August 20, 2024 • 38 mins
This week, Tommy is joined by actor David Castañeda who is currently starring in the fourth and final season of the Netflix smash-hit, The Umbrella Academy. The series is based on a collection of comics and graphic novels, and follows a group of estranged siblings with extraordinary powers who uncover family secrets while battling looming threats to humanity. David quickly became a fan-favorite of the show as the sweet, impulsive and sometimes overly confident Diego Hargreeves, a police academy dropout turned vigilante who desperately wants to prove himself. Today, David opens up about it finally hitting him that he won’t be returning to a series that has been such a big part of his life, how he almost snuck off set after his last day of shooting wrapped because it was too hard to say goodbye, his deep love and admiration for the rest of his cast, what he will forever cherish about playing Diego, if he was happy with how the entire series ended, if the fan reaction has surprised him, the scenes of Diego that will stay with him forever, how he has handled the pressure that comes from being part of such a fan-favorite genre, if he would be down to do a spin-off, what that spin-off could look like, what he has learned the most about himself through this entire experience, his relationship with success, and his struggle over the years with feeling like he fits in.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
me Tommy di Dario. Today's guest is a badass artist
and an even more badass human being. David Castagneda stars
in Netflix's critically acclaimed drama series The Umbrella Academy, which
is back for its fourth and final season. I know,
I know, we are not quite ready to say goodbye now.
(00:23):
The Umbrella Academy is based on a collection of comics
and graphic novels and follows a group of estranged siblings
with extraordinary powers who uncover family secrets while battling looming
threats to humanity. Yeah, just sounds like you're normal Tuesday, right.
David quickly became a fan favorite of the show as
the sweet and impulsive and sometimes overly confident Diego Hargreaves.
(00:47):
He's a police academy dropout turned vigilante who desperately wants
to prove himself, and his performance is nothing short of brilliant.
We have so much fun diving into the Umbrella Academy
in this conversation, but we also really gets a peel
back who David is beyond his character of Diego. There
are so many nuggets of wisdom in this interview. You
(01:08):
my friends are in for a treat. So let's see
if today we can get David to say something that
he has never said before.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
David, mom Man, how you doing. It's good to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Thanks for having me. Tommy, I'm good man. How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I am fantastic. I am psyched to be chatting with you.
I see you right now in your fit era. You
got like the muscle teeon guns are popping. You're looking good.
You're looking good.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Thanks man. You know, I always feel like my mental
state always correlates with how well I'm taking care of
my body.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Well, you're looking fly. Good to see you. We have
a lot to get to so I'm gonna jump right in.
I am sad to say it is the final season
of The Umbrella Academy, season four. I feel like the
world this morning, the show they're not ready to say goodbye.
So first off, how are you doing? Have you emotionally
prepared for this moment? Like are you ready to say
(02:08):
goodbye to the show or is it still kind of
weird for you?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, what's funny is you know that question has my
answer to that question has changed over the last week.
When you know, we were doing press for Umbrella, like
a few days before the release. You know, obviously I
was like, I don't know when it's going to hit me,
because they hadn't hit me that this was it. I was.
(02:33):
I thought, maybe it'll hit me a few weeks after
the show comes out, or maybe in a few months.
And when the show came out the day it came out,
that's when it really hit me, this sadness of not
owning it anymore because no one had seen the last season.
(02:54):
It was just us between the cast and the crew,
and so when it got released, it was as if
it belongs to the world now and it's not mine.
That's when it really hit this feeling of oh, we're
not we're done, and it's to everyone else's interpretation how
(03:17):
they experienced the last season and it's not mine anymore.
And so I am in that space now where very
you know, it's very real, like it's over. Hopefully people
are enjoying it and you know, maybe they get some closure,
maybe they won't. I don't know, but I'm yeah, I'm
(03:42):
going through it, you know, I'm going through it right now.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It sounds like it's very much a grieving process, right
like you kind of go through all the different emotions
and it hits you in different ways. I mean, it's
been a part of your life for I know, four seasons,
but how many years has that been.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Twenty eighteen was when we start shooting the first season,
so I want to say late twenty seventeen when I
got the call wow, And we started shooting in twenty
eighteen during the winter in Toronto. So it's been six years,
six plus years of my life and I've gone to
grow with this character in various ways and got to
(04:21):
meet some of my closest friends on this show, and
it gave me my entire career, and it really did.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are you good with beginnings and endings?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Like?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Are you a sentimental guy? Are you able to just
kind of keep going? Or is this new for you?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
This is very new. I've never been one to say
goodbye to anything. I've always been the person that sneaks
out at parties or gatherings. I avoid the when am
I going to see you again? Conversation? That's to me,
that's something that I don't know. So I've just rather
not make people feel like, you know, like they're waiting
(05:03):
on me. So I'll just sneak out. So this is
actually the first time that I sort of beginning of
a chapter and ending of a whole chapter. When we
wrapped season four, my last day of shooting, I snuck
out of the set because I knew that they were
going to try to, you know, like a season rap
(05:23):
series wrap for David. I snuck out and then they
caught me while I was sneaking out, and I was like,
I was almost out the door. I was like by
my chair, carrying my stuff, and then one of the
pas brought me back there like Steve Blackman wants you back,
and obviously Steve was the big boss, you know, so
I was like, all right, I go back, and then
you know, had to face the sort of all right, goodbye,
(05:45):
you know, and everyone's clapping, and oddly enough, for being
an actor, I'm very shy when it comes to being
in the center of attention, which is kind of an
interesting dynamic.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I feel, Yeah, for sure, it's so interesting that that
was your moment of closure, right, Like, you put all
this blood, sweat and tears into this role, into the
series and people just wanted to celebrate you, and you
were like a.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Good I'm good, love you all. But I'm good.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, I've always been that way. It's you know, especially
because I've gotten to travel a lot. You know. When
I used to live in Mexico, my my aunts would
come and visit, and I just hated seeing them leave.
You know, it was like they're gone, and so we
avoided seeing each other before we left. You know. It
was a weird thing. They would just call me like, hey,
(06:33):
by the way, we're on the road already, we've left,
you know, and they just didn't like watching us have
this feeling of I'm going to miss you, just you know,
conflict avoidant.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I guess I can relate.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I grew up in a very old school Italian family,
and it's similar. It's like, you know, you know there's love,
you know, there's good vibes, but we don't always want
to show it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, I guess you know, from this culture, you I'm
sure it's like very loud, very tight, and and the
way we show love is through other you know, whether
it's a humor or or acts of service. You know,
they do things for you rather than knowing how to
put it in words.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, how old are you tell.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Me I'm thirty hell and I'm thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Thirty eight, I'm in. Yeah, we'll start source serve at
the same age.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
You're younger now, yeah, thirty four.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But still, you know, we're like in that space where,
like I feel, we can see our families as individuals,
and as we remove ourselves a little bit more, then
we start kind of seeing the entire umbrella of how
we function within our family, and like, oh, I like
to keep this from my culture and my family, and
I like to change this, and you know, we have autonomy,
(07:52):
I guess through the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah, one hundred percent. It's definitely a learning curve and
a learning process. But you come and see your own
and you keep what you love and you kind of
move away from what you don't.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So it's a it's all part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
But speaking of family, man the cast, I think some
of the magic of the show is the cast seems
so bonded together and you watch it as a viewer
and you genuinely feel like, oh man, this group of
people truly brings each other joy, Like it seems like
a family. So is that dynamic? Has that been a
really important factor for you in this project? And is
(08:27):
that something you're going to miss.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah, you know, when I first started the first season,
I was looking for deep relationships with the people that
I work with. That's you know, I'm a very like fully,
like immersive person when it comes to just friendships and connections,
and I want to know more. I want to know
(08:51):
more deeply about things, and you know, when you're first
meeting people, I'm sort of just throwing myself in the
deep end. And that wasn't really the case because everyone's
coming from different you know, you know, parts of the
world and cultures and different value systems. So as the
years progress, that thing that I was yearning for from
(09:13):
season one started growing, growing and growing. So by the
time we got to season three and four, it was
like we were reuniting for like a family reunion. Every
time we'd come into the season, it was so much excitement,
and I think there's a lot of respect within all
of us of our talents, because I was very curious
(09:34):
about what they were going to do with you know,
whatever it's on the page. I'm like, I wonder what
they're going to do. And when we would see like
for example, season two, you know, everyone had their own
storylines and then we kind of merge. I found it
so excited to see everyone else's scenes, you know, and
getting to see what they did. I'm like, oh my god,
this is amazing. Getting to see it was like birthday
(09:56):
presents for each character. And then you know, you come together,
you form a deeper bond, especially over the six years,
seven years that I don't know. I don't know if
I'm gonna I mean, we never talked every day, but
when we saw each other, it was just, you know,
just deep love and understanding.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, well that's a testament to a real relationship. You
don't have to talk every day. I mean, life is busy,
people have a million different things going on, but when
you reconnect, it's just like a second has not been passed.
