We ask Narcos star Wagner Moura about his unlikely transformation into the world’s most notorious drug dealer.

To prepare for playing Pablo Escobar, the reviled and revered leader of the Medellin drug cartels in the monster Netflix series Narcos, Wagner Moura pored over any information he could find about the legendary criminal (and for some, a modern day saint). And then he wiped it all from his mind.

“So many books — especially in Spanish — but I had to forget everything I learned,” the 40-year-old Brazilian says. “I needed to bring my own interpretation to his story.”

So we kinda had to wonder — why read the books at all if you’re just going to forget them? Wouldn’t it be better to spend your free time gardening or learning German? Penthouse sat down with the fascinating Moura recently.

In person, the actor couldn’t be less Pablo-esque. Chatty, open, and unaffected, he’s incredulous of his current success and appears to be taking it all with a grain of salt.

Wearing a black suit, white shirt, and thick-rimmed glasses, Moura appears shrunken in stature when compared to his on-screen portrayal of the looming Escobar. Which turns out to be a result of wrapping up the second season, which sees the drug lord (spoiler alert) gunned down and killed by Colombian antidrug forces in 1993.

So, the upcoming second season will be Moura’s final performance as Pablo. Though, as he reveals, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the show.

In a darkened hotel room in central London, the actor — who’s enjoyed nearly 20 years as one of Brazil’s busiest stars — discusses transforming into the role, why it’s important to now leave Pablo behind, and his career hopes for the future.

The actor currently splits his time between São Paulo and Los Angeles with journalist wife Sandra Delgado, with whom he has three young sons, Bem, Salvador, and José.

“Ninety percent of the Colombian population knows exactly what kind of man he was. Every person knows someone who was killed during his war with the Colombian government.”

I can’t believe you’ve ruined the whole of season two for me already.

How so?

Revealing that Pablo dies and this will be the final season?

Well I never said this would be the final season, just that I won’t be a part of it after season two because Pablo will die. There’s no changing history. This season is based around the year and a half after he escaped capture right up till his death. And Narcos is an incredibly authentic show, it prides itself on that, so to play around with history with poetic license wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t suit the integrity of the show.

But that doesn’t mean the show will end. There were others to take his place; the drug trade continues today.

How do you feel saying good-bye to him?

I am happy and sad. Very relieved. And apprehensive. It’s a mixture. I’ve been playing one of the most divisive figures in history; he was an evil, bad man — a sociopath. There is no getting away from that. One of the biggest assassins of all time, only after Hitler. But when you visit Barrio Pablo Escobar, you see a mural of him beside Jesus. That is how revered he is. He helped poor people, those in need.

If you say anything negative against the man who built houses, schools, hospitals, churches, that is not a good idea. If you ask his wife, his children, his lovers, he was a warm, loving man who would do anything for them. Speak to the families of those he killed in his reign of terror, to the many families of those lost in that plane crash he orchestrated; they see a monster walking the earth. Ninety percent of the Colombian population knows exactly what kind of man he was. Every person knows someone who was killed during his war with the Colombian government. It’s completely in contrast to how they see him in Medellin, where he is a Robin Hood.

I, as an actor, have to see him and understand him as a human being. I cannot see him as either good or evil but try some way to understand his motivation, but there’s no getting away from the bad energy of it, even when you walk away from the cameras. It lingers on you; it clings to your clothes and your skin; it sticks to your soul, and that is not good in the future. You don’t need that in your life so I am happy to be walking away from that, but there is a sadness and an anticlimax — “What, that’s it?” — two years of my life, every day more or less, dedicated to this one person. When he’s gone, it feels a little strange. I miss him in ways, too. For all those reasons, he is one of the greatest characters.

Physically, I am so very relieved. I want to get back to my old self, get rid of Pablo. It’s not so easy.[Laughs]

You look like you’re certainly on your way, if you don’t mind me saying.

I do not, I love to hear you say that. I think you are lying, but I appreciate the lies.

I’m serious.

Thank you. And yes, it is not so easy to do this. Putting on 40 pounds, when you’re 40, that is fun. You eat ice cream and pizza and cheeses and bread. I’m not going to lie — the best time of my life. In the beginning. But then the body starts to feel unwell, very slow and sluggish. It’s not good for the health; I don’t know if I would have done this for any [character] other than Pablo.

Now I’m in the process of going back to my old self. I’m detoxing for a month, the vegan diet, no meat, no dairy, no flavor, no taste [laughs] — only for a month because I cannot live like that forever. I need to cleanse my body of Pablo, his belly. His belly is not my belly.

What will you hold on to of Pablo?

His mustache. [Laughs] I really like his mustache, and my wife says it’s very sexy, and she is always right.

You really had a tough challenge ahead when taking on this role because not only did you not look like Escobar, but you also couldn’t speak Spanish.

It’s the craziest case of miscasting in the history of casting. [Laughs] I freely say that. I didn’t speak the language, I look nothing like him… What were they thinking? I judge them a little for casting me. If it wasn’t for my very good friend [director José Padilha], I would not have got into the room to read for Pablo. He knew what we could do together.

You know, I was positive I would be able to get by with speaking with an accented English, so I wasn’t concerned. All I thought about was, I am skinny, I am going to have to eat a lot. Not the worst prospect.

“I’m getting the opportunity at 40 to learn another language. Now I can speak Spanish, and I wouldn’t have been able to without doing this show. I see it as a big achievement.”

Anyway, it made sense that I would have to speak Spanish because how many times have we watched, you know, Egyptians speak with British accents, or Japanese soldiers, or whoever, speak English with accents? Why would they speak English? Why would Pablo speak English? It makes no sense.

Acting is hard enough at the best of times — how do you do it in a completely foreign language?

I follow some great words by Javier Bardem about working in another language. He says when he works in another language, up there is this great office in his head, everyone is making calls, sending emails, and it’s this frenzy of action happening. But when he works in his own language, Spanish, the office is shut down. No calls, no nothing.

Acting in a foreign language is one of the hardest tasks ever you will experience because you can’t give your utmost to the character, you’re always thinking in the back of your mind, Am I using the right tense? My grammar is so bad, and that’s distracting. But all you can do is practice, practice, practice, and you get better and better. But in another way, your focus is so centered and pinpointed, it helps getting to know the character in more detail, I think. There are pros and cons.

Probably more cons than pros?

No, I think the other way. I’m getting the opportunity at 40 to learn another language. Now I can speak Spanish, and I wouldn’t have been able to without doing this show. I see it as a big achievement.

Another big achievement is your Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. You didn’t win, but it’s pretty huge.

Thank for reminding me, man. [Laughs] I wanted to win! [Laughs] That was a really, really big surprise for me, to be recognized for your work and for the show to get that. I wasn’t surprised that the show got it, I knew there was a good chance, but for me, that was a shock. And to be in the same category as Jon Hamm, Liev Schreiber … I’m a big big fan of those guys. Yeah, it was great.

So now that you’re finished with Narcos, what comes next?

I want to be nominated for a Golden Globe. And I want to win this time. [Laughs]

What are your next projects?

Nothing confirmed as of yet, but there are talks happening, meetings with people I would have never gotten a chance to talk to if it weren’t for Narcos. Narcos has changed my career and my life. It’s hugely popular around the world, and I knew it was a really authentic, well-produced show, but I and no one else working on it could have predicted how popular it has become.

PHOTOS: Getty Images / Maarten De Boer ; O: Daniel Daza - © All Rights Reserved Netflix 2015 ; Narcos Photos: Daniel Daza - © Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ; Elysium Photo: Stephanie Blomkamp - © 2011 Columbia Tristar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.