00:00I'm Oliver Trevina in studio with The Hollywood Reporter, joined by none other than William Lee.
00:09How are you, sir?
00:10Good, man. Nice meeting you.
00:11Thank you for stopping in. You're a busy man. You're like on planes, off planes.
00:14Yeah, a little bit these days, fortunately.
00:16Keeping busy. Always keeping busy. Always keeping busy.
00:19One show that's extremely exciting, Altered Carbon, Netflix, so that everyone can watch it all now at once.
00:25That's the way the world's changed. They can just go there and see everything.
00:27And an episode they should look out for is episode seven.
00:32Yes.
00:33He's a badass. He's a badass. You are.
00:35Well, I don't know about that, but it's a beautiful episode.
00:39I mean, it's a standalone. It feels like a standalone piece, kind of an hour and ten minute movie.
00:44And it was probably the hardest shoot I've ever done.
00:47Wow.
00:47Just in sheer time and effort.
00:49And it felt like a gigantic guerrilla indie film.
00:54Okay.
00:54Yeah, for you to say that, that's a big statement, because you've done a lot.
00:58Yeah, I mean, it was just one of those shoots. It was such an ambition.
01:01It was like shooting, you know, a 90-minute movie in the course of 20-something days.
01:07And that's a rarity in itself for TV, you know, to shoot one episode and have it take the course of over a month.
01:13Well, it does. I mean, it looks, every episode looks like it's incredible.
01:16Visually, it's incredible.
01:16The storyline is amazing. You know, you've got everything from flying cars, body swapping, everything you need for a sci-fi show, really.
01:23So it's all there.
01:25Were you familiar with the books before the show?
01:27I was familiar in the sense that about a year ago, I'm friends with Lita Calagritas, who's the showrunner.
01:36And we were just talking about the project, and she turned me on to the books, and I started reading it.
01:41It's pretty insane.
01:43It is.
01:43Yeah.
01:43It's pretty insane.
01:44And then you end up putting it into a TV show, so your mind's probably like, okay, how are they going to put that to that, right?
01:49Yeah.
01:50Well, I walked in, I visited her when she was in a writer's room, and I saw the walls, and it was just covered with just hundreds and hundreds of story art.
02:01And I was like, this is unbelievable.
02:02And she mentioned this character, but at the time I was also on a different show, and I had gained 30 pounds for that show.
02:10So that was a whole different, you know, ball of wax to try to get that off for this show.
02:15Yeah.
02:16So hang on, because you are constantly, like, juggling shows.
02:18You've always got something going.
02:20It seems that way, at least.
02:21Yeah.
02:22How is that when you've got to lose weight so quickly?
02:24Well, I mean, this one, you know, I think part of the hardest thing of this show was having to drop that weight in that period of time.
02:31So for Falling Water, first season, I gained, you know, 26 pounds of fat.
02:36And, you know, Blake Masters, who was running the show, you know, that was one of the things he wanted for that character.
02:42And then I got a text message from Lita, and she said, look, I'm thinking about this character for you.
02:48How fast can you get in shape?
02:50And I was on my way, I kid you not, literally at the time the thing came in to Costco, because me and my wife had been eyeing this, like, 24-inch apple pie from Costco.
02:59Okay.
03:00And I was so overweight, but I was, like, this is the thing we were going to go after.
03:05And the text message was, like, how fast can you get in shape?
03:08And like every actor, I lied.
03:11And I said five weeks.
03:12Okay.
03:13And there was no way.
03:14But then when she said, okay, and then things started moving in the direction of doing the show, I was like, oh, my gosh, I lied.
03:21So the lie made me work, you know, I was doing three-a-days, and then nutritionist and all that stuff.
03:29And then it didn't help.
03:30She sent me a picture of Joel.
03:31She's like, this is on the DL.
03:33He looks good, too.
03:33He's like, your body has to be in the realm of this lane.
03:38And I said, all right.
03:41And so I stopped eating all the stuff I like to eat for about seven weeks.
03:46No, yeah, it was probably a little longer.
03:47Seven weeks, that's still pretty impressive.
03:48That's pretty impressive.
03:49Luckily, you're only 25.
03:50So it's all right.
03:52Yeah, exactly.
03:53It's all right.
03:53Does that get, because, I mean, you know, obviously throughout the years, your scenes, the stunts, the action scenes, martial arts, is it getting harder now?
04:03It's getting harder to lose the weight.
04:04Right.
04:04So it just becomes very science-driven, you know, on losing it.
04:09Amazing, amazing.
04:10Well, we talk about the show, and it's, you know, body swapping is, you know, the premise of what's going on.
04:15If you could swap bodies with anyone in the world, who would it be?
04:20Swap bodies.
04:21As in not being their body, but swapping places, I guess.
04:24Swapping places.
04:25Yeah.
04:28Probably my dad when he first came to America.
04:31Okay.
04:31You know.
04:32That's pretty good.
04:32He's an interesting dude, and I just wanted, you know, it would be really, really amazing to see what America looked like in his eyes in 1968.
04:39From Korea, right?
04:40Yeah.
04:40When they came over, right.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Right.
04:42Yeah, that would be interesting.
04:43Yeah.
04:43That's a good answer.
04:44That's a good answer.
