The House of Flowers (season 1)

• Verónica Castro as Virginia de la Mora, the conservative matriarch of the de la Mora family who nevertheless grows weed and accepts her bisexual children
• Cecilia Suárez as Paulina de la Mora, the neurotic eldest child who is constantly handling her family's problems and knows everyone's secrets
• Aislinn Derbez as Elena de la Mora, the ambitious middle child who returns from New York with her black American fiancé Dominique at the start of the season, causing upset in the family until she gets more involved in the family business again
• Darío Yazbek Bernal as Julián de la Mora, the youngest child who is coming to terms with his sexuality
• Paco León as María José Riquelme, Paulina's ex and the family's lawyer, a Spanish trans woman who cares a lot about her family
• Juan Pablo Medina as Diego Olvera, the family's accountant and Julián's boyfriend, a consummate professional and openly gay
• Luis de la Rosa as Bruno Riquelme de la Mora, Paulina and María José's troublemaker teenage son who drinks too much and disrespects his parents but tries to be a role model for Micaéla
• Arturo Ríos as Ernesto de la Mora, father and husband of the de la Moras, a soft man who ends up in jail due to his mistress Roberta committing fraud in his name
• Claudette Maillé as Roberta Navarro, Ernesto's mistress and a former employee at The House of Flowers, she hangs herself in the first episode but appears throughout as an omniscient taunting presence, both narrating the show and appearing to Virginia physically
• Verónica Langer as Carmela "Carmelita" Villalobos, a nosy neighbor of the family who is still kind and friendly beneath it
• Lucas Velázquez as Claudio Navarro, the son of Roberta, a calm man who starts dating Elena but prioritizes his half-sister, Micaéla
• Norma Angélica as Delia, the family's maid and a gossip, she adores Elena and is her confidante
• David Ostrosky as Dr. Salomón Cohen, the family psychiatrist and Virginia's former lover, he works with a sock puppet called Chuy
• Alexa de Landa as Micaéla Sánchez, the young daughter of Ernesto and Roberta who is taken in by Virginia, learning how to tend flowers
• Sheryl Rubio as Lucía Dávila, a social climber and Julián's girlfriend
• Sawandi Wilson as Dominique Shaw, Elena's black American fiancé who is a kind and patient man, friendly with the family despite Virginia's disapproval and casual racism, even learning Spanish

• Natasha Dupeyrón as Ana Paula "La Chiquis" Corcuera, a young blind florist who wants to buy La Casa de las Flores
• Paco Rueda as Agustín "El Chiquis" Corcuera Jr., the smarmy brother of La Chiquis, who assists her
• Ismael Rodríguez as Jorge, the drag queen impersonator of Amanda Miguel
• Pepe Marquez as Pepe/La Pau, the Paulina Rubio drag queen
• Katia Balmori as Mario, the Yuri drag queen
• Mariana Santos as Gloria, the Gloria Trevi drag queen
• Irving Peña as Alfonso "Poncho" Cruz, a stripper who falls in love with Carmelita
• Michel Frías as Moisés Cohen, Bruno's friend and Salomón's nephew
• Hugo Catalán as Oliver, a gay friend of Diego and Julián
• Ruth Ovseyevitz as Dora Cohen, Moi's mother and Salomón's sister, a friend to the de la Mora family
• David Chaviras as El Cacas, the cellmate of Ernesto who befriends Paulina
• Alexis Ortega as Dr. Federico "DJ Freddy" Limantour, a drug dealer, DJ, and doctor who helps revitalize business at the florist's
• Elizabeth Guindi as Angélica, one of Virginia's conservative friends
• Andrea Sisniega as La Beba, one of Virginia's conservative friends
• Amanda Farah as the funeral home worker
• Federico Espejo as Willy, a gay man that Diego and Julián try to have an open relationship with
• Sofía Sisniega as Mara, a wedding planner that Julián has an affair with
• Roberto Quijano as Luka, a news reporter and photographer for Mexican Vanity Fair
• Felipe Flores as Lalo, a male stripper at the cabaret
• Francisco de la Reguera as Juanpi, a young and nerdy drug lord

The series was creator Manolo Caro's first work in television.[1]

