Loving Pablo, about Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, is a passion project for Oscar winner Javier Bardem.
He teams with real-life wife, Penelope Cruz, who plays Escobar’s lover.
The biopic, which premiered at the Venice Film Fest before Toronto festival, is directed by Spain’s Fernando Leon de Aranoa, based on the book “Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar,” by Virginia Vallejo, the Colombian journalist with whom Escobar had an affair.
Bardem spoke about the challenges of bringing “Pablo” to the screen and working with Cruz for the first time since they’ve become a couple.
AS for preparation for the role, the actor said: “I tried to learn where his monstrous behavior came from. I was very interested in diving into Pablo’s inner self. What was going on inside Escobar’s mind that made him capable of so much harm, while at the same time he was very loving, and took care of his family and his lover. He was not somebody who appeared outwardly threatening.