Narcos, the hit Netflix series about Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, has given us all an opportunity to learn more about the cocaine kingpin who was at one time on the run from the DEA, the DEA, and even his own family members. Wagner Moura won much praise for his performance as Pablo Escobar in Narcos—and he’s far from the only actor to play him over the years. Here are ten actors who played Pablo Escobar, ranked by their performances in Narcos. Ten Actors Who Played Pablo Escobar
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Wagner Moura
Playing Pablo Escobar in Narcos, a popular Netflix series that’s been running since 2015, Wagner Moura will forever be remembered as Pablo. Moura plays El Patrón well — he’s volatile, charming and truly frightening when riled up. He hasn’t ever had to say a word to convey his mood; just a quick look at his face has told us everything we need to know about how he’s feeling. But there is something else about Moura’s performance that makes him stand out from other actors who have played Escobar: he doesn’t seem to be trying too hard. Rather than overacting or putting on an accent (which many actors who play Latin American characters are prone to do), Moura seems like a natural fit for the role. His lack of affectation helps make him more believable as someone who could convince people he was actually Colombian, rather than just an actor playing a part.
Javier Bardem Ten Actors Who Played Pablo Escobar
Bardem is a Spanish actor. He first gained worldwide recognition for his portrayal of Mexican drug lord, Pablo Escobar in the two-part series ‘Love in The Time of Cholera’, based on Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez’s novel of same name. For his performance as Escobar, he was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2007, he played detective Alejandro Gillick in No Country For Old Men, which garnered him another Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe win. In 2010 he played Raoul Silva in James Bond film ‘Skyfall’. More recently, he has received critical acclaim for his role as Cardinal Altamirano in HBO series ‘The Young Pope’ (2016). Morena Baccarin: Baccarin is an American actress. She began her career in small guest roles on several television shows such as CSI: Miami and Boston Legal before landing her first major role as Dr.
Benicio del Toro
Del Toro’s performance as Escobar was one of his early roles, appearing in two films about him: Sins of My Father and Escobar: Paradise Lost. In both movies, Del Toro sported a significant gut. One of his most notable physical changes in playing drug lords is that he tends to gain weight to play larger-than-life villains. He gained 40 pounds for Traffic, nearly 60 for 21 Grams, and 30 pounds for Savages. He also lost over 50 pounds to play Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ. For Escobar, he reportedly had to put on even more weight than usual because it was difficult to find an actor who could convincingly portray someone so large.
Steve Buscemi Ten Actors Who Played Pablo Escobar
Buscemi played Escobar in a television biopic which aired on HBO in 1996. The New York Times wrote of his performance: Mr. Buscemi, who has never before taken on a character so intrinsically evil, here plays him as an oily narcissist and grandiose buffoon—and captures him completely…He is such a convincing bad guy that he seems to suggest new depths for Mr. Two years later, Buscemi again played Escobar in another TV movie called Killing Pablo. This time around, however, it was a drama rather than a biopic; some critics were less impressed with his portrayal than they had been two years earlier.
John Leguizamo
This Colombian-American actor is probably best known for his portrayal of Manny in 2006’s production of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play Angels in America. He also had a small part in Moulin Rouge as a Chilean aristocrat who, upon meeting Satine (Zhang Ziyi), begins to sing What a Waste. Leguizamo has starred in many films, including Spanglish and Sideways. He played Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Netflix’s original series Narcos. In 2016, he starred in Blood Father with Mel Gibson and Erin Moriarty. The film follows an ex-convict who tries to protect his estranged daughter from her abusive boyfriend while being hunted by a cartel hitman out for revenge against him.
Michael Peña
The Mexican-American actor plays Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (2016). Blanco was one of four children who grew up poor in Colombia, eventually moving to Miami and building a reputation as a mob moll and leader of one of Miami’s most powerful crime families. Peña is best known for his roles in Crash (2004), World Trade Center (2006), and End of Watch (2012). He currently stars on Ant-Man and will next appear in Sicario 2: Soldado.
Andrés Parra Zuluaga
A Colombian actor, Parra played Pablo Escobar in 1993 in ‘El Patron del Mal’. Parra had previously appeared in some of director Luis Ospina’s films, including ‘Nadie conoce a nadie’ (1992) and ‘Últimos dı́as de campana’ (1993). He has also acted on Colombian television. Luis Fernando Peña: Peña was born in Bogotá, Colombia. His first role was as drug lord Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014), which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at that year’s Cartagena Film Festival.
Luis Guzmán
While he didn’t portray Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar onscreen, Luis Guzmán brought some of his eccentricities to life in Escobar: Paradise Lost. He was so good as a mentally unstable hostage taker that viewers forgot they were watching Guzmán and not Escobar—that is, until they saw him acting like himself again. But it wasn’t all for naught; Guzmán won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The only downside? Not being able to see what he would have done with more screen time as Escobar, who died before filming began.
André Mattos
Mattos was Brazilian actor and director. He did a lot of television and film work, but will be forever remembered for his one-man show, Mamorei a Raul Seixas (I loved Raul Seixas), where he played rock star Raul Seixas. However, it is for his role as Del Nero in Hable con Ella (Talk to Her) that he is best known. In Narcos , Wagner Moura plays Escobar with undeniable skill. A natural talent, Moura has been acting since childhood and has starred in films like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation . Despite being born in Brazil, Moura is fluent in Spanish, which makes him perfect for playing Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Cliff Curtis Ten Actors Who Played Pablo Escobar
an American actor, best known for his roles as Travis Manawa on AMC’s horror drama series Fear The Walking Dead and Daniel Salazar in Fox’s action-thriller television series The Walking Dead. He was originally set to play a Colombian drug kingpin in an unproduced project called Massacra, which would have marked his feature film debut. However, he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with filming for The Shield.
