Paulina de la Mora is a fictional character in the Netflix television series The House of Flowers, appearing in every episode and portrayed by Mexican actress Cecilia Suárez. The eldest daughter of the de la Mora family, she manages both her parents' businesses, a floristry shop and cabaret; being the eldest by several years, she also takes care of her siblings. She was once married to José María Riquelme before she transitioned, but reunites with the now María José after her father, Ernesto, is arrested. The couple have a teenage son, Bruno, and wed again in the series finale. The other main story for Paulina is learning about her biological father, after she finds out in season one that her parents married when her mother, Virginia, was already pregnant.
The character is notable for her distinctive style of speech and near-universal acclaim. Her statement fashion has also been prominently discussed. Suárez has received two Best Actress Platino Awards for the role. She became the lead in season two after the departure of Verónica Castro as Virginia.
Vogue España described Paulina as the best TV character of 2018, saying that Suárez's acting is the best they have seen in a long time, and that she will go down in television history. The character is described as a Mexican pop icon.
Development Cecilia Suárez, who plays Paulina de la Mora, is a frequent collaborator with the show's creator, Manolo Caro, and had acted in all but one of his previous projects. Paulina is a main character in the show, but in season one was second to the central character of Virginia, portrayed by Verónica Castro. Castro left before the show was renewed, and has given conflicting explanations as to why. For the second season, reviewers saw that "the closest thing the [show] has to a central character now" was Paulina, who steps up to take control of things and who was already a fan favorite; Rodrigo Munizaga speculated that Castro could have felt "overshadowed" by Suárez in the first season. In August 2018, El País described Paulina as a "heart stealer" and, in 2019, Vogue wrote that Suárez was "the new queen of the telenovela" because of the role.
Suárez was injured in the 2017 Puebla earthquake, which happened during filming; production was halted but she could not return to set for a month after production resumed. Though the character became very popular among fans, Suárez has dismissed claims that Paulina may have a spin-off, saying that she does not think Caro would do that, and that the character belongs in the story of the show.
Characterization
Caro has said that he thought Paulina would be "polarizing" when he wrote her, that people would either love her or hate her, not expecting her to be as popular as she was received; for this reason he quickly wrote Suárez a very different role in their 2018 film Perfect Strangers, so both creator and actress could have some mental space from the character in case she was disliked. The character is said to have "a personality that justifies going from drama to involuntary comedy", which has been assessed as a perfect fit for the style of the show. The concept of second chances is the "backbone" of Paulina's character, according to Suárez, who said that Caro concerned himself with this concept through the first two seasons.
Suárez describes Paulina as very loyal, being supportive of her family even when they are hit by scandals and their image ruined. Capelo writes that "Paulina is the classic daddy's girl who grows up in a patrician family", but also acts as the bearer of woes and is there to help them deal with social appearance issues. Cobb says that the character is the "ever-loyal daughter" and a "standout tyrant" in the sense that she goes to extreme lengths to defend her family, "and she never even smudges her flawless red lipstick while she's doing it."
Paulina is bisexual and a feminist. Garrán writes that Paulina "appears conservative but enjoys forming bonds with drag queens and prisoners", an attribute that Suárez compares against the "contradiction" of the conservative Mexico that refuses to accept its transgressive side yet still has Juan Gabriel as one of its most beloved figures. Suárez notes that Paulina is a modern character who, despite her background, does not discriminate against people no matter their skin color, sexuality, or social class – according to fan messages, this is a main reason why people connect with and like her. Ramírez for El País compared Paulina to characters like Elle Woods, Cher Horowitz, and Hilary Banks, though Paulina starts off much different to other 'heiresses' in that her character is based more in "sarcasm, intelligence, the spirit of self-improvement and progressive thinking" and not in the stereotypical portrayal of the daddy's girl.
Voice
The character is known for her distinctive voice, which Marie Claire described as "deliberate, almost stuttery, and a little nasal". Paco León, who plays Paulina's partner, trans woman María José Riquelme, said that when he arrived on set in Mexico after filming had begun and heard Suárez speak in character as Paulina for the first time, he initially thought the cast was playing a prank on him.
Suárez has discussed Paulina's voice. She said that it was hard for her to develop her character's identity, trying out different voices alone before filming and not finding the right fit. The distinctive voice she is known for was improvisation Suárez tried during filming, on the fourth shoot day during the scene where Paulina and Bruno are covering up Roberta's wake at the funeral home. Caro approved of the voice and pushed Suárez to keep exaggerating it further after they decided together to use it. Some of the early scenes had to have the sound re-recorded to keep Paulina's speech consistent. Suárez has hinted that she and Caro devised a backstory for Paulina's voice between themselves, adding that they have some friends who do speak similarly and so using it is "a way to honor them".