It's it's the most amazing feeling. So that's awesome that
you feel that with a big group of people. And yeah,
the role you play is so epic. He's he's a
(10:36):
fan favorite for good reason, right, I mean, people just
love Diego. When you think back of your entire time
playing this character, what will you most cherish?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I guess the parts of myself that I was able
to explore that I didn't have to give too much
reason why I'm doing things. An example would be I
would have never gone to Thailand to train muay Thai
for a month if I didn't have Diego as a
real reason as to why I'm doing something. And so
(11:06):
the excuse to be able to do that is a
gift because Diego needed that. And and so there were
many aspects that this character throughout the years allowed me
to do because the character changed so much between seasons,
so I was able to be like, Oh, what's the
what's the entry point of Diego this year? You know?
(11:29):
And I don't think you get that a lot on
TV shows, you know, with like you know, you sort
of come in and you know your characters so well,
which I did with Diego. But there was always a
shift that allowed me to discover more parts within myself,
whether it was like the relationship with my father, the
relationship with the mother, the relationship with us kid, being
(11:50):
a family, man, being a husband. Is what is that
within myself that I can tap into that I can
hopefully give Diego some some some authenticity, you know, and
what he's going through. And I, yeah, I feel maybe
that's why he became a fan favorite, because I really
(12:12):
invested a lot of myself in that in that character.
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I think that's pretty evident.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
And it's cool because it feels like you played in
a way, like ten characters in one because as you're
just so eloquently saying like he's so multi layered and multifaceted,
which as an actor must be pretty damn fun to play.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I mean, it's a dream. It's a dream to be
able to do that. You know, you I can only imagine,
you know, because when you do a film, you can
spend you know, four weeks, five weeks doing something and
then it's gone. You know, you're like all right, you know,
and then you're constantly thinking about what can you do better?
And oh man, I could have done this or I couldn't.
Well with Diego, I was like, oh I missed that. Okay,
I'll I got another season. I'll bring that back. And
(12:53):
there's a lot of redemption you know, within within those storylines.
That's just the testament to like, you know, the Steve
Blackman and the writers of being able to like notice like,
oh there needs to be these shifts between seasons and
then like going full steam.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Ahead, well, really interesting storyline this season, you know, being
stripped of all the powers for the entire cast and
kind of you're playing the stripped down version of yourself.
How was stepping into that chapter of Diego?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
It was fun. It was a lot of fun. There
was an understanding as I was walking into the season
was the identity of Diego as a superhero and not
being that, so how much he valued himself and how
much he saw himself as a very low important man
(13:53):
and having the duty of being a father and a husband.
Was I feel, well, he really thought that this was
going to make him happy, which is I'm going to
do what my dad didn't do. I'm want to do that,
and knowing that actually the reason I can't be happy
(14:13):
right now is because I'm still clinging onto this hope
that I'll become a superhero again, so I can't enjoy
what's in front of me. And that's very relatable. I
feel like we all have aspects in our lives of
when we compare ourselves to what we were or or
someone else, it robs us of joy, It robs us
of the moment and the people that are that we
(14:35):
love and that are closest to us. And I was like, oh, yeah,
I know that feeling I'll I'll just tap into that,
and so there was a lot of you know, the
posturing of who he is was very sort of kind
of loose and kind of frumpy, and you know, compared
to like season one, where he was sort of you know,
he'd always stand tall, he'd had this way of carrying himself,
(14:56):
and now he's just like, I don't care. You know,
I've kind of just let myself go. That was great.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, like I said earlier, it's quite the dichotomy that
you get to play. So how fun that you got
to step into those shoes and then we got to
see him evolved throughout the season, which is always rewarding
as a viewer for sure. You know, when a series
comes to an ending, there's so much pressure for that
perfect ending, right, like, well the viewers be happy? Will
the actors be happy?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Is it going to end in a way that makes
everybody happy? Were you happy with the ending?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And do you feel that pressure when you do have
to wrap up a series, Like how do you separate
from that?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
If you can?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Well, I am happy how it ended, and I'm happy
because of the experience of shooting the whole season and
the whole series. It is to me, it was the
funnest season to shoot, you know, and it was partially
because we knew it was going to be the last one.
So there was a lot of effort and a lot
(15:54):
of love and a lot of I think creative output
that came through that season. And you know, I think
there's been a misconception online which I've been curious because
obviously people are very you know, they're divisive of like,
you know, how it ended and all these things, and
the character between Diego and Lila and I really love
(16:16):
that they are always taking chances. I love that they're like, oh,
you think it's going to be a buddy buddy thing,
and then you flip it on five and Diego and
it you know, it gets people angry. You know, I
saw it. I was like, oh my god, people are
really getting angry at this. And I think that that's good.
It's good to have some sort of reaction to something
(16:38):
that things can be flipped upside down and and why
does that make you angry? You know, what about these
characters made you feel comfort? And also what are they
showing about ourselves and in real time as we're watching this?
And yeah, so you know, I'm very proud of how
(17:02):
this whole thing played out, and I'm really happy of
the work that we all did for season four.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, I thought it was a really moving ending, and
I wasn't personally surprised by it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I feel like, kind of when I started the series,
I always imagine this might happen, but a lot of
people were surprised. And this will be a spoiler alert
for anybody listening, so you have a second to fast
forward this little section right here. But did you did
you expect that ending at any point or were you surprised?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Well, I was surprised. I was. I mean I kind
of had an idea that like, well, how's it going
to end? And how do you do it without being
a cliffhanger? Or do you need a cliffhanger? You know,
we're so used to watching something and having like a
post credit scene and like, oh, somebody's gonna you know,
there's more hope. And so when I did get the pages,
(17:58):
I was kind of hoping that these were dummy sides.
I was kind of hoping like, oh, maybe Steve is
you know, this is what it is, But then when
we show up, it'll be different because he usually does that.