A new Netflix original series to be created by Manolo Caro was announced in October 2016,[2] with the title and the principal cast being revealed in January 2017. This principal cast was made up of Castro, Suárez, and Derbez.[3] Suárez had acted in most of Caro's other works before the show, though a reviewer suggested that she had to "leave her comfort zone"[transl. 1] to play Paulina, doing so successfully,[4] while León says that he was offered the role of María José after a brief conversation with Caro, and was immediately enthusiastic.[5] The casting of Verónica Castro, referred to as "Mexican telenovela royalty", was seen by Remezcla's media reviewer Manuel Betancourt to be a real achievement on the part of Caro, who in effect was "getting her out of retirement" to make the show.[6] Castro has said that she did not know her character would be a marijuana smoker when she took the role, and though she disliked some parts of the character, she was encouraged by her children to continue with the show.[7] She has also said that getting back into acting with the show helped her mental health.[8]

There was initially some controversy around the casting of Paco León, a cisgender actor, as a trans woman. León said that the show's intention with his character was to "take this character out of the stereotypical perception, in a sense that would create a healthy dialogue about LGBTQ issues by providing a positive portrayal of a trans woman", adding that it was important to the production and that they hope the character of María José achieved their intentions.[9] He has also said he is not sure why the production did not cast a trans actress, but wanted to honor the role and felt his job as an actor is to be able to interpret any role, without stepping on the toes of trans actresses for whom he thought it would be an opportunity to be heard. When the controversy arose, León said he understood it and didn't want to push back, though he was given a supportive message from trans actress Daniela Vega during this period.[5] Caro has said that he first thought of León for the role because of the actor-director's own work to create more visibility and opportunities for LGBT+ people in entertainment.[10] After the show aired, it was reported that trans people had warmed to the character, and particularly her line: "I had a change of sex, not of heart".[7][transl. 2] Though León's portrayal was accepted, the actor said that he will not accept more trans roles so as to promote more trans actors,[11] but would continue as María José in the show.[12]

Regarding having a transgender character in general, creator Caro said that he is "committed to the issue because it is time to normalize it",[transl. 3] and that he thinks media needs to "demystify"[transl. 3] real people from LGBT+ stereotypes.[13] In terms of his approach to playing María José, León also affirmed that he "left the comedy behind"[transl. 4] from when he had played female characters before in impersonation show Homo Zapping, treating the role seriously.[14]

Principal photography began on July 24, 2017 in Mexico City, with the main sets in San Andrés Totoltepec.[15][16][17] According to Derbez, who was pregnant during filming, accommodations were made specifically to hide her baby bump in the show.[18] She also said that it was one of the fastest shoots she had done, explaining that Caro is a calm and efficient director.[19]

Filming was halted for several weeks in September and October 2017 after the 2017 Puebla earthquake as the filming location needed to be stabilized before production could continue. Suárez was also injured in the earthquake and could not return to set for a month after production resumed. The show was filming in Condesa as the quake happened, with the cast commending Caro for helping rescue extras and being the last to evacuate the site.[20]

Suárez has said that her character's distinctive voice came through a process of improvisation while filming, starting on the fourth shoot day[21] during the scene where Paulina and Bruno are covering up Roberta's wake at the funeral home, by trying out variations and being pushed by Caro to keep exaggerating it further after he approved of it.[19][22] She explained that some of the early scenes had to be re-recorded to keep Paulina's speech consistent.[23] Another scene also had to be re-shot; when the characters of Julián and Diego kiss in a sports store, it was first to be recorded in a Martí outlet. When the owners learned that the scene involved a gay kiss they shut down filming, because they did not want the brand to be associated with this, and the scene was later shot at Innovasport.[24]

Caro has discussed the impromptu planning for some scenes. He said that during filming of the mariachi scene, he asked cinematographer Pedro Gómez Millán if they could get the shot to move away into the air. Gómez Millán advised Caro that they could not use a crane, the traditional route for such a shot, because they were filming in a real indoor location; he instead suggested the use of a drone. This produced so much wind that costumes and props had to be pinned down.[25] Caro also explained that he, Darío Yazbek Bernal, and the art department had planned Julián's fantasy coming-out musical sequence, keeping it a secret from the rest of the cast until filming. They also only managed one take, as when Yazbek Bernal ripped off his shirt during the dance, he tore it. This scene then led the way for more musical numbers on the show.[26]

Filming concluded on November 22, 2017.[27] The full 13-episode first season was released on Netflix on August 10, 2018.[28] Before the first season was released, a trailer debuted on June 12, 2018.[29] By November 2018, it was one of the most-watched current series around the world, marking it as a part of the Mexican boom of new media and a Netflix success.[30] The season's release coincided with the northern hemisphere's summer season; some reviews have described the show as perfect for the summer,[31][32] though Katherine Plumhoff for Ozy wrote that it was ideal to binge-watch with family over the northern winter holiday season.[33]

Some quotations in this article were originally in languages other than English, and have been user-translated.

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