The character's languorous speech pattern, which is often slowed down even further to enunciate syllable by syllable, became popular among viewers, spawning the '#PaulinaDeLaMoraChallenge' on social media. In the challenge, fans upload videos where they imitate Paulina's voice, often with some of the character's lines. The challenge was started by Mexican actor Roberto Carlo, with the stars of Cable Girls being the first to take it up. When Netflix and Suárez responded with their own version of the challenge on Twitter, it became a trending event on the website, based on popularity and coverage; at this point, there were over 69,000 fan videos of the challenge. The response to the challenge is one of the only times that Suárez has spoken in Paulina's voice outside of the show. She initially said Netflix restricted her from using the voice, but clarified this as being "a suggestion" that she follows to not break the magic of the fiction. Scholar Paul Julian Smith has noted that videos of Paulina's memorable lines recorded from the show have been uploaded to the Internet by fans and received hundreds of thousands of views.
Several media outlets, including the BBC, have suggested that Paulina's slow speech is a result of regularly taking the anti-anxiety medication Tafil (known in the United States as Xanax) because of an episode where the character says that she is addicted to it. Slow speech is a side effect of the drug. However, the article noted that the character's voice and Tafil use are creatively coincidental as they were conceived of separately during the show's development.
In terms of characterization, Verónica Calderón of Vogue writes that Paulina's voice is demarcating of the fresa ('yuppie', 'posh') stereotype that her character plays with. She says that similar types of speech are not unusual in upper-class neighborhoods like Las Lomas, suggesting that it could be used as part of the show's socioeconomic commentary. Clarín's Pablo Raimondi said that the style of diction establishes her as a "daddy's girl" and a character who can know everyone's secrets because it is a stamp of such characterization.
Paulina's voice became the focus of the show's marketing for season two, in a series of videos. The first marketing videos for season two were released in August 2019: on August 8, a video of Paulina leaving a threatening voicemail for the character Diego, mimicking the one in Taken, was released, which was followed on August 12 with a video showing a voice note left in the siblings' WhatsApp chat by Paulina about their mother's funeral. On October 2, another marketing video, also focused on Paulina speaking, was released. In it, the character makes an ASMR video recap of the show.
Fashion Alondra Piedra of Wapa wrote that Paulina is also known for her fashion, which she describes as fabulous, and Fernanda Pérez Sánchez of Vogue said that she is "a benchmark of absolute style" and a "fashion icon". Mexican stylist Natalia Seligson was the show's costume designer; she "wanted to bet on fresh and elegant designs with a formal but modern style", which Trendencias says "perfectly embodies Paulina".
Trendencias analyzed Paulina's fashion, noting that it was suitable for the business world but still highly fashionable, showing Paulina to be a busy working woman who is still concerned about appearances, also saying she has a more European style. They said that Paulina's fashion had an impact on viewers and that she first stole the show in episode one because of her unusual pink outfit. Pérez Sánchez discussed this outfit, how Paulina was introduced and showing that she had style straight away. The outfit is a loose blouse and palazzo pants in a monochrome pink that is bold in color and for the event, as women may not often wear pants to a formal garden party.
The Trendencias review noted that a lot of Paulina's outfits are more the style of a working woman, in plain and neutral colors and with many blazers. She also has more couture outfits in different colors, but these are made from a few versatile pieces combined in different ways. Trendencias added that while her clothes are loose, they have a feminine cut, and that she wears flat shoes on all but one occasion. Ramírez agreed that Paulina has a professional and easy wardrobe, and said that it was "minimalist" but that there is a focus on her well-placed accessories, with Pérez Sánchez noticing that when Paulina dressed in blouses and shirts, they were always buttoned all the way up, which she sees as a personal mark of Paulina in the outfits. Noting that Paulina's wardrobe is minimal and sophisticated, Piedra looked at certain outfits and trends; she reported that Paulina often wore pants that start at the waist, something that "stylizes the figure", and a versatile selection of sweaters and blazers. Elsa López of Glamour opined that Paulina's outfits stand out more because of the simplicity, and that her simple and minimalistic taste "perfectly reflects her personality" in that it is to-the-point as well as bold where she is not scared to express herself.
Juanra López of El Confidencial also reported on Paulina's style, noting that she wears her hair in a functional low bun most of the time, and that her make-up is minimal and is "not intended to emphasize her sexuality". López wrote that this style is part of her identity as a high-class woman, and also contrasts with the appearance of María José, which is furthered by Paulina's more work-style fashion compared to María José's haute couture. Ramírez also thought that Paulina's outfits make her seem cultured, but elaborated that "her style relaxes in accordance with her character development".
Appearances