Juan Pablo Raba: the bad guy

A terrifying yet discreet villain; relentless but sophisticated. This is how Juan Pablo Raba describes his sinister character from “Coyote,” a series about the United States-Mexico border that, according to the Colombian actor against Efe, illustrates that “the most dangerous criminals” are those who are not seen.

Raba is an expert in revealing the dark side of the world through roles such as Gustavo Gaviria in “Narcos” (2015-2017).

Now faces are featured with Michael Chiklis (“The Shield,” 2002-2008) in “Coyote,” a series that landed on the CBS All Access platform last week with Michelle MacLaren, who was a producer on “Breaking Bad” ( 2008-2013), in the engine room.

“Coyote” centers on Ben (Chiklis), a veteran US border guard agent who becomes involved in a deadly plot to help a woman in need in Mexico.

Raba gives life to a criminal named Juan Diego, who will be Ben’s great enemy, despite the fact that, according to the Latino, they soon discover that “they are not that different from each other.”

Question: Juan Diego is a bloodthirsty criminal, but also sophisticated, intelligent and methodical.

A: I’m attracted to the idea that we’re really deviating from a stereotype: that bad guy who’s a bad guy to everyone and everyone, that bad guy who’s been like that all his life with his wife, with his kids, towards enemies. ..

My perception of Juan Diego is that he is more of a businessman. Your business is certainly not legal per se. But he’s not the one who’s going to shoot you right away.

He has organized his life very well so that it is not seen. I notice that the world’s most dangerous criminals are like that. And we see them on television, at gatherings, great with their families …

Later, if you find out a little bit, or if there’s a scandal (…), what’s down there is rotten. That’s what gets Juan Diego’s attention: how do you make a guy you really know is dangerous but doesn’t act that way.

Q: Latinos in the US criticize that they often take on the role of drug traffickers, prostitutes, etc. Are you worried about being put in such criminal characters?

A: I reject a lot (smile). I reject those that are misspelled.

I have no problem playing villains because there are villains in the world. Not that it’s a fantasy we’re making up. In the world there are drug cartels, there are people who deal in people …

My job as an artist is not to judge my character. That’s not to say I agree with him, of course not.

But to tell a story it is important that we can also tell these characters, that we can show them in all their facets (…). To the extent that we all put our grain of sand in there and make real characters is what we ultimately prefer about the story.

Question: What was it like to measure yourself in an almost Western duel against an actor like Michael Chiklis?

A: Chiklis is a force of nature. Besides putting his body, his soul and two or three years of his life into this project, it is everything one expects or wants to be a star.

He is a dedicated, serious, talented, hardworking, kind and loving man. And he’s also a tough guy if he has to.

What I like most about him is that he never considers this figure to be a colonizer: “I’m the Hollywood gringo who comes here to teach you how to do this.”

Quite the opposite. It opens up for hands and mind to learn. He wants to learn Spanish, he wants to eat what is eaten in Mexico, he wants to spend time with them. He is truly an artist and is willing to permanently record everything he sees.

Question: The Border is a different character in “Coyote” and has also been a central point in American politics in recent years. How does this series avoid the borderline clichés of President Donald Trump and the Republicans?

A: First of all, “Coyote” is never intended to be a political series. We tell a story that of course there are people who will take it to the political level, especially in the moment when we are alive.

Why is it important to me? I feel like television, movies and books sometimes have a magnifying glass effect: they achieve that great topics, great paradigms of society, great dogmas, can be told by one person.

When we concentrate something as big and complicated as the immigration problem, the border, the cages, in one or two letters, it’s a little easier to understand. Because it’s easier to put yourself in those shoes. That is why it seems so important to me to tell, even if there is ‘backlash’ (rejection), people who disagree, who criticize it …

It is a problem that has been going on for a long time and it is clearly not going to end with this new administration. This is an ongoing problem, something that is going to take a really long time, a lot of understanding and agreements before it ends up in a human place.