When it comes to Pablo Escobar, there are plenty of interpretations. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura played him in Narcos. Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro played him in Escobar: Paradise Lost. And even Spaniard actor Javier Bardem played Escobar in Loving Pablo. Now John Leguizamo is stepping into the shoes of the Colombian drug lord in Hulu’s new show Dear Killer Nannies.
The coming-of-age series, which is now available, is told through the perspective of Pablo’s son, Juampi. And we see his son grow up in a world shaped by his father’s expanding criminal empire, the constant presence of danger, and the men who protected him. But at the end of the day, it’s still another story about Pablo Escobar in a sea of multiple portrayals centered on the man. That’s why we asked Leguizamo what makes his Pablo Escobar different.
“Well, you know how interesting it is that every actor in America has to do Hamlet right? To be proven, or a Shakespeare piece. Every Latin actor in the United States has to do Pablo Escobar to pass,” Leguizamo told us when he came into the Remezcla offices for an exclusive interview. And after mentioning names like Wagner Moura and Benicio del Toro he went on to add, “Now I’m doing my version. And this might be the best. […] This version is really incredible because it’s the only authorized version by the family.”
Dear Killer Nannies was co-created by Pablo’s son Juan Pablo Escobar aka Juampi. So when Leguizamo says that this series is inspired by real events and people, he’s talking about the actual people who lived it. And Juan Pablo, who has since changed his name to distance himself from his fathers legacy, took care in creating something authentic to his experience. He was also featured in the narration of the first and last episode alongside an actual cameo.
“It’s so authentic. It’s so real. I mean, it’s not dialogue that we’re saying. These are real, lived words,” Leguizamo explained before revealing that Pablo’s son was his mentor and tutor to prepare him for Dear Killer Nannies. “We had lots of conversations on how to play Pablo, what were the secrets that would make me better than everybody else. And he said, you know, his father was low-key. Great sense of humor.”
With the show being told from the perspective of a child growing up, the time Leguizamo spent with Juan Pablo was priceless and helped him deliver a Pablo audiences might have never seen before. “During Colombia in the ‘80s, [Juan Pablo] said, Colombian dads didn’t hug their sons or kiss them or say “I love you” because it was tough love. That’s how you raised a boy, tough love. But Pablo, probably because he was at death’s door, always hugged and kissed and said “I love you” to his son publicly everywhere. And it changed the whole culture.”
Outside of the actual acting, the biggest challenge that Leguizamo faced was the accent.
Leguizamo is Colombian. But he was raised in Queens, New York in a heavily Puerto Rican neighborhood. So it’s understandable that the Spanish accent he grew up to have might not match with the one that Pablo had in Colombia in the ‘80s and early ‘90s where this show takes place. But Leguizamo didn’t let that stop him. He’s an actor after all and he put his everything into making sure that he honored his home, the various accents across Colombia, and the Paisa accent Pablo had.
“I mean, I had a lot of pressure because, you know, I’m Colombian. So I know everybody wanted to make sure my accent was correct,” Leguizamo said, diving into his past and how that affects his present, “I grew up in the States. And I grew up with a lot of Boricuas. So my accent is a little Puerto Rican. So to get that Colombian accent, I had to work really hard. Months and months and months with coaches. And I think I studied every piece of footage on Pablo Escobar [and] tried to get the mannerisms.”
This is the part of the interview where he brought out the Colombian accent, previewing what to expect in Dear Killer Nannies. And it was different from anything we’ve heard from Leguizamo before. “I think I got it. I think I killed it. I rocked it.”
All episodes of Dear Killer Nannies are available on Hulu.