‘Narcos: Mexico’s Scoot McNairy Is Open to Coming Back for a Season 3

Narcos‘ latest game of cat and mouse couldn’t have unfolded without DEA Agent Walt Breslin. Though Walt is a fictional character, according to actor Scoot McNairy, this troubled U.S. agent had a lot of real-life inspirations.

“I spent some time with the DEA down in Los Angeles for a little bit, interviewed some of those guys,” McNairy told Decider. “In regards to this show, the writers have obviously done so much research.”

Decider also spoke to one of television’s most interesting actors about how he came to embody Walt, what went into his Episode 10 face-off with Diego Luna’s Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, and what’s ahead for Narcos: Mexico‘s future.

Decider: I know your character’s a bit of a composite character, so how much research did you do into this time period?

Scoot McNairy: I spent some time with the DEA down in Los Angeles for a little bit, interviewed some of those guys. In regards to this show, the writers have obviously done so much research.

It’s a lot to take in, in a short period of time. It was a lot of more leaning on the writers, them referring books and stuff to me that helped distinguish the season. I went down and met with James Kuykendall down on the border and asked him and his wife. So yeah, it was mostly just hearing old stories from the old DEA guys from that time period.

Was there a specific agent who you really connected with while reading these stories?

Yeah, James Kuykendall, played by Matt Letscher in the first season and this season as well. I spent a good amount of time talking with him and chatting with him. He was the real guy that oversaw Kiki Camarena during the executions. He had a lot of stories and a lot of opinions from that time period.

What was the most surprising thing you learned from working with him?

During that time, how unimportant and sophisticated the DEA actually was. It was just being put together, didn’t really have authority in a lot of areas. They were one of the lower agencies on the totem pole. And that part I didn’t know. I didn’t know how hodge-podge the thing was. There’s a line in the show where their first office is on the top floor of a strip club. They didn’t have a lot of backing through the U.S. Government at that time. The DEA really became a significant force around the time of Kiki Camarena’s execution.

I didn’t know that either. I wanted to get into a couple specific episodes. In Episode 2, you’re part of a pretty graphic torture scene where your guys are torturing Sergio Espino Verdin. What was it like filming that scene?

It was interesting, the actor that we had come in playing Verdin (Pedro Giunti) was really really great. Those particular scenes are really delicate, and shooting them. But in regards, for me, it wasn’t much different than most of the other days. This character and his crew of DEA guys definitely breaking the rules and bending the laws.

Between this episode and the many losses he witnesses, Walt goes through a lot this season. Did portraying him ever feel emotionally challenging?

Yeah, sure, at times. I did another show before this called True Detective and I think that role had a little bit more emotional residue on me afterwards. But this one, it’s tough you can’t really judge your characters… It didn’t seem like these guys were doing anything wrong. They were doing what they had to do to accomplish what they were trying to accomplish.

Kind of talking about your True Detective character, how do you, as Scoot, shake these difficult characters when you’re done filming?

Usually the first thing I want to do is either shave or get a haircut or get some new clothes. The characters don’t rub off on me, they leave me pretty quick. The True Detective one had a little more of a burn to it, just because I had a real close connection to that. But this job was strictly a lot of fun.

What was your favorite scene from this season of Narcos?

With Pablo Acosta (Gerardo Taracena). We have a scene [in Episode 8] on the rooftop with each other. I’m a big fan of his, so I was really excited to work with him. I would say that scene and the scene I have with Diego at the end of the show.

The one you have with Taracena is really powerful. You finally get to the core of both of these characters.

That’s what I like about both those scenes, is that it cuts down to the chase. Two people putting all their differences aside and talking to each other like two people. They’re such powerful individuals, Diego’s character. I liked that they’re really humanized in those moments.

Yeah. I had the privilege of talking to Diego earlier, and we were talking about your final scene with him. What was it like for you to finally work with him in Episode 10?

It was charged. I’m a big fan of Diego, I was excited about working with him. We had done a whole show together but yet we hadn’t worked at all together. So, that scene is the two guys ganging up, finally.

What stuck out to me most in this scene is it’s two guys, again. They put all their differences aside and he’s going after what he’s going after, and the other guy’s going… It reminded a lot of that scene in Heat — you’re gonna do what you gotta do, and we’re gonna do what we gotta do. But inevitably in the scene you sort of realize they both lost. They both lost the war. They lost what they were going after.

That theme of losing is so important to this season. At one point Walt says something along the lines of, ‘When you go out to kill for revenge, dig two graves.’ He knows that this isn’t going to work out for him. But he can’t stop himself

It’s personal. And I think that’s the problem that Walt gets into, is that he has a professional agenda that he’s trying to take care of but his personal agenda can get in the way at times. I think that’s when it gets away from him.

Speaking of losing, what was it like to film the ambush scene in Episode 9?

It was a mess. It was absolutely a mess. We were trying to shoot at this airport. I think we went back to shoot that thing probably three times, and then went back for pick-ups. It kept raining. And it was raining, and we would have a half day, and it would rain. And as you could see, it was a big big set-up with moving parts. My most difficult part of all of it was just how much it rained. We spent so many hours sitting in the car waiting for rain to pass. Took a long time to shoot. But obviously, those action scenes, they get compiled down to 10 minutes, when it took like five days to shoot them.

I know that Narcos: Mexico hasn’t been renewed for a third season yet, but has there been any talk with the writers about Walt possibly coming back?

I don’t know. There’s been some talk about it. That’s something that’s completely out of my end. However, if they did approach me or ask me to come back, I would gladly do so. I had a really great time on the show, a really great time in Mexico. So yeah, I would be really happy to do so.

Is there anything you want to tell viewers as they’re watching this new season?

Enjoy the show. It’s not a documentary, it’s fiction. It’s based on true events and what-not. There’s a lot of further discrepancy on a show with so much violence. I just feel like we’re telling a story of something that actually took place. Like so many awful things in this world, it should remind you the tragedy that comes from people’s celebration of drug use. How many people that have to die in order for one person to get high, it’s a tragedy.

Watch Narcos: Mexico on Netflix