You'll Soon Spot "Narcos: Mexico" Star Joaquín Cosío in Another Netflix Series

From Oprah Magazine

• Gentefied, a bilingual comedy about a Latinx family trying to keep their floundering taco shop open in East Los Angeles, stars Joaquín Cosío, Karrie Martin (Pretty Little Liars), and JJ Soria (The Oath).

• In addition, Cosío stars in Narcos: Mexico, which hit Netflix on February 13. He has also starred in a Bond movie (Quantum of Solace) and TV series like The Strain. Recently, he joined the cast of The Suicide Squad, which will also feature Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Margot Robbie.

You might recognize Joaquín Cosío in Narcos: Mexico as Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca Carillo, a member of the Guadalajara cartel. But the 57-year-old Mexican actor also stars in a soon-to-be-buzzy Netflix series called Gentefied.

The Spanglish comedy serves up diversity and inclusivity with sides of drama and politics, plus a hefty dousing of tequila shots. Adapted from the web series that premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, the gastronomic Netflix Original about food, family, and fame also stars Karrie Martin (Pretty Little Liars), JJ Soria (The Oath), and Carlos Santos (2 Broke Girls).

In Gentefied, Cosío plays Pop, the patriarch and centerpiece of a Latinx family living in Los Angeles and running their namesake taco shop suffering from rent hikes and city gentrification. “Though gruff with his Tejana and potty-mouth (cabron is his favorite word!), Pop has a huge heart, but that also means a lot of heartache trying to protect [his family],” Deadline wrote of Cosío’s character. The hero in a brood just trying to achieve the American dream, it’s a far cry from Cosío’s past roles, which include a drug cartel captain, Bond villain, and vampire hunter.

An actor who got his start in Mexican theater, Cosío will soon add superhero hero movie star to his list of accomplishments, as The Suicide Squad, his latest gig, will release in August next year. Below, get to know the actor.

Joaquín Cosío is a Mexican actor from Tepic, Nayarit.

Tepic is the capital and largest city of Nayarit, a state in western Mexico. And he’s kind of a big deal in his home nation. Acting in film and TV since 2002, Cosío is no stranger to the Ariels (Mexico’s Oscars equivalent), with some of his more standout roles coming from El infierno and Pastorela.

His first American role was as a villain in a Bond movie.

Cosío’s initial foray into international films was Quantum of Solace, the second Bond movie in the Daniel Craig franchise. He played General Medrano, the exiled Bolivian general villain on a mission to kill the blue-eyed 007 who gets owned—spoiler alert—by Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.

Since then, his Hollywood career hasn’t slowed down. He scored Hot Pursuit with Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara, Savages alongside Benicio del Toro, Disney’s The Lone Ranger riding horseback with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, and even a small role in A Better Life, the under-seen drama that scored its lead actor, Demián Bichir, an Oscar nomination in 2011.

Cosío has been in some of your favorite shows, including Narcos: Mexico.

Narcos: Mexico, the off-shoot of the Escobar-centric Narcos, premiered its fifth season right after Valentine's Day. In the first season, Cosío played Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (a.k.a. "Don Neto), a “capo” in the Guadalajara cartel.

Further noteworthy small-screen gigs include the telenovela Las Buchonas de Tierra Blanca and FX horror series The Strain, on which he played the Silver Angel, a vampire and zombie hunter. In the video below, he dishes on making that supernatural jump from reality.

He’s joining the cast of The Suicide Squad movie (2021).

Director James Gunn announced via Twitter that the beloved Mexican actor would be joining the growing cast that includes John Cena, Pete Davidson, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, and Margot Robbie, with participation from JoJo Rabbit and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi. Another installment in the DC Comics universe (but an entirely new story—not a sequel), The Suicide Squad might be Cosío's biggest film yet. But whether he will play a villain or a hero, you’ll just have to wait until closer to release time, which is August 2021, to find out.

He’s a huge fan of Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Peter Capaldi of Doctor Who fame.

While chatting with GQ Mexico, the actor mentioned that he can’t wait to work with Viola Davis, who will reprise her role as government agent Amanda Waller in the new Suicide Squad film, Idris Elba, whose role is still under wraps, but especially Doctor Who regular Peter Capaldi. “Peter Capaldi is a great actor. I would love to have a scene with him,” Cosío said.

He was honored last year as one of GQ Mexico’s Men of the Year.

Cosío wrote a respectful response to the honor and simply put “Gracias” on Instagram.

For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter.