A Narcos: Mexico star has hit out at the series, claiming there are ‘a lot of lies’ despite it being a ‘great show’.
Diego Calva has a supporting role as Mexican drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva in the popular crime drama, which serves as a companion series to the original Netflix programme Narcos and centres on the development of Mexico's illegal drug trade.
Calva's turn as the cartel leader helped thrust him into the limelight, having since landed himself a part in Damien Chazelle’s forthcoming film Babylon, which also stars the likes of Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.
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But while he feels ‘grateful’ to be a part of the hugely successful franchise, the actor has revealed how he feels his country has been misrepresented in the show.
In a new interview with GQ magazine, Calva, 30, said: “There’s a moment in your career as an actor that you really can’t choose your roles. You are just grateful that you’re having a job, and ‘Narcos’ is a great show.
“But in my case, it’s a little hard because the way they put the story of my country, I don’t agree at all. There’s a lot of truth and that’s amazing, but there’s a lot of lies, too.
“I think my country doesn’t need more narco culture and making these guys heroes.”
Calva recalled how, when the series aired, he had thought to himself: “This is too raw. I don’t know if I really want to keep shooting people.”
UNILAD has reached out to Netflix for comment.
The star now features in Babylon as Manny Torres, a film fan from Mexico who is trying to make it big in Hollywood during the golden age of cinema in the 1920s.
It turns out the role – which marks Calva's first big English-language gig - has parallels with the actor’s own life, as he, too, grew up as a movie lover in Mexico City.
“When I learned how to play and rewind the VHS, I would just watch Peter and the Wolf over and over and over again,” he said.
“I was addicted to the fear that I felt when I heard the [horn] motif of the wolf. That sensation, that feeling.”
Calva said that as a teenager he had managed to negotiate regular trips to his local Blockbuster – predicting how he's seen GoodFellas about 40 times.
Topics: TV and Film, Narcos
Jess Hardiman