00:09Hi, I'm Carlos. First, thank you very much for taking time to talk to people in Espanol.
00:15We really appreciate it. And I have to confess that I'm a really, really huge Stranger Things fan.
00:21So my first question is, were you a fan of the show before doing the play or something new to
00:28you?
00:29Hey, Joaquin. So first of all, thanks for having me. I'm stoked to be here.
00:33And my mom is very, very excited that I'm being interviewed by people in Espanol.
00:39So thanks for having me to give her a little moment to be proud of. I appreciate that.
00:44But yeah, I mean, I was the biggest Stranger Things fan.
00:47Like since day one, when it came out, I was about, I think maybe it come out just around my
00:5213th birthday.
00:53I think it came out just before. And I was immediately enamored by the series.
00:57Me and my siblings watched every single episode and I had asked for my birthday.
01:01That was just a few days later for some sort of Stranger Things merch.
01:04I needed something, right? And I remember what I had ended up getting was a Hawkins A.V. Club shirt,
01:11which is crazy to think about. Now, all these years later, I'm playing the guy who created the Hawkins A
01:16.V. Club.
01:17You're going to believe it. I have the same shirt.
01:20Yes. I'm so happy to hear this, Joaquin. Yeah.
01:23It's a blue one with a white, it's blue and the white letters.
01:28You know what? I think we have the same design, but mine's red letters and a gray shirt.
01:32So we can be coordinating. We can coordinate, right?
01:36So you were saying that you're really a fan of the show and you were watching with your family.
01:44You're from Miami, right?
01:46Yes, sir. I'm Miami.
01:47Great. I understand that you got the job like 12 hours before rehearsals were starting
01:55and you had to rush to the airport or something like that. What's that crazy story? How that happened?
02:00Oh, man, it is quite a crazy story. So, yeah, I grew up in Miami, but I was living in
02:04L.A. at the time doing some TV work.
02:06And I had gotten the last second audition from this cast director that I auditioned for before, but never booked
02:12anything.
02:13They said it moved quickly. And I was like, sure. Yeah. Right. I'll read for this. Yeah. Right. Then I'll
02:17get it.
02:18But why not? I'm in New York. I actually ended up I was pretty broke at the time.
02:23So I was in a hostel and they told me there's going to be one call back and then rehearsal
02:28would start a week later.
02:29And then all of a sudden one call back turned into two, turned into three, turned into four.
02:33And my time at the hostel had actually ended. But luckily my friend, his dad worked at the Hilton at
02:38the time
02:38and was able to give me a pretty sweet discount on like a really nice room.
02:43And I got into the final, final call back, which was a Friday night. And I left the room.
02:49I get a call and they say, can you come one more time tomorrow morning, Saturday morning?
02:54And they ended up saying, hey, we'll we'll cover your hotel.
02:58So thank God I just moved out of the hostel and moved to this really nice hotel that now Netflix
03:03can take care of for me.
03:05And then I do this, this two hour chemistry read with with Alison and Burke, who were playing Joyce and
03:10Hopper at the time, which was such a lovely, fun time running around.
03:15The directors are yelling stuff at us to try out a new line.
03:21And I was like, well, that was such a great time.
03:23But I was for some reason, I thought in my heart that I didn't get it.
03:27I had called my manager at the time and started crying.
03:29It was freezing out and I'm a little Miami boy.
03:32So I was very cold.
03:33So I went into a McDonald's to call her and and I'm crying in a McDonald's now.
03:37I'm like, this is so New York and so embarrassing.
03:40But the next morning I woke up and I was like, you know what?
03:42I have a free vacation here in New York.
03:44Let me enjoy it.
03:45So I ended up having a pretty good day that Sunday and around like 6 or 7 p.m.
03:49Right when I had gotten home, I got a call and they like I'm an American Idol.
03:53They go, Juan, unfortunately, you're not going back to L.A. tomorrow.
03:59But heart drops.
04:03That's bad, you know, unfortunately, I was like, what?
04:08And of course, you know, they were like, you know, you can't tell anyone.
04:12But yeah, we'd love to see it at rehearsals tomorrow.
04:14We'll announce it in a week and some people then.
04:16I went, of course, I won't tell anyone.
04:18Immediately, I call my mom and then 50 other people and tell them that I've been Stranger Things than a
04:22Shadow on Broadway.
04:24Yeah, you have to call your mom when something like happens.
04:27Your Latino mom would not accept that you don't call her right away.
04:31No, no, she would buy the chacleta, you know?
04:33Exactly, exactly, exactly, no, no.
04:37I have to tell my mom.
04:39Yes, how much?
04:40Of course.
04:43And with all these, I'm always amazed with all the, how do you memorize all those lines?
04:50During rehearsals for something new, they may call you, they may not call you, and you have to be ready
04:57and have all the lines ready.
04:59I mean, how do you do that?
05:01Joaquin, dude, I wish I could have an answer for you.
05:04It just kind of comes to me.
05:05I'm very lucky in that sense.
05:06Actually, speaking of the, you know, those callbacks, Friday night after I had left the callback, it was like 11pm
05:12when they called and told me they'd want me there Saturday morning.
05:14They said, we're gonna send you three sides, no need to be memorized.
05:18But where I come from, that's not, you know, that's not the work ethic that we have, right?
05:21So I was like, screw that, I stayed up all night memorizing it, and then just reading it over and
05:26over again, right?
05:28And Saturday morning, I step into the room, and I don't know if this was a true accident or if
05:35it was a test or what, but the, I believe it was the associate director, she handed me these sides
05:40and said, I'm so sorry, we sent you the wrong sides.
