You know, this walk, it's almost like - it's a waddle that he does. I was not yet a teenager at the time of Escobars death in 1993, yet I remember playing games a la cops and robbers in nearby Venezuelathen a paragon of regional stabilityin which our villains were the narcotraffickers and their leader Escobar. He was a, you know, he was a big pioneer in the paramilitary movement. Its first two seasons now available for streaming tell the story of the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. You know, they - he was 16 at the time of his father's death. I think that what happened to him is an incredible tragedy to have - you know, to - I don't - I'm not going to judge somebody for being born to a man that, you know, is - was a monster. I spoke to the DEA about it, and they unequivocally told me that if we were going to be working with him they weren't interested in being involved. And a lot of the things that we did in service of defeating communism were really ugly. DAVIES: Eric Newman is executive producer of the series "Narcos," which is available for streaming on Netflix.

Gaviria is played by Mexican actor Raul Mendez who has had a pretty good acting career, appearing in both Latino productions and American, making a recurring appearance in the popular show Sense8. You know, my personal opinion of Pena is that - of Javier Pena is that he's a great guy, and he, you know, probably did some things that crossed lines and felt like he needed to. They were more interested in owning the president. The big, bad, and ruthless Colonel Carillo who was literally so brutal that even Pablo Escobar feared him was a bit of an antihero in the narrative. There have likewise been several adaptations of the Escobar epic for television, including 2012s Escobar, El Patron del Mal, a wonderfully comprehensive and at times achingly cathartic Colombian treatment, spanning nearly 50 hours of running time, and now Netflixs Narcosperhaps the most ambitious salvo of the current Escobarrage. And the reality is you're never going to win a war on drugs, or any war for that matter, by operating on the supply. DAVIES: This is a big question, but can you think of something that these agents told you that you didn't know that really opened your eyes? There's no, you know, police photographer.

The Calis also own a chain of drug stores. First, he called the German embassy in Bogota. You know, they were there. One of the storytelling techniques in this series is the use of the DEA agent Steve Murphy's voice as a voiceover DAVIES: Describing the action, kind of moving the story forward. To many of the poor in his native Medellin, he was a modern-day Robin Hood, standing up to a heavy-handed and distant national government, while building everything from a soccer stadium to housing for the areas most vulnerable citizens. Luis Guzman, playing a Colombian drug lord allied to Escobar whose affinity for tequila and mariachis garners him the nickname The Mexican, sounds unabashedly Puerto Rican.

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You know, and to our detriment, maybe, in the early days of season one because we were shooting in these neighborhoods, you know, in Medellin and people would come by and ask what we were doing. And we met in Washington, and he told me that he was thinking about retiring. Although he had his faults as a president and was made a fool a couple of times by Escobar, his heart was in the right place and he did want to capture the Druglord with the least amount of bloodshed possible. And as a character, Steve Murphy is a guy that's not thinking about the demand, certainly not in the beginning. And so the need for the kind of proletariat hero was there. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox!

Let's listen. Not much information has been put out about the young actor, and his only movie/acting credit is on Narcos. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. You know, he was - he killed a lot of poor people, too.

We - you know, I told him what we were going to do and how we were going to depict it. You have to approach the demand. Csar Gaviria is the distant cousin of Jos Narces Gaviria, who was the CEO of Bancolombia from 19881997. The Cali cartel considers moving in on Pablo's territory; Limon shares a plan with Maritza; Tata gets a gun. And they offered this perspective that, you know, I felt very privileged to get. The Mexican actress and doppelgnger of the real Tata is 27-year-old actress Paulina Gaitan. Website for moms seeking advice, community, and entertainment. You know, he is a - equal parts sad and dangerous.

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. Reelected in 1999, he worked extensively on behalf of Latin America.

Narcosis a popular Netflix show that details the life and exploits of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, speaking Spanish). And he - you know, he was to many the man that America and the ruling families of Colombia.

