On July 13, Brad Furman's "The Infiltrator" will be released nationwide. The film is the latest in a series of cartel films inspired by the life of Pablo Escobar and the hunt to catch the notorious kingpin.

Latin Post had the chance to interview Benjamin Bratt ("Miss Congeniality," "Love in the Time of Cholera"), the Peruvian American, who has become an iconic figure in film. In "The Infiltrator" he plays Roberto Alcaino, the agent's contact who dealt directly with cartel board members, including Escobar.

During the interview Bratt went into detail on his preparation for his role as Alcaino and his longtime friendship with director Brad Furman.

Latin Post: How did you get involved with the project?

Benjamin Bratt: Brad Furman is a longtime friend of mine. What most people don't know is that I first met him when he was a 19-year-old kid. He was the assistant to my New York agent when I was doing "Law and Order" back in the 90's. He would run down to me at the Chelsea Piers while I was filming and I never in my wildest dreams would have considered that he would go on to be a very thoughtful and skilled director. We maintained contact over the years so when he sent me the script and after I read it, it was almost too cinematic in scope to be believed. When you consider the actual events and how they unfolded, it almost seemed beyond imagination. Whatever is captured in the film even if it is a dramatic depiction of what actually happened, I think it's pretty close.

LP: What kind of research did you do and did you get a chance to talk to any of the real life players beforehand?

BB: When you are given the opportunity to portray someone who actually existed and in this case someone who still exists, as an actor you feel a greater sense of responsibility in getting it right. So for me I always start with what's written. You start with the script as a first road map and then to have the benefit of what really becomes a factual bible as a back story and all the detailed information in the form of the book, the biography, "The Infiltrator," that proved invaluable information. But the icing on the cake was the real friendship I developed with the real-life Bob Mazer. To get the personal anecdotes that he shared with me on his experience with Roberto Alcaino and then to round it all out and be given access to the actual secret recordings between him and Roberto Alcaino; that proved to most invaluable. Up until that point and even to this day I had not seen any photographs or video footage of the real person that I portrayed. I was left to use my imagination to how he would present himself. But I must tell you the access to the recording gave me a way in, in that I found in these conversations a larger-than-life persona. A man who had a big personality and as defined in the book, someone with large and worldly appetites for everything from restaurants to homes to cars to women to clothes. He loved the finer things in life so I took that and ran with it. I wanted to give him a worldly sophistication who is not only smart in business but who ultimately was an old-school gentleman. He knew how to comport himself both in friendship and business and his marriage.

LP: What was the knowledge you had about Pablo Escobar and the Colombian drug cartel?

BB: Only as familiar as the next person. Pablo Escobar continues to maintain a mystery and sense of danger. People almost treat it as a taboo subject and are almost afraid to talk about it. It's no surprise that his story and cartel stories are on the popular rise in television and film because at the end of the day, film audiences want a sense of drama. What gives you a greater sense of drama than the gangster epic? Gangster stories in film are as old as film itself. Cartels are here to stay. They're not really going anywhere. The so-called "War on Drugs" is depicted in the film and has proven to be a somewhat futile effort. And that's because in part the demand for drugs, in particular in America, has not gone away, it's increased. And as long as there is a need, to use the twisted logic of my characters, there will always be life for the cartel.

LP: Tell me about working with Brad Furman and what was his approach with the actors?

BB: Most Actors need a sense of security and safety in their working environment because on some level you make a huge leap once you determine how you are going to play a person and set yourself up on the choices that are going to get you there. So having that history, that 20-year-old friendship with Brad, jumping into it feet first with someone with the caliber of Bryan Cranston could have been more daunting than it was. But he made it very comfortable. He did forewarn me that Bryan is going to be one of the kindest men you ever meet, but don't let that fool you because when the camera starts to roll, he's like a heavy-weight fighter and you must come well-trained and well-prepared if you are going to hope to survive. I took that advice to heart and over-prepared.

LP: What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

BB: At the end of the day, our hope is to create a compelling piece of entertainment. The material is on actual events and actual people and give a more emotional heft and audiences something to attach themselves to. But I love that the film explores the universal qualities of loyalty and friendship and devotion. But we also explore betrayal and revenge and these are very human themes that we come into contact with over and over again. So even though we talk about characters that are drawn on the side of good and bad, they each share aspects of human makeup that are relatable to anyone watching the film.

Related