Narcos: Did Pedro Pascal Leave Hit Netflix Series After a Real-Life Tragedy?
Pedro Pascal bowed out of the hit Netflix crime drama, Narcos in its first three seasons. This coincided with a real-life tragedy a crew member went through and had fans wonder if Pascal’s departure from the show had anything to do with that. The Last of Us actor’s fame got a boost when he featured in Eric Newman’s Narcos as Javier Peña. The show’s critical acclaim only increased with subsequent seasons. But an incident halted and changed things for a bit. And naturally gave birth to some rumors.
Killing of A Nacros Crew Member
Narcos first premiered on Netflix in 2015 and concluded with three subsequent seasons ending with Pedro Pascal leaving. Around the same time, Carlos Muñoz Portal, the location scout for the series was murdered in Hidalgo, Mexico when he was looking for shooting locations for the show. His body was found in his car bearing pieces of evidence of having been shot multiple times.
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This incident, which felt like a Narcos plotline in many ways had fans wondering if, in any way, it contributed to Pascal leaving the show. When a crew member meets such fate, that too in a place where one is supposed to work at and life is at high risk, anyone would have second thoughts.
Fans thought it possible that Pascal was not willing to continue with the show when it changed gears and moved the story to Mexico. However, it sounds a little weird considering all three seasons Pascal had been a part of were shot in Columbia, which in itself does not have a history with safety of the human life.
Pedro Pascal Leaving Narcos Had Nothing to Do with the Murder
In an interview, with The Hollywood Reporter, Narcos showrunner Eric Newman put an end to all such rumors by revealing that this is how it was supposed to be.
He said that it was always intended that the Pablo Escobar story would be covered in three seasons and if the show got an opportunity to expand past that, it would see a shift in storyline.
“It was a part of the plan as early as season two. The design was always to finish out the Colombian story and the players that we’ve come to know there and then start anew in Mexico.”
Pascal’s stay on the show was never meant to last. Moreover, while answering a question about the murder in an interview, Pascal expressed his grief over the happenstance but did not mention it playing any role in his departure from the show. The show gave a sequel to the story in Narcos: Mexico.
Narcos and Narcos: Mexico is now streaming on Netflix.
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Source: The Hollywood Reporter
