Why is Pablo Escobar not speaking proper Spanish?
I am watching the series Narcos in the original language. This means that Pablo Escobar's voice, among others, is in Spanish.
From the very beginning, his accent sounded very strange to me, not Colombian at all. To my surprise, I discovered that the actor playing this role is Wagner Moura, a Brazilian who learnt Spanish to play this role:
He moved to Medellín several months before shooting and started to learn the language, which he called “the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” though he didn’t see any other choice.
Why was this actor chosen despite this? To me, this sounds as weird as having a John Ford movie where a cowboy has a Japanese accent.
Best Answer
It was a decision of the director José Padilha, who cooperated with Moura in the past:
A Brazilian former journalist, Moura made his name starring in the Brazilian police thriller Elite Squad and its sequel, that were directed by Narcos producer José Padilha.
What drew you to the role of Pablo Escobar?
The first thing was the relationship I had with the director of the show José Padilha —we had worked to together on his to previous films, and we established a very strong collaboration and relationship. So when he was invited to do Narcos, he just decided I was his choice for Pablo Escobar.
(source)
Regarding the accent, I believe that Padilha was aware that Moura's Escobar won't sound genuine, but as the show was targeted at international audience he possibly preferred the actor's quality over the authenticity of the accent:
But Padilha knew the tender and thoughtful Moura could transform himself. He had directed Moura in 2007's Elite Squad and its sequel, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, the highest-grossing Brazilian film ever. To play a military police captain, Moura submitted to boot camp with Rio's elite police. "Many actors gave up and said, 'Fuck it, I'm an actor. I don't have to be here,'?" Moura says. He stuck it out.
(source)
In addition to the above, the show was initially planned to be shot entirely in English. Three months before the shooting started the plans changed and it was decided that Spanish language dialogues will be shot in Spanish. This could be one of the reasons why not only Escobar, but also some other main characters are played by non-Colombian actors:
Colombian audiences have been irritated and amused by the show’s hodgepodge of accents. A character based on Escobar’s wife is played by Paulina Gaitán (Mexican), his partner Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha by Luís Guzmán (Puerto Rican), while his rival Jorge Ochoa is played by André Mattos (Brazilian).
(source)
Pictures about "Why is Pablo Escobar not speaking proper Spanish?"
Does Pablo Escobar speak Spanish?
And he did it by following timeless principles of effective language learning. This is the story of how he did it. I've dissected Moura's many TV interviews about preparing for his role as Pablo Escobar, and figured out how he managed to learn Spanish fast.Why does Pablo Escobar have an accent?
The accents In Narcos, Escobar is played by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who\u2014although he attempted the Colombian accent\u2014didn't quite get the hang of it.What type of Spanish is spoken in Narcos?
Even accomplished Spanish speakers can be perplexed by some of the conversations between Pablo Escobar (pictured) and his criminal associates in the popular Netflix series 'Narcos'. Based, as it is, mainly in the Colombian city of Medellin, most of the characters speak using the distinctive local brand of Spanish.Language Expert Reviews Spanish Accents in Movies and TV
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