DAVIES: And that's Wagner Moura playing Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series "Narcos." Because there, you know, the threat of, you know, Escobar as a ghost in the countryside, you know, roaming, you know, and waging his war against the Americans was a terrifying idea. The Medellingularity? Three years later he became co-chair of the Colombian Liberal Party. Heres a guide for lay-people, courtesy of my dear friend the Venezuelan-American comedian Joanna Hausmann: In a region where accents do much to mark ones place within societies heavily stratified by class and geography, a great deal of Escobars social bandit appeal was inherently tied to his. Pabloverload? And I didn't know just how ingrained that philosophy was among the Colombian people. And it didn't, in our opinion, serve the story. Please reference Error Code 2121 when contacting customer service.

He even goes as far as working with the police to take down Escobar in an attempt to clear away his competition. You will need to temporarily disable your Ad-blocker to view this page. The young and suave member of the Cali Cartel is known for his looks and his way with the ladies. Continue to ignore Los Pepes, refused to acknowledge their crimes and you're next. But for him it was not easy. Jos N. Gaviria encouraged Csar Gaviria to run for the Congress of Colombia in early childhood. In 1990 he was elected President of Colombia, running as a Liberal Party candidate. Serving up the hottest food trends and the inside scoop on restaurants worldwide. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. Between October 2002 and May 2003, he served as international facilitator of the OAS mesa process, aimed at finding a solution to the internal Venezuelan political crisis between President Hugo Chvez and the Coordinadora Democrtica opposition. Wagner Moura, the actor who plays Escobar, and showrunner Eric Newmanconfirmed that the character's death will, in fact, arrive in season two. When Escobar was imprisoned there, he continued to control his drug empire; he also murdered several of his rivals inside the prison. It is a trend the narcissistic narco himself would almost certainly have relished. From its Escobar-era nadir, when it was essentially a failed state, the country has transformed into a tourism and investment powerhouse; last year, Colombia was Latin Americas fastest-growing major economy. You can find the bookstore bombing in Bogota. I mean, obviously, we've been careful about who and how we - who we vilify and how we vilify them.

Others are from other parts of Latin America. The Narconnaissance? Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Ethan Hawke Reflects on the Price of Fame in His Own Career and Those of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. There are literally hundreds of dubbing studios dispersed across the region, many of which bring their own accents to bear upon their work. I met the man who killed Rodriguez Gacha, who was really an awful member of the Medellin cartel. On 20 July 1992, Escobar escaped after learning that he was going to be moved to a different prison. DAVIES: I want to talk a little more about these two DEA agents that you got long after the fact, Steve Murphy and DAVIES: Javier Pena, who worked on this. And our reasoning, perhaps it's sound. DAVIES: Eric Newman is executive producer of the Netflix series "Narcos."

Looking at the comparisons between the two women, we can safely say the casting team behind Narcos nailed the casting choice. If you're using HTTPS Everywhere or you're unable to access any article on Wikiwand, please consider switching to HTTPS (https://www.wikiwand.com). Let's look at the historical figures in the show versus the cast that plays each character. We're talking dozens of bombs. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for, Note: preferences and languages are saved separately in https mode. DAVIES: Right. NEWMAN: He was suspected of it, certainly. Forgot your password? We know he was dangerous and the show shows it all.