He'll you know, he'll give us the pages like a
day or two before we shoot it, and so I thought, oh,
he's probably gonna change it by the time we get there,
and like, no, no, no, that was it. We shot it,
and I was like okay, yeah, okay, and I knew
(18:23):
that like that day, we're all like holding hands and
you know, the goo is kind of coming up to
our faces. I was like, man, everyone's gonna start crying.
It's gonna be so funny. And yeah, some people cried.
Some people cried. I mean obviously I cried in the scene,
but after that, I was like, Okay, I don't want
to I you know, no, I don't want to feel
this too much. Talk about this later.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
And was that the final scene you actually shot or no, no.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
My final scene was we did it. We had to
do with some pickup shots in the with Ben and
the monster in the in the shopping mall, with like
with the stairs where I fight five, we just have
to do some pickup shots there. So that was the
moment where I try to sneak out at the end
and they brought me back to give like a you know,
(19:09):
a thank you and a farewell, well.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
You know what, good you deserve that, So I'm glad
they grabbed your ass and brought you back.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I appreciate that, man. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Is is there a moment in the entire series, a
Diego moment for you that you'll always remember? I mean,
you shoot so much, and I obviously you can't remember
every line in every scene unless you have a brainiac brain.
But is there a moment or a scene that you're
going to be like, yeah, that's that's going to stay
with me for a long time.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Yeah. I mean there's many, many, but I'll start with
like the first. I think one of the first moments
was we were shooting the funeral scene with Dad in
season one and I was, you know, I was coming in,
you know, I didn't really know anyone, and there was
a massive fight scene with you know, Diego and Luthor,
(19:59):
and the had rain towers and it was freezing and
it was Toronto, and you know, and my character I
was like, yeah, he wouldn't wear it, he wouldn't have
an umbrella, and Steve agreed, so everyone else had an
umbrella and everyone else was dry, and I was the
only one just getting wet. You know, and I was
like yeah, and so we started fighting and the you know,
(20:20):
by the second day, you know, my my wat my
clothes are drenched. I'm wearing like a kind of like
a wetsuit underneath so I don't get hypothermia, and the
mud had frozen. So we're fighting on almost what it
feels like an ice cap of mud. And I was
so gung ho on, like, no stumb doubles, so I
(20:41):
wanted to do the whole thing and I did. You know,
I think there was one small moment where they had
to use a stunt guy. I wish I knew his name.
It was from season one, but I just remember fighting
with Tom, and there was this moment where Tom was like, hey, May, like,
you're actually hitting me in this moment, you're hitting me
and and I was like, I'm so sorry. I'll fix it.
(21:02):
And I did, and I thought I did, but then
instead of telling me again, you know, I guess by
this point, maybe I've hit him a few more than
a few times. But he had to tell the director.
And the director comes up to me, Peter Horror, who
did the pilot, and he comes up and he says,
don't hit him. Stop hitting him.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And I remember as because I was so in the zone,
I start crying and I'm like and it was it
was almost like I was talking to hard Grieves. I
started crying and I was like, I'm not hitting him,
I'm not hitting him, and he and he was like,
I know you're not.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I know you're not.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
And he leaves. And that's when I realized, like, oh,
I've I've discovered Diego in that moment, because it was
such a sibling rivalry in that moment and the fact
that this director, who was sort of a person that
we were looking for for guidance on a day to
day basis comes up and says, stop hitting him. And
then I immediately want to like a dad, being like
(21:55):
I'm not hitting him, and then him being like, I
know you're not. I know you're not. It's fine. And
I was like, Oh, that's him. That's that's that's Diego.
And I just remember from that point on, and I
was talking to my buddy Colin, who's who's a good
friend of mine. He's my manager too, and I was like, hey,
this happened to me, and he was like, you found him,
(22:16):
that's it. And I was like, oh, you're right, and
that sort of stuck in me throughout season. Want that
whole just the Luther Diego thing, you know, and the
chip on your shoulder kind of vibe stuck with me
for yeah till today.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
That's not always the norm to find a character so quickly, right,
like you hear people. Sometimes it takes some two or
three seasons to really get on the groove, and the
fact that you kind of slide into his shoes so
fast is a testament to how you connected with the material.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
This series is obviously based off a very popular comics series,
and with that comes a built in fandom and perhaps
some pressure to please that built in fandom. Did you
ever feel that going into the show or were you
able to kind of separate that and just get to work.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
No, I was I was able to separate that. I
didn't know how popular they were until we started promoting,
when they flew us to all these places around the world,
where I got to go to Singapore, you know, Brazil
Comic Con, New York Comic Con, and and getting to
see the uproar of or excitement of what this show was.
(23:27):
I was like, how do they we haven't even showed
a trailer and how are these people so excited? And
so thankfully it wasn't until after, so I didn't have
this pressure of like, oh, what are people are going
to think? I was you know, I had maybe like
seven hundred followers on Instagram, so I was like completely like,
no one knows me, and this will be it. And
(23:49):
when my and it still didn't click on me because
Steve Blackman, at the beginning of season one, he goes,
you know, I want to get the Diego a stammer
because you know, he's such as such a cool and
like tough guy, and it's like, I really want to
give him something that I think will bring some vulnerability.
And I said, great, let's do it. And I told
my buddy Colin. I was like, hey, so they're going
to give me a stammer and he was like, well,
(24:10):
you got to be careful, bro, this is going to
be your big debut. I was like, debut for what?
And he's like, this is going to be big and
I was like, yeah, right, whatever, and yeah he was right,
you know, and yeah, and even it's funny enough. Even
going into season two three four, I've been really I
think it's been really healthy because I don't feel that
(24:32):
pressure of what are people going to think about this?
I'm very blessed in that, I think department.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I've seen on social media a lot of people, a
lot of people are saying they would be down for
your character to have a spinoff.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Have you seen that?
Speaker 3 (24:57):
No? I haven't. Actually, yeah, like.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
People are almost it's starting to gain some traction. Is
that something you would ever consider?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Man? I mean, I got goosebumps. You're saying that if
I wants to do so, maybe yeah, I would. I mean,
I love, I love this character. I think I think
it'd be awesome to have an opportunity to continue. But
that's you know, I'm open. It all depends on Netflix
and Universal to you know, be gained for that, but
(25:28):
we'll see. And dark Horse also because dark Horses, you
know sort of the you know, they do the comics
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Have you ever thought about what you might want to
explore if given more time, or maybe something you never
got the chance to explore for your character?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I mean, I would like to see what the five
years or the six years that happens between season three
and four, you know, or possibly like you know, see
what he was doing before the harder funeral, you know,
seeing like those those moments before, Because I think there
(26:05):
was something that evolved with Diego as the seasons progress,
which is his comedy, you know, and I feel like
for season one he was dry, he was witty and
very angry, but as the season move along, he sort
of became a little bit more you know, the butt
of the joke. So that being said, I kind of
(26:28):
want to see, like if is that possible to introduce
that in an earlier stage of his life. But you
I don't know. I mean, the Umbrella the Umbrella riders
are so witty and you know, so smart, and they'll
just come up with like the zonkiest storylines. So one
thing we did think, you know, Tom and I were
thinking about it was like, dude, you know, it would
(26:49):
be great. It's like if Diego and Luther getting some
sort of like Bill and Ted's like excellent adventure kind
of thing where like they're able to use a briefcase
and they go to these different places kind of like doctor.
You know, they can just go to these different ways
and then just be too you know, Abbot and Costellos,
you know, talking to like some I don't know, some
Egyptian gods or something.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I don't know, just you know, we're putting it all
out there right now, so let's let's let's let it
live in the universe. And you never know, that would
be actually really hysterical to watch. So I'm into that. Yeah,
very interesting, many ideas that could come out of this.
