- 14 hours ago
"The point of the character was to be unpredictable and to not really play so much by the rules," Valderrama told THR.
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00:04I'm Oliver Trevina in studio with The Hollywood Reporter, joined by my good
00:07friend, Wilma Valderrama. How are you, mate?
00:09Very good, very good. Thanks for having me, brother.
00:11Well, it's a pleasure. You're a busy man. You don't stop. Literally every time I see you,
00:14there's something else going on in your world.
00:16Yeah, I stay busy. I stay busy.
00:18You do stay very busy.
00:19I stay busy. If you wake up in the morning, you might as well do something, right?
00:23You might as well do something. That's good. I mean, it's good to have something to do.
00:26You just have many things to do. You do. And one of them, actually, I remember sitting
00:31with you, eating sushi, and you telling me about, I'm going to go on NCIS. Remember that?
00:37Yeah, it was a big move. I just finished doing a couple things. I had a lot of fun playing
00:43multiple characters at the same time, so I was doing Minority Report from this till
00:47dawn, and then I went to Grey's Anatomy, and I had these three different characters that
00:51I was playing at the same time, and then I had worked with CBS on this pilot, and the
00:56pilot didn't move forward, but I started with a really great relationship with the studio
01:00and the network, and there was an opportunity to kind of put it in gear with NCIS, and they
01:09wanted to make some bold moves, and during a time where I think diversity was important
01:16as a conversation and still is, they made a move to put a little coffee in their milk at NCIS.
01:23That's exactly what they did. That's exactly what they did. And now season 15 currently.
01:27Yeah, this is my second year.
01:30I don't say that much when I interview people, season 15. I think this is actually the first
01:34time I've ever said it.
01:35Yeah, it's pretty intense, man. They've carved out a place for them in pop culture that's
01:41been, you know, almost two decades now, you know, and to see what they've done in formula
01:46and in science and the fact that it's actually stuck with the audience. It's kind of crazy,
01:50you know, to think about that. And, you know, a big tribute to Mark Harmon and the team and
01:54everybody out there that has made such a home in people's hearts, right? But this was really
02:00interesting. You know, it was actually very tricky for me because when they came with this
02:08opportunity and they talked to my team about that, I thought to myself, like, well, you
02:15know, after 13 years, you know, they're still showing up, you know, they're still having
02:19fun, the writers are still swinging, you know, and I had a lot of these concerns. And also,
02:24I showed that it's number one in the world and it's bringing in 20 million people a week,
02:30you know.
02:30Right. It's a pretty high bar. The bar's already there, yeah.
02:33Well, yeah, and it's already there. So what can you contribute? I think that my biggest
02:36concern was what can I contribute to this ongoing train, you know? Can I come in there and make
02:41a real splash? Can I play something that they've never seen? But I was very empowered by the
02:46writers and the showrunners and their idea was to develop a character that can hopefully expand
02:53NCIS to, you know, expand the universe of NCIS a little bit and they found a, you know,
02:59a section, you know, of NCIS which is an undercover world and we developed a character that was
03:06very dark, multi-layered and fun and funny and grumpy and it was fun. It was a really cool
03:13character and as it kind of ironed out, I felt like it was something really fun that I could
03:18show up to do to work. I mean, you do 24 episodes a season, you better like the character.
03:22You're playing, you know?
03:23Right, right. Well, people describe Nicholas as charismatic and unpredictable, which I
03:28would probably describe you in the same way.
03:30It's not much of a stretch.
03:32Just right into the shoes.
03:32I just wanted to wake up in the morning and not have to try too hard, you know?
03:38Right, right.
03:38No, but it's a flattering description, I think, you know?
03:41But the point of the character was to be unpredictable and to not really play so much
03:47about the rules and be a little more dynamic in the show. Just kind of put it in here,
03:51bring in different energy.
03:52Yeah, yeah. And the action stuff is great. I love seeing you doing that.
03:55Yeah.
03:55That's amazing.
03:56Dude, I got so addicted to doing that. You know, you do a series with Robert Rodriguez
04:00and you're covered in blood and gunpowder and you go, and then you go to something else
04:05or you're super clean and you're like, what's happening? Why do I smell nice?
