When Javier Peña is asked, “Agent Peña, how much do you know about the Cali Cartel?” at the end of Season 2 of the Netflix series Narcos , “It is a pretty straight forward invitation to the third season,” says Pedro Pascal. The actor plays Peña, who with fellow DEA agent Murphy, is tasked with bringing down the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar in the addictive series which traces the history of cocaine cartels.
Talking during the shoot of the third season in Bogota, the Chilean-American actor says, “Peña is expecting to be in early or forced retirement because of having broken the rules. It, actually, works to his advantage.”
Murphy, played by Boyd Holbrook, who was the narrator in the first two seasons, will not be returning for season 3. Talking about the look and feel of the new season, Pascal says, “We are still committed to telling the story as authentically as possible if even only in the aesthetic and the visual style. This season is different because there are so many more characters. Characters that we have already met get more attention and brand new ones. Maybe it isn’t as myopic as the first two seasons. ”
The 42-year-old elaborates, “There is so much authorship after we finish shooting that it is often a surprise to me as well. (Laughs) So I cannot say I know exactly how they are going to invite us in to the series. It is a much more sprawling landscape which echoes the reach of the Cali cartel. It is a far more insidious operation. Rather than a reigning king, it is four godfathers that blend into society. ”
Describing Season 3 as a different animal, the soft-spoken actor says, “We have known the Cali cartel from Seasons 1 and 2 as a rival cartel to Medellin. It almost projects itself as undefeatable. You can take a king down as it is one man. This is different. The strategy must change. We must reinvent our approach in fighting the narco-traffickers and so it makes things very unpredictable. Despite having happened, there are still things you will not see coming.”
Pascal insists he had no idea Narcos would become a global phenomenon. “I knew if we were able to achieve what it felt like to be here visually, it would at least look different from anything I have seen on television. A movie that is able to create the visual experience the land provides, elevates it in a specific way. The colours of Colombia, the different landscapes that reflect culture… I remember thinking that if we were able to capture the visual texture of this country, if it looks like it feels, it will be an amazing thing to see.
“I didn’t know it would get zeitgeisty or tap into a cultural fascination with drug trafficking. It is deceptive, the obviousness of being fascinated by a world of crime. I think it is the visual experience of seeing the texture of this country, being introduced to these actors that maybe well-known and famous in Columbia or Mexico or throughout Latin America but lesser known in the rest of the world. The freshness of that, the feeling of something new, I think is the real reason the show resonates. I’d like to believe that because I am not fascinated by the violence. ”The award winning actor was also part of the gargantuan fantasy series Game of Thrones where he played Oberyn Martell. Of the difference between the shows Pascal says, “Narcos for me is in this middle space between film and television. It doesn’t feel like getting into a grand scale production.
It feels more like getting into the mud of an independent feature. We have independent feature directors doing the episodes, they shoot them two episodes at time so it is almost like a two-hour film and their visual touch is very, very prioritised. I think it is a feature film director’s television show, it feels like doing an indie but five times at once. Game of Thrones, I had a very different experience. It was the fourth season, I had seven episodes. It felt like being in a big movie.”
On whether he knew Oberyn would become a cult figure, Pascal says, “As actors we protect ourselves from a particular expectation. I was a big fan of the show. I saw the part and knew if I didn’t screw it up, it would be very special for me. To exist strongly within the framework of something already so beloved, I knew would be a special ticket. That was the confidence I felt by seeing what was on the page, so I knew I was set up for success (laughs).
Season 3 of Narcos premieres globally on Netflix on September 1.
The writer was in Bogota on the invitation of Netflix