So who knows if we'll see your character again, but
I think a lot of people would be here for it.
You did you play this character over the course of
(27:32):
seven eight years, we'll say, four seasons. What has David
the Human learned most about himself from starting on day
one to where you are today?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I mean, you know, I think, yeah, you know, I'll
tell you this. One of the things that I've learned
is snipper about you. You know, it's never about you
and or it's never about me, you know, in terms
of in terms of telling myself because so many times,
(28:11):
you know, you go into a set and you think
that everyone around you is behaving a certain way because
of you, and it's never really the case. Everyone's sort
of having their own world, their own thoughts, their own perceptions.
And as an artist, you know, sometimes we think we're
so you know, we could be self centered. We could
(28:31):
be so self centered, so when we show up we
can feel like, how do I get mine right now?
And is this person preventing me from doing that? And
what I've learned through being on the show and through
acting mostly is about it's always make it about the
other person. Always. That is, I think when the purest
(28:53):
form really comes out, when i'd remove myself from it,
excuse me, and I make it about a person in
front of me. If I do that, and if hopefully
they have the same mentality, then everything falls into place. Everything,
the entire scene, the storylines, the dynamics on set, it
(29:15):
all sings. And that was something that I did not
have going into season one. I remember that I was very,
very insecure. It comes in ways still today. But if
I focus on making it about the other person, everything
kind of I stop thinking about myself.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's a good reminder, man, And that's a testament to
the success you've had and the success you'll continue to
have and everything you've accomplished. I mean, in speaking of success,
do you feel that, like do you look at yourself
and say, you know what, I feel successful?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Like I'm doing my thing.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Sometimes Yeah, sometimes I'll I'll just kind of. I remember
when I used to rent a studio in Silver Lake
and I wasn't making much money, but I just I
was just the fact that my heart and my mind,
my spirit was able to provide some sort of money
(30:12):
to have a studio. I was like, this is insane.
I can't believe that my imagination is providing this. It
blows my mind that there's a there. We're in a
world where we can actually do those things and we
can have some sort of we can make a you know,
have a livable wage at something like this. And obviously
I understand, like, you know, I am very lucky because
(30:36):
my preparation with the right, perfect timing got me in
this position, and that not everyone is doing that. But
the fact that, you know, sometimes I can have these
little moments of yeah, I'm doing all right, and it
goes this goes back to not comparing myself because the
moment I start comparing, like oh I should be here
(30:57):
or I should be there now, it robs me of
of being yeah, proud, just proud of what I've done.
And I don't even know what happens like that, you know,
but you know, my family's healthy friends are good. I
got I got food, I've got a healthy dog, you know,
(31:18):
so I be like.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, doing pretty good, good good.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I think it's always an important reminder for us to
check ourselves because we always, you know, you want more.
We always want to keep hopefully growing and excelling and
getting that next kind of marker on the chart that
we have of our lives kind of mapped out. But
to sit back and reflect and actually think, like, you know,
wait a minute, I'm I'm I'm doing some cool things
and I'm proud of me. I think that's a reminder.
(31:43):
I try to check in with myself on and I
try to bring that up with other people, because it's
probably not something you walk around your home looking in
a mirror saying like I'm successful, I'm proud someone you
have someone or maybe you do maybe that's a Tuesday
night for you. Yeah, But when you have someone kind
of way done in front of you, I think that's
a pretty pretty cool thing. So that's awesome and I'm
(32:04):
glad that you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Ah, I'm so sad to have to wrap up this
conversation because I've been enjoying it so very much. But
the final question of this interview is based off the
title of the show, which is I've never said this before.
And I know you've done so many interviews and so
much press over the years, and even today you've shared
so much that's been amazing. But is there something that
you can think of that you've never said before that
(32:28):
you would like to share today?
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I mean there's there. I mean there's a lot of
things that I've never said before. And obviously, like in
a public setting, right like, because there's one thing to
share something with, like family and people that are really
close to you, and then when you go to a
public setting, a lot of it is it's like, Okay,
how do I say something with that it becoming a
(32:54):
headline that'm sort of that people misinterpreted or anything like that.
But I feel like, yeah, one of the things that
I've sort of never said was, you know, I had
a real deep and it goes both ways, had a
very deep security of where I was going to land.
(33:16):
I just knew. I was like my life has been
so up and down between like I lived in like
thirteen different homes before I was the age of seven,
right with my family moving from this place or that
place of this place and then going to Mexico for
some security and always not fitting in. It was really
(33:38):
it was so hard. But the thing that really kept
me going was obviously I had a wonderful family, but
kept me going was life is not putting me through
all of this if it's not going to give me
something at the back end, whatever that is. I didn't
know I was going to be this specifically, you know,
I thought it was going to be I don't know.
(34:00):
I didn't know, but I just knew that that was
my thought was like, I'm learning all this right now,
how to adapt, how to connect with people, how to
withstand some adversity and conflict, because there's something at the
end of this tunnel that's going to give me that
I'm going to be able to use all of this
to adapt. And I was able to because in acting,
(34:25):
all you're trying to do is relate to the other
person and what are you, what do we have in common?
And how do I really get in there with you?
And how do I read the room? And makes me
more aware of the space. And that was something that
I had to deal with my entire life as I
was a kid and moving back and forth, and so
(34:47):
that was you know, that was the deep understanding. I
was like, oh, I think something really good is going
to happen from this, and yeah, and I'm able to
use that as a tool to on my you know,
every day, just how I interact with people.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Isn't that so interesting that not feeling like you fit
in all those years and you're kind of bouncing around
and not knowing your place didn't dissuade you or throw
you off of the path to going after what it
is you wanted to achieve. Like that's that is some willpower,
right because not everyone would follow that that road. They
(35:27):
might say, oh, you know what, I don't fit in,
I'm not meant to be anywhere, Like I'm just going
to figure out where life takes me. But you had
such drive, I guess, and determination to move past that
feeling and land where you are.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I feel like it sort of goes back to you know,
the people around us. You know the people around us
that don't really let you I don't know if I
don't want to say they don't let you notice the
adversity or the conflicts. They just make it so normal.
They make it so normal that when something happens, when
you feel rejected, when you don't feel like you fit in.
(36:01):
You just know that things are still okay. You know,
everything is still fine. Like I remember going to the
store and my parents being like, what do you want?
You want this great and we're about to buy it
and the credit card declines, you know, and being outside
and watch and my dad even speaks about this about
He's like, you know, just see in your face how
(36:23):
much it would break me of your sort of sadness
and your disappointment that you were about to get something
and you didn't get it. But even through that, I
understood that not everything will fall my way, not everything.
And so that was just one of the most helpful
(36:43):
lessons as a child, because you know, if something doesn't
fall my way. Now I can think about those moments
and I'm like, well, it wasn't meant to be. And
it could be so cliche and stereotypical right to say
those things, but when you know, we've all experienced them,
we all have, I guessaid it goes back to this thing,
it's it's not about us, it's not about me.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I'm walking away from this conversation like smiling from me
hear to ear, because I'm always it's so fulfilling for
me as the host of the show, and I get
to talk to people who really get to open up
in ways that you don't always get to in a
six minute junkitt or a three minute carpet. I mean,
I get to like the heart of who you are. Right,
we all know the character you play. It's a character.
