Nestor Carbonell ('Shōgun'): 'You don't come across roles like this very often' | GOLD DERBY

I'm Tony Ruiz of gold Derby here with Nester carbonel who stars as Vasco Rodriguez in Shogun and and you Nester this was a role that was I I so vividly remember because I'm old enough to remember the original series uh where this role was played by John Reese Davies uh the great John Reese Davies and so I'm curious had you seen that before uh you decided to do this you know I I uh first of all thank you for doing this Tony I appreciate it it's it's a a a role and a show that is very dear very dear to me and uh and I appreciate it um I had I I mean I'd seen it when it first came out you know you know so I am as old I'm much older than you so I definitely remember it but um but I hadn't seen it recently I certainly didn't rewatch it before and I thought about it and I thought no you know this you know we're doing a a different interpretation of of James glav clavel's novel so so and what was on the page uh and you know Justin marks and Rachel condo scripts was was so rich in and of itself I was like there's there's plenty here uh in fact I actually bought the uh a copy of the book and and it was hard you couldn't find I at the time I couldn't find a new a new uh copy of it so I I had to get a used one but it was weeks before it could get to me and I was like I don't think I have a chance to read this before I started so I I try to do as much re research as I could be before then but no what uh watching it I I think I think I made the choice not to so I so we could you know I could focus on trying to do my own interpretation so so did you end up getting the book eventually before you got or did you just have the script to rely on I I eventually got the book but it was like a week before we started or something like that and I was like I I don't think I I can read the the book I mean I skin through some of it you know um but uh but like I said the scripts are so rich in of there was so much even in the scene descriptions and even in my talks you know also with with Jonathan who directed The Pilot the first two episodes uh and obviously with Justin and Rachel you know I was able to to get an even clearer picture of what they wanted specifically with this version you know of Rodriguez and and what and what was it what what did they want well they definitely wanted a guy who was you know on the surface who appears insane you know you know and and uh but clearly there's a lot more going underneath that but this is a guy who's who's had a wild past um you know we sort of Drew up a history of what they were talking about who who' made uh a life for himself in Japan found a way to make himself useful not Expendable um as as a you know you know a formidable pilot uh and uh and then also someone who was you know who who worked the system who knew how to get showered with gifts uh probably had his own house uh he just knew how to play both sides of the coin you know and and uh and we got a specific well did he have a wife or did he have a number of wives or it goes all of the above you know this is a GU this is a guy who pretty much lived in the moment was all about uh excess was not part of his vocabulary um but uh you know was wary of everyone as as you know as he warns you know Blackthorne uh you know when when he first meets him so so we did we talked about that you know at like you know this kind of a sort of Rich history um and it's it's always helpful as an actor when you have that history which is why I wanted the book so badly but again time time didn't allow for it um but like I said there was so much on the page already well and I love that you you kind of clue into that kind of Duality I feel like that's such a through line of so many of the characters in the show and um one of the things I love about this character is that you really never know where his allegiances lie but you know that his main Allegiance is to himself always always to himself but what I love about him is he's sort of unabashed about that I mean he he even tells Blackthorn that I mean he's he's incredibly selfish it's everything is to a purpose you see a glimmer of something else when he essentially saves black Thorne from going into the rocks with a ship you know and that's a window into him does he have a conscience you know or does he you know he says it's a debt repaid so is it more about okay this is but I I I I've venture to think that this guy has definitely gotten under his skin in a way that he didn't he didn't uh he never anticipated uh and um and and he's taken by this guy his hutzpah his nerve uh it's refreshing to him and uh and he's willing to sort of uh defy his his Captain's orders uh to save him um and and I love that I love that I like okay so he is selfish but there's something else going on here as well um there's almost there's almost seems to be like a like a kindred spirit kind of thing like I think he sees a lot of Blackthorn himself and vice versa to the point where you know by the time you get to that big scene in the in I think the third episode you know they're trading double on tandas left and right across the post there's no question yeah he's he's absolutely sees himself in him he's Charmed by him I think he sees a much younger version of himself in him for sure and perhaps a version of himself that came to Japan you know sort of with that same kind of spirit um you know and you're absolutely right um they they established that Bond early on but even more so when they're racing against each other and trading barbs and and that's fun and one of the