04:08You know, why am I not sweaty? Why is it not six in the morning?
04:11Right, right, right.
04:11You know, and we're still shooting since 5 p.m. last night.
04:15And you go to this thing and you start craving kind of like, okay, what are we going to do
04:19next?
04:20But they were very open to the idea of like having Nick Torres, my character, knock the guy out first
04:29and then arrest him.
04:31Right, right.
04:31Which is always more fun.
04:32In that order, you know?
04:33It's always more fun.
04:33Like, you know, break the door open and then knock.
04:36Right, right.
04:36You know what I'm saying? So it was more, that to me made it really, really, really fun.
04:40I love that. I love that. And you mentioned obviously the cast, like people like Mark and Paulie and stuff,
04:43but they're always adding to it. I mean, Maria Bello and, you know, the constantly changing cast.
04:49How is that on a show like that, like being a staple now, I guess, you know, a couple of
04:52seasons in,
04:53when people come in and out?
04:55Yeah.
04:55If you could have any actor come in for a guest star, who would you like to see on the
05:01show?
05:01Oof. I mean, I literally have been going down a long list.
05:04You've been making a list already.
05:06Of people that I would want to come in there, you know, but, you know, that's a really good question.
05:10I think that there's a lot of different people that can come in and bring different dynamics to the show.
05:15Right, right, right.
05:15I think like, I think more directors.
05:17Okay.
05:17You know, like what directors can come in to NCIS and then create a different aura and tone.
05:23I think that to me I'm more fascinated by that because, you know, you go to one of your friends,
05:27he goes, hey, so anyway, 17 million people on Tuesday night, you want to come play?
05:31Yeah.
05:31Right.
05:32It's not a tough sell.
05:33It's not a tough sell.
05:34But to me, like what's exciting is to bring in different directors that can create a different energy at NCIS.
05:41Same magic, but with kind of a different sense.
05:43I mean, really mix it up.
05:44Bring Robert in.
05:46Oh my God.
05:47Right.
05:48That entire episode, Mark Harmon, would be covered in dust.
05:53Yeah.
05:54Robert Rodriguez, it would just be like blood everywhere.
05:56Absolutely.
05:57Yeah.
05:57But it's great.
05:58I think it's a very cool thing to think about, specifically as we're going into the next couple years.
06:04We'll see what happens.
06:05You know, it's just so successful.
06:06We'll see what happens next year.
06:07But I would like to bring, you know, directors like Joe Menendez.
06:12Right, right, right.
06:14Who are like just, you know, guys who are just trying to be new and exciting and refreshing.
06:21Nice.
06:22Well, we'll see.
06:23We'll see what's next in store.
06:25As mentioned, you are busy.
06:26You've got this empire, you know.
06:28Well, humble empire.
06:29It is.
06:30Hang on, hang on.
06:30We sit together and you tell me about half of the stuff that's going on.
06:33And it's pretty impressive.
06:35Thank you, man.
06:35Thank you so much.
06:36WVE, Wilma Valderrama Enterprises.
06:38Tell us what's going on there.
06:39There's Charming, which you told me about a while ago and I loved it.
06:43Yeah.
06:43It's really, now it's really going.
06:46Yeah, man.
06:47You know, I, some of you guys may remember that my first creation was your mama.
06:53Right, right, right.
06:53And it started out as like a, kind of like, hey, Ryan Grannon and Lewis Curran and Rod
06:58Ayesa.
06:58Hey, so check this out.
07:00So it's the 8 Mile of Your Mama So Fat Jokes.
07:03And MTV at that time was like, well, we have Jackass and Punk'd.
07:08Might as well go here too, you know.
07:10Right, right, right.
07:10So they gave me their own show and I produced and created it and hosted it.
07:14And the whole experience was so fun to me and creating something from scratch was exciting.
07:18So that was the birth of my company.
07:20And then I partnered up with Disney and did Handy Manny.
07:23And so I started doing animation.
07:25And, you know, the motto was that if you had a passion for it and you had a story you
07:30wanted to tell that no matter what the medium or the platform or the format was, that we could just
07:34do it.
07:35Right.
07:36And the spirit of the company was all about just bring in all your friends and do it together, right.
