Why did Griselda need to be separate from Narcos? Eric Newman explains

Eric Newman, the executive producer and creator of Griselda, shares his motivation for giving his character Blanco a distinct narrative apart from Narcos. He believed that her story of overcoming challenges in a male-dominated field and her subsequent success deserved its own dedicated coverage.

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Newman said that he had always intended to tell Blanco's tale and even thought of bringing her on board while working on both the main series and the spinoff, Narcos: Mexico. The American crime drama was finally released on January 25, with Sofia Vergara playing the prominent Colombian drug lord, Blanco.

According to Newman, Blanco was the Colombian mob boss who, between the 1970s and the early 2000s, made her greatest impact in Miami by bringing the drug trade from her native country to the United States. For this, she was dubbed "The Godmother" and "The Black Widow."

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Griselda's need to have its own space explained

Griselda was not included in the Narco franchise because the character Blanco's story needed some real understanding and, thereby, her own space to tell her story.

Blanco was never a major character in Narcos, despite her close relationship with Pablo Escobar and the Medellín cartel. Creator Eric Newman admitted to the Hollywood Reporter that that's the reason Blanco never appeared in the Narcos universe, which concluded its narrative in 2021. He shared,

"The challenge that I found immediately with Griselda [Blanco] is that her story is so compelling; she’s such an anomaly."

He added,

"She’s someone who needs some real explaining to understand, given how male-dominated that business is. She needed her own space, her own real estate separate from Narcos."

Sofia Vergara (Image via sofiavergara@Instagram)

One factor that further ignited his passion for undertaking the creation of the series was the enthusiasm expressed by Sofia Vergara in playing the character. He said,

"Sofía reaching out and wanting to be Griselda is sort of the impetus of this exploration. Her conviction, her passion, her need to do this, was infectious, and drove all of us."

Sofia took on the character of Blanco, besides executive producing alongside partner Luis Balaguer, which was a dramatic turn for her from Modern Family. The series was announced in November 2021, just before the last season of Narcos: Mexico was set to premiere.

"And it’s a much more intimate telling for Griselda. Narcos was a bigger canvas and required a lot of storytelling to fill it all, and this was a much more focused approach, which I really enjoyed. Coming out of Narcos, evolving into this felt like the right thing."

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What made Griselda different?

With a criminal career spanning from the mid-1960s until her arrest in 1985, the real-life drug lord Blanco was undoubtedly a unique individual who succeeded in the most male-dominated field and truly needed a separate space from Narcos.

Peter Friedlander, Netflix's VP of Scripted Series, expressed his thoughts on the series, saying to the Hollywood Reporter,

Eric Newman has deftly brought to life among the most dynamic characters and stories on screen today. We’re excited to continue on this creative path with him and for this collaboration with Sofia Vergara — a force in entertainment and a world-beloved talent."

He added,

"With an incredible team at the helm — we can’t wait for the world to see how Ingrid Escajeda, Doug Miro and Andrés Baiz take on the twists and turns of Griselda Blanco’s epic story."

Sofia Vergara plays Blanco in the limited series from Eric Newman and Andrés Baiz of Narcos. Not only does Vergara hold her own, but so do Christian Tappan, Freddy Yate, Vanessa Ferlito, and the rest of the cast.

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Eric Newman and Sofia Vergara's Griselda dropped on Netflix on January 25.