Karol G will make her big acting debut in the upcoming Netflix program Griselda, based on the life of Colombian drug queen Griselda Blanco, with fellow Colombian Sofía Vergara playing the title role.
The singer, who will receive Billboard’s Rule Breaker award at the Women In Music gala March 2, tells Billboard that she will play the part of Carla, one of Griselda’s “mules” who transports drugs to the U.S., in the series.
“It’s a great role because there’s real character development,” says Karol G. Carla, she explains, “is a character that evolves. She sees what she does as a job, but also as a way to maintain her family, and she’s tough! She reaches another level.”
To prep for the role, Karol spent months in acting and body movement classes, both in person and virtually, and has been filming in Los Angeles. The lessons, she says, “totally opened my eyes to a different perspective. They’ve helped my career as an artist and my development onstage.”
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She considers the classes she’s been taken to be “another world. With my teacher, we get into different situations and he helps me get in character. When you’re not an actor, your goal is to do things well so they’re credible. But in acting, you really get inside a character and you forget about what people want.”
As far as balancing acting and music, it’s been a challenge. Days are long, and there’s a lot to balance. “I’m up from 5 a.m. and I work on my music at night,” she told Billboard when shooting started. “It’s new for us, but everyone [in the series production] has worked closely with our schedule. I’ve been here in Los Angeles with [producer] Ovy on the Drums and with many of the composers I work with. It’s another way of working, but I love it.”