In the finale of Narcos' first season, the famedColombian drug dealer and faceof the Medellincartel escaped his self-designed prison, fleeing the resort-likeLa Catedral and launching the ensuing and infamous Escobar manhunt. He fancied himself as a man of the people, very charitable when he needed to be, and that afforded him a certain level of protection. Reminds me a lot of Henry Hill in "Goodfellas.". Did he do this? Anyone giving this less than 5 stars must be a clueless American that can't keep up with the subtitles or something.. bc this is an instant classic!? DAVIES: Right. RELATED:15 Shows On Netflix Featuring Bad-Ass Females. It's interesting because I think most Americans' view of Escobar - I mean, it's been a long time since he died, but DAVIES: The typical view is he was fantastically wealthy, had exotic animals on his estate. He served in Virgilio Barco's government, first as Minister of Finance and later as the Minister of the Interior. Just - what was their place in the drug trade then and later? The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher. Neal Washington on Hill Street Blues, Dies at 82, Sarah Michelle Gellar to Star in Wolf Pack Series at Paramount+, Directors Guild Announces 2023 Date for Annual DGA Awards, TV Critics Press Tour Goes Virtual Again Amid L.A. COVID Surge, Jo Koy on New Netflix Special, Being Hurt by Hollywood, Resident Alien Nabs Early Season 3 Renewal at Syfy, TV Premiere Dates 2022: The Complete Guide, Broadcast TV Unscripted Scorecard 2022: Whats New, Renewed and Canceled, TV Pilots 2022: The Complete Broadcast Guide, The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News. I think that our willingness to accept help from an organization that was no better than Pablo Escobar NEWMAN: I think that - yeah, I think that, you know, once you employ - and we've done it historically, you know, throughout Latin America. And people didn't feel good about it, but Escobar had been beating them at every turn. Call it what you will, Escobar-themed entertainment is booming. The plane, with 107 people aboard, exploded, killing everyone on board. And they have on a fairly limited basis. everyone is so well picked . And we worried that at times it would bring people out of the show, particularly when you saw a character, you know, whom one of our actors is portraying. At 23, he was elected councilman in his hometown of Pereira, and four years later he became the city's mayor. DAVIES: He threatens to kill every German in Colombia to the NEWMAN: Every German in Colombia. Did they have documents?

You know, it sounds like a - for me, that sounds kind of fun. He established AIESEC there, and then in 1968 was elected President of AIESEC in Colombia. In portraying Escobar as an anti-heroa mustachioed Tony Soprano brought low by hubris and the herculean efforts of DEA pursuersNarcos robs Colombians of victories that have cost them dearly.

The real Escobars telltale Medellin Paisa accent was always a characteristic aspect of a larger-than-life public persona that Latin Americans, tragically, got to know all too well. He made billions making and selling cocaine, which he spent on a sprawling estate with elephants and zebras, but also on houses, schools and hospitals for the poor and a successful campaign for congress.

We're going to talk about DAVIES: Some other darker sides here. But we found that it had a very - it had the reverse effect, which was it really added to the authenticity. ERIC NEWMAN: Pablo Escobar was the nominal head of something called the Medellin Cartel, which was a confederation of cocaine dealers centered in the city of Medellin, Colombia, and became active in the late '70s, got into cocaine in the early '80s and became the largest supplier of cocaine to America - largely through Miami - until his death in 1993, when he was finally tracked down and killed by Colombian police.

Los Pepes wants to take down Pablo and empire; Tata's brother wants her to leave and seek safety with her kids. After the latest terrorist attack, Colombia starts to turn on Escobar; Tata receives help from an unexpected ally; Quica becomes more anxious. During his tenure as president, he summoned the Constituent Assembly of Colombia that enacted the Constitution of 1991. Coming Soon. And so there's a lot of footage of him just in sort of - you know, that move of him hitching up his belts and this kind of, you know, slightly awkward gait that he has. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Tata is a strong-willed and determined woman, looking out for her husband and staying loyal regardless of his infidelities and crimes. Upon his return to Colombia he founded an art gallery named Nueveochenta, and has remained in the country ever since. This campaign was the target of attacks by Pablo Escobar; Gaviria was to take Avianca Flight 203, bound for Cali, but for security reasons he did not board the flight.

Gaviria was proclaimed the sole chief of the Colombian Liberal Party in June 2005. Thankfully for the world, Pablo Escobar is no longer alive today due to the commitment and drive from those trying to take him down as well as his arrogance. Colombias Gabriel Garcia Marquez is widely considered a seminal magical realist author, but both the idea and the term itself actually date back to Weimar-era Germany, where it was magischer realismus. By the time Gabo wrote One Hundred Years of Solitude in the late 60s, authors like Argentinas Jorge Luis Borges and Venezuelas Arturo Uslar Pietri had already rooted magical realism deep within the regions literary soil. Regal Although her role as Virginia is arguably her most popular, she has also made appearances in Annabelle: Creation, Miss Bali, and Spectre. Now, he speaks Spanish in the film. And, you know, the American footprint in Latin America and South America is not a - it's - our role has not been a flattering one. It is not clear whether or not the young Juan Pablo had any idea of who his father really was or if Pablo shielded him. Now, I don't judge him at all. Among the films he's produced are "Dawn Of The Dead" and "Children Of Men.". And I'm sure a lot of the crew, not to mention just people on the street, of course, were Colombian people who experienced some of these events and were affected by them. They weren't interested in being president. No, they had pretty incredible access to the people and to the documentation.

