Exclusive Cast Interviews: Inside Netflix's 'Griselda' Premiere

How excited are you for that world to now see this? I'm so excited. I wanna hear everyone's reaction I want to see everyone's reaction when I hear everyone's opinions. I want to see it all I want to see it all So playing one of her sons Was there something special that three of you felt you had to do in order to kind of portray that? familial sense to be honest Jose and Martin the guys playing my brothers we became like real brothers so fast and Griselda was Griselda Sophia was so charismatic and so talented that from from day one It was like we just clicked everything just clicked We got it immediately and that sense of community that we have as Latinos basically obviously helped so from day one We're like Everything yeah, everybody's family, right?

Exactly. Yes, everybody. Everyone has announced like that. Yeah, what did you learn about? Griselda and her sons and everybody involved with her organization that you did not know before coming into this project See that's complicated because I was born and raised in Colombia. So I I pretty much knew the whole story I didn't know if she had one son left.

I didn't I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know that and then I found out See for me not really knowing anything about her. I found especially the way Sophia portrayed her. She's a very complex She was a very complex woman. And did you find that did you think did you find sides of her in the story that you thought? This is not the person that I had heard of No, no, cuz the script was so well written and since I started since I started reading it.

I just saw the the the this Smart character basically she's she's a smart lady to do what she did You can't be just like I'm gonna do this and that's it. No, she was like put together She knew what she was doing, but ruthless, but ruthless. Yes Thank you for your time tonight. I can't wait for everyone to see it. So nice to meet you Hello, you look beautiful Thank you so much.

So playing Estella. You have a big scene with both Dario and Griselda I don't know why I couldn't remember the name. What was it like being chased by Sophia Vergara? Yeah, I Love it You know You know follow follow with me like me Estella is like you feel you know in the right place at the right moment Griselda has a change From the beginning until the end Estella is so in love with Griselda.

She wants to be Griselda She's learning everything and she's willing to risk everything So she could be part of her of her inner cycle So I have to say that this film empowerment it makes me feel you know Very strong - even though I'm not excusing what Griselda or Estella did it's very nice to work with women You know, it's so such an amazing I have look these super powerful women that I have with me always working with women and they just make me feel like You know more confidence and it's strong Do you think in real life that Dario and Estella were closer than what they portray in the show?

Yeah, I do I do why do you say that you know Because it is what it is, you know when the story when you create a story and then comes to TV is it's always a different way. The director is just giving you know, even though it's very They human inside it, you know every character so it's beautiful to see this story that is different Compared with other story, you know Catherine Estella Jones is also portrayed Griselda and so many other versions that other people so it's just such beautiful that 90% of the cast is Colombian and Director is Colombia.

So and this is a Colombian story. So You don't want to meet Griselda on January 25th. I mean it's gonna be today Thank you so much I can't wait for people to see it Hi, nice to meet you So you played Chucho who was really one of her her heavy kind of guys that did a lot of her dirty work for her So what was that? Like was it fun? It was fun because I had very tough scenes but funny scenes as well when I found Sophie over I got oh my god When I the first night I had when I first met her I said, oh my god, she's so generous She's a very professional and that she's the producer as well She's the star of our show, but at the same time she's the producer and I say oh my god, she's a powerful girl We have we have a lot to learn about her How much did you know about Griselda?

And what did you learn? Oh my god, I learned that Money money is not everything in life. You can you could have everything you could have money you like Griselda Yeah, she bought a mansion. She bought the paint house in New York. She had a lot of money two billion dollars she had and Suddenly she's not happy She was she was not happy and that is my bear my big message that I could do from Griselda Colombia has very very very strong star stories and That's why the industry the industry is watching this and okay, we want the story That's why I'm gonna buy their rights for these stories And I saw many documentaries about Chucho Castro and Griselda because it happened in the real life This is basically a real story.

She said to you about the nose in the scene Nothing nothing absolutely nothing but how did you not laugh? Oh, how did you not laugh? Because that's in is so far But it's tense because you don't know if he's gonna pull out a gun But there is a chemistry between the between the Griselda Blanco and Eddie the bear my characters. You don't know if She had a lot of tension with a lot of men like that So, how did you kind of make him stand out a little bit?

To balance the all this tension and the humor because the scene has lots of humor seduction It has many things and to do this with Sofia is so easy so fun She made it look easy for everybody and she was fantastic and I loved your scene. So thank you so much Wish I could see your reaction when you actually see it. So we already talked to Orlando Oh Okay, no, no no cuz you never know what's gonna come out of his mouth So he said the three of you really were like a family together.

Yeah, we really became a family on say It was so much fun working with them and then every day offset We would do something else go to dinner go to the park go do something and I think it was a great time and I think They made this experience so much better for me and really any other classmate was it was just so amazing I'm working with Sofia the best.

She's so fun. She's she's so different She's she's herself, you know you expected her, you know to be someone more serious and no she's like the funnest person She's so funny. She's so chill She's just herself and she taught me that really to be myself and not to always be someone different than who I am be myself very good advice You did not know who Griselda was you were not born when she was alive So what did you learn from this experience about her?