04:45So, you mentioned Falling Waters as well, USA Network, and then you're also going to be on The Good Doctor as well.
04:52Yes.
04:52As I go back to what I said earlier, you juggle.
04:55Constantly busy.
04:57Falling Waters is about to have its season finale on March, in March, end of March?
05:02I think so.
05:03I think so.
05:03I'm getting a nub from the publicist.
05:04I'm a four-year-old, so I don't know much.
05:08Four years old.
05:09Okay, four years old.
05:10So, he hasn't watched much that you've been in yet?
05:12Not before?
05:13He's seen enough.
05:15I mean, I think I did an episode of Dr. Ken a while ago, and that was, like, the only thing we'd allow him to watch.
05:20Right, right.
05:21Because otherwise, I'm shooting people, killing people, doing stuff.
05:24This is true.
05:25You do that very well.
05:25You do that very well.
05:26Well, when he gets older, there'll be a lot for him to watch.
05:28Yeah.
05:29Which would be great.
05:29Exactly.
05:30Which would be amazing.
05:30Can we talk about season two of Altered Carbon?
05:33Because I don't know what's going to happen.
05:36I'm hoping you can give me some insight, because Joel Kinnaman is going to be in it, not going to be in it, which would then mean you're in it or you're not in it.
05:43The books are different.
05:44You know, honestly.
05:44I've been trying to investigate, and I've got nothing.
05:46Nothing.
05:46I actually have nothing for you.
05:48You have nothing for me.
05:49Nothing.
05:49I tried to subtly edge my way in there.
05:51It didn't work.
05:52Yeah.
05:52Just when you think you get bits and pieces, you realize they're just bits and pieces of rumors.
05:59Okay.
05:59Yeah.
06:00So you really, there's nothing out there right now.
06:04Yeah, no.
06:05Okay.
06:06All right.
06:06I'll leave it at that.
06:07I'm not going to push too hard.
06:08Talk about Netflix, obviously.
06:10You know, it's this new generation of how people watch shows.
06:12Have you fallen into that?
06:14Are you a binger?
06:15Do you binge watch shows?
06:15That's pretty much all I watch.
06:17That's all you do?
06:17That's pretty much, yeah.
06:18You know, it's just the limited time I have, and then you find the lane you want to watch,
06:22and they somehow, their algorithms know what you want to watch, and you get stuck down
06:28that hole.
06:28So, yeah.
06:29Okay.
06:29Last show you binge watched?
06:32Ozark.
06:33Ozark is a good one.
06:34Oh, man.
06:34It's amazing.
06:34It's a great show.
06:36It's a great show.
06:37I want to do THR's top five.
06:40Five easy questions for you.
06:41Okay.
06:42Award season, obviously.
06:43Favorite movie of 2017?
06:46Favorite movie of 2017.
06:50And this is embarrassing, because I feel so guilty when I come home.
06:58Okay.
06:58That I have a four-year-old in one arm, and reading a script in the other.
07:03I haven't really watched.
07:04I can't remember the last movie I watched.
07:05Time of his four-year-old.
07:06That's more important.
07:07That's more important than that, anyway.
07:09So, you can watch the screeners, then.
07:10You've got the screeners coming up.
07:11Next time you come in, I'll go back to this question.
07:13Okay, I'll have that answer for you.
07:13Okay, over the years, obviously, shared the screen with so many actors.
07:16Who's one actor that you haven't appeared with that you would like to, that comes to mind?
07:23Denzel Washington.
07:25He was, after I saw Malcolm X, I was like, I want to be an actor.
07:30Look at that.
07:31Amazing.
07:32He's about to do a play on Broadway, I think.
07:35First moment that comes to mind when I say career highlight.
07:38Probably the first mile is this period right now, and it's less so more than a role, I think,
07:50between falling water, altered carbon, and the good doctor.
07:53It's the first time in my career where I feel like now if there's an end zone right here that,
08:00you know, we've moved from yards to inches, and meaning that for the portion, most of my career I've spent trying to kill somebody.
08:10And this is the first time how I grew up, representations of how I grew up in America as just,
08:15you could swap out the race and just put a guy in there.
08:18And each one of those characters, from, you know, David Shores, the good doctor, to altered carbon, to falling water,
08:25they're just regular guys, and that's, this has been a highlight period for my career.
08:31That's amazing.
08:31Yeah.
08:31Yeah, very diverse.
08:33Yeah.
08:33Yeah, love that.
08:35Finish this sentence.
08:36If you weren't an actor, you would be?
08:40Martial arts teacher.
08:41There you go.
08:42There you go.
08:42I'd take lessons.
08:43I don't think I'd get through a one-hour lesson, but I'd take it.
08:45And one word to describe your Hollywood journey.
08:52A long yard game.
08:54That's probably two words, but.
08:55You can take it.
08:56I love how you brought a couple of the questions back to American football, in true American fashion.
09:00Yeah.
09:01It's perfect.
09:02Yeah.
09:02Were you a football fan?
09:04I was a big 49ers fan, but ever since we left San Francisco, so pretty much the sports I watch is,
09:09unless someone's punching someone in the face, I don't watch it.
09:12Okay.
09:12And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect way to wrap this up.
09:18Thanks, mate.
09:18Good to see you.
09:19Bye, buddy.
09:19Good to see you.
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