On June 7, 1999, just outside the El Charco de las Ranas restaurant, Paco Stanley was shot to death in broad daylight as he left breakfast. 25 years later, the case remains unpunished, and for Mexicans it is almost impossible to pass by the place located on Anillo Periférico Avenue in Mexico City without remembering the death of the beloved driver. At the time, the crime and the investigation by the then Attorney General’s Office of the Federal District (PGJDF) became a media scandal, which caused speculation about the possible complicity of some of the members of Stanley’s inner circle, an issue which is addressed in the new Prime Video series, Who killed him?
The production premieres on the platform on May 24 and stars Roberto Duarte, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Diego Boneta, Zuria Vega, Belinda and Javier Cha Ramirez. In each episode the case is analyzed from the perspective of those involved, including Mario Bezares, one of the personalities who faced the greatest scrutiny during the investigations. The comedian began working with Paco Stanley as his collaborator and “patiño”—a term used in Mexico to refer to the secondary character who is the target of ridicule in a television program—but quickly gained fame for his occurrences, including the dance step he called “the buzzard.”
Luis Gerardo Méndez (Aguascalientes, 42 years old) had enough audiovisual material to prepare for the role of Mario Rodríguez, as he is known in the series to avoid legal complications, however, his main challenge was to construct what was happening with the character and his family behind the scenes. “There are all the interviews, there are all the podcasts and the television shows. There is a lot of the public, but it is not even a fifth of how difficult it is to build the private, that is, what happens to this character when the cameras stop filming? That was what seemed most interesting to me to build, to inhabit these chiaroscuros, this archetype of the sad clown, which we have seen many times, in joker to begin with,” he said in an interview with EL PAÍS.
And after the murder of Paco Stanley, the private life of both figures became a source of controversy due to their alleged excesses, infidelities and links to organized crime. After years as the most popular comedians on Mexican television, the endearing image of the comic duo turned dark. “Everything that is in the series is out there. It’s on YouTube, it’s in the interviews, it’s in the books they have written, it’s in the files of the PGR, of the DEA. The only thing the writers did was take that and fictionalize it so that it had an interesting narrative,” Méndez clarified.
The plot of Who killed him? He also criticizes the Mexican justice system and its performance in the investigation of the Paco Stanley case. Despite media pressure, the authorities have not been able to solve the case and the people who were detained were released due to lack of evidence. In addition, the tragedy became political when the then Head of Government, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, and the owner became involved. from TV Azteca, Ricardo Salinas Pliego. “I think it is the first time that as Mexicans we saw those errors and saw those contradictions in such a public case. The saddest thing is that it is still very valid, because Mexico is a country in which justice is not done. When I read the last episode, I can tell you that it sent maybe more chills through my body than when I did Narcos“said the actor.
Jorge Gil: the survivor
When the truck in which Paco Stanley was traveling was riddled by hitmen, there was a survivor, Jorge Gil, who has stayed away from the public eye in recent years. In Who killed him? Diego Boneta (Mexico City, 33 years old) plays the shy journalist who worked with Paco Stanley in the hope of having his own television program.
This project brought the actor together with the production by Luis Miguel: The Series. “I loved that Jorge’s character is totally different from anything else he has done and that above all he is the antithesis of a character like Luis Miguel. It is another energy, another physicality, it is a 180 turn from anything else I have done and a great acting challenge,” Boneta said in a telephone interview with EL PAÍS.
In contrast to his preparation to play El Sol, the only references to know Gil’s personality were a few videos in which he appears dancing with Paco and Mario, so the actor prepared with the maestro Juan Carlos Corazza to complete the Blanks. “Jorge has a very important narrative function because he is the one who triggers everything. I got really into what post-traumatic stress disorder someone would have after experiencing such a traumatic event. An event like this changes your life. Paranoia is extremely important in the plot of what Jorge experiences, as well as the entire religious side. “I wanted the change in the character’s arc to be noticeable in a subtle way,” he explained.
Although he remembers little of what happened on June 7, 1999, Boneta is aware of the enormous impact this crime had, and immersing himself in history for this role has given him a new perspective on it. “Paco was a media phenomenon. Everyone watched TV, he was a person that people felt almost like part of his family. When the murder happens he is a shock cultural, it impresses me that years later it is still something so relevant. I was nine years old, at that age I didn’t understand, I was too young, but seeing it now it’s really impressive,” she reflected.
The furor over ‘true crime’
Audiovisual media have found a niche of viewers with a fascination for productions that analyze real crime cases. Mindhunter and Dahmer are some recent examples. As usually happens with these series, after the announcement of the launch of Who killed him? There has been talk of possible lawsuits by the personalities referred to in the production, but Luis Gerardo Méndez defends that his interpretation comes “from a place of absolute respect” and prefers to stay out of it. “I am an actor, it is my turn to play a character that is just that, a character, it is our version. How do I deal with that? I ask myself many questions, and I think what I take away as a reflection is the importance of keeping what is private with a shield and a sword. The big mistake of these figures is that they expose themselves to all these cameras in the most painful moments of their lives,” he concluded.
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