Jon Huertas

0:03Hello, I'm calling for Matt Schichter. Hey pronounced it right too nice. That's how I do it That's how I do it. I do my research man. How you doing? Good. How you doing? I'm just past the time and a little meeting with somebody and I thought I could you call nice well, I appreciate it So you work with an Edmontonian I do work with an Edmontonian. Yeah, Nathan Williams How is that was Castle going? What's so what's going on there going great man? We're you know winding down this season season three I think we've got about six more episodes to film We've had an incredible season some great script some of the best scripts I've seen on the show so far this season in the second half of the season And interesting going great. I've gotten I've gotten a girlfriend Lane on the show is now my girlfriend

0:49Which is great. I feel like I've got a very very incredible fan base our fans are so dedicated and you know, they're the reasons to show as good as it is I mean they I think they're always suggesting things to our writers via Twitter and other other avenues and our writers listen to them and we listen to them and and I think that the I think that's what you know I Have so much respect and then you know and give thanks to the fans for Saying whether to be a whether I think that's what makes the show great You said something really fascinating there about people suggesting things via Twitter to writers that is such a 21st century kind of thing that is that Twitter has besides everything that Twitter has done recently in the Middle East and whatnot But is it changing television that way? I think I think social media. I think social media is definitely

1:39Changing the way that Hollywood does business You know that Twitter gives us the ability to connect directly with with our fans where you know You know back in the day is these fans would write letters in and sometimes I don't think they would even be opened at red Now a Twitter, you know, it just takes a second to see what people are saying about you about the show and about How they feel about the show and it's it's an instant. It's an instant, you know connection and I know that Andrew Marlow has a Twitter account He tells me when we have a little sit down little meetings He tells me with the fans say about the show and what they want to see and I know that he takes them seriously Yeah, seriously, it's all reason your show is on you know Yeah, it's a very good point your character gets some great cynical lines in there you must you must enjoy reading the scripts when you get I do yeah

2:27I do like those cynical lines. I love I love the cynicism. I love the sarconic tones and I get to Bring to the show, you know, and a lot of it is definitely scripted Some of it is even improv to come up with some of the stuff on the fly And I think that's one of the gifts that I've gotten work on the show is that you know It allows me to be really creative and really collaborative with the other actors show Do you have any training and improv? Did you do like groundlings or second-city or anything like that? I did I went to the groundlings And I and I love improv love improvisation improvisation acting I actually did a series for Spike TV one of their first series That they had it was called the Joe Smosho and I worked on the second season. It was a completely improvisational exercise and

3:12you know as an improv actor you had to Make this guy who's a real person will leave that you are a character on the show and I'm a real person And it was I think some of the most fun and most challenging Things I've done as an actor or on that shelf Interest to me about you as well besides you know You've had a great career in the acting businesses is the army because you got to do generation kill after serving Yeah, I was in the I was actually in the Air Force for eight years They seem like very different career paths acting and the Air Force I was following the model that Jimmy Stewart Set up, you know Jimmy Stewart was a was in the Air Force as well. He was a a bomber pilot He flew B-17 some of the greatest bombing raids in Germany were flown by Jimmy Stewart who you know

4:03Of course became an amazing actor and and you know a hero to us all so um, you know I thought you know, hey, we need a new Jimmy Stewart But let's go around and let's you know How similar was generation kill to actually I know you guys you filmed in Africa though, right? Not not in the Middle East we did film it after we filmed in South Africa in the Mibia and Mozambique It was it was an amazing experience work on that show because you know first of all playing a real man a real person That I actually got to speak to and communicate with and get into his head find out exactly what he went doing How it was friend there was amazing And also trying to capture that and having to have him tell me what he thought about it afterwards was If you know daunting, but also, you know kind of exciting as well and you know

4:52He told me that when he saw the miniseries He felt like he wasn't watching a television show or a movie. He thought like he was watching memories So it made me feel feel really good and yeah, like I said one of the best experiences of my life is Veteran myself. I like to tell truth for stories about veterans How how different was was filming the show as opposed to actually being in well, I guess in combat Obviously it's gonna be something different, but but did it compare at all the bullets are different The ones in real combat are hot they're going really fast the ones that There are there are no bullets actually It it was you know There were some similarities one of the things is that you know that all of the actors of the show of you know mainly from