Um, I learned that the easy way is never the right way I learned although all of the stuff that she did is not that easy. Obviously, I think it's I think it's crazy that a person can do so much and affect so many people and I think just to always Be humble and always to to do the right thing. I think that's the biggest lesson I learned from them So for your character, he did not do a lot of speaking, but he was very expressive with his face So how much practice did you put into those moments?

I don't think it was much practice. I think it was more listening I think acting is more about reaction than the action and when you when you really listen to the to the other To the other character you really take in what they're saying and it just come naturally. That's that I think that's how I do it I don't know about others. So I talked to your two brothers And they both said it was like a family.

So what did you do to kind of bring them in and kind of make everybody? Feel comfortable on you know, I like to kind of break the ice the first day I did something very silly but but I think I think it was like the best move because Martin was a little he was a little nervous and once once I did that specific thing He was just he opened himself up and we were you know We became real brothers.

You're not gonna tell us what that thing was. Are you? Let's just say that when you're in a room together, you're in a bed together sleeping the loudest thing will be We get where you're going with this, that's okay So working with Sophia and the two other boys in the room. What was that like for all of you? I mean I should get a little starstruck You know, I wasn't really starstruck.

I didn't really watch modern family, you know, but I Think I was more shocked when I got the phone call that I was gonna work with Sophia because Not not long before that I worked on a different show and I didn't have a mom in the show and I told the producer I said, you know, if you hire a mom for the next season, you should hire Sophia Vergara So I literally manifested Sophia Vergara So when you first saw some of the scenes and you read the script and what came to your mind Originally in terms of music.

Oh, there's a lot of conversations we had with Andy Baez the director. He's like right over there So cool to see him in person. We've been in boxes this whole trip. So it was Really trying to figure out the musical style took a while because this is a character that's larger than life and we landed on opera Which I don't know but we're kind of excited about it But how do you blend like a Latino flair to an opera because it takes place in Miami and Colombia So and I grew up in Miami and I grew up in Central America So it's like a pan-latin American kind of sound but you know, maybe through the filter of opera So it's operatic with a with a vibe but one side son.

No, was there something specific in terms of Instrumental or even instruments that you thought for drama preferences. There was something you had to you Yeah so the performances are so Incredible and larger than life that what I we started talking about Sophia's Character being a performing like an aria like if she was a soprano So a lot of the time that she's speaking or giving speeches we went with a harpsichord It's like so who would think of that?

That's very true Yeah, he and I we came up with it. He approved at the end of the day So we were very happy about those very exciting. So you played papa who made a quite a move against Griselda What was that? Well one would say that Griselda made quite a move against papa. Yes. You know what it was a lot of fun I've never played a part like this. I've done a lot of different things and and I've never played someone who was so thoroughly Awful and odious and and that I I really didn't know how to approach it and I said What am I gonna do with this guy and I was like, I'm just gonna have fun I'm gonna go all in and my job was to make you hate me to root for me for my death And that and I think I accomplished that I think a lot of people were like, oh You know great great what happened to him was great.

Yeah, I wasn't sad when he was gone. I read a review that someone said We joyously watched him meet his end and it wasn't for a bad thing it was because Um, I made him hate me which was the point, you know, I'm not Yeah, I did my job. I played this awful Chauvinistic, you know guy which is completely Opposite. It's the complete antithesis of who I am as a man very very, you know I'm you know this he was clearly very a pre-feminism because he was like absolutely No way am I gonna even attempt to listen to a woman?

Right? No, like not even have a conversation Chismo very much. He's very, you know, very Miami 1978 to be quite honest with you You know, he was very ruthless, but so was she so how did you match Sophia in that energy? Well, I Mean, you know the character of Griselda push new Ground when it came to involving members of families things like that like she had no filter She didn't understand why other drug lords other drug dealers there other people in that world Why they felt the need to stop at a certain line.

She saw no line She was the first one to do that and it was very interesting. It was very interesting to see that look the reason we We root for her too is she cut a path in a world that was not meant for women or at least they were told It wasn't meant for women and I think that I mean what more American story Can there be when someone's breaking down that barrier even if it's in the drug world?

So as an actor, yes How much did you have to research? How much did you know about Diaz and working with? Juliana, yes If I was trying to think What was that interaction like for the two of you because really she was leaving she was out the door Great question when we meet Diaz his career is ascending Yeah Leon his career is going is she's almost out the door as you said and I think they're both outsiders in a either Latin in a traditional white Hierarchy of the police system they immediately form a bond they have a common interest which is a passion for justice and they come together to go after That lady over there and those people over there I'm always inspired when I'm when I'm asked to play a real person because you try to do justice to what what what he actually Did in real life in my opinion?

He's an incredible hero and And also what the script writers wrote, you know, you've got to balance the two I saw this documentary 15 years ago cocaine cowboys. Have you seen it? I haven't and I have to see it. I keep saying credible I know it's the true story and you're like this has to be fiction, but it isn't it isn't it's one of those incredible I've only had like three of those at four in my life where I'm like, is this real so - and I remember our old yes from the dot from the documentary for some reason his story impacted me Yeah, and then you were meant to play him I think so I don't I don't we have to ask somebody but or maybe somebody I think so I'm gonna go with that