John Leguizamo has landed the role he’s been waiting his whole life to play: that of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Leguizamo actually spent thousands of dollars of his own money in order to create a screen test with makeup artists who transformed him into Escobar. The efforts paid off, because he won the role over stars like Oscar Isaac to Benecio Del Toro, and with the help of a bit of prosthetics, he became the Columbian drug lord to an unsettling degree.

My #escobar screen test! I killed it!! Its btw me and another dude! pic.twitter.com/18xJwg9cVS

— John Leguizamo (@JohnLeguizamo) July 16, 2013

The film, titled “King Of Cocaine”, is directed by Brad Furman (“The Lincoln Lawyer”) and will begin shooting in Columbia in January.

This Is Gonna Be *Bananas*…No Pun Intended. @NYMag: John Leguizamo Will Play Pablo Escobar in *The King of Cocaine* http://t.co/J5YXmC7Qrn

— harryallen (@harryallen) September 10, 2013

Alright I'll say it, John Leguizamo playing Pablo in that makeup would be worse than Vinny Chase playing Pablo.

— Carter Swan (@CarterSwan) September 10, 2013

This is dope —> How John Leguizamo Bet (Big!) On Himself to Play Pablo Escobar http://t.co/tFUxUm7bnx

— Film Fatale (@FilmFatale_NYC) September 10, 2013

“@thncom: John Leguizamo Cast As Pablo Escobar In 'King Of Cocaine' http://t.co/SsEI5nhNrR” I'll take this all day long!

— Sam Carey (@samtcarey) September 10, 2013

Image: Wikimedia Commons