It’s not healthy-my cholesterol went way, way up. It sucks, though this is the last time that I’ll do that. The thing about Escobar was, he was fat! If he wasn’t a real person, I wouldn’t have done it. “(But) I don’t think that gaining weight is so special-anyone can gain weight. Of course, there is De Niro (who gained 60 lbs for Raging Bull), and there are other great actors that change their bodies to play a part.
He even packed on 40 lbs prior to season two of Narcos, which has Escobar on the run prior to being gunned down by the Colombian police.Įxplained Moura: “I thought I had to do it. In preparing for the role, Moura read every book he could find on Escobar, the ruthless cocaine kingpin whose $30 billion drug empire challenged the authority of the Colombian government itself. It was very satisfying to be able to tell a story that connects us all, even though it involves the drug trade.” Brazil is isolated within Latin America because we speak Portuguese, so it meant a lot to work with actors from Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina and feel more like a Latin American and not just a Brazilian. I dedicated two years of my life to it I moved to Colombia, and even brought my boys and my wife there to learn Spanish.
“Narcos has been a very important experience for me-it’s changed my life. It’s the kind of charismatic role that can change an actor’s destiny, and the 40-year-old Moura admits this is a pivotal moment for him.
#Pablo escobar the drug lord capitilo 2 series#
Things have changed dramatically, however, with his starring role in Narcos, the wildly popular Netflix series about the rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the ruthless American-led DEA operation to bring him down. That film and its high-octane sequel served as Moura’s international calling card, but except for a supporting role opposite Matt Damon in Elysium (2013), his Hollywood career failed to gain traction. He first achieved stardom with Elite Squad (2007), playing the relentless commander of a Brazilian military police unit waging war on the country’s drug trade.
A cult figure in his native Brazil, actor Wagner Moura has long sought to broaden his horizons.