, she's the main source of editing requests for Life of Jesus, like diversifying the cast or adding a "teen" subplot.
- The Heavy: The actual antagonist of season 4 is the Algorithm of the Platform, and Allison serves to provide a human face to its decisions.
- Punch-Clock Villain: She's an antagonist only in the sense that she's the spokeswoman for the Platform and relays their decisions, which constitute the obstacles the crew has to deal with.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's normally a cheerful woman, but go against the interests of the Platform and she will easily switch to a chilly, threatening tone.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: She appears in person only at the start and at the end of season 4. All other times, she's always seen over video link as she's moving across the world.