In many respects, Narcos makes for an excellent primer on just how far Colombia has come. You know, the first season and aspects of the second season are about the education of this character who comes down to Colombia like John Wayne to solve the cocaine problem.

Coming Soon, Regal And he's on the roof. Orejuela is played by Venezuelan actor Francisco Denis. Proximity to events renders Colombias reinvention of its image over the past two decades all the more remarkable.

There is no Audience Score because there are not enough user ratings at this time. And his wife has called him back in Colombia, and he is furious.

The role of the U.S., and the destabilizing regional effects of the Reagan administrations anti-communism-cum-anti-narcotics policy, is far better fleshed out in Narcos than in any of its locally produced or Hollywood predecessors. DAVIES: Wow.

Gaviria is a member of the Club of Madrid, an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community, composed by more than 100 members: former democratic Heads of State and Government from around the world. Pregnancy and parenting news, given to you in a way nobody else has. You know, there are - we wanted to continually remind people that this is real. To have a kid, a 16-year-old kid who's, you know, working the phones on behalf of his father, who is, you know, making threats as he did, it just didn't seem like it would - it was fair to him. Apart from looking exactly like his character in Narcos, Holbrook has been in several movies and tv shows including Logan, The Predator, and The Host. And NEWMAN: Yes, I did. It is fitting perhaps, given his Robin Hood legacy, that Escobar should have his own Prince of Thieves, and he pretty much does with Narcos. President Gaviria presents an old colleague with a new job; Pablo, Steve and Javier are shaken by new tactics. Its second season is now available for streaming on Netflix. Dont worry, it wont take long. But the other thing is he had this Robin Hood image DAVIES: For building stuff in slums, particularly in Medellin/ I mean, how much did he do for poor people there?

And it doesn't work unless you have a terrific actor to play Escobar, and you do. Orange Is The New Black: Wheres The Cast Today?

Now, yes, he's a native Portuguese speaker. Its second season is now available for streaming on Netflix. You know, I'd love to have a job that necessitated me putting on weight. And while opinions on Escobar were often polarized, for many Latin Americans it was impossible not to have one. Well, Eric Newman welcome to FRESH AIR. You know, we have had - our relationship - or, for lack of a better word, we really have no relationship with Juan Pablo Escobar - was one that was a decision that we made early on to - not to - you know, he had reached out to us through a filmmaker who had made a pretty amazing documentary called "The Sins Of My Father.". The younger brother of Cali Cartel leader, Miguel Rodriguez was one of Pablo Escobar's rivals and one of the men who most wanted to see him fall. As president, Gaviria also led the fight against the Cali drug cartel, and various guerrilla factions. the politics the drama and tactics everything was superbly amazing.the deaths in this season was X2 from last time some deaths were shocking and surprising.the one by one search and hunt this time was fantastic and the moves of Escobar was clever but the way the Cali deal with money it was like all weapons down to Escobar,the bombing and innocents murders were Dark.the last moments twists were literally jaw-dropping and amazing.the ending 2 episodes were literally something different and amazing the total downfall and nothing left with family and the last blow it was literally satisfying and amazing thing then the tease for the next season all cards were literally amazing this season its a Masterpiece! And, you know, he - and Wagner really got into that.

