00:00Hi, I'm Rosa Salazar, and I'm in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:07Within the first few minutes of watching Undone, I was thinking, this is the role that every
00:16actor wants to play.
00:18This person is complex, interesting, and we're in for kind of a rollercoaster ride.
00:24So how did it feel to land the role of Alma?
00:27It felt like that.
00:28It felt like the first time I could lend 100% of myself to a role.
00:36I mean, she's a mess, and that's such a dream for an actor.
00:41There's so many layers there.
00:44She's, on the one hand, sort of like a sardonic, jaded millennial, and on the other hand, she
00:53is completely, she's very, very deep.
00:59There's a lot of depth to Alma in many facets.
01:03I mean, she's always going on these philosophical rants, these political rants.
01:08She's someone who I think was, I think she was disappointed.
01:15She, like, found out that the world can be very disappointing at a very young age after
01:20losing her father.
01:21So she has this scar that she's always dealing with, which means that she's really funny,
01:29because...
01:30Right.
01:30The cynicism is funny.
01:32The cynicism, the humor is born out of this defense mechanism to cover up pain.
01:38So, I mean, we have a lot in common.
01:41Yeah.
01:42We'll just say that.
01:43Yeah.
01:43And, you know, the amazing creators of BoJack Horseman and writers of BoJack Horseman are
01:48writing this character.
01:51I feel like there's no depth to the existential dread that is Raphael Bob Wexberg.
01:58Yeah, exactly.
01:59It's amazing, because he's such a kind, friendly person.
02:03Yeah.
02:04And then he creates these characters that are...
02:07I wonder, does this person...
02:10This person we all identify with, because we're like, hey, I feel just as jaded and just
02:14as cynical, and I can be just as much of a jerk to my family or selfish or whatever.
02:21Yeah.
02:22But I wonder, like, where does this person come from that he creates, you know, BoJack and
02:29Diane?
02:30Well, none of us are immune.
02:32Yeah.
02:32I mean, that's what makes this...
02:34That's what makes my job a job in the first place.
02:38I'm telling stories.
02:40I'm telling our stories.
02:42Yeah.
02:42And it's really nice when you can tell a story that is so immensely relatable, that come from
02:48the minds of writers who have a way of expressing that.
02:53I mean, we're all trying to articulate what we're going through, and some of us are just
02:58better at it than others.
02:59Yeah.
03:00And they're geniuses.
03:02You know, Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob Waksberg, they're geniuses, and like I said, they're
03:06not immune to the, you know, the perils of being human.
03:10How would you describe the predicament that Alma finds herself in at the beginning of this
03:15series?
03:16Which one?
03:17Yeah.
03:18There are several.
03:18There are several.
03:19I think there are several.
03:21There are a couple layers.
03:23You have this person who is, she's on the cusp of an existential breakdown.
03:32She's seeing the monotony in life, and she's over it.
03:39She's, okay, I wake up.
03:41I eat the same breakfast.
03:42I go to work.
03:42What else is there?
03:43She's sort of, she's sort of asking, you know, like, is this it?
03:47Because if this is it, I mean, that's really depressing.
03:51She's also dealing with this trauma that has, her father died, and she never really got over
03:57it.
03:57It stays with her.
04:00It's something that is so present, and she wants to talk about it, but no one in her
04:06family wants to talk about it.
04:07They've sort of moved on, and she really hasn't.
04:10She's stuck.
04:12She's stuck in life, and she's stuck with this traumatic event that happened.
04:18But this show is so rooted in reality, even though it's rotoscoped, and it does, it goes
04:25on this surreal adventure.
04:27It's so rooted in reality that it accurately, I think, portrays what would happen if you
04:32were able to go over the rainbow.
04:34It would be scary as hell.
04:36So, she gets a chance to experience the, you know, the other side of things.
04:43She peek behind the curtain.
04:44So, I see a lot of, kind of, companion pieces to this.
04:48You see a lot of, kind of, if you're a fan of The Matrix, you're going to like where this
04:54show goes.
04:55Yes.
04:56Also, Russian Doll.
04:57Yeah.
04:58If you're a fan of Russian Doll, you're going to like the way this show goes.
05:00Like, there are a lot of parallels.
05:03There's, you're sorting out everything from, like, mysticism and shamanism to astrophysics,
05:09and, you know, what happens when you die.
05:11I'm loving all of these comparisons, because I'm a huge fan of all of those.
05:15And also, we got compared to Fight Club, and I was like, I guess I'll just quit.
05:20Just quit now.
05:23And I think because of the whole mental health versus, you know, shamanic abilities question
05:31that we put at the forefront of the show.
05:33There's a, you know, there's this ambiguity.
05:37Is she crazy, or is she a wise one?
05:41Is she a seer, or is she just a schizophrenic girl?
05:45Um, and we don't shy away from that question.
05:47We put it right at the forefront of the show, and I really, I really enjoy that, um, is she,
05:54or is she storyline.
05:55Yes, I enjoy it too, although I always root for the magic.
05:59Of course, of course.
06:00We all do, don't we?
06:01Yeah.
06:02Yeah.
06:02Now, another piece of brilliant casting, Bob Odenkirk as your father.
06:07Um, what was it like to play scenes with him, and did you play scenes with him?
06:11Because I'm not familiar with the rotoscope process.
06:14Yes, we did play scenes together, and it is the highlight of my entire career.