(37:25):
It's not real. Like I want to get to know
who you are as my guests. And it's really cool
you came on here today and like shared all of
that and just show the human side to you, which
I think a lot of people are going to find
also so fulfilling. So for that, I thank you. This
was really a great conversation. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
Thank you, Tommy and Man, obviously I appreciate you and
also your intellect and you know your questions and just
how much you sort of bring yourself to it. You
know it's it's easy. You make it really easy.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Well, thank you, my friend. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
If you're ever in New York, let me know I'll
be following your career.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Obviously.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
The fourth season of The Umbrella Academy is out now
go watch it over and over again and until we
meet again.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Thank you, Tommy, and I will I'll reach out to
you in New York once I get there.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
All right, sounds good, be willing Man.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Thank you too many.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by me, Tommy Dedario.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Tell your friends.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Until next time, I'm Tommy Dedario
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
me Tommy di Dario. Today's guest is a badass artist
and an even more badass human being. David Castagneda stars
in Netflix's critically acclaimed drama series The Umbrella Academy, which
is back for its fourth and final season. I know,
I know, we are not quite ready to say goodbye now.
(00:23):
The Umbrella Academy is based on a collection of comics
and graphic novels and follows a group of estranged siblings
with extraordinary powers who uncover family secrets while battling looming
threats to humanity. Yeah, just sounds like you're normal Tuesday, right.
David quickly became a fan favorite of the show as
the sweet and impulsive and sometimes overly confident Diego Hargreaves.
(00:47):
He's a police academy dropout turned vigilante who desperately wants
to prove himself, and his performance is nothing short of brilliant.
We have so much fun diving into the Umbrella Academy
in this conversation, but we also really gets a peel
back who David is beyond his character of Diego. There
are so many nuggets of wisdom in this interview. You
(01:08):
my friends are in for a treat. So let's see
if today we can get David to say something that
he has never said before.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
David, mom Man, how you doing. It's good to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Thanks for having me. Tommy, I'm good man. How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I am fantastic. I am psyched to be chatting with you.
I see you right now in your fit era. You
got like the muscle teeon guns are popping. You're looking good.
You're looking good.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Thanks man. You know, I always feel like my mental
state always correlates with how well I'm taking care of
my body.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Well, you're looking fly. Good to see you. We have
a lot to get to so I'm gonna jump right in.
I am sad to say it is the final season
of The Umbrella Academy, season four. I feel like the
world this morning, the show they're not ready to say goodbye.
So first off, how are you doing? Have you emotionally
prepared for this moment? Like are you ready to say
(02:08):
goodbye to the show or is it still kind of
weird for you?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, what's funny is you know that question has my
answer to that question has changed over the last week.
When you know, we were doing press for Umbrella, like
a few days before the release. You know, obviously I
was like, I don't know when it's going to hit me,
because they hadn't hit me that this was it. I was.
(02:33):
I thought, maybe it'll hit me a few weeks after
the show comes out, or maybe in a few months.
And when the show came out the day it came out,
that's when it really hit me, this sadness of not
owning it anymore because no one had seen the last season.
(02:54):
It was just us between the cast and the crew,
and so when it got released, it was as if
it belongs to the world now and it's not mine.
That's when it really hit this feeling of oh, we're
not we're done, and it's to everyone else's interpretation how
(03:17):
they experienced the last season and it's not mine anymore.
And so I am in that space now where very
you know, it's very real, like it's over. Hopefully people
are enjoying it and you know, maybe they get some closure,
maybe they won't. I don't know, but I'm yeah, I'm
(03:42):
going through it, you know, I'm going through it right now.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It sounds like it's very much a grieving process, right
like you kind of go through all the different emotions
and it hits you in different ways. I mean, it's
been a part of your life for I know, four seasons,
but how many years has that been.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Twenty eighteen was when we start shooting the first season,
so I want to say late twenty seventeen when I
got the call wow, And we started shooting in twenty
eighteen during the winter in Toronto. So it's been six years,
six plus years of my life and I've gone to
grow with this character in various ways and got to
(04:21):
meet some of my closest friends on this show, and
it gave me my entire career, and it really did.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are you good with beginnings and endings?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Like?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Are you a sentimental guy? Are you able to just
kind of keep going? Or is this new for you?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
This is very new. I've never been one to say
goodbye to anything. I've always been the person that sneaks
out at parties or gatherings. I avoid the when am
I going to see you again? Conversation? That's to me,
that's something that I don't know. So I've just rather
not make people feel like, you know, like they're waiting
(05:03):
on me. So I'll just sneak out. So this is
actually the first time that I sort of beginning of
a chapter and ending of a whole chapter. When we
wrapped season four, my last day of shooting, I snuck
out of the set because I knew that they were
going to try to, you know, like a season rap
(05:23):
series wrap for David. I snuck out and then they
caught me while I was sneaking out, and I was like,
I was almost out the door. I was like by
my chair, carrying my stuff, and then one of the
pas brought me back there like Steve Blackman wants you back,
and obviously Steve was the big boss, you know, so
I was like, all right, I go back, and then
you know, had to face the sort of all right, goodbye,
(05:45):
you know, and everyone's clapping, and oddly enough, for being
an actor, I'm very shy when it comes to being
in the center of attention, which is kind of an
interesting dynamic.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I feel, Yeah, for sure, it's so interesting that that
was your moment of closure, right, Like, you put all
this blood, sweat and tears into this role, into the
series and people just wanted to celebrate you, and you
were like a.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Good I'm good, love you all. But I'm good.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, I've always been that way. It's you know, especially
because I've gotten to travel a lot. You know. When
I used to live in Mexico, my my aunts would
come and visit, and I just hated seeing them leave.
You know, it was like they're gone, and so we
avoided seeing each other before we left. You know. It
was a weird thing. They would just call me like, hey,
(06:33):
by the way, we're on the road already, we've left,
you know, and they just didn't like watching us have
this feeling of I'm going to miss you, just you know,
conflict avoidant.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I guess I can relate.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I grew up in a very old school Italian family,
and it's similar. It's like, you know, you know there's love,
you know, there's good vibes, but we don't always want
to show it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, I guess you know, from this culture, you I'm
sure it's like very loud, very tight, and and the
way we show love is through other you know, whether
it's a humor or or acts of service. You know,
they do things for you rather than knowing how to
put it in words.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, how old are you tell.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Me I'm thirty hell and I'm thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Thirty eight, I'm in. Yeah, we'll start source serve at
the same age.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
You're younger now, yeah, thirty four.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But still, you know, we're like in that space where,
like I feel, we can see our families as individuals,
and as we remove ourselves a little bit more, then
we start kind of seeing the entire umbrella of how
we function within our family, and like, oh, I like
to keep this from my culture and my family, and
I like to change this, and you know, we have autonomy,
(07:52):
I guess through the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah, one hundred percent. It's definitely a learning curve and
a learning process. But you come and see your own
and you keep what you love and you kind of
move away from what you don't.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So it's a it's all part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
But speaking of family, man the cast, I think some
of the magic of the show is the cast seems
so bonded together and you watch it as a viewer
and you genuinely feel like, oh man, this group of
people truly brings each other joy, Like it seems like
a family. So is that dynamic? Has that been a
really important factor for you in this project? And is
(08:27):
that something you're going to miss.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah, you know, when I first started the first season,
I was looking for deep relationships with the people that
I work with. That's you know, I'm a very like fully,
like immersive person when it comes to just friendships and connections,
and I want to know more. I want to know
(08:51):
more deeply about things, and you know, when you're first
meeting people, I'm sort of just throwing myself in the
deep end. And that wasn't really the case because everyone's
coming from different you know, you know, parts of the
world and cultures and different value systems. So as the
years progress, that thing that I was yearning for from
(09:13):
season one started growing, growing and growing. So by the
time we got to season three and four, it was
like we were reuniting for like a family reunion. Every
time we'd come into the season, it was so much excitement,
and I think there's a lot of respect within all
of us of our talents, because I was very curious
(09:34):
about what they were going to do with you know,
whatever it's on the page. I'm like, I wonder what
they're going to do. And when we would see like
for example, season two, you know, everyone had their own
storylines and then we kind of merge. I found it
so excited to see everyone else's scenes, you know, and
getting to see what they did. I'm like, oh my god,
this is amazing. Getting to see it was like birthday
(09:56):
presents for each character. And then you know, you come together,
you form a deeper bond, especially over the six years,
seven years that I don't know. I don't know if
I'm gonna I mean, we never talked every day, but
when we saw each other, it was just, you know,
just deep love and understanding.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, well that's a testament to a real relationship. You
don't have to talk every day. I mean, life is busy,
people have a million different things going on, but when
you reconnect, it's just like a second has not been passed.
