Narcos: Mexico
Season 2 SABC3 (*193) 21:00 Drama
El Chapo is a name that until a few years ago was only known within the Mexican drug world. And he’s making his rise to power in biographical drama series Narcos: Mexico tonight, with Alejandro Edda (Ruben in sci-fi series Snowfall) in the role. “I knew nothing about him,” says Alejandro. “I knew nothing about El Chapo until I did research, and what he did was insane. This role is ridiculously fun because he’s a wild guy!”
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera is the world’s greatest drugbaron. He’s in prison in the US after being arrested for the third time in 2016 after elaborate escape plans that saw his Sinaloa Cartel hire German Engineers to build a tunnel under the US-Mexico border, directly into his prison cell. “When you think of that precision, it’s staggering,” explains 38-year-old Alejandro, who did four months of intensive research for the role… and he got help from an unexpected source: El Chapo himself. “I got to speak to him. He’s charismatic and it’s difficult not to be drawn into his charm and fall for his lies.” One aspect of El Chapo that stood out for the actor was the druglord’s nonchalance for violence. “He’d shoot you in the head and not blink an eye. He ordered the murder of his enemies’ children because he wanted them to suffer. He had kids killed and didn’t think twice of it. He’s a monster.”
That rage and anger isn’t what we’re seeing at the moment though, because in Narcos: Mexico, El Chapo is still making his way up the “corporate” ladder within the Sinaloa Cartel. “We have to be patient. Because El Chapo was patient. He took his time, he planned and he plotted, and he made sure that he took his opportunity only when it suited him. Be prepared, because El Chapo is coming!” warns the actor.