Nestor Carbonell on What Made Shogun Special.

we can jump to Shogun and the fact that look at this accomplishment of being nominated for an Emy and doing just I mean and I and you've done incredible work but what you do in this show uh it's just phenomenal it's phenomenal and and I'm so happy for you but can you talk a little bit about hearing about the nomination going holy it happened well thank you so much Christian I appreciate that um you know it's it's so wild yes I was I was blown away I've been at this uh for you know for a long time now I've been at this since you know professionally since I graduated college since '92 end of '92 you know or really committed end of 92 is when I I I moved out here to LA and to do it full-time and the irony is that my first job uh on was on prime time was as a guest Starin law in order you know so so to be nominated in this category you know 30 you know two years later um is especially meaningful to me because you know it's it it is for any actor that you guys have spoken to who's done guest work and I've done you know quite a bit of it um it's it's its own sort of animal it's you you kind of typically coming into a moving train having to hop on and sort of trying to simulate and and also add trying to add something to the world as well um but also not disrupt it in a way that it's like jarring you know so you have to so you know so this this particular award is especially meaningful to me because of of that reasons you know I had the advantage in this particular in you know in Shogun that that I actually I'm my character is introduced at the in the pilot so so in that respect there was no moving train you know I was part of that train already um but um but no it was still a you know a dream obviously a dream job in every respect and and you guys know this when when you guys stumble on you know some element of of work that you go oh wow this is especially meaningful to me you know um you know and it doesn't happen all the time but everyone when you do you recognize it and you and you and you say wow this was a moment that I won't forget that I'll cherish and it was an experience and it's certainly that was certainly one for me where you know you're in this world that uh you know uh Justin Marx Rachel condo the writers you know and obviously based on James clavell's book with that they and the writers created that you know John langra and everyone at FX I mean really got behind um to the point where they created a world that is an actor you just you walk on set and you're already in the world there's no there there was there was green screen work but wasn't that much I mean there literally was an incredible set around you that you could Escape into and then you have phenomenal actors to work off of so you know uh so so just on that level alone it was extraordinary and then the the amount of prep that we got I've never had that kind of prep which is just a gift to an actor to to work with a a Japanese coach yukari helped me with my Japanese I had Tony Alcantara helped me with my my castillian accent I had sword fighting lessons I didn't even get to fight you know right you know I had special Japanese these are Japanese canoes that I had to I had lessons in that I had lessons in everything in Social training and how to Bow you know so only so I could do it you know in a bad way to to to to all everyone around me so you know you have all of that and then you're you know you recognize what a gift all of that is um and then on top of that like I said the talent around you the enormous and and uh just beautiful Talent around you to work off so you you pinch yourself you know so to to to get recognized for that in a nomination is just it's especially meaningful where were you when you found out oh about the nomination I was I was home it was early and uh and then I was trying to I was trying to you know live stream you know or do the thing and I couldn't find it and I was like oh I missed it you know and then I was like oh well it's okay you know you know or maybe it just didn't you know if it didn't happen but then I get a text from my agent and my manager like you got nominated so I found out through text you know but it was really but I saw but it was really sweet I mean it was uh yeah I mean it's it's it's it's incredible I mean I'm I'm so flattered you know the job alone was already the gift you know then then to be recognized by my peers is just you know it's really special was there one that you did before that you thought it was coming and it didn't come or do you not you try not to think about that you know I try not to go there you know I've been on a few shows that I've had you know like on lost you know a lot of people nominated people won you know uh Morning Show what Morning Show for sure Bates Motel you know um I I you know then maybe when I it's interesting when I first started out you know you had this sort of idea of you know of the awards and this and that and I don't know how you guys feel about that but you know when when I started out it was I mean I remember you know this is again before the internet you know it was like you were glued to the TV to watch you know the Oscars certainly all the actors were that em and and we're still are still fascinated and it's still great um but the more I got into just the work of it the work of it and just and and finding the work that that became the goal more than anything it wasn't it wasn't geared towards necessarily winning a particular award because I think that could be death to creativity it's really about it's about the work you know it's about being truthful and and trying in in in some small way to contribute to the story and enlightening people perhaps uh about the human condition in some way I mean ultimately that's what we're doing if we're doing you know storytelling that's meaningful and impactful is we're saying or asking at the very least raising questions about the Human Condition going to your time on Shogun I think it's interesting that from watching the start of your career and hearing you talk about like even commercials you booked early and them saying like oh you really got to up the accent like let's really hear your accent and then there was kind of that chunk of your career where we didn't hear you with any kind of accent I'm sure that felt exciting to be able to have your voice back but then in Shogun we kind of come full circle where not only do you have to have an accent but you have to learn a whole new other language as well uh what has that been like for you how do you feel about using your voice that way and do you feel differently about putting on an accent now than you did when you started that's that's a great question Roxy uh I you know it's interesting and I I've told this to other actors and everyone's different and you guys know how you broke into this business too everyone has sort of unique experience you know uh for me it was I you know I was coming close you know to to certain roles when I first started out and then I but it was it's such a huge pool of actors I go how can I differentiate myself or how can I narrow the market for myself you know and I wasn't booking National American commercials so I said well I speak Spanish you know you know so maybe I can hit the Latina Market doesn't pay as well but I just need to start working you know and and and sure enough I was able to open up that World by I was competing against maybe you know you know 10 guys you know as opposed to you know hundreds you know in that market so so I I learned well if I can do that here how can I do that on the you know on just mainstream acting I go well I can do accents maybe I can do foreign characters you know maybe I can break in that way so and again I narrowed the market for myself in sitcoms because I was like well maybe I was one of a handful of guys who'd come in from either who's Italian or or Spanish or you know you know whatever Heritage it was uh you know I really narrowed that market for myself and that's how I broke into sitcom and but to your point rashy you're right after a while I was like well now I'm just doing accesss you know and and cast directors often would tell my agents well you know he has an accent so we we really can't see him for this part they're like no no he doesn't he you know you know so so then part of the challenge for me after suddenly Susan doing four years of that with an accent was I got to do something completely different without an accent so that I can change perception I got to murder that character um and then I was offered a show called The Tick and that one and then but it was it was I was like oh no do they want me to do an accent and sure enough they did but the character was batmanuel I mean how do you say no to a character named batmanuel yeah so so I was like I'm definitely gonna do this character I don't care guys an action and it was I mean again I Had the Time of My Life on that job and that one only went you know I think only did 10 episodes but then after that no Roxy to your point um I'd heard an interview with with Eric McCormack about this very thing and he says you know you know you do a role on TV you know and you're known for that role and your job as an actor then is to murder that role so that you can change perception do something completely different and uh and I you know and so I said I love I love how he sort of sort of couched it I go and so so I just I just made a point of saying no I'm just going to try and do something without without an acent and uh and and coming now full circle to it is fantastic going back to doing it on Shogun um is is great because now I actually had a real Coach to work with for one thing you know to really nail try try and nail this castillan accent then working with a Japanese dialect coach you know and trying to you know make sense of what I'm saying in Japanese and then you know and then being able to Avail myself of their talents too on set and saying it particularly in Japanese if I want to improvise I want to throw a line to someone to hurry up and do this how do I say that you know those things are you know love love love being able to do that um um so yeah so it's full circle but in the in in the most amazing way