The Search Bloc has a new leader; Javier starts to lose faith; Pablo brings Carlos down from Miami in hopes of cheering Tata up. We want people to join in mourning him right away, because it's hard to say goodbye to him.". And if you're just joining us, we're speaking with Eric Newman. What it gave us, beyond the fact that in the beginning we were slightly concerned for American audiences - A, by the amount of Spanish that was going to be spoken And that seemed like a natural way to continue to interject some English into the show. Conspiracy theories over who fired the fatal shot to Escobar's head abound to this day, which is something Newman and the real DEA agents who are portrayed on the show, series consultants Steve Murphy and Javier Pena, say they will set straight. Its first two seasons, now available for streaming, tell the story of Pablo Escobar. The moment we began prepping the show, let's say we were maybe a three or four months out, he moved to Medellin, and he enrolled at the college of Antioquia to learn Spanish and Spanish in the dialect that Escobar spoke.

Escobar headed the Medellin cartel. He spent years researching the story and putting the series together. All rights reserved. This is from the second season of "Narcos" when Pablo Escobar, the - you know, this fantastically wealthy, violent drug kingpin in Colombia, is on the ropes a bit. Great acting! And there's just something about it, you know, that the - it's a great moment to point to when people criticize us. I think our ability to side with people strictly because they are the enemy of our enemies has put us into business with some pretty awful people. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day, Inside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviews. Before launching into guesses over how the series will handle the death, The Hollywood Reporterhas rounded up everything you need to remember to be ready to consume season two. And they really - they gave us a lot of sort of inside info, including some amazing pictures, some of which we use in the story. And this is a scene where we hear Agent Murphy, who's played by Boyd Holbrook in the series, narrating what happens as Pablo Escobar tries to strike back at those who are undermining his empire. And there were times certainly where Javier was accused.

To hear him say, I am not a rich man, I am a poor man with money, is one thing. "We love Pablo. MOURA: (As Pablo Escobar, speaking Spanish). And if Escobar was a single-cell organism, you know, fairly uncomplicated in terms of his desires and his - certainly what he was willing to do to achieve them.

And the - and obviously the affinity that people had for Escobar - you know, what made him so difficult to catch was there were a number of people in Colombia, particularly in Medellin, who believe that he was a hero and - which played directly against the sort of American - bad-guy-in-Latin-America image that we've cultivated over the years. Agent Pena is the real deal, amazing acting all the way around.. an absolute MUST SEE for anyone with a pulse and half a brain. DAVIES: And I assume you had some conversations about this, I don't know. Mexicos ongoing cartel problems can only be understood in the context of their Colombian predecessors, and today my own Venezuela occupies Colombias former role at the bottom of the international image ladderthe favored Hollywood hellhole of last resort for the truly lost (see, for example, Homeland, True Detective, and Netflixs House of Cards). It was something that, you know, Jose Padilha - who directed the first two episodes and who was my partner on the show - it was something that he felt very strongly about. And I think they wanted to make sure that everyone knew that he was dead. He was also a ruthless killer who once bombed an airliner and was responsible for the deaths of thousands of police, government officials and innocent civilians. and the Terms and Policies, Your input will affect cover photo selection, along with input from other users. NEWMAN: Absolutely.

