‘Snakes & Ladders’ is a can’t-miss ride starring Cecilia Suárez and Juan Pablo Medina

Manolo Caro and Cecilia Suárez share a bond that’s weathered the years and created an almost fail-proof formula for hit after hit, on-screen and on streaming. Actor Juan Pablo Medina is often the third musketeer in that winning equation: his razor-sharp talent and humor have only amplified the director’s projects. 

Nearly seven years after the globe-conquering success of The House of Flowers (La Casa de las Flores), the trio reunites for Snakes & Ladders (Serpientes y Escaleras), a new must-see dark comedy on Netflix. 

¡HOLA! had a chance to sit down with the creator and two actors to talk shop, swap jokes, and reveal the behind-the-scenes alchemy that fuels their latest collaboration.

New role for Cecilia

For many fans, she’ll always be Paulina de la Mora, but Cecilia leaves that iconic role behind to slip into Dora López, the by-the-book dean’s assistant at Guadalajara’s elite Colegio Andes San Javier. 

Dora’s sole mission? Snag the principal’s chair. Just when her dream seems within reach, she’s caught in a high-stakes power struggle between two influential families, and decides the rules don’t apply anymore.

“Dora is framed by ethics and morals, by being ‘decent’, until one day she decides she can do without those guardrails,” Cecilia explains. That decision throws her into an uneasy alliance with Olmo Muriel (Medina), a wildly successful entrepreneur whose values are…let’s just say, “flexible”.

Why set the story in a private school?

Caro, whose earlier Netflix hits include Sagrada Familia and Alguien Tiene Que Morir, opted for a school, “that micro-universe so many of us know,” as his Petri dish for examining power, privilege and ambition in Mexican society. He says that moving production to Guadalajara served two purposes: “de-centralizing the industry a bit” and telling a story rooted in the city where he grew up.

Our conversation with the fun trio

During the lively sit-down, Medina could barely contain his excitement, admitting he was “thrilled and grateful” to be back under Caro’s direction and opposite Suárez, whose work he openly calls “master-class material.” For his part, Caro explained that the show’s seemingly small inciting incident, a scuffle between two second-graders, allowed him to poke fun at Mexico’s political powerplays without lecturing the audience. 

“The kids are fine; they adore each other,” he noted, “but their families’ need for control won’t let them stay in the same classroom. That absurdity felt like the perfect mirror.”

Suárez says slipping into Dora’s skin required trusting that her long-time collaborator would catch her if she jumped off the cliff. “Working with friends you love and admire creates a safety net, a web of trust and protection, that lets you take real risks.” she told ¡HOLA!.

Crafting Dora’s descent from rule-enforcer to rule-breaker, she focused on “following the thread of how one decision unravels everything, work life, family life, even the way she sees herself.”

Medina reveled in Olmo’s blind spots. “He truly believes he’s Father of the Year,” he laughed, “yet he bulldozes anyone, kids included, who stands in his way. The fun is playing that delusion with total conviction.” Sharing most of his scenes with Suárez was, he joked, “a blessing and a test; miss two lines, and you can feel her laser stare on the back of your neck.”

Watch the Trailer

Asked what they’ll carry forward from Snakes & Ladders, Caro beamed at the chance to “get paid to laugh with two of the great loves of my life,” while Suárez celebrated the protective camaraderie that lets them “swing for the fences without fear.” Medina, the optimist, called the reunion “the bonus round of a career I already love, working nonstop is great, but circling back to artists you genuinely admire is the real jackpot.”

Snakes & Ladders is now streaming on Netflix and it’s a perfect option for your next weekend binge!