It's it's the most amazing feeling. So that's awesome that
you feel that with a big group of people. And yeah,
the role you play is so epic. He's he's a
(10:36):
fan favorite for good reason, right, I mean, people just
love Diego. When you think back of your entire time
playing this character, what will you most cherish?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I guess the parts of myself that I was able
to explore that I didn't have to give too much
reason why I'm doing things. An example would be I
would have never gone to Thailand to train muay Thai
for a month if I didn't have Diego as a
real reason as to why I'm doing something. And so
(11:06):
the excuse to be able to do that is a
gift because Diego needed that. And and so there were
many aspects that this character throughout the years allowed me
to do because the character changed so much between seasons,
so I was able to be like, Oh, what's the
what's the entry point of Diego this year? You know?
(11:29):
And I don't think you get that a lot on
TV shows, you know, with like you know, you sort
of come in and you know your characters so well,
which I did with Diego. But there was always a
shift that allowed me to discover more parts within myself,
whether it was like the relationship with my father, the
relationship with the mother, the relationship with us kid, being
(11:50):
a family, man, being a husband. Is what is that
within myself that I can tap into that I can
hopefully give Diego some some some authenticity, you know, and
what he's going through. And I, yeah, I feel maybe
that's why he became a fan favorite, because I really
(12:12):
invested a lot of myself in that in that character.
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I think that's pretty evident.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
And it's cool because it feels like you played in
a way, like ten characters in one because as you're
just so eloquently saying like he's so multi layered and multifaceted,
which as an actor must be pretty damn fun to play.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I mean, it's a dream. It's a dream to be
able to do that. You know, you I can only imagine,
you know, because when you do a film, you can
spend you know, four weeks, five weeks doing something and
then it's gone. You know, you're like all right, you know,
and then you're constantly thinking about what can you do better?
And oh man, I could have done this or I couldn't.
Well with Diego, I was like, oh I missed that. Okay,
I'll I got another season. I'll bring that back. And
(12:53):
there's a lot of redemption you know, within within those storylines.
That's just the testament to like, you know, the Steve
Blackman and the writers of being able to like notice like,
oh there needs to be these shifts between seasons and
then like going full steam.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Ahead, well, really interesting storyline this season, you know, being
stripped of all the powers for the entire cast and
kind of you're playing the stripped down version of yourself.
How was stepping into that chapter of Diego?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
It was fun. It was a lot of fun. There
was an understanding as I was walking into the season
was the identity of Diego as a superhero and not
being that, so how much he valued himself and how
much he saw himself as a very low important man
(13:53):
and having the duty of being a father and a husband.
Was I feel, well, he really thought that this was
going to make him happy, which is I'm going to
do what my dad didn't do. I'm want to do that,
and knowing that actually the reason I can't be happy
(14:13):
right now is because I'm still clinging onto this hope
that I'll become a superhero again, so I can't enjoy
what's in front of me. And that's very relatable. I
feel like we all have aspects in our lives of
when we compare ourselves to what we were or or
someone else, it robs us of joy, It robs us
of the moment and the people that are that we
(14:35):
love and that are closest to us. And I was like, oh, yeah,
I know that feeling I'll I'll just tap into that,
and so there was a lot of you know, the
posturing of who he is was very sort of kind
of loose and kind of frumpy, and you know, compared
to like season one, where he was sort of you know,
he'd always stand tall, he'd had this way of carrying himself,
(14:56):
and now he's just like, I don't care. You know,
I've kind of just let myself go. That was great.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, like I said earlier, it's quite the dichotomy that
you get to play. So how fun that you got
to step into those shoes and then we got to
see him evolved throughout the season, which is always rewarding
as a viewer for sure. You know, when a series
comes to an ending, there's so much pressure for that
perfect ending, right, like, well the viewers be happy? Will
the actors be happy?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Is it going to end in a way that makes
everybody happy? Were you happy with the ending?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And do you feel that pressure when you do have
to wrap up a series, Like how do you separate
from that?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
If you can?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Well, I am happy how it ended, and I'm happy
because of the experience of shooting the whole season and
the whole series. It is to me, it was the
funnest season to shoot, you know, and it was partially
because we knew it was going to be the last one.
So there was a lot of effort and a lot
(15:54):
of love and a lot of I think creative output
that came through that season. And you know, I think
there's been a misconception online which I've been curious because
obviously people are very you know, they're divisive of like,
you know, how it ended and all these things, and
the character between Diego and Lila and I really love
(16:16):
that they are always taking chances. I love that they're like, oh,
you think it's going to be a buddy buddy thing,
and then you flip it on five and Diego and
it you know, it gets people angry. You know, I
saw it. I was like, oh my god, people are
really getting angry at this. And I think that that's good.
It's good to have some sort of reaction to something
(16:38):
that things can be flipped upside down and and why
does that make you angry? You know, what about these
characters made you feel comfort? And also what are they
showing about ourselves and in real time as we're watching this?
And yeah, so you know, I'm very proud of how
(17:02):
this whole thing played out, and I'm really happy of
the work that we all did for season four.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, I thought it was a really moving ending, and
I wasn't personally surprised by it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I feel like, kind of when I started the series,
I always imagine this might happen, but a lot of
people were surprised. And this will be a spoiler alert
for anybody listening, so you have a second to fast
forward this little section right here. But did you did
you expect that ending at any point or were you surprised?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Well, I was surprised. I was. I mean I kind
of had an idea that like, well, how's it going
to end? And how do you do it without being
a cliffhanger? Or do you need a cliffhanger? You know,
we're so used to watching something and having like a
post credit scene and like, oh, somebody's gonna you know,
there's more hope. And so when I did get the pages,
(17:58):
I was kind of hoping that these were dummy sides.
I was kind of hoping like, oh, maybe Steve is
you know, this is what it is, But then when
we show up, it'll be different because he usually does that.
He'll you know, he'll give us the pages like a
day or two before we shoot it, and so I thought, oh,
he's probably gonna change it by the time we get there,
and like, no, no, no, that was it. We shot it,
and I was like okay, yeah, okay, and I knew
(18:23):
that like that day, we're all like holding hands and
you know, the goo is kind of coming up to
our faces. I was like, man, everyone's gonna start crying.