07:41Right.
07:41So we, you know, just like you, our group of friends, you know, are extraordinary artists who are doing things
07:48on their own.
07:49Right.
07:49And this was an excuse to bring all my friends together and kind of self-package some things and come
07:54in together and figure out, you know, can we, if we're going to win, let's win together sometimes, you know.
07:58And so that was the virtue of the company and now coming full circle to today.
08:04I mean, it's evolved.
08:05I've had some, you know, I've learned so much from different overalls and first look deals that I've had, you
08:10know, from Fremont to Media to Relativity to Lionsgate.
08:14And now being independent and being able to run full budgets and coming in and doing everything from scratch was
08:21an exciting evolution to the company.
08:22And so we're dreaming really big and we have some pretty ambitious projects, but those ambitious projects have made amazing
08:31partnerships in the town and a lot of support from our industry and our peers and colleagues and specifically my
08:38artist friends who come in on board and say, all right, let's make this on a big level.
08:42And it's been great.
08:43Well, that's the great part is you're still doing that from how you started bringing your friends and you still
08:46do exactly the same.
08:47Yeah.
08:48You know.
08:48It's more fun when you win with your friends.
08:50Right.
08:50Right.
08:51But yeah, so we decided because I love the animation so much.
08:54I partnered with John Williams who produced the Shrek franchise and we decided to do a couple of animated features
09:01in the hardest thing you could ever do.
09:04And we decided, hey, man, you know, maybe hard to some people and maybe, you know, let's try to see
09:09if there's a different way we can do it.
09:11And we found a different way, a different formula, different science.
09:13And, you know, Jeremy Ross, who was the CEO of our company, you know, had a really incredible way of
09:19kind of structuring the infrastructure to deliver this type of films.
09:23And we were able to self-fund these movies and produce them with John Williams and his whole company as
09:28well.
09:29And we did the first one was Charmin, which is the untold story of Prince Charmin.
09:33And we decided to make Charmin.
09:34He's Prince Charmin, if you didn't guess.
09:36We decided to make Prince Charmin in Latin because, you know, I felt like, you know, certain fairy tales have
09:42taken, you know, too long to name the first Latin something, you know.
09:45So we went there and I packaged it with a bunch of an incredible group of friends, you know, from
09:51Demi Lovato to Albert Levin to Sia to Nia Verdales to John Cleese.
09:55And, you know.
09:56I was busy that day.
09:57Yeah.
09:58I was busy.
09:59Well, yeah, he was playing soccer so he couldn't make it.
10:01That's a busy one.
10:01But anyway, so that was kind of our first thing and then we did the soundtrack and it was a
10:08really good guinea pig, you know.
10:09And then we just thought, wow, this is possible.
10:12This is really fun.
10:13And then now we're doing another one that's announcing in the next month that it's already been in production for
10:18the last year and a half and it's been great.
10:21So I feel good about that.
10:22So moving on from that, you are always, which I love about you, you're always involved in making change as
10:28well in the world.
10:29You know, like giving you a voice, you've got a platform and that's very important to you.
10:33Harness.
10:34Yeah.
10:34Tell us about that.
10:35Yeah.
10:35You know, so to give you a little background, my first taste of activism was when I did Fast Food
10:43Nation.
10:44Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser, who were my first mentors in activism, they were the ones who made me an
10:51activist really.
10:51They were the ones who kind of showed me a whole different side of what art can do when it
10:56came to the conversation, when it came to representing people and putting certain stories in the forefront.
11:02And when Richard Linklater and him developed this movie, Fast Food Nation, we went to Canfield Festival and everything.
11:07And, you know, playing an undocumented worker that crossed the border and took a job at a slaughterhouse was so
11:13eye-opening to me to play a real person.
11:16You know, sometimes as actors, we tend to perform and develop characters, you know, that are a version of what
11:23we relate to in real life and make them likable and fun and loud or grounded in different realities.
11:30This was the first time where this movie felt almost like a documentary, like you were a fly on the
11:34wall and something really happening.
11:35And Catalina Sandino Moreno and Ana Claudia Talencon and I, and Bobby Cannavale and Luis Guzman, who the section of
11:42this movie was all about the slaughterhouse and all of that and crossing the border and all that was so
11:47eye-opening that they're the ones who kind of mentored me to get more involved in that.
