During Carolyn Topol Talk‘s trip to Los Angeles we had the privilege of visiting with Emmy winning actor, Jordi Vilasuso. He generously agreed to share some information about his role as Dario Hernandez on Days of Our Lives, as well as other projects he has recently worked on, including the short film, This Modern Man is Beat — a role for which he won the Best Actor award in both the Accolade Competition and Best Shorts Competition!
Carolyn Topol Talk: Jordi currently plays Dario Hernandez on Days of Our Lives, but you’re not limited to Days. You’ve been doing a lot of filming lately. Recently you were part of the ensemble of The Invitation and starred in the critically acclaimed, award winning, This Modern Man is Beat. Can you tell us about that?
Jordi Vilasuso: The Invitation was a low budget, independent movie with a terrific cast, crew, and writing team. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in theater, film, or television. It felt like we were doing a play. We were all in one house. We had two days of rehearsal. Everyone shared the same dressing room — all the men were in one room and the women had their room. We were together, working for a month, in this house.
CTT: So it was an ensemble piece?
JV: It was a very ensemble piece and there was nothing but creativity and support from everyone. Everyone was there and cared about the story, found it very compelling and just wanted to tell a really great story. It was a super fun ride. It’s turned out to be really great. I think Entertainment Weekly called it one of the top 10 films of the year so far. [As of mid-November 2016].
CTT: That’s amazing.
JV: Yeah, I’m really proud of it. I think we got a 92 on Rotten Tomatoes, which is awesome. And This Modern Man is Beat was an award-winning short film. It was something that I didn’t see myself doing at first — starring in. The writer, who’s a dear friend of mine, David Schroeder, asked me if I would think about taking that on. You saw it?
CTT: Yes, I saw it.
JV: It’s a heavy piece.
CTT: It’s a very intense piece. As the viewer, I found myself mesmerized, and I couldn’t look away.
JV: Good. If you tell me that, I’m very happy you said that. That’s the kind of work that I want to do.
CTT: It’s also surprising. It’s very rare that you have such a good short film where the viewer is genuinely surprised.
JV: Yes, yes. I also had a movie for Lifetime called Below the Surface, which I did right before starting Days — literally. I think I wrapped on Friday, and Monday or Tuesday I started shooting on Days.
CTT: Days is not your first soap, is it?
JV: Right, Guiding Light was my first soap.
CTT: How long was that stay?
JV: That was three years. It was a really amazing character.
CTT: You played Tony Santos, right?
JV: Yes, Tony Santos. He was a gangster punk who was part of this crime family. The first show I did, I was shooting two guns and getting beat up. All my friends were having their college life and were watching this soap opera, with me doing this action-packed sequence. So, for me, at that time, I was over the moon.
CTT: Were your friends envious?
JV: They were [surprised and thought] he’s not just doing some love scenes, cause soaps were supposed to be all about relationships, but this was all this action. Growing up, all those action films were something I aspired to do, so to do something like that in this medium was great.
CTT: Then you went on to do the role of Griffin Castillo on All My Children — is that correct?
JV: That’s right. On All My Children I was a thoracic heart surgeon which was fun. There was a lot of tricky dialogue. You get all that medical jargon and funny enough, my father’s a doctor so he was able to explain to me what I was actually saying. I think he helped Vincent [Irizarry] too, sometimes, because I played Vincent Irizarry’s apprentice. I studied under him when I was doing my internship and residency. Vincent asked me a couple of times, “What’s this word; do you mind calling your dad and asking him what this means?” My dad was a pseudo-technical advisor for All My Children. That was awesome. We [All My Children] left the TV landscape too fast. I was going to be there for four years and I was only there for less than a year. It was fun while it lasted. I had some great friends. I got to work with Ricky Paull Goldin and Daniel Cosgrove — so I’ve done three soaps with Danny Cosgrove. I love Danny to death. I don’t know if you’ve ever met him…
CTT: I have not had the privilege.
JV: …One of the funniest people I’ve ever worked with. He’s a hoot!
CTT: I’ve been a fan of his from several of his soaps. It’s not that I’m a soap addict, but–
JV: No, not at all. [Laughs] (With Freddie Smith at Day of Days)
CTT: Now on Days of Our Lives, with Dario, you came into a family where you were a recast of a character who had been off the scene for several years.
