Actors Forrest Weber and Troy Kotsur talk to The Inside Reel about approach, physicality and characterization in their new Netflix drama series: “Black Rabbit”.
00:21If we're going to be lying to everybody else,
00:24we need to be honest with each other, Jake.
00:26The aspect of fathers and sons, or even fathers and daughters,
00:32because I've seen in cold light, Troy, is all about dynamic.
00:38But this is a very different dynamic with these two, but family's family.
00:43Can you both talk about finding that sort of energy between them,
00:47which is both love, but also a certain kind of tension?
00:56Yeah, definitely.
00:58I think, you know, we were really working hard to find that dynamic.
01:03And really, it's that trust and that connection.
01:06And, you know, Mancuso really wants his son to be successful,
01:09but he doesn't make the best decisions.
01:11Yeah, and for me, Junior was always, Junior really looked up to his father,
01:16whether he wanted to admit it or not.
01:18And it's one of those situations where you see this hot-headed criminal at first
01:23and you kind of think that you've met people like them before.
01:26But as the series unfolds, you get to peel away layer after layer
01:30and you see more of his family life with his father
01:32and his relationship with his father.
01:34And you see why he's become, you know, a little bit how he is.
01:37And so you start to understand these villains in the show a little bit more
01:43or feel for them a little bit more than you might normally.
01:46And, yeah, I think a lot of my character's driving force
01:50comes from just him trying to prove himself worthy of his father.
01:54I sure f***ing told you.
01:56I know.
01:59He said to my face, you'd squirted.
02:02I thought I could pay these guys back at a sure thing.
02:05Most villains don't see themselves as villains.
02:34They're just working towards what their business is.
02:36And what's interesting about this specific story
02:40is it's about truth and consequences.
02:42It's true of Vince, Bateman's character.
02:44But even with this, the way that Forrest acts in response to his father,
02:49the way his father reacts also to Jude's character,
02:52it's about the truth versus the consequence of action.
02:55Can you guys talk about that thematic within the show if you could?
02:58Exactly.
02:59Yeah, I think you're nailing it on the head there with that.
03:03I think my character always, I think facing the truth that you speak of
03:11was sometimes difficult for him.
03:12And he would find himself a step or two behind,
03:17but not always know why,
03:18and then would try to overcompensate for that.
03:21And then that would suddenly switch the truths that belonged to him,
03:26if that makes any sense.
03:27But yeah, it was a lot of, yeah, please take it away.
03:32Yeah, you know, maybe Joe Mancuso feels like he can't really trust hearing people.
03:36You know, how do I know that I can trust these people when I'm doing business?
03:41And so really sign language, it really helps us become closer,
03:46but we're still not completely close and we don't really fully trust each other
03:50because I can't hear what my, I don't know what my son's doing out there.
03:52Right?
03:53I'm unaware.
03:54And so, you know, maybe he wants me to think everything's going smoothly,
03:58but what's missing is that loyalty.
04:00And you have those trust issues, you know, with father, son, and family.
04:03Everyone has issues in their own families too.
04:05I mean, it's not only villains who have that problem.
04:11What does he say?
04:14He says he knows you.
04:17And he trusts you because you're smart.
04:20So, we'll do it.
04:2320 grand a week until we're square.
04:26Yeah.
04:27But if you're late, one single day,
04:30if you come to us and you say,
04:31oh, hey, Joe, I'm so sorry.
04:35I mean, that's it.
04:35There's no conversation.
04:37Yeah.
04:37All right?
04:39Yeah.
04:40The restaurant, it's ours.
04:42The restaurant?
04:44That's, no.
04:46It's not, no shot.
04:48It's not on the table.
04:48No.
04:50Oh, shit.
04:55Shit.
04:56Oh, Christ.
05:03He's calling the shots now, you see?
05:06So he'll decide what's on the table.
05:08But there's also a physicality to both of them.
05:11And obviously, Troy, you've shown physicality in a lot of your roles in different ways.
05:15But the way that they interact, and of course, Forrest, you having to, there's a very physical part of the role that you have to sort of engage in, a sort of brutal intimacy, if you will.
05:24Can you guys talk about physicality?
05:26I mean, obviously, signing is a very specific form of physicality.
05:31But integrating that into the movement and sort of the personality, you will, of these characters and the world they live in.
05:39Yeah, absolutely.
05:41I'll go first real quick.
05:42I just think that I always try to find, you know, physically, like where the character lives, what part of the body do they lead with, you know, how do they act and react in space?
05:53And sign language has added an incredible amount of communication skills, I feel like, to my own life.
06:04And because I grew up signing, my older sister is deaf, so I learned it at a really young age.
06:09And I feel like it's truly helped me with communication.
06:11So I think it helped Junior navigate that world as well.
06:15But, yeah, it's a very physically demanding show where we had to kind of find this grimier, grittier, grungier version of ourselves and just be willing to dive right in at all times.
06:30Your brother has a real problem.
06:32You understand what this all means, right?
06:34It means it's on me.
06:3620 grand a week until we're square.
06:38But if you're late, one single day, that's it.
06:42The restaurant, it's ours.
06:43For you, Troy, from that point of view?
07:02You know, my character, Joe Mancuso, has a private office in the basement of a Russian bathhouse.
07:07And this is where he feels safe.
07:09He feels comfortable and he demands sign language as access to his domain.
07:14And that's my rule.
07:15Anytime someone visits me, sign language has to be involved.
07:18So when he shows up to interpret, my son can show up to interpret or my bodyguard can interpret because really this is my domain and that's my way.
07:27And I think it's really important to maintain that control, you know, because you're in the center of the criminal underworld.
07:37And in the middle of these scenes, you have to maintain control because you're the boss, right?
07:41And so that process unravels.
07:44And I think you start to develop that trust.
07:47I think my character really, I really had to stretch my ability and show that my power didn't need to be overacted.
07:55You know, your eyes can tell you so much.
07:57Your eyes can show that physicality without words, too.
07:59And you can read me and feel me and just my body language exudes power, if that makes sense.
08:05Do you feel me?
08:06So if you feel me, it means you caught me and mission was accomplished.
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