05:42Here are the three sides we want you to.
05:44Oh, God.
05:45And Joaquin, I don't know what came over me, man.
05:47I looked at them for maybe a minute and I said, Okay, and I folded it and I put it
05:53in my pocket and it was just in there.
05:55And I blacked out.
05:56I can't tell you how it happened.
05:58But there's just, there's just something in my brain.
06:01I'm not good at a lot of things.
06:02I'm not good at maths.
06:03I'm not good.
06:04But something about reading something and quickly being able to tell it right back to you has always just been
06:10in my, in my wheelhouse.
06:13So I don't have any techniques other than just trying to read it and trying to understand what, who is
06:21this character and what do they want?
06:22Because I find with most writers, especially good writers, but with most writing, if you just listen to what your
06:28scene partner is telling you, some people forget about that part.
06:31If you listen to them, the line will come to you because usually it's a pretty authentic response back.
06:38So take, take away the pressure from you and put it all on your scene partner, right?
06:41What can I give you?
06:42How can I listen to you?
06:43And then, and then the lines will come.
06:45I think.
06:46Talking about the character.
06:47I mean, your character, it's very well known.
06:50It's beloved.
06:51It's everybody loves a newbie.
06:53And how did you approach it?
06:56Because obviously, Sean Austin was the character in the series.
07:01Everybody knows Sean Austin.
07:03So it's a pretty challenge.
07:05Do you try to be close to him?
07:08Do you try to do something different?
07:10How do you do that?
07:12How do you approach that character that everybody knows?
07:14I mean, you cannot fool people, particularly the guys going to the play because they know what happened.
07:19Yeah, I appreciate the question, Joaquin, because it was definitely a nerve wracking feat to accomplish, right?
07:29One, during the callbacks, I probably watched season two, you know, Bob Newby's season like, like 23 times just during
07:35the callbacks alone.
07:36Anytime I'd be in my hotel, I'd be rewatching the season.
07:39Something that our directors, Steven Doldry and Justin Martin, you know, two geniuses.
07:47They had always told us in our editor, Kate Tree Fry, is we saw something of the character in you.
07:53So it's inherent in you.
07:54You don't have to try too hard.
07:56It took a while for that to fully get to me.
07:59That being said, there are small nuances that I look for, right?
08:03Like one small thing that helps me get into Bob is I notice he kind of smiles like this.
08:07Like he kind of smiles to the side, like a smirk like this.
08:10So that helps me kind of like get into it.
08:12And I think it's because he's thinking like when he's smiling, you know, there's like there's a part of his
08:16brain here that connects.
08:18And speaking of his thinking, another thing that I really realized is the second he has to solve something, that
08:24is all there is.
08:25You know, there's this great moment in season two where he steps into the buyer's home and they're asking him
08:32for help.
08:32Because he goes, you know, they don't call me the brain for nothing.
08:34So they're asking him for help to understand what this drawing of what is unknown to them at the time
08:40of the mind flare is.
08:41Right.
08:42And and he's like, what is happening here?
08:44And they won't tell me that you said you won't ask any questions.
08:46And then something clicks.
08:47And without having to know any context, he goes, oh, I know where this lake is.
08:52And he starts tracking it and realizes that Will has drawn a map.
08:55And all of a sudden, he has no questions and he has no social cues.
08:58He there's no there's nothing else that matters but solving this task.
09:03So that's also something that that that helps me get into it.
09:06Now, on the flip side, we're having to trust myself as one that one something in one is inherently Bob
09:12there.
09:13I have this particular story.
09:15Our writer, Cake Tree Fry, had told the entire cast about, which was a bit embarrassing at the time, but
09:22I think well worth it.
09:23I it was right before one of our rehearsals.
09:26I was leaving a coffee shop and she was stepping in and I go, oh, hey, Kate.
09:30And she goes, hey, one.
09:31And I go, you're having coffee.
09:33She goes, yep, yep, coffee.
09:35And I go, well, good luck.
09:36And I walk away and then I stopped walking away and I go, I don't know why I said good
09:40luck.
09:40You don't need you don't need luck to get coffee.
09:43And it was just an awkward interaction.
09:45And and then Kate with from the hour that it took from that coffee shop to rehearsal, had written a
09:50new scene and told everyone this story.
09:53And say, because that's Bob, you know, because especially at this time, Bob is younger.
09:57He's not as mature.
09:58He's not as wise.
09:59He's a bit more socially awkward and not as adept as he is as an adult.
10:03So that was a that was a moment that really stuck with me, not just because of the embarrassment.
10:10Is that something Bob would do?
10:12Yes, because it's something Bob would do, especially in his youth.
10:15And and that's also such a great opportunity to be doing this prequel.
10:19Right.
10:19Where actually it doesn't need to be an exact one to one representation.
10:23What's really more interesting is how did Bob get there before he was there something?
10:27I know this is a long answer.
10:28I'll give you one more thing because I love I love this analogy that I've kind of found is I
10:34think a lot about Superman.
10:35Right.
10:36And Clark Kent and the difference between Clark Kent and Superman is he takes off his glasses and everyone goes,
10:40how does no one know that Clark Kent is Superman?
10:42He just takes off his glasses.
10:43The reason is because Clark Kent is a nobody.
10:45Nobody even cares to think of him, let alone compare him to this godly Superman figure.
10:52Right.
10:52Right.
10:53So I think in in Bob's mind, everyone thinks he's Clark Kent.
10:59Right.
11:00He knows he's Superman.
11:02Hmm.
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