5:38Los Angeles and Dior because we were taken to Africa for eight months They you know some you know some parts of Africa are still third world We had to you know be away from our families away from what we know and who we know and and all we had was each other So it was a real Amazing amazing way that we became brothers and we all felt like we were deployed together as it as And that's kind of what felt the same as a you know as a serviceman Being deployed overseas, you know for you know Combat situations or or you conflicts or or even you know peace time operations, you know, it's very Very similar in that way not far as the combat so like that It's all staged and Jerry should kill and right and the danger

6:26Was much different although you know there weren't dangers there in Africa, but You know wasn't necessarily while we were filming maybe when we weren't filming there are some interesting moments Right, I've heard how do you how do you approach a character differently from? You know you said you got to speak to the fellow you played generation kill as opposed to you know detective espasito and castle where you get to create the character Well, you know you got approaching pretty delicate because the guys first of our recon or in he can you know Do I have the ability to snap someone's neck? I mean it would not trust me. It'd be a good night. I could fight between the two of us but You know, yeah, you know, there's an integrity to his story is an integrity to his life And you don't want to take away from that So you kind of got it, you know, I feel like I had to be very respectful and and I had to keep it as close to the truth as possible

7:14So I really had to listen to him I really had to read about him and talk to people about him who knew him to really research the character now with espasito He's you know a fictional character. So the only research I have to do is is who cops aren't How they are how they are on the job? but the man himself I'm able to work with the writers the creator of the show and and kind of You know help create him. What's that relationship like between creating a character with writers and yourself? Do you fight about ideas? Do you do you do you agree with everything they say? No, never Sometimes no, I definitely agree with what they say That's what they do the writers that they that's their job My job is to take what they've written and and and try to make it as truthful and real impossible

8:01And also, you know to you know to make it you know make it make it entertaining, you know I'm saying you know we do push the the envelope a little bit as far as you know our artistic license Or it wouldn't be entertaining might be boring. So The relationship is great. It's definitely a give-and-take Relationship sometimes a push-pull relationship, but you know sometimes my ideas. I guess aren't great And sometimes theirs aren't great, but we always come so compromised and I think that's always the better You know the better You know the better piece of work is when people can come together and compromise You have about six more episodes to shoot then what's next for you? Do you I know you recently wrapped a David Steinberg film? I did that was a lot of fun. It was amazing I get to play actually played it. You know, I'm not so nice guy. I'm gonna use the D word

8:50But I play yeah, I'm not so I'm not yeah I'm a bit chitting boyfriend. It was pretty awesome and it doesn't really care too much about his girl And that was a lot of fun because I'm not I'm not that guy so it's you know I play somebody different doing that and then I'm also a music project and I'm working on recording an album right now Yeah, I was shooting a music video here soon and what's what's the what's the project? What is it a band? Is it you is it what is it? It's me and you know, I grew up doing musical theater and I've always felt that Music and acting are kind of some they go together in my mind because I grew up doing musical theater So I've always wanted to do you know I've always wanted to just I love the thing and I don't get an opportunity to do it that often on Castle and so

9:36You know now Castle allows me the opportunity to meet some great people in the business and the music business and to And to you know kind of set up my own thing and do my own thing and with technology today I don't have to be at the you know The beckoning of a giant label. I can you know, you can you can do your own stuff I mean we just saw an independent band when best, you know, it went in the Grammy, you know when it went a Grammy, so I think it's amazing So Times are changing and I think it's it's working in my benefit as far as letting me do what I think I've always wanted to do What's your biggest sound like is it rock band? Is it like a salsa? I would I would call my style more urban pop with a little blues rock influence. Oh cool. Do you play anything or you just sing? I just I think it's my land percussion. Oh nice casting ads things like that. Yeah, nice

10:23We do something on the show called five questions five quick questions one word answers. Okay. All right New Yorker LA Landon or McCartney McCartney go back to your early days as an actor mawisha or Sabrina Roll that you're most proud of Sergeant of spare on generation kill and in one word John Huertis