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‘I want to see Gold, Black Friday, Maqbool’: Michael Peña in a candid chat

To be honest, what I do is, I pick a character. I always bring other people to the roles I play. It’s interesting to think like them. That’s kind of my technique

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Michael Peña
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Michael Peña, whose last outing saw him playing the motormouth Luis in the second instalment of the Ant-Man series, makes a dramatic switch as he essays the character of Kiki Camarena in Narcos: Mexico. Unlike most actors, who get stereotyped in either the comedy or drama genre, Michael seems to be able to change sides without breaking into a sweat. Something that has helped him collect an enviable filmography. The actor, on his recent trip to India, spoke about his career graph, showcasing his work on a digital platform like Netflix, and finding inspiration from common people.

You manage to strike a good balance between comedy and drama — something that very few actors are able to do. What’s your secret?

To be honest, what I do is, I pick a character. I had never played a guy like Kiki Camerana. I had based the Marvel movies’ Luis on somebody else, and the guy from End Of The Watch was a composition of a couple of people, while the one from Observe and Report is based on another person. I always bring other people to the roles I play. It’s interesting to think like them. That’s kind of my technique. I try to embody a character and try to make them as real as possible and justify their actions.

You have spent over three decades in the industry. Do you find any difference now that films and shows are being aired on digital platforms rather than conventional mediums like theatres and television?

To me, it feels the same. I have been blessed to have success with shows and films, and that feels like a blessing. At the end of the day, you want to make people happy. When they get home and are tired, you want to entertain them. You want them to go, “Oh that was good.” That’s more on my mind than any other ratings or stuff like that.

Shows like Narcos have brought local culture and language to a global platform. How do you think it helps a show?

I think it adds authenticity. Nowadays, you are in a competing marketplace where you are sometimes going up against mediums like YouTube where people are able to see other parts of the world. In a weird way, it (the world) is coming together a little bit more because you are able to see it and understand it. You can’t really get away with hiring somebody who doesn’t speak Spanish like in Narcos. It just wouldn’t fly. But it’s also very interesting. I have yet to see things (shows/films) in India, but I definitely want to see Gold, Black Friday, and Maqbool.

People often binge watch digital shows...

Whenever there’s a new season starting, you have got to get past the first two episodes. That’s because they are just meant for establishing (the characters). By third, it starts to cook, and with the fourth, you are like, ‘Ok cool, this is how it goes’.

Kiki Camarena is not your typical hero. He often doesn’t get his way...

Yes, and it’s good to let that frustration show. You see what’s going on with him and how he reacts to it. The reason he does things the way he does is because he is just fed up with it (the system). Even if he makes sense, it doesn’t matter because people are either getting in the way or they aren’t taking any action. The fact that the Mexican police, the federal police, the politicians and the government are involved is a bit of nightmare. He wants someone to do something about it, but they just don’t do it. It leads to almost a resentment.

Considering this is a part of the Narcos series, was there any pressure to match up to the previous ones or to make it stand apart from them?

Not really. Because as soon as I read the first script, I knew that it’s not a typical TV show, it’s very much in the Narcos territory. It has that specific style of storytelling, in which they intertwine and set up things that are interesting and entertaining, but then they pay off in a way that’s unexpected. Here, the good guys have a lot of grey areas and vice-versa. You humanise both elements. At the same time, they aren’t glorifying anything because you can see that the bad guys end up dead or in jail.

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