Pablo Escobar's long-time mistress, Virginia Vallejo, hated the way she was depicted on the Netflix hit series, Narcos (2015). She did, however, thoroughly approve of the way that Penélope Cruz portrayed her in this film.
Although Javier Bardem wears a prosthetic belly in the film, his wife Penélope Cruz wasn't at all happy about how it made him look. Bardem did gain weight for the role too, indulging in lots of chocolate, pasta and beer.
Over the years, Javier Bardem has been approached numerous times about playing Pablo Escobar and he's turned them down each time. Bardem was convinced by this film's approach as it portrays Escobar as a human being rather than a one-dimensional baddie.
Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz previously starred together in Jambon, jambon (1992), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Cartel (2013), although they do not share scenes in the latter.