More News And it wasn't - knowing it now, I do realize it makes perfect sense. We'll continue our conversation after a break. And obviously there are some things that - you're never going to get everything wrong, particularly when you're telling - you're never going to get everything right, particularly when you're telling a true story. And he had a lot of - you know, he loved being filmed. He was an outlaw, to many a - sort of an outlaw hero. 10 Brands That Are Taking A Stand For Women's Rights, 10 Inspiring Young Women Making A Difference In Society, 10 Wedding Gift Ideas That Isn't Home Decor, 10 Brands To Support That Celebrate Pride, 10 Skincare Tips From Dermatologists On Social Media. Many of us dont. You found them. And, you know, fortunately, Escobar was a megalomaniac. The freshman season of the cartel drama spanned more than a decade of Escobar's life, but the cocaine trafficker's escape brings viewers up to July 23, 1992 nearly a year and a half before his eventual death, on Dec. 2 of 1993. He's only thinking about this, you know, mustached villain who keeps sending us cocaine that we don't really want. As a student, Gaviria spent a year as an exchange student in the United States with AFS Intercultural Programs. DAVIES: Eric Newman is executive producer of the Netflix series "Narcos." The series begins with a quote reading: Magical realism is defined as what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe. Did that, I don't know, give an additional kind of emotional freight to it all? Pablo Escobar ruled by fear, no one would dare cross him for fear of ending up dead. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Although Amman hasnt appeared in much prior or after Narcos, he has still had an extensive career working in Latino movies and shows. During his government a new constitution was adopted in 1991. In some ways, more brutal than Escobar because whereas Escobar did care slightly what people thought of him, Gacha didn't care at all. America has a cocaine problem. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. But the government there denies them entry because they're carrying a big bag of currency. Crucial Colombian charactersincluding victims of Escobarare either minimized (as with leading presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan and Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla), turned into composites, or else cut out entirely (as with El Espectador's chief editor Guillermo Cano Isaza). RELATED:10 Celebrities With Impressive Military Backgrounds. NEWMAN: Wow. This means that, by early adolescence, your average Sunday watcher of Spanish cartoons will have been exposed to nearly every Latin American dialect, repeatedly, and have some sense as to where it is spoken. He was the debate chief of Luis Carlos Galn, during Galan's 1989 presidential campaign, which was cut short by Galan's assassination. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria the Colombian drug kingpin who mercilessly butchered his countrymen while cultivating a meticulously crafted public image as a family man, billionaire philanthropist, and even populist congressmanhas already been the subject of hundreds of books and at least one major film, 2014s Paradise Lost. And he has no - a guy who has had complete control over his surroundings for so long now has no control.

Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Colombian characters are introduced only to be killed offor, in one particularly troublesome scene, gang-rapedand forgotten soon after. I mean, tell us about casting him and how he prepared. And, you know, they wondered, why would you do that? But they've sort of continued on, pulling data together.

The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. You know, he's a fantastic guy, as is Javier Pena, who continued with the DEA I think for another year after that. The use of bilingual dialogue, rather than having Latin characters speak English to one another, likewise instills a sense of immersion for Anglophone viewers. WAGNER MOURA: (As Pablo Escobar, speaking Spanish).

Nearly 22 years have passed since the murderous drug baron, capo di tutti capi of the feared Medelln cartel, was felled by machine-gun fire while attempting a dramatic rooftop escape from a Colombian special-ops unit set up to hunt him. You know, why are you guys here shooting a - you know, we are more than just Pablo Escobar.

This season was good, but it felt like they used up most of Pablo's story in Season 1. And he had a little bit of Spanish, but he was willing to move almost immediately. RELATED:20 Netflix Shows That Were Overhyped (And Totally Flopped). By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy After detailing the rise and reign of Escobar, season two will narrow its focus on the hunt and eventual death of thenarco. Did they introduce you to Colombians? Javier deals with the consequences of Judy's interview; Tata tries to persuade Pablo to surrender for the sake of his children. After leaving the OAS, Gaviria worked briefly in New York as an advisor and scholar at Columbia University. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. Long-serving DEA agents tend to have a - probably for the sake of the job a fairly uncomplicated view of the drug war in that we need to wage it to stop these men and bring them down. Unfortunately, it also shares a fundamental weakness.

And DAVIES: He was also a thin guy, Pablo Escobar NEWMAN: Yeah, he put on 40 pounds in the first season. Any of those trouble you? In real life, she eventually regretted her decision and became a spokesperson against Pablo and his exploits. Gaviria is portrayed by the Colombian actor Fabin Mendoza in the TV series Escobar, el Patrn del Mal. So there was a strategy to that, but there was also a megalomania to it. You know, so I think it probably all comes out in the wash. His entire career - assassinations, bombings, murders, you name it.

Two more big-budget productions are slated for 2017 release: El Patron: King of Cocaine, featuring Colombian-born John Leguizamo in the title role, and Mena, rather ominously starring Tom Cruise as DEA informant Barry Seal, one of Escobars victims.