11:51And they placed me in front of Congress and speak on behalf of, you know, workers and all those hard
11:58jobs that we all assume don't exist sometimes and that really paved the way.
12:03And then from then I went to Voto Latino and, you know, census and voting registration, which was really important
12:08for minorities to get involved.
12:12Now, hardness, you know, which is something that I partnered with Ryan Pierce Williams and America Ferreira.
12:19The three of us, you know, shortly after the election, we kind of got together and we said, you know,
12:23there's certain communities that are feeling vulnerable.
12:26They're feeling not safe and concerned about the possible attack to these minorities.
12:34We thought, why don't we get together with all of our, the road of activism and all the people that
12:39we have met and let's get in the room with all the people that have certain strengths and see if
12:44there's weaknesses to the strengths and to the strengths, you know, and how can we meet halfway.
12:50And, you know, we met up in my home and we had 70 people show up like that.
12:55And we've talked from Dolores Huertas to the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement to everybody just showed up
13:00and had a very open dialogue about the feeling and what direction we could take.
13:07And then we realized that most of the movements won the same thing.
13:10Right.
13:11We realized that most of the movements are fighting for the same thing.
13:14And it's just that our movements, our movements were segregated from one another based on the interests.
13:19We didn't know that we had more things in common until we started getting in the same room.
13:23So now we're leveraging that our organization Harnesses really brings all these movements together and create a comprehensive conversation and
13:30a tactical roadmap.
13:32Right.
13:32On how to be effective and how to help one another with each other's weaknesses and strengths.
13:36Right.
13:37So come together basically.
13:38Yes.
13:38Unity.
13:39Basically create unity and harness the energy of every movement and their wisdom and how to be more effective when
13:46it comes to defending, you know,
13:48not only a community but, you know, the country we want to end up living in.
13:53Right.
13:54With that being said, I mean, there's, you know, right now there's, you know, obviously big talking points and movements
13:59and things going on and changes in the world.
14:02Obviously in Hollywood, you know, you guys have a voice off the screen but you can also do it on
14:08the screen.
14:08Yeah.
14:08You can create projects that then spread the message too.
14:10How would you say people away from Hollywood can make that change?
14:15You know?
14:15Away from Hollywood.
14:16Yeah.
14:17But it's not in our bubble.
14:18That's the big thing.
14:18Very simple.
14:19Very simple.
14:20You know, one of the things that we were working and exercising with Harness was can we create workshops for,
14:28you know, showrunners and studios and networks where we can come in and bring these conversations to them and let
14:34them be inspired by the stories.
14:38And let them be inspired by the heart of the story.
14:41Right.
14:41And seeing, hopefully, that they can write and develop characters and storylines that create food for thought.
14:48Right.
14:48But opens dialogue, right?
14:49So then we started thinking about, you know, how can people outside of Hollywood that, you know, have such a
14:54platform for the impression or the access to the stories.
15:00You know, we all have our own personal networks.
15:02Right.
15:03And now more than ever, Facebook and Instagram and Twitter have become a platform for your interest, a platform for
15:09showcasing your personality.
15:13But it's also a voice, right?
15:15And we forget that with your Facebook, you may have 200, 300, sometimes 1,000 or 2,000 friends on
15:22Facebook that are listening, that you can show a piece of view.
15:27Right.
15:27And there is a platform, a very low-hanging platform where you can distribute content that touches your heart, distribute
15:36thoughts, speeches, conversations, people that you would want your personal friends and family to be aware of.
15:45Right.
15:46And it's not about preaching them how you feel or this is what, or telling you how you need to
15:51feel or what you need to stand out for.
15:53It's about really kind of just distributing all the stories to people and let them in their heart make a
15:59decision on where they, what side of history they want to stand on.
16:02And you'll find that the majority of this country wants to be on the right side of history and that
16:10they just need to be exposed and educated on how to roll up their sleeves and get involved.
16:16Right.
16:16But they also want to be educated on the story, right?
16:19It's not about statistics and numbers and its percentages, which is, I think, where we go wrong in the movements.