It's gonna be so funny. And yeah, some people cried.
Some people cried. I mean obviously I cried in the scene,
but after that, I was like, Okay, I don't want
to I you know, no, I don't want to feel
this too much. Talk about this later.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
And was that the final scene you actually shot or no, no.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
My final scene was we did it. We had to
do with some pickup shots in the with Ben and
the monster in the in the shopping mall, with like
with the stairs where I fight five, we just have
to do some pickup shots there. So that was the
moment where I try to sneak out at the end
and they brought me back to give like a you know,
(19:09):
a thank you and a farewell, well.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
You know what, good you deserve that, So I'm glad
they grabbed your ass and brought you back.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I appreciate that, man. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Is is there a moment in the entire series, a
Diego moment for you that you'll always remember? I mean,
you shoot so much, and I obviously you can't remember
every line in every scene unless you have a brainiac brain.
But is there a moment or a scene that you're
going to be like, yeah, that's that's going to stay
with me for a long time.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Yeah. I mean there's many, many, but I'll start with
like the first. I think one of the first moments
was we were shooting the funeral scene with Dad in
season one and I was, you know, I was coming in,
you know, I didn't really know anyone, and there was
a massive fight scene with you know, Diego and Luthor,
(19:59):
and the had rain towers and it was freezing and
it was Toronto, and you know, and my character I
was like, yeah, he wouldn't wear it, he wouldn't have
an umbrella, and Steve agreed, so everyone else had an
umbrella and everyone else was dry, and I was the
only one just getting wet. You know, and I was
like yeah, and so we started fighting and the you know,
(20:20):
by the second day, you know, my my wat my
clothes are drenched. I'm wearing like a kind of like
a wetsuit underneath so I don't get hypothermia, and the
mud had frozen. So we're fighting on almost what it
feels like an ice cap of mud. And I was
so gung ho on, like, no stumb doubles, so I
(20:41):
wanted to do the whole thing and I did. You know,
I think there was one small moment where they had
to use a stunt guy. I wish I knew his name.
It was from season one, but I just remember fighting
with Tom, and there was this moment where Tom was like, hey, May, like,
you're actually hitting me in this moment, you're hitting me
and and I was like, I'm so sorry. I'll fix it.
(21:02):
And I did, and I thought I did, but then
instead of telling me again, you know, I guess by
this point, maybe I've hit him a few more than
a few times. But he had to tell the director.
And the director comes up to me, Peter Horror, who
did the pilot, and he comes up and he says,
don't hit him. Stop hitting him.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And I remember as because I was so in the zone,
I start crying and I'm like and it was it
was almost like I was talking to hard Grieves. I
started crying and I was like, I'm not hitting him,
I'm not hitting him, and he and he was like,
I know you're not.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I know you're not.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
And he leaves. And that's when I realized, like, oh,
I've I've discovered Diego in that moment, because it was
such a sibling rivalry in that moment and the fact
that this director, who was sort of a person that
we were looking for for guidance on a day to
day basis comes up and says, stop hitting him. And
then I immediately want to like a dad, being like
(21:55):
I'm not hitting him, and then him being like, I
know you're not. I know you're not. It's fine. And
I was like, Oh, that's him. That's that's that's Diego.
And I just remember from that point on, and I
was talking to my buddy Colin, who's who's a good
friend of mine. He's my manager too, and I was like, hey,
this happened to me, and he was like, you found him,
(22:16):
that's it. And I was like, oh, you're right, and
that sort of stuck in me throughout season. Want that
whole just the Luther Diego thing, you know, and the
chip on your shoulder kind of vibe stuck with me
for yeah till today.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
That's not always the norm to find a character so quickly, right,
like you hear people. Sometimes it takes some two or
three seasons to really get on the groove, and the
fact that you kind of slide into his shoes so
fast is a testament to how you connected with the material.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
This series is obviously based off a very popular comics series,
and with that comes a built in fandom and perhaps
some pressure to please that built in fandom. Did you
ever feel that going into the show or were you
able to kind of separate that and just get to work.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
No, I was I was able to separate that. I
didn't know how popular they were until we started promoting,
when they flew us to all these places around the world,
where I got to go to Singapore, you know, Brazil
Comic Con, New York Comic Con, and and getting to
see the uproar of or excitement of what this show was.
(23:27):
I was like, how do they we haven't even showed
a trailer and how are these people so excited? And
so thankfully it wasn't until after, so I didn't have
this pressure of like, oh, what are people are going
to think? I was you know, I had maybe like
seven hundred followers on Instagram, so I was like completely like,
no one knows me, and this will be it. And
(23:49):
when my and it still didn't click on me because
Steve Blackman, at the beginning of season one, he goes,
you know, I want to get the Diego a stammer
because you know, he's such as such a cool and
like tough guy, and it's like, I really want to
give him something that I think will bring some vulnerability.
And I said, great, let's do it. And I told
my buddy Colin. I was like, hey, so they're going
to give me a stammer and he was like, well,
(24:10):
you got to be careful, bro, this is going to
be your big debut. I was like, debut for what?
And he's like, this is going to be big and
I was like, yeah, right, whatever, and yeah he was right,
you know, and yeah, and even it's funny enough. Even
going into season two three four, I've been really I
think it's been really healthy because I don't feel that
(24:32):
pressure of what are people going to think about this?
I'm very blessed in that, I think department.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I've seen on social media a lot of people, a
lot of people are saying they would be down for
your character to have a spinoff.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Have you seen that?
Speaker 3 (24:57):
No? I haven't. Actually, yeah, like.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
People are almost it's starting to gain some traction. Is
that something you would ever consider?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Man? I mean, I got goosebumps. You're saying that if
I wants to do so, maybe yeah, I would. I mean,
I love, I love this character. I think I think
it'd be awesome to have an opportunity to continue. But
that's you know, I'm open. It all depends on Netflix
and Universal to you know, be gained for that, but
(25:28):
we'll see. And dark Horse also because dark Horses, you
know sort of the you know, they do the comics
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Have you ever thought about what you might want to
explore if given more time, or maybe something you never
got the chance to explore for your character?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I mean, I would like to see what the five
years or the six years that happens between season three
and four, you know, or possibly like you know, see
what he was doing before the harder funeral, you know,
seeing like those those moments before, Because I think there
(26:05):
was something that evolved with Diego as the seasons progress,
which is his comedy, you know, and I feel like
for season one he was dry, he was witty and
very angry, but as the season move along, he sort
of became a little bit more you know, the butt
of the joke. So that being said, I kind of
(26:28):
want to see, like if is that possible to introduce
that in an earlier stage of his life. But you
I don't know. I mean, the Umbrella the Umbrella riders
are so witty and you know, so smart, and they'll
just come up with like the zonkiest storylines. So one
thing we did think, you know, Tom and I were
thinking about it was like, dude, you know, it would
(26:49):
be great. It's like if Diego and Luther getting some
sort of like Bill and Ted's like excellent adventure kind
of thing where like they're able to use a briefcase
and they go to these different places kind of like doctor.
You know, they can just go to these different ways
and then just be too you know, Abbot and Costellos,
you know, talking to like some I don't know, some
Egyptian gods or something.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I don't know, just you know, we're putting it all
out there right now, so let's let's let's let it
live in the universe. And you never know, that would
be actually really hysterical to watch. So I'm into that. Yeah,
very interesting, many ideas that could come out of this.
So who knows if we'll see your character again, but
I think a lot of people would be here for it.
