Orlando Pineda is starring in one of the most awaited series of the year. The actor, born and raised in Colombia, is starring in “Griselda,” the Netflix series trailing the rise and fall of Griselda Blanco, one of the most profitable drug lords in history. The series premieres this week and marks another exciting international Netflix production that unites talent from different parts of the globe and is geared towards a global audience. It also stars Sofia Vergara, a woman who needs no introduction, with the series serving as her TV comeback and her first dramatic role to date.
Pineda is playing Dixon, Griselda’s eldest son. While his acting credits are lengthy, featuring appearances in shorts, television, and films, “Griselda” marks his first major role. The series is created by Eric Newman and Andres Baiz, the creative team behind “Narcos” and “Narcos: Mexico,” who describe the show as a” rise-and-fall story like none we have ever seen before.”
In an interview with Netflix, Baez revealed why they decided to craft a story centered on Blanco, a woman who’s long intrigued the world while remaining in the shadows. “Griselda is an antihero of the highest order and a series of contradictions at odds with herself,” he said.
More about Griselda:
In an exclusive interview with HOLA! USA, Pineda’s excitement is palpable. As we discuss his work, he disbelievingly shares some of the experiences he’s had while working with one of the world’s most important entertainment companies and alongside Sofia Vergara, an idol of his childhood.
Pineda opened up about growing up in Colombia, and about acting itself, a craft that allowed him to fit everywhere he went as he grew up in a family that moved in and out of towns all through his youth. When discussing Dixon, Pineda opened up about the deep and at times challenging relationship he developed with the character as someone who grew up under the shadow of drug wars in Colombia.
I found that every time I was acting, people weren’t judging me because of my accent, or because I was like the new kid.”
Can you tell me a little bit about your background? Why acting?
I was born and raised in Colombia and lived there until I was 18. Then I came here and I started acting when I was around 14 or 15, I guess, in school plays. My dad is a general in the military, so I was always moving from one city to another. And I found that every time I was acting, people weren’t judging me because of my accent, or because I was like the new kid. I was kind of chubby as well, (laughs). But yeah, I found this safe space in acting and I developed this sort of love and gratitude for it. I just loved it. But I never thought of it as a profession until I was 17. And then out of nowhere, my brain was just like acting.
When I was 18 I came here I started college. I graduated in 2016 with my BFA, and then just started acting, doing all the actor stuff, taking on the survival jobs and all of that (laughs) and then auditioning until this big series came. I’ve done more projects in the past but this is the biggest project I’ve done.
I know that you worked in Narcos in the past, so you have that Netflix experience in your background. Can you tell me about the process of getting cast in this show?
It was fast, yet it also wasn’t. Everything was self-taped. I never got to be in the room with any other actor, or director, or anyone. It was just after COVID. I got the casting call, saw the description and immediately said, ‘Okay, if I don’t book this then I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I’m just gonna have fun with this. My best friend and my roommate helped me with that. And then the project was supposed to start shooting in like, the second week of October 2021. And by the end of October I hadn’t heard anything from anyone, so I was like… ‘Alright.’
Then December comes and I get the callback. Five days later, I was in a meet and greet with teh director I got the news by mid-December 2021. Working with the team in Netflix was amazing. They treat you like a star. They give you all of the commodities and everything that you need to be comfortable. They spoil you a lot (laughs) They want you to feel good when you’re working with them. And it was different from my experience in Narcos because, with that show we shot in Mexico and I was just there for a day. I was a guest star. For this show, we shot in the studios downtown. We shot on location and it was a completely different animal, just because of the size of the project and the size of the crew.
Can you tell me about your experience working with Sofia Vergara? That’s crazy.
She was amazing (laughs). When we were growing up, everyone knows Sofia Vergara. Just with the name. I remember when my manager called and told me that she booked the show, I was almost crying already. And I was like, ‘First question: How much am I gonna get paid? (laughs). I need to stop surviving.’ And she’s like ‘Yeah, well they need to figure out the contracts because they’re figuring out obviously like Sofia first.’ and I was like ‘Sofia who?’ and she said ‘Sofia Vergara. She’s attached to the project.’ And then I forgot all about the project, my brain was like ‘Oh my God, Sofia.’ But she was such a humble person and she was so giving.
Since the day we met, she was so interested in us, the young actors. She was always talking to us. Every time we had a question about whatever, even if she was on the phone, she’d put it down and talk to us. As an actress she’s a perfectionist and is so talented.
It was amazing. They say that if you can do comedy, you can do whatever, and that’s so true because she killed it. You’ll see once the show comes out. She’s so good. As soon as we saw her with the makeup, she was just so scary. And then behind the scenes, when she was just chilling, she was hilarious all the time.
In the show, you play one of Griselda’s kids, Dixon.
Yeah. I play her eldest, yeah. The troublemaker, the Guinea pig of the kids (laughs).
She was such a humble person and she was so giving. Since the day we met, she was so interested in us, the young actors. She was always talking to us. Every time we had a question about whatever, even if she was on the phone, she’d put it down and talk to us. As an actress she’s a perfectionist and is so talented,” said Pineda of working with Sofia Vergara.
So he’s the eldest, so he’s the one I would say is the most similar, yet different from Griselda. I don’t wanna give too much away, but the one thing that differentiates him from his siblings is that he gets to enjoy his mom’s world. is that he does get to enjoy her mom’s world. Yeah. But overall, he’s the first born, he wants approval from his mom, but at the same time they’re so similar that they clash all the time. He ends up being a reflection of that world, of her, and the consequences of her actions.
You also have a personal connection to this story. Your dad was in the army in Colombia when Griselda’s story was developing in real life. Did that impact you in any way when making this project?
Yeah, so my dad dealt with the Cali Cartel, which was after Griselda. But they were responsible for taking down Griselda. Most importantly, I always grew up with this idea that those people were bad guys. We don’t mess with them. We don’t like them. They hurt people. Drugs, that’s a no-no, you know? (laugh). So obviously when I told my parents that I booked this project and that it dealt with all of these topics, they just laughed. My dad was like, ‘Of course. Of course! I mean, I’m so happy for you. But of course. Karma.’ (laughs).They were very proud and very happy.
But when I started working on the character, one of the challenges was to find a purpose and a reasoning for him to do that. It was like going against one of my core values. My dad was very helpful. I asked him a lot about the thought process of these people, since they studied them. So I got a lot of information from him to find some reasoning behind his actions. But it was a clash moment for me to get Orlando and Dixon to connect.
Can you tell me a bit about your acting icons, someone whose career inspired you?
Sofia Vergara (laughs.) I respect her so much, as a Colombian wanting to be involved in this industry, she’s definitely at the top of my list. As an artist, I love Robert Downey Jr. His charisma. Even if his character is good or boring, there’s always a charisma there. Meryl Streep, obviously. Gael Garcia Bernal is a genius. Oscar Isaac, and Pedro Pascal, let’s not even start.
It’s those type of actors that you see in a movie poster and you don’t know what it’s about but it’s like if he or she are in there, I want to watch it.
Yeah, they’re movie stars. They’re worth the price ticket alone.
Absolutely. And they make you feel. A good movie is one of those that makes you reflect on life once you come out. Like damn. I feel like those actors do a lot of those projects .
Hopefully, this creates a little momentum (laughs). My goal is just to keep working, keep auditioning, seeing where it all goes with this project and the future.
I’m very excited to see what happens in the Latin market as well. I want to focus on opening doors, both here in the US and the Latin market. And wherever I’m needed to tell a story that I can tell, that I can connect to, that I can bring my charisma to, I’ll be there.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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