There is something that attracts us to danger, to the underworld, to criminals capable of making the most bloodthirsty decisions. Stories about drugs and cartels transport us to intriguing spheres, where narcos fight brutal battles, live turbulent romances and swim among thousand-dollar bills. Cuban actor Alberto Guerra is a star of contemporary Latin cinema and television thanks to the exploration he has carried out through his characters – dark and ambitious men from the criminal sphere. His roles in El Señor de los Cielos, Narcos: Mexico, or more recently Griselda have catapulted him to international fame. But Alberto has not only managed to immerse us in dangerous environments, he has also achieved the difficult challenge of going beneath the surface of his characters, giving them all the necessary complexity to make them humans with deep feelings and great dilemmas. His starring role alongside Sofía Vergara in Griselda has been a hit on Netflix and has made him stand out from the rest of the cast for being the voice of reason in a story where money and power cloud everyone else's judgement. In a very sweet personal and professional moment, Alberto, with a cigarette in his hand, smiles and remains willing to continue exploring the most macabre corners of human nature. It's going to be a dark ride and we are ready to enjoy it!
¡Hola, Alberto!
How are you, Juan? What time is it there?
It's five o'clock in the afternoon in Madrid. How's everything going?
Life is going well! I’m super happy about the success that Griselda has had. That's something we should always be grateful for. I don't do things thinking about their level of success, but it is very nice when people see one of your projects and, in addition, they come to tell you that they liked it. But beyond the professional aspect, I'm also experiencing a good personal moment.
Tell me about the feedback you have received for your role in Griselda.
I didn't expect my character to be liked so much – receiving such positive feedback is a great reward for all my effort. I was very excited that even the details of the character had not gone unnoticed. I think there has been real communication between the audience and the series.
Left Full look Emporio Armani
Right Full look Kenzo
Of the array of villains we can see in Griselda, your character is the best.
I don't know if my character is one of the good ones, but I do know that he is the character who is most right when he speaks. He speaks little, but when he does, he is precise and always right. I think that makes you feel some empathy for Darío because he is the voice of reason, but the people around him don't listen to him. What Darío says doesn't necessarily have to be something good or nice, but it’s true. In Griselda, the characters are too complex to define them either as “good” or “bad”, and that's something that I really like. They all have many nuances that make it difficult to judge them.
What do you think Darío saw in Griselda to fall in love with her?
The story of Darío and Griselda goes through many different stages, but I think what really attracts Darío to her, from the beginning, is her drive and how determined she is. Griselda is an ambitious woman who has plans and goals and is not afraid to try to achieve them. That's a characteristic that Darío didn't have and that's why he values it so much in the woman he's with. We all like to have a partner to admire and, honestly, I think Darío admired Griselda.
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Watching the series I couldn't help but ask, can you love someone in such a bloodthirsty manner?
Griselda was very, very, very bloodthirsty. As I mentioned before, Griselda and Darío's love story goes through many different stages and I tried very hard to show how they change throughout their life together. Darío and Griselda live certain moments that mark and change them and there is no turning back. For Darío, a key moment is when he becomes a father. How does that change someone who has been murdering people since he was fourteen and who lives in the hostile reality of the 1970s? I even think that becoming a father would make the hitmen of 2024 rethink things! I insisted a lot on working on the modification of the character, his evolution from the beginning to the end. Becoming a father causes him to distance himself from Griselda, it is the beginning of the end of their story, as fatherhood puts Darío in a completely different place in his life. As their love for each other fades, Darío begins to see the real Griselda.
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Alberto, like Darío, you are also a father. How did your own fatherhood help you understand your character's situation?
Being a father and having three children changed my life completely. I wanted the same thing to happen to Darío. I didn't want the decision to take his son away from Griselda to be arbitrary. Darío had grown accustomed to a good life, to the comfort Griselda had given him where he didn't have to kill anyone. His story could have stayed there, but then he has a son and nothing could be the same. Darío becomes a softer man and that is not well regarded in that world. For that reason, it begins to create an antagonistic relationship with Griselda.
Do you think that if Darío's ending was different, he would have ended up going back to work as a hitman?
Yes, I think so. He didn't know any other way to make a living. I think all parents, at a certain point in life, notice how things stabilize and that our children fly free. That allows us to go back to things from our former life, from when we had different responsibilities. I mean those hobbies or activities like extreme sports or those things you stop doing when you have children. In Darío's case, I think he would have gone back to the work he knows. I also believe that he would not have been able to live a humble life, he would have wanted more and the way to get more would have been to kill for money.
