Narcos’ Wagner Moura on playing Pablo Escobar: 'It would be wrong' to drag out Pablo’s death beyond season two

‘I’m doing a show that I’m really proud of’, added the Netflix star
Amy Ashenden4 September 2016

Wagner Moura, who plays Pablo Escobar in Netflix series Narcos, says producers took the right decision to kill off his character in the new season.

Season two of Narcos, which tells the true-life story of Colombia’s notorious cocaine dealer Pablo Escobar and the spread of drug cartels internationally, was released on September 2.

Discussing whether producers took the right decision to kill off his character, Pablo Escobar, Wagner Moura said ‘it would be forced or wrong’ to drag out his death any longer.

He said: “In the first season we cover like 15 years from the first day Pablo sees cocaine, then we skip to La Catedral.

“Then we had from the day he skips La Catedral to his death, which is like 11 months or a year, so it wouldn’t make any sense to make it any bigger than it is.”

While the series focuses heavily on a drugs war between a myriad of cartels and politicians, Moura and co-star Pedro Pascal – who plays DEA agent Javier Peña – both insist Colombia should not be solely associated with drug trafficking, although they admit it has played an important and contentious role in its recent history.

Pascal said: “It’s a culture that definitely deserves to be associated with things way beyond narcos culture.

“But it is their recent history, and they’re also seeing a show that is attacking and committing itself so completely to telling it as authentically as possible, and actually portraying Colombia as it is – a visually extraordinary place, with extraordinary people.”

Moura added: “The reactions to the first one, even in Bogotá, are very contradictory. They’re mixed but ‘that show sucks’ I’ve never had [someone say to me].

“It’s been a big part of my life – it’s been a big journey. The experience I’ve had doing Narcos was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had.

“That’s why I do things as an actor – just leaving Bogotá, knowing people like Pedro [Pascal] and all the actors.

“For us Brazilians, we’re very isolated in South America because we don’t speak Spanish – I felt for the first time I felt I was part of something bigger and understanding more about the drug trade, which is something that really resonates with me as a Latin American person.

“And I’m doing a show that I’m really proud of.”

Pedro Pascal, who is one half of the American duo pursuing Escobar’s capture, added that Netflix’s approach has been one that humanises the story.

He said: “It’s such an enormous story that has very Shakespearian, even Greek, elements to it.

“The way that it draws in all the elements of society – from the politics, the judicial system, the human aspects, the rich, the poor – and then being able to create a certain kind of intimacy with a character of this size and the characters that are chasing him, it kind of tells every possible story that there is to tell.

“And people love cocaine.”

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