Jesse WilliamsTalks Terrible Singing & Looking Cool

ODE

Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams takes the lead in Prime Video series Hotel Costiera. He talks to Melissa Nathoo about filming in Italy, speaking Italian, singing and trying to stay cool. Report by Nathoom. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00I rehearsed quite a bit to customize just the right tones to really terrify your eardrum.

00:06We cut a lot of stuff. That does not look cool.

00:09Two things I get told a lot is you really should do more comedy and you really should play a villain.

00:13First off, you start the series with some very bad singing.

00:18I just wanted to check, can you sing or is that your...

00:21That is, you know, I really worked hard.

00:24I rehearsed quite a bit to customize just the right tones to really terrify your eardrums.

00:30It's beautiful.

00:31No, while I was amplifying the terribleness in that, I am a horrible singer.

00:38Oh, you're doing yourself out of any musicals that could come your way.

00:42I wish, I know, which works out because that's not really my thing.

00:44I was like, is that really it?

00:46Yeah.

00:46Thank God, that's all we heard, isn't it?

00:47It's really bad.

00:48It's particularly, it's particularly, particularly bad.

00:51Also, I spent a lot of time Googling Jesse Williams' Italian.

00:55Does he speak Italian?

00:56Has he got Italian roots?

00:58Because I was like, there's quite a bit of Italian speaking in here.

01:02And I was like, hold on, did you literally learn that for the series?

01:05I learned it for the show.

01:06That's so impressive.

01:07Well, it was very difficult for me.

01:09I wish I could say that it was, oh yeah, because I mean, being here in Europe, so many people speak so many languages.

01:15Not me.

01:16You did well.

01:17Did you do your Italian press, try and do some of that in Italian as well?

01:20Not quite yet.

01:21I'm not quite good enough yet.

01:22Listen, I was impressed, but then I don't know anything.

01:25How does it feel though, leading your own series like that?

01:28That must be such a nice ceiling.

01:30Like, I know you've done a lot of stuff, but like, this is really like, this is yours.

01:33No, this is a new step.

01:34Yeah, it is mine.

01:35I think you're right.

01:37And I'm appreciating it.

01:39I'm enjoying it.

01:39I'm working hard.

01:40I mean, it's one thing.

01:43I think it's leading my own show, but also producing it, and it's an original idea, right?

01:49It's not, we don't have a roadmap based on a franchise or IP or a book or a toy or a video game.

01:55So, it's really hands-on, and I've been really, really involved from the very beginning, which has been really fun and collaborative,

02:04and that kind of collaboration is one of the things I love the most about what we do, storytelling.

02:09So, it is a really great feeling.

02:11Last night was quite a full circle moment, all the legwork we've put in to be able to be in Rome for our world premiere.

02:19Yeah, I feel like as an actor, you like, dream of that, right?

02:21Yeah.

02:22When you're starting out, you're like, I want to be the main star.

02:25Yeah.

02:25There's so many elements, though, to the show.

02:27Like, there is the comedy aspect.

02:29There is the high stakes.

02:30There is the drama.

02:32You're doing all of that in here.

02:34Which one do you feel most out of your comfort zone doing?

02:38Oh, okay.

02:38That's a good question.

02:40I...

02:41God, I mean, I felt in my comfort zone in all of them.

02:47I really love the comedy.

02:49I think out of my comfort zone is the language.

02:52Because it is a real obstacle to, you know, it's like if I'm a great footballer,

03:01and I get to play in a match at a high level, but I have to do it with a blindfold on.

03:07You're getting to play the game you love, but you have to do it in reverse.

03:12You have to kind of, or I'll do it all.

03:13If I'm right-handed, I have to play the game I love, but only with my left hand.

03:17And it's, so it's adjacent to the thing that you're so good at, but you have to, you're

03:22at your weakest point.

03:24And it's very easy to mess up in another language.

03:26You put the emphasis on the wrong syllable, and it gives you away.

03:31So that was the hardest part, for sure.

03:34That was the place I felt the most kind of insecure and constantly checking in.

03:38Thank God everything in this show is Italian, the crew, everybody.

03:42So I have a lot of checkpoints.

03:43Am I doing this right?

03:44It's just, what's the nuance, what's the colloquialism, what's the gesture?

03:48It's a very physical language, of course, body language in Italy.

03:52So all of those factors played a big role.

03:54Oh, God, yeah.

03:55I forgot that you're surrounded by Italians who are going to pick you up if you are getting

03:59something wrong.

04:00They checked me, yeah.

04:01And did they?

04:01Yeah, they started, yeah.

04:02They checked me.

04:04And we tried again, yeah.

04:05But do you feel, like, does Italy feel almost like a second home now?

04:09It's becoming that way, yeah, Italy is feeling like a second home.

04:12We spent, we shot here for almost four and a half months, for four and a half months.

04:17And I've been back probably, it's my fifth time in the last three months.

04:20Okay.

04:21And there's love, you know, it's embracing me in a way that makes a world of difference.

04:28I don't feel like such an outsider anymore.

04:30Oh, that's nice.

04:31I'm also curious to know, like, obviously you are doing so much, well, you're a fixer,

04:35right, and you're problem solving, you're looking for people.

04:38What would you say is your biggest strength when it comes to problem solving?

04:43Like, what do you bring yourself as Jesse to the table?

