Carmen Electra isn’t just stepping into a new role; she’s stepping into a completely different world, surrounded by Latinos. At the center of Dear Killer Nannies is the intense coming-of-age series told through the eyes of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar Gaviria’s son, Juan Pablo, growing up surrounded by danger, and the hitmen who double as his caretakers. Starring John Leguizamo as Pablo, it’s a raw, bloody, and emotional ride, bringing a different level of depth to the shows we are seeing these days.
And then there’s Carmen Electra, who plays Margaret, and might be the most unexpected part of it. “I felt like it was a really different role for me,” she said. “I was really excited to be in a movie with a Latin cast. We shot in Colombia, and it’s so beautiful there, and the people were so friendly.”
Looking back at her own roots, she explained, “I really love Latin people. Where I’m from, it was very black-and-white. And when I first came to LA, I met so many amazing Latin people along the way that it just felt right for me to play Margaret.”
That energy carries into her character, Margaret, a white woman dropped into Colombia with little understanding of what’s happening around her. “Margaret’s not Latin, she’s a white girl… she doesn’t understand,” Electra explained. “I know words, and I know phrases, but my character doesn’t know anything. It’s all in Spanish… It’s very confusing for her.”
© DisneyWhat starts as confusion quickly spirals into something more intense. As the environment around her shifts, Margaret turns to drinking and drugs before eventually getting sober. “It’s not a very easy thing to be hanging out with Pablo’s people when you’re sober,” she said. And for Electra, that part of the story mattered. “I’m playing a real character,” she said. “So for that, I wanted to honor her the best way I could.”
When we asked about the challenges that came with the role, she mentioned the language barrier. “I’m used to hearing Spanish in Los Angeles, but Colombians speak it a little differently,” she said. “I kind of had to know what they were saying already in order to respond.”
Electra praised the director, Pablo Fendrik, who she said was spot on with everything, and explained that they brought someone who lived in Colombia who worked with Leguizano on his lines to make sure it was “perfect.”
© DisneyAnd then there was the scene with Leguizamo as Pablo. “I was so scared. It was so terrifying,” she admitted. “He looks so scary. I mean, off camera, he’s very nice, but as Pablo, it was scary.”
For audiences used to seeing Leguizamo in comedic roles, this is something different – and Electra felt that shift too. “He’s amazing. He’s so, so talented,” she said. “It was really cool to be in scenes with someone like him.” And it wasn’t just him. “The whole cast… they really brought it. It was no joke.”
Being surrounded by a Latin cast definitely left an impression. When we asked her for her favorite word in Spanish, she said with her signature charm, “Te quiero mucho papi.”
The show also touches on identity, and we see Juan Pablo change his name to Sebastian Marroquin, something Electra famously did. When asked about officially making “Carmen Electra” her legal name in 2024, she reflected on where it all started. “I was given the name Carmen Electra from Prince in the 1990s,” she said. As for why she waited decades later to do it, she explained, “I didn’t want my parents to feel uncomfortable, but my mom passed away early. “But my dad, he lived a very long life, and after he passed, I thought, OK, it’s time.”
© DisneyShe continued to reflect on the loss of her parents, saying, “It’s hard when you lose your parents because it’s like, ‘oh my God, where do I go?’ But you know, it’s life and life happens.”
Then she touched on her grandma, who lived to be 99, “My grandma used to always say ‘we’re all gonna go at some point,’ and my grandma is funny. My grandma lived to be very old, though, like in her 90s, so yeah, I have a feeling I’m gonna end up inheriting that from her, and I’m not gonna want to be alive. Like, I don’t know who wants to be 99, you know what I’m saying?”
When we told Electra we would all welcome her at 99, she replied, “I’ll still be dancing on tables.”
Written by Alejandro Quesada, Ana María Parra, Martín Méndez and Ortega, the series also stars Janer Villareal (teenage Juan Pablo), Miguel Tamayo (young Juan Pablo), Miguel Ángel García (young Juan Pablo), Laura Rodríguez (Victoria Henao), Juanita Molina (Angie), Julián Zuluaga (Rodri), Rafael Zea (El Dorado), Danharry Colorado (Tina), Julián Bustamante (Yerry), Julián Díaz (Lagaña), Melanie Dell’ Olmo (Andrea Ochoa), with the special participation of Andrés Delgado (Kiss).
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