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.