other things that we talked about you know with with Jonathan in the introduction of the character was this notion of this guy being sort of nuts and just crazy and like okay it's calculated nuts though it's calculated crazy so even in that opening scene when he puts the gun to his head it's all it's all really for show it's all about so opu skating it's all about that but uh so was it was those are the kind of things that that we had so much fun with you know finding that balance of you know his conscience you know his his his manipulation uh you know and his Center who is this guy but he also I think one one of my favorite scenes and I'm I'm a sucker for these types of things is is that voiceover that long voiceover that you have where you guys arrive in Japan and like oh imagine the the arrogance of thinking that this is that you think you're the only civilized people and and I feel like performing that now was that all recorded after the fact that voiceover because it's so or was that just from the actual take it was from the actual take we actually ran out of time so so we uh it was we shot first of all we shot in Vancouver three years ago this we shot in 2021 and uh I know which is it's it's amazing I know um but I remember we were running at a time and I i' I've worked in Vancouver for many years I worked on Bates Motel there and I've directed there as well and and I know the light there you know when I've directed as you know in the winter I was like we're going to lose this SL so we didn't have much time but but uh but so I I you know we we no that was all from from that particular take and they used it for voiceover for a lot of those images um but you're absolutely right that speech what what uh you know what Justin and Rachel wrote there was really was it's a beautiful speech what they wrote um and and it was incredible advice that he was imparting to Blackthorne uh you know and and also checking his naive T about the whole thing but you're right Illuminating how you think you're civilized no you're a barbarian you just have no idea how much of Barbarian you are you have no idea what oaka you know and it's interesting just even the the name of oaka talk about attention to detail on the show I said Osaka as as we say now in modern times but back then it was oaka so like those are the little things that the nuances we had to play with all the time but uh but yeah to your bigger Point yeah he he uh I love that that we illuminate that he he's a barbarian here you know and he has something else coming to him and later he discovers when he sees oaka how magnificent it is you know compared to London which she says no it's I mean London you know has its things but it's nothing like this you know this uh particularly in the in these episodes that that that we see Rodriguez you have to kind of you kind of get tossed around quite a bit wet uh you know on boats you know so physically the physical demands had to be extraordinary there were listen it was fun to me those are those are fun but I I uh I'm a sucker for those but I'm also like the the idiot who thinks I'm 18 you know and and you know I could do those things you know so I had done another movie a few years back called Bandit and I was chasing uhh Josh Dell through uh you know it was actually two years before that or a year before that through this mall it's a period another period piece but from the 70s and you know just running I snapped my achilles tendon you know so I had I know that was and I still had three weeks left to shoot the film so I had to strap on a boot and do surgery afterwards and just finish so you know here I am thinking oh yeah you know whatever I'm 18 I'm not and uh thankfully I'd healed uh just in time to do to do Shogun but I was cognizant of the fact I was like God have I snapped my ailles heel doing these stunts you know uh but thankfully no it was extremely the whole obviously the operation is extremely professional and uh but um I will tell you this so I had to I had to get uh my character was ostensible he was going to be drowned you know and that one sequence he goes overboard and the production is extraordinary I mean they they really spared no expense they built this massive wave pool I felt like I was on a Disney ride you know with outside you know in Vancouver I think it was manat Bay and um and it was uh or Steveston anyway but it was Out outdoors massive w people where they had to drown me essentially but the problem was that uh Carlos's uh costumes which are incredible you know I mean his the work he does on this is extraordinary were were made me buoyant so I was like well this is not going to work so so I asked for um uh some weights on my ankles to see if I could weight me down a bit thinking no yeah you and then I thought what have I done I'm GNA Dr in this way poool in Vancouver asking for ankle weights just you know but uh but thankfully no there were people there to help me out and uh but no I mean that was fun it was there is such dester there is such a thing as too much commitment maybe maybe maybe it was too much maybe it was too much uh you know uh I put on 20 pounds I wanted to put some heft on too so I thought you know I'm not as limber as I as I as I thought I would be here in the water uh but it was fun it was fun and then the other the other incredible sequence that they shot was the you know you know the ship rocking back and forth we were on this massive of gimbal we were strapped in so we were safe but I mean it was like I I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this this it was like a ride it was this is so