When portraying a real person on-screen there's always the risk of incurring their wrath, and this was something Narcos: Mexico's Mayra Hermosillo was particularly concerned about while playing Enedina Arellano Félix.
The drug lord is still active and is said to be the current leader of the Tijuana cartel, a fact the actor told Newsweek made her feel "very scared" of what she and the cartel would think of her performance, and the possible consequences of portraying her.
When asked if she felt pressure while portraying a drug lord who was still in power, Hermosillo admitted: "Yes, I was very scared. At the beginning I was very scared because you don't know what [the cartel are] thinking, you don't know how they will take it if they watch it.
"I don't know, it's very unknown, it's a very unknown world for me. I was talking with my therapist and I said 'I'm very scared, I don't know how to do this and I don't know the consequences of making it.'
"And, she told me 'Mayra don't worry you will never know that kind of world, even if you're doing it and [the creators are] writing it, none of you will really know what's going on in that world because it's a very dark world.'"
"So, yes I was scared but I said like 'ok' it's my work and I'm going to do it with a lot of respect and love, so let's do it. We're a team and we'll be ok," she added while making a sign of the cross.
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Hermosillo's fears seem warranted given the drug lord is still in action, and especially because one of the show's location scouts, Carlos Muñoz Portal, was murdered while looking for places where Netflix could film in 2017.
Muñoz was found shot dead hours after he travelled to a location in Temascalapa to take photographs for Netflix and his death remains unsolved because of a lack of witnesses, according to a report from The Guardian.
Enedina Arellano Félix's brothers Benjamín and Ramón are also portrayed in the show, but the former is in prison and the latter was killed in 2002, so they're unlikely to have an opinion on being featured in the Netflix hit.
Teasing what's to come in Season 3
Season 3 of Narcos: Mexico sees Enedina take on a more central role in the drug war between the Tijuana and Sinaloa cartels.
The show sees her demand her brothers Benjamín and Ramón kill El Chapo when the Sinaloa cartel's attack on the Arellano Félix family has dire consequences on her and her personal life.
"I didn't expect [it] when I started reading the scripts," Hermosillo said of the plot. "I said 'oh my god' here comes a lot of work for all of us, and it was beautiful because you start talking with your friends like 'what are we going to do with those scenes and how are we going to help each other?'
"That was something that is beautiful because you have a team behind all of what you're watching on each episode, so I'm really happy with what we have done and what we have written with each character."
She continued: "It's really different from the second season, the third season is pretty different and I love it because I could feel Enedina in different ways. She was in love and betrayed, and, you know, saying goodbye [to her] was not easy."
Going on to reflect on Enedina's headstrong nature in the show and her ability to get her brothers to do what she wants, the actor added: "I think it's beautiful... I think what's happening in this show and my 'family' in particular is they let me talk.
"[As Enedina] I say 'Benjamín we have to do this,' and 'Ramón I think we have to do this' and they are like 'ok let's do it.'
"So I'm glad that they're written in that way, that she can express [herself] and she can say [what she likes] and she can feel security in what she wants to say and what she wants to do. She knows that her brothers will do what she wants to do."
Narcos: Mexico Season 3 is out on Netflix now.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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