TUCSON – With showrunner José Alberto "El Güero" Castro and stars Sofía Castro, Brandon Peniche, Emmanuel Palomares, and Emilio Osorio in attendance, TelevisaUnivision rolled out the red carpet Thursday night in Tucson for the premiere of its upcoming telenovela, Tierra de Amor y Coraje.
The event celebrated one of the network's most ambitious productions to date, with nearly 60% of the series filmed on location in Tucson, making the Arizona city far more than just a backdrop.
"When people thought about the Latino audience in the United States, for a long time telenovelas served as a way to ease the nostalgia for their countries of origin," José Alberto Castro said at the event, to which this reporter was invited. "Now we want audiences to feel they are part of these stories, that they can see themselves reflected in them."
The veteran producer said the telenovela represents a shift in storytelling for U.S. Hispanic audiences, placing a contemporary Latino experience at the center of the narrative.
For Sofía Castro, who takes on her first leading role in a telenovela, the project carries a special meaning.
"This is, in part, a story about migrants, family, and values," she said. "It takes place in a U.S. border city, and I am a proud Latina, proudly Mexican, who knows how difficult things can be for us and how important it is to have a project like this that shows who Latinos and Latina women really are."
A family saga set on the U.S.-Mexico border
Tierra de Amor y Coraje follows two powerful ranching families locked in a bitter feud over land that contains valuable lithium deposits, a resource increasingly coveted because of its importance in electric vehicle batteries and clean energy technology.
Tierra de Amor y Coraje centers on three brothers, Juan Coraje (Emmanuel Palomares), Jerónimo Coraje (Brandon Peniche) and Lalo Coraje (Emilio Osorio), who are forced to fight for their family's ranch after their parents are murdered in what is made to look like an accident. The crime is orchestrated by a rival rancher who is determined to take control of the valuable mineral deposits hidden beneath their land.
That rival is Rogelio Barrios, played by Sergio Goyri, while Sofía Castro plays Clara Barrios, his daughter. Complicating the battle over the ranch, the three Coraje brothers become emotionally entangled with Clara, the daughter of the very man trying to destroy their family. The brothers must keep their ranch together while confronting betrayal, greed and a love triangle, or more accurately, a four-way romantic conflict, that puts their loyalty to one another under pressure.
The premise is rooted in land, family inheritance and mineral wealth, with the Arizona landscape playing a major role in the series' visual identity. TelevisaUnivision filmed the production in several parts of the state, including Tucson, Phoenix, Tubac and Sedona, using ranches, desert roads, mountains and wide-open landscapes to create its contemporary Western world.
The telenovela is also an adaptation of the Brazilian classic Irmãos Coragem, created by Janete Clair, which originally revolved around brothers confronting a powerful landowner while fighting to protect their family and property. José Alberto Castro developed the new version with Fernando Garcilita, updating the conflict for a story set partly in the American Southwest.
For Palomares, one of the biggest surprises during production was Tucson itself.
"The sunsets here are incredible," he said. "They became part of our everyday life while filming."
Peniche and Osorio also reflected on their experience shooting in Arizona, praising the bond that developed among the cast and crew as well as the hospitality they received from local residents.
"The people here welcomed us with incredible generosity," they said, noting that the city's warmth made the lengthy production schedule feel like home.
The cast and crew spent nine weeks filming exterior scenes throughout Tucson, capturing its desert landscapes, ranches and neighborhoods before moving production to Televisa's studios in Mexico City to complete the interior scenes.
The premiere was held at La Rosa, a new cultural venue housed inside Tucson's beautifully restored former Benedictine Monastery. The historic location, now a hub for music, arts and community events, provided a fitting setting for a production that aims to blend tradition with a fresh vision of Latino storytelling.
By choosing Tucson as its primary filming location, Tierra de Amor y Coraje also shines a spotlight on a city rarely seen as the centerpiece of a major telenovela. For the cast and creators, that authenticity is one of the show's greatest strengths, offering audiences a story rooted in the realities, landscapes and culture of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tierra de Amor y Coraje premieres this Friday on VIX.