16:24You know, in the public conversations, people think, you know, oh, this percentage of undocumented, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.
16:30And really when you're not doing it, it's putting a face to, which is what law is supposed to do,
16:36to protect the person, not a number or a statistic.
16:39So...
16:40Every voice matters.
16:41Every voice matters, absolutely.
16:42That's it.
16:42To wrap this up, we're going to do the THR's top five, five quick questions.
16:46Okay.
16:47Favorite actor growing up?
16:50Oof, Desi Arnes.
16:52Who I know now because of our last conversation.
16:55That's right.
16:55Favorite career moment so far?
16:58Favorite career move?
16:59Moment.
16:59Oh, moment.
17:00Favorite career moment.
17:01Oh, I think the moment I got that 70 show because that helped me take my mom from the 99
17:07cent stores to Ralph's.
17:10That to me...
17:11That's a jump.
17:11That to me was the biggest moment in my career.
17:15And I will never forget the moment where...
17:16It's a short story.
17:18Go for it.
17:18But I remember when my...
17:20You know, we would walk, you know, probably about a mile or so, a mile and a half to go
17:25to the 99 cent store with my mom.
17:27And we would carry, you know, the plastic bags, you know, across blocks and blocks.
17:31And every couple of blocks, Sherman Way and Van Nuys, we would stop.
17:35And I think one day, one day I saw, I noticed my mom's hands were really red from carrying the
17:42plastic bags.
17:43And I remember that was the moment where I said that everything that happened to me today was going to
17:51happen.
17:52And that there was no other choice but for Ed to be real.
17:56And I looked at my mom's hands and I said, Mom, don't worry because one day we're going to drive.
18:03And then one day we drove, you know, a big testament to the American dream.
18:08But again, when I got the 70 show, it was that moment where like, okay, I'm not breaking that promise.
18:14I got to drive my mom now.
18:15But we're not going to 99's and still we're going to a route now, you know.
18:18We're not going to get, you know, we're not going to get, you know, cola anymore.
18:23We're going to get something else that has a brand that we recognize.
18:26I love it.
18:28Movie you loved as a kid that you wish you were in.
18:31Oof.
18:32That's a lot.
18:33Top Gun.
18:34Top Gun.
18:35I can totally see that.
18:36I mean, just because of the high five.
18:38Just because of what you're wearing right now.
18:40Absolutely.
18:40I have a beach volleyball court in my house just because of Top Gun.
18:44And I play volleyball with jeans on.
18:48I thought you were about to say I play volleyball with Tom Cruise.
18:50I was like, amazing.
18:51Oh my God, I wish, I wish.
18:52You never put it past you.
18:54Something you bought that you never thought you could afford.
18:58Oh, yeah.
18:58I was such a James Bond fan.
19:02And I was so obnoxious when I was able to do this.
19:05And I went to the Oster Martin place and I bought myself the DB9.
19:09Remember the DB9?
19:10Yeah, I bought the car.
19:11And when I drove home, my dad saw it.
19:13My dad cried because my dad, you know, is a James Bond fan.
19:17And he thought it was for him.
19:17And I said, Dad, relax.
19:19I'm driving it.
19:20You're not driving it.
19:21Yeah.
19:21But yeah, that was kind of like the first obnoxious thing I did with my money.
19:25Okay.
19:25Love that.
19:26And last, Hollywood crush.
19:29Hollywood crush.
19:30Past or present?
19:32Past.
19:32I'm going to go with Past.
19:33It's always more fun.
19:34It's always more fun.
19:36It was a toss up.
19:37You can flip a coin between Lucy of All and Jessica Rabbit.
19:45Jessica Rabbit.
19:46That's the biggest crush on Jessica Rabbit.
19:47That's when I knew.
19:48That's when I knew I was going to have a problem with redheads, you know?
19:51I never ever heard anyone.
19:53And eventually I did actually.
19:54When you think about it, I really did have a problem with redheads.
19:57The mutual love for Jessica Rabbit.
19:59Now it makes sense.
19:59Now it makes sense.
20:01Woman without her armor.
20:02We should wrap it up on that.
20:04Thank you, man.
20:05Thank you so much for having me.
20:06Good to see you.
20:06Appreciate it.
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