much fun we're getting water dumped on us felt like a kid you know and it was so that was that was pure joy on my face because I I mean those are the things as an actor you don't get to do very often well and to me I'm a sucker for for things like having to do with Voice work and I know you've done a great deal of Voice work I loved your loved your DuckTales role you play Pon St Leon in DuckTales I love that so much but but the voice for this guy is so specific plus you have to you know have him speaking Japanese so so what was the what was the journey towards finding that voice so it was thank you that's a great question I uh we were we were spoiled with Incredible dialect coaches and and I and had done some research on this sort of castillan accent that I wanted to honor from the period as well um but I I was going to need help with everything as as we all do and thankfully they they were they were very helpful in getting me a great coach in Tony Al Alcantara uh to work on my castian accent uh so I would work on it all the time you know and then even you know annoy family members when I stayed in um and then and as far as Japanese same thing so it was like okay I need to be Adept at both you know enough that I can pass you know for certainly someone who's lived here a number of years in Japan you know and is comfortable so uh yukari was an incredible coach who was with we had lessons you know dialect lessons uh you know Zoom like we're doing now a number of times um and then you know I would work off recordings I would so that was a I mean we was it was an extraordinary experience to get to do that um and they were and they were they were on set as well to sort of monitor make sure uh and then occasionally I would want to improvise something in Japanese so yukari was there on set like I if I would tell him to move move the boats fast you know I just needed to know what that was so and the wonderful thing about the character was that you know I didn't have to be exact you know you know it didn't have to be you not like Tommy B Bast who was you know you know speaking beautiful Japanese but I I certainly had to be understood um but I really tried that the other thing we got to the privilege of is learning I believe it's called Socia customs of the time of this so we had uh meetings with these incredible experts from from Japan who' flown over to teach us how to Bow where to look uh who to bows who the different pecking orders within the this sort of the cast system the great thing about my character is that he he was going to break all those rules but I wanted to know what the rules were so that I was conscious of what I was breaking you know so yeah you have to know the rules before you can break them before you can break them so those are great that things like that the other thing was sword fighting I never got to actually fight with a sword but boy did I take advantage of that and I had great sword never know when you're gonna get in a sword fight um so I mean you're like a kid you're like a kid in a candy store with this stuff oh are you kidding me it's like you give me an expert I'm gonna I'm gonna pick his brain and and you know they're gonna be sorry that they they were assigned to me because I'm a sucker for all those things I mean we had to I had to row that boat and that's not a a the boat is it's it's a specific ore and I you know I've rode before I used to row you know used to do crew it's nothing like that so I had to learn how to do that uh and make it seem sort of so we had lessons on how to row these boats so I mean we were really spoiled with these tremendous experts who who you know who were we availed ourselves of and and so that was great and then the other part of it was the physicality so I I talked to Rebecca Lee was a makeup artist about saying let's give this guy some history on the face why don't we uh do some scars maybe one that goes into the hairline and I said as far as the hair I said I think this is a guy who cuts his hair with a knife you know you know on his own so let's let's really butcher this you know and uh you know as soon as I I I got the part I I was growing the beard that that had a life of its own so uh so those are all the as an actor you dream of a role like this is a gift any actor will tell you that and and I and I knew how much of a gift it was because you really can sort of embody someone who's really far from you with a role like this and so it was a tremendous gift on every level so okay so I'm G to ask you something you probably can't tell me but I'm ask it anyway um so we know the show's coming back we know there have you heard any conversations is there any role for Rodriguez in the future or do you hope that there's a role for Rodriguez in the future I I can tell you this I absolutely hope that there is a role for Rodriguez this is a dream rule for me to to to to have played already and hopefully to get to play more of um you know you don't come across rols like this very often and uh so I and I I feel there's unfinished business there I feel there is and I really hope that that uh that Justin Rachel and all the writers see it that way as well and uh you know I'm I'm hopeful I'm hopeful that's what that's all I can say is that I'm hopeful and uh you know fingers crossed for sure that's good enough for me uh Nester congratulations uh everybody go to Gold derby.com make your predictions for the upcoming award season and stay tuned for interviews with more contenders in the coming weeks Nester carbonel a real Delight thank you so much thank you so much Sony I really appreciate it [Music]