You did you play this character over the course of
(27:32):
seven eight years, we'll say, four seasons. What has David
the Human learned most about himself from starting on day
one to where you are today?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I mean, you know, I think, yeah, you know, I'll
tell you this. One of the things that I've learned
is snipper about you. You know, it's never about you
and or it's never about me, you know, in terms
of in terms of telling myself because so many times,
(28:11):
you know, you go into a set and you think
that everyone around you is behaving a certain way because
of you, and it's never really the case. Everyone's sort
of having their own world, their own thoughts, their own perceptions.
And as an artist, you know, sometimes we think we're
so you know, we could be self centered. We could
(28:31):
be so self centered, so when we show up we
can feel like, how do I get mine right now?
And is this person preventing me from doing that? And
what I've learned through being on the show and through
acting mostly is about it's always make it about the
other person. Always. That is, I think when the purest
(28:53):
form really comes out, when i'd remove myself from it,
excuse me, and I make it about a person in
front of me. If I do that, and if hopefully
they have the same mentality, then everything falls into place. Everything,
the entire scene, the storylines, the dynamics on set, it
(29:15):
all sings. And that was something that I did not
have going into season one. I remember that I was very,
very insecure. It comes in ways still today. But if
I focus on making it about the other person, everything
kind of I stop thinking about myself.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's a good reminder, man, And that's a testament to
the success you've had and the success you'll continue to
have and everything you've accomplished. I mean, in speaking of success,
do you feel that, like do you look at yourself
and say, you know what, I feel successful?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Like I'm doing my thing.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Sometimes Yeah, sometimes I'll I'll just kind of. I remember
when I used to rent a studio in Silver Lake
and I wasn't making much money, but I just I
was just the fact that my heart and my mind,
my spirit was able to provide some sort of money
(30:12):
to have a studio. I was like, this is insane.
I can't believe that my imagination is providing this. It
blows my mind that there's a there. We're in a
world where we can actually do those things and we
can have some sort of we can make a you know,
have a livable wage at something like this. And obviously
I understand, like, you know, I am very lucky because
(30:36):
my preparation with the right, perfect timing got me in
this position, and that not everyone is doing that. But
the fact that, you know, sometimes I can have these
little moments of yeah, I'm doing all right, and it
goes this goes back to not comparing myself because the
moment I start comparing, like oh I should be here
(30:57):
or I should be there now, it robs me of
of being yeah, proud, just proud of what I've done.
And I don't even know what happens like that, you know,
but you know, my family's healthy friends are good. I
got I got food, I've got a healthy dog, you know,
(31:18):
so I be like.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, doing pretty good, good good.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I think it's always an important reminder for us to
check ourselves because we always, you know, you want more.
We always want to keep hopefully growing and excelling and
getting that next kind of marker on the chart that
we have of our lives kind of mapped out. But
to sit back and reflect and actually think, like, you know,
wait a minute, I'm I'm I'm doing some cool things
and I'm proud of me. I think that's a reminder.
(31:43):
I try to check in with myself on and I
try to bring that up with other people, because it's
probably not something you walk around your home looking in
a mirror saying like I'm successful, I'm proud someone you
have someone or maybe you do maybe that's a Tuesday
night for you. Yeah, But when you have someone kind
of way done in front of you, I think that's
a pretty pretty cool thing. So that's awesome and I'm
(32:04):
glad that you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Ah, I'm so sad to have to wrap up this
conversation because I've been enjoying it so very much. But
the final question of this interview is based off the
title of the show, which is I've never said this before.
And I know you've done so many interviews and so
much press over the years, and even today you've shared
so much that's been amazing. But is there something that
you can think of that you've never said before that
(32:28):
you would like to share today?
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I mean there's there. I mean there's a lot of
things that I've never said before. And obviously, like in
a public setting, right like, because there's one thing to
share something with, like family and people that are really
close to you, and then when you go to a
public setting, a lot of it is it's like, Okay,
how do I say something with that it becoming a
(32:54):
headline that'm sort of that people misinterpreted or anything like that.
But I feel like, yeah, one of the things that
I've sort of never said was, you know, I had
a real deep and it goes both ways, had a
very deep security of where I was going to land.
(33:16):
I just knew. I was like my life has been
so up and down between like I lived in like
thirteen different homes before I was the age of seven,
right with my family moving from this place or that
place of this place and then going to Mexico for
some security and always not fitting in. It was really
(33:38):
it was so hard. But the thing that really kept
me going was obviously I had a wonderful family, but
kept me going was life is not putting me through
all of this if it's not going to give me
something at the back end, whatever that is. I didn't
know I was going to be this specifically, you know,
I thought it was going to be I don't know.
(34:00):
I didn't know, but I just knew that that was
my thought was like, I'm learning all this right now,
how to adapt, how to connect with people, how to
withstand some adversity and conflict, because there's something at the
end of this tunnel that's going to give me that
I'm going to be able to use all of this
to adapt. And I was able to because in acting,
(34:25):
all you're trying to do is relate to the other
person and what are you, what do we have in common?
And how do I really get in there with you?
And how do I read the room? And makes me
more aware of the space. And that was something that
I had to deal with my entire life as I
was a kid and moving back and forth, and so
(34:47):
that was you know, that was the deep understanding. I
was like, oh, I think something really good is going
to happen from this, and yeah, and I'm able to
use that as a tool to on my you know,
every day, just how I interact with people.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Isn't that so interesting that not feeling like you fit
in all those years and you're kind of bouncing around
and not knowing your place didn't dissuade you or throw
you off of the path to going after what it
is you wanted to achieve. Like that's that is some willpower,
right because not everyone would follow that that road. They
(35:27):
might say, oh, you know what, I don't fit in,
I'm not meant to be anywhere, Like I'm just going
to figure out where life takes me. But you had
such drive, I guess, and determination to move past that
feeling and land where you are.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I feel like it sort of goes back to you know,
the people around us. You know the people around us
that don't really let you I don't know if I
don't want to say they don't let you notice the
adversity or the conflicts. They just make it so normal.
They make it so normal that when something happens, when
you feel rejected, when you don't feel like you fit in.
(36:01):
You just know that things are still okay. You know,
everything is still fine. Like I remember going to the
store and my parents being like, what do you want?
You want this great and we're about to buy it
and the credit card declines, you know, and being outside
and watch and my dad even speaks about this about
He's like, you know, just see in your face how
(36:23):
much it would break me of your sort of sadness
and your disappointment that you were about to get something
and you didn't get it. But even through that, I
understood that not everything will fall my way, not everything.
And so that was just one of the most helpful
(36:43):
lessons as a child, because you know, if something doesn't
fall my way. Now I can think about those moments
and I'm like, well, it wasn't meant to be. And
it could be so cliche and stereotypical right to say
those things, but when you know, we've all experienced them,
we all have, I guessaid it goes back to this thing,
it's it's not about us, it's not about me.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I'm walking away from this conversation like smiling from me
hear to ear, because I'm always it's so fulfilling for
me as the host of the show, and I get
to talk to people who really get to open up
in ways that you don't always get to in a
six minute junkitt or a three minute carpet. I mean,
I get to like the heart of who you are. Right,
we all know the character you play. It's a character.
(37:25):
It's not real. Like I want to get to know
who you are as my guests. And it's really cool
you came on here today and like shared all of
that and just show the human side to you, which
I think a lot of people are going to find
also so fulfilling. So for that, I thank you. This
was really a great conversation. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
Thank you, Tommy and Man, obviously