JV: Right.
CTT: Since you weren’t walking in immediately after he left, did you feel this was an advantage?
JV: I’d never done that — played a character where I had to replace where another actor had been, so I had to research who he had been, what family he had been in, what other families he interacted with. I had to understand all that before coming to set, because you don’t want to come in not knowing all of that, especially if you’re taking over a role. Then knowing that my brother is a cop, my sister had died, why she had died, and my sister had gone to prison.
CTT: Did the Days people share all this with or did you do the research?
JV: I did the research. They would have been very open to my questions too, but I like being prepared.
CTT: You’re working very closely with A. Martinez as your dad. You and he are developing a business that’s not so above board.
JV: Yeah, it’s fun. We’re going to get into a lot of trouble and I can’t wait to see what the viewers think.
CTT: People have said that they want to see more Dario and want to see him get more active as opposed to being the sidekick or supportive friend. This sounds like it will bring Dario to the front burner.
JV: Yes, Dario pulls some moves. I’m grateful the writers are pushing me in that direction. What’s coming in the next six months (since November) — there’s some really tough stuff that I hope the viewers will be able to swallow.
CTT: Are we ever going to get to see Dario have a relationship?
JV: Yes, he’ll be in a relationship. He always comes from a friendly place, for whatever reason, with these women whose lives are beginning to fall apart in front of him so he’s there to support and take care of them. I hope one day one of these women will think this guy’s the good guy and take a chance on him.
CTT: We’ve seen Dario as a layered character. He’s got a good side. In soaps when you describe the good guys and the bad guys, you don’t know where Dario lies.
JV: I don’t think he knows either. He’s very immature in a lot of ways. The way I justify that is the way that he was raised. He took care of his mother, but he had a chip on his shoulder because his father left. his brother was older than him, so he took off too, and he [Dario] kind of floundered. I think he’s still trying to find his own way in Salem and with relationships. But, he has huge dreams of becoming a guy who is a force to be reckoned with in Salem and really wants to build his family’s name in the same manner that the Kiriakis family has. The writers have let Dario take the ball for the Hernandez family and go sprinting and cause all types of havoc.
CTT: While you’re keeping busy on Days, I understand you’ve also been busy with some other movie projects — I think one is called A Cowgirl’s Story?
JV: Right, right. That’s starring Bailee Madison. It’s a really endearing piece about a military family who moves to a small town and Bailee’s father has to go back to the armed forces, has to go back [into active duty] and he disappears; she doesn’t know where he is. I’m her father’s best friend who’s consoling her while she’s going through this time of not knowing. It’s got a really sweet ending. A lot of it is a tribute to our troops fighting in Afghanistan.
CTT: Will we be seeing that on screen in 2017?
JV: Don’t know when it will air?
CTT: I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fans who want to see it when it airs. Below the Surface plays on a regular basis.
JV: I hear that all the time. People tell me they’ve seen it on a plane. They call and tell me they just saw Below the Surface and I’m like, “Really?” I guess Lifetime has it’s own channel on one of the airlines.
CTT: Are you going to get to do any other things coming up? I know it’s hard because you have a very heavy schedule on Days.
JV: It’s really hard. There’s always conversations about things — and you hope to film other things. Right now my focus is Days and then we have a hiatus [during the winter holiday season] so I’m hoping there’ll be some opportunities for working on some other things, but right now it’s too close to call as to whether I’ll be working then or not.
I do like to stay creative. I write, and I do like to collaborate with people who I find have something interesting to say, and have really interesting stories. I do seek that out. I have a couple of friends who’ve asked me to help them, and I’ve gotten really close to launching some really great projects on some huge levels, but it just takes time. This whole business is perseverance, a lot of determination, and laser focus on what you want to do. But it takes time and patience so you just have to hang in there.
CTT: I’m sure everybody is going to look forward to seeing what you come up with and keep us posted.
*****
Our thanks to Jordi Vilasuso for sharing his time! It was a pleasure to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee with him.
Please enjoy this little tidbit from our chat: