‘Narcos: Mexico’ Actor Dead at 55: RIP to Gerardo Taracena

Mexican actor Gerardo Taracena, known best for his roles in Narcos: Mexico and Apocalypto, has died. He was 55.

Taracena’s death was announced on Sunday by The Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas), who paid tribute to him on Instagram as “a fundamental actor in Mexican cinema, whose presence on screen left an intense, honest, and profoundly human mark.”

“The Academy extends its respectful and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues,” the statement added. “His work and his unforgettable face will remain in the memory of our cinema.”

The Academy also remembered Taracena for his “memorable characters” in the films that he “brought to life” and for being a three-time Ariel Award nominee in “a career marked by absolute dedication, expressive power, and a deep commitment to his craft.”

Taracena is well-known for portraying real-life smuggler Pablo Acosta in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, a follow-up to Narcos focused on Mexico’s Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s that ran from 2018 to 2021.

The late actor is also known for his role in Mel Gibson’s 2006 film Apocalypto, which was set during the decline of the Mayan civilization and also starred Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo and Dalia Hernández.

Taracena’s other films include El Violin (2005), Saving Private Perez (2011), A World for Raúl (2012), Sound of Freedom (2022) and Surviving My Quinceañera (2023). His television credits include Netflix’s Pedal to Metal and USA Network’s Queen of the South. Taracena’s most recently appeared in Prime Video’s Cometierra last year, but he also had two projects in post-production and two in pre-production at the time of his death, as per his IMDb.