06:19Um, he is, uh, he's someone I grew up, well, I'm gonna make it feel old, but he's someone
06:26I grew up idolizing and watching Mr. Show, you know, um, with Bob and David.
06:30He's just, he's such a genius.
06:33Uh, he's so incredibly talented, and he's a good dude.
06:35He's a really, really nice, great person.
06:38Uh, so it was such a joy to, to play with him.
06:41Um, you know, he's, he's so quick, so it's like sparring with him in a scene is like a
06:47master class, um, in being in the moment.
06:51Yes, we did perform scenes together.
06:53So rotoscoping is, um, the technique that, uh, it's, it's tracing over live action footage.
07:01So we are acting, we are being filmed, um, they just take that footage, and then they
07:07trace over it, and then they hand paint it.
07:09Yeah, so if we were doing this scene, and we were gonna rotoscope it, all we would have
07:13here are the cards you're holding, and these two chairs.
07:16And all of this background would be, uh, hand painted by a classical oil painter.
07:21Wow.
07:21No big deal.
07:23Um, and we would be filming it with cameras on sticks like this, uh, with harsh lighting,
07:29like this.
07:31And, um, so we can get all of the nuanced expressions on your face, um, and we don't miss anything.
07:37That's why we light it so, um, so in such a bright way.
07:42And then they'd take those cameras, and they'd move them wherever they need to, to get all
07:45of the different angles, um, and shots they need to.
07:49Then they take that footage, they cut it together, and they rotoscope it.
07:52They trace it, then they hand paint it, and then they project it onto the oil paintings.
07:55And because there is minimal setup, minimal lighting changes, and you just need to move
07:59the cameras on sticks, you're, you're working a lot more than you normally do.
08:04Because if we needed to do this setup, and then they needed to move a camera, or the lights,
08:08for my setup, or your setup, or a wide, or a close-up, it would take time.
08:14And we'd go to our trailers, and we'd smoke cigarettes, and we'd play on our phone.
08:17Um, but that's just not the case with, with, when you're doing rotoscope, because there
08:22is no downtime.
08:23And we would shoot anywhere between, you know, 10 to 23 pages a day.
08:29And as an actor, how do you, do you like that?
08:32Do you find yourself kind of staying in the scene more?
08:35Absolutely.
08:36Um, I come from a theater background.
08:38Uh, I didn't do as much theater as I wanted to, because I started getting paid to act.
08:43And I was like, goodbye!
08:44Um, because, you know, there's an economical side to this, too.
08:48But, um, but I love theater, and I love black box theater.
08:51And that's, it really felt like black box theater.
08:53And it had the momentum of black box theater.
08:56And you do get to stay in the moment.
08:57And, um, I don't like sitting around and putzing around on my phone.
09:02I like to be used.
09:04And I remember telling my agent, I just want a job where I can be used.
09:08Where they use me, all of me.
09:10And, and I got my wish.
09:12Yeah.
09:12Yeah.
09:13And now, you also did motion capture, um, animation with Alita Battle Angel.
09:19So, is there something about you, the way you act, or your physicality, that lends itself
09:26to, uh, these kind of special effects driven animation, CGI world?
09:33Yeah, I, I think so.
09:35Um, I, I, I'm, I'm overly expressive.
09:38I have a very, I have a very expressive face.
09:42I'm bad at poker.
09:44Um, I, I, I have, there's a lot going on here.
09:47And, um, and I think that that's, I think that's really what they're looking for.
09:52I don't, um, I didn't seek out to just start doing, uh, to, to start animating myself.
09:59But, but God, I love it.
10:01And another thing, uh, animating an actor does, is it, it, it frees the actor.
10:07I feel like it, it, performance capture, it freed me.
10:12Um, rotoscoping freed me from this mess.
10:17You know, I, I didn't feel confined within the 3D limits of my body.
10:23And I felt like I could burr the character, um, an entire character from, from the ground
10:30ground up.
10:31Someone completely other than myself, uh, who did, who literally exists within another dimension.
10:37And that sounds pretty damn cool.
10:40Does it, does anything come to mind, like a strong memory of the actual filming process
10:45with the rotoscoping that you can remember, like a particular scene that stands out to you?
10:50Well, yeah, the car crash is very, it's, it's extremely memorable because it's a very emotional scene.
10:58And, it felt so good to be, uh, expressing that, to make, to take this very intimate moment
11:08we'd never, you know, admit to having.
11:12To take that moment and put it as the, as the, the, the catalyst to everything felt, um, so exciting
11:20to me.
11:20That being said, it was one of the most depressing days of the whole, of the whole shoot because,
11:27you know, you have to get yourself to that place.
11:29Yeah.
11:30And so you're, you're there.
11:33Tear-soaked moment.
11:34Yeah, and it's, it's not just a mechanical thing.
11:39You don't just go, okay, I'm just gonna like, make myself cry now and then I'll be there.
11:44It's, it comes from here.
11:46Yeah.
11:46It comes from your heart and your soul and, um, that's why actors are crazy.
11:52Because we manipulate ourselves into these, um, into these heightened emotional states.
11:59And, and then there's this weird, we got it!
12:03Yay!
12:04And you're like, okay, are you sure?
12:06I can go again.
12:08Tell me before I stop.
12:10You know, so it's, it's, it's great fun.
12:14Well, Rosa, thank you so much for being here.
12:16The show is, the series is Undone and it's on Amazon.
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