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Can anyone live peacefully in that world, constantly playing the killing game?
Me, Alberto, as a normal human being, can tell you that you can't enjoy it. But in this world, there are many types of people. There are people who spend months in a submarine thousands of kilometres deep in the sea or people who are super relaxed jumping with a parachute. It all depends on the personality, but I don't think that all the people who inhabit a world as dangerous as Darío's are calm, although perhaps they end up getting used to it. Human beings end up getting used to everything. It's a very complicated question.
I have always thought that money gives you peace of mind and from that peace of mind, it is easier to be happy. But when you live in a world like Griselda's?
It is true that money can give you the peace of mind you mention, but it also gives you power. That can change everything depending on what you want in your own life. There are many powerful businessmen who could help make the world a better place, but they choose to have more, earn more money and not lose power. And power does not understand what is legal or not, it is understood by the person who has it.
Jumpsuit Hermès, tank top Calvin Klein
Have you learned any lessons after playing Darío?
I've noticed that certain elements of my characters stay with me. It's not something that happens immediately after you stop playing them, it's something you realize once time has passed and that trait has become part of your life. I like to inhabit my characters and let them be the ones who leave me little memories. I think one of the most beautiful things about being an actor is that it allows you to explore the personalities of so many different people. I think it's also very important to note that you may work on several projects a year, and in those projects, you get together with a lot of creative people with whom you live for a period of time. During those months, you can share your energy and vice versa. All that energy stays inside you if you want it to because making a series or a film is a constant catharsis.
What have you been able to learn from a big Hollywood star like Sofía Vergara?
I learned a lot from Sofía, especially by watching her work. I spent many hours with her because we shared a lot of scenes. Sofía made sure that from the very first moment, there was chemistry between the team. She welcomed us to Los Angeles, which is where she lives, and made us feel at home. She helped create a real sense of camaraderie and fellowship with all of us. That allowed me to get to know her as a person and at the same time see what a great professional she is. She always treated everyone with respect, was punctual and worked very, very hard. There are people who achieve some fame and lose their humanity, but there are people who don't, who despite achieving success continue to respect others.
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Right Full look Kenzo
You played a major drug trafficker, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, in the series Narcos: Mexico. I want to know if that experience helped you in any way to prepare for the role of Darío in Griselda.
The story of Narcos: Mexico and the story of Griselda are very different. For me, they are stories about human beings. That's why I think both stories are not similar because the characters I played are very different even though they are connected to the drug world. The filming of both projects has been absolutely different despite having several common creators such as Doug Miro and Carlos Bernard. Narcos: Mexico was filmed by several different directors and completely in Mexico, while Griselda was directed in Los Angeles solely by Andrés Baiz with the story that Sofía had been fighting to tell. The fact that Andrés directed the whole series makes his sensibility felt in every episode. I had never participated in a TV show that only had one director, and it has been impressive.
Why do you think stories about the world of drug trafficking are so interesting?
Because they are part of the reality in which we live. Remember during the pandemic when everyone was watching documentaries about serial killers? It's a little bit the same with stories about drug trafficking. I think people like us, who behave according to the law, are attracted to stories about people who live outside the rules. We want to understand why people do what they do. A man commits a massacre and we always wonder why he did what he did. We want to understand everything that is incomprehensible to us. We all think about crossing the line but we don't do it, yet there are people who do it and we want to know why.
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Right Full look Valentino
What stories interest you?
I'm interested in narratives that explore the dark side of human nature. Those stories appeal to me as an actor and as a spectator. Those characters allow me to do things that, even if I wanted to do them, I wouldn't be able to. As an actor, I have the advantage of being able to play hitmen and drug dealers, and then go home to my family as if nothing had happened. It's a pleasure to be able to explore these complexities behind humans, even when we live in times when we try to simplify it with technology. Everything is becoming simpler and simpler and I believe that the human being is much more complicated and deeper than all that. People are full of nuances that deserve to be explored.
Interview by Juan Marti
Photography by Sam Ramirez
Fashion by Marisa Ellison
Casting by ImageMachine CS
EIC Michael Marson
Stylist’s assistant Alexis Kossel
Grooming by Ayae Yamamoto using The Ouai
Photographer’s assistant Andrzej Lawnik
