You probably remember the scene. It’s one of those visceral moments in cinema that sticks to the back of your brain like humid Florida air. George Jung, played by Johnny Depp in the 2001 cult classic Blow, is navigating the high-stakes, high-stress world of the Medellin Cartel’s cocaine trade. But among the private jets, the mountains of cash that literally won't fit in a house, and the betrayal, there was Tuna.
Tuna. The loyal sidekick. The guy who was there before the billions.
If you’ve watched the movie lately, you’ve probably wondered what happened to Tuna from Blow in real life. Was he a real person? Did he get rich and disappear to a private island, or did he end up like so many others from that era—face down or behind bars?
Honestly, the truth is a mix of Hollywood creative license and a very real, very quiet guy named Ethan Zobel.
The Mystery of the Man Behind the Nickname
In the movie, Tuna (played by the late, great Ethan Suplee) is the lovable, heavy-set friend who helps George Jung kickstart his marijuana empire on the beaches of California. He’s the one who helps figure out how to transport the weed in suitcases. He’s the ultimate "ride or die." But as George moves into the "white powder" business with Pablo Escobar, Tuna disappears from the script.
Why?
Because in real life, the man Tuna was based on had the common sense to get out while the getting was good.
The character of Tuna was inspired by a real-life associate of George Jung named Ethan Zobel. Now, if you try to find a massive FBI file on Zobel, you’re going to be disappointed. Unlike Jung, who became a folk hero of sorts through the book and movie, Zobel didn't want the spotlight. He wasn't interested in being a kingpin.
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He was just a guy from the coast.
What Happened to Tuna From Blow in Real Life?
The most frequent question fans ask is whether Tuna betrayed George. In the film, there’s a subtle tension, but the real story is much more mundane—and frankly, much smarter.
Ethan Zobel basically vanished from the smuggling scene before the DEA started knocking down doors with battering rams. While George Jung was busy flying Cessnas full of blow into secret runways, Zobel had already pivoted.
Reports from those who knew the inner circle in Manhattan Beach suggest that the real "Tuna" saw the writing on the wall. The marijuana business was "mellow." The cocaine business was a bloodbath. Zobel reportedly moved on to a relatively quiet life. He didn't end up in Otisville or Waynesboro. He didn't have his life story sold to the highest bidder until the movie came out decades later.
Sadly, if you're looking for a "where are they now" photo of the real Tuna, it doesn't exist. Ethan Zobel passed away before the movie Blow even hit theaters.
He died of cancer in the late 1990s.
It’s a bit of a gut punch. You want the guy who was the heart of the first act to have a happy ending, maybe running a surfboard shop in Maui. Instead, he became a footnote in a story about a man who lost everything. But in a way, Zobel won. He never went to prison for decades. He never lost his daughter’s respect the way George did. He lived his life on his own terms and stayed out of the wreckage that the Medellin Cartel left in its wake.
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Why the Character Resonates Twenty Years Later
There is something about Ethan Suplee’s portrayal that makes people care about what happened to Tuna from Blow.
He represented the innocence of the 1960s drug culture. Before it was about cartels and "execution-style" hits, it was just about guys on a beach trying to make a buck so they could keep surfing. Tuna was the soul of that era. When George leaves Tuna behind to go to prison and eventually meet Diego (based on Carlos Lehder), the movie shifts from a sunny adventure to a dark tragedy.
Tuna's departure marks the moment the story stops being "fun."
Separating Fact from Film Fiction
Let’s get real about the historical accuracy here. Blow is based on the book by Bruce Porter, but Hollywood loves a caricature.
- The Suitcase Method: The real Ethan Zobel and George Jung actually did pioneer the idea of moving high-grade Mexican wedding weed in suitcases on commercial flights. That wasn't just a screenwriter's "eureka" moment.
- The "Tuna" Moniker: In the surf culture of the 60s and 70s, everyone had a nickname. "Tuna" was a real handle, though Zobel was known to be a lot more savvy than the "dumb muscle" trope sometimes assigned to sidekicks.
- The Disappearance: The film makes it look like they just drifted apart. In reality, the legal heat became so intense that groups fractured. If you weren't part of the "inner circle" of the Medellin connection, you were essentially cut loose. For Zobel, that was a blessing.
The Legacy of the "Coasties"
What happened to the rest of that crew? Not just Tuna, but the guys who built the foundation for George’s empire?
Most of them are gone. George Jung himself passed away in May 2021. Carlos Lehder (the inspiration for Diego) was released from prison and sent to Germany in 2020. The era of the "gentleman smuggler" is long dead, replaced by the hyper-violent corporate structure of modern cartels.
Tuna remains the most mysterious figure because he represents the "path not taken." He’s the guy who could have been a king but chose to just be a guy.
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Life After the Movie: Ethan Suplee’s Transformation
It’s worth noting that when people search for "what happened to Tuna," they are often shocked to see the actor today. Ethan Suplee, who played Tuna, underwent one of the most incredible physical transformations in Hollywood history.
He’s no longer the heavy-set guy from Mallrats or Blow. He’s absolutely shredded.
Suplee has been very vocal about his journey with weight loss and fitness, hosting a podcast called American Glutton. It’s a strange bit of irony: the character Tuna is frozen in time as a big, cuddly smuggler, while the actor has become a symbol of health and discipline.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you’re fascinated by the era of George Jung and the real story behind the characters in Blow, don't just rely on the movie. The film is a masterpiece of vibe, but it’s a bit loose with the timeline.
- Read the Source Material: Pick up Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All by Bruce Porter. It goes into much more detail about the California years and the real people who helped George get off the ground.
- Look Into the "Electric Cool-Aid" Era: To understand Tuna, you have to understand the transition from the hippie movement to the drug wars. Research the Brotherhood of Eternal Love—the "Hippie Mafia." They were the real-world contemporaries of the characters you see in the first half of the film.
- Check Out "Heavy": George Jung did a series of interviews before his death. In some of his later reflections, he speaks more candidly about his early friends and the guilt of leaving that simpler life behind for the allure of the cartel.
The story of Tuna is a reminder that in the world of high-stakes crime, the "losers" are often the ones who end up in the headlines, while the "winners" are the ones who disappear so completely that twenty years later, people are still wondering where they went. Ethan Zobel didn't want to be famous. He just wanted to live. And even though cancer took him too soon, he died a free man, which is more than most of his associates can say.
If you're revisiting the film, watch the scenes with Tuna again. That’s the last time George Jung is truly happy. After Tuna leaves the frame, the "blow" takes over, and the party starts to end.
The real lesson? Sometimes the best move in a high-stakes game is to take your chips and walk away from the table while you still have your soul intact. Tuna did exactly that.
To dig deeper into the real history of the 1970s smuggling routes, look for archives on the "South Florida Task Force" and the early DEA busts in Manhattan Beach. The paperwork there tells a much grittier, less glamorous story than the neon-soaked cinematography of the film. It's a world of wiretaps, paranoia, and the slow realization that the "easy money" was anything but easy.