04:46I definitely bring attention to detail.

04:48Oh.

04:49And an efficiency of, like, movement and language.

04:54I think it's, like, keeping it tight, not expending unnecessary energy.

04:58Okay.

04:58Not being unnecessarily vague and making something be seven sentences when it can be one.

05:04Right, right.

05:05You know, because you're usually on a timeline, you know, fixing, we've got to solve

05:07problems right away.

05:09Be quick.

05:09Don't meander all over the place when you can be precise.

05:12Do your friends come to you for, like, that kind of thing?

05:14Probably, yeah.

05:15Are you good?

05:15I mean, not probably.

05:16Yes, they do.

05:17Yeah.

05:18And I love to help and be of service in that way and be helpful and just kind of close the

05:22gap and button things up.

05:24And, yeah, that's something I enjoy doing for people.

05:29And you've got to do a lot in here, like, from the scuba diving to riding bikes to all, like,

05:34literally so much.

05:36For you, what was your particular highlight?

05:39I love boats.

05:40I love being on the water.

05:42So, yeah, being on the water.

05:43Running the motorcycle is something I don't have a ton of experience in doing.

05:47So, doing chase scenes and fight scenes from a motorcycle was maybe the coolest and, like,

05:52more new in my repertoire.

05:54Yeah.

05:55Scuba, I've been before.

05:56I love being in the ocean.

05:58Scuba can be a little tricky because everything's trying to kill you.

06:03I know.

06:03That's why I'm terrible.

06:04Like, factoring in air pressure and your ears and your breathing and the tank, trying

06:10to get out in those flippers, trying to walk back on.

06:14You've got to look cool all the time, Jesse.

06:15It's not possible.

06:16You have a reputation to uphold.

06:17You should see that.

06:18Yeah, that's why we try a lot of stuff.

06:20That does not look cool.

06:22Did you have to learn then?

06:23Was scuba diving, like, wonderful?

06:24No, scuba I had done before, but there was a fun, there was a scene where I have to go

06:31find somebody in a cave, and I wanted to shoot where I emerge and start to make my way

06:37into the cave.

06:38But I, and I had this huge tank.

06:40I had all the stuff because I was really doing it, and I had the huge hard flippers, and try

06:44to ascend, and try to climb out of the ocean on the rocky, craggy, slippery coastline with

06:51these huge flippers, and a moth garden, and, I don't know, 80, 70-pound tank, it was brutal.

06:59We didn't see that, so that's okay.

07:01Yeah, exactly.

07:01Damn right.

07:02That's right.

07:02You still maintain your coolness in our eyes.

07:05Yeah.

07:05And like I said, you're leading this, like, it's what so many actors dream of, so now

07:11that you've kind of taken that off, like, what is still on your bucket list of, like,

07:15goddesses, and I really want to achieve that next?

07:17Probably a baddie.

07:18Probably, like, a real villain.

07:20I can see you as a villain, actually.

07:21I don't know how to take that, but I've been told, two things I get told a lot is, you

07:26really should do more comedy, and you really should play a villain.

07:30Right.

07:30And, uh, I don't know if the second one is a compliment, but, um, I, I want to.

07:36It's interesting.

07:37Yeah.

07:38I want to play something dark and, um, and, and, um, and villainous, so I think that's

07:45probably next on the list.

07:46Yeah, we've seen you doing, like, you did Only Merters in the Build, like, you've done,

07:50like, I forgot you did Cabin in the Woods back in the day as well.

07:53I really loved that film.

07:53I loved that film so much, it was such a nice surprise, I remember going into the cinema

07:58and seeing, I was like, oh my god, like, this is great.

08:00Yeah, that was a big first for me, I'm glad you liked that one.

08:03Yeah.

08:03I liked that one.

08:03No, I, it's one of those ones, like, I really want to revisit again, because it's just,

08:08like, almost feels like people still don't know about it.

08:11It's a secret, like, it's got a cult following, you know, for a big movie, yeah.

08:15Yeah.

08:16Yeah, it's got some gems in it.

08:17Yeah, it is great.

08:18And listen, if we can get a season two, I don't know if there is, so, would you like it to

08:23go, keep it in Italy, or do you want to do, like, a white lotus type thing and take it

08:27somewhere?

08:27No, I like to keep it here.

08:29I think there's so much to explore in Italy, I think that's one of the biggest things I

08:32discovered is that Italy's almost not one country, it's like 24 little countries woven

08:37together, because the regions are, there's a huge difference culturally in the regions,

08:42um, mannerisms, behaviour, colloquialisms, food, um, right.

08:46Uh, so, I would love to just be, more to explore here.

08:50Okay.

08:51Yeah.

08:51Very nice to meet you.

08:52Yeah, you too.

08:53And, uh, good luck with it.

08:54I hope there is more for you.

08:56And, yeah, let's see you in a villainous role.

08:58Yeah, I like it.

08:59Or you could come back to season two, if you just turn.

09:02And turn, yeah.

09:03You could turn.

09:03You could turn in this one.

09:05Yeah.

09:05That would be great.

09:06Yeah.

09:06No one would see it coming, other than me.

09:08I'll pass the word on.

09:09Who has suggested that you turn.

09:10Yeah, exactly.

09:10Thank you so much.

09:12Thank you, guys.

09:12Thank you very much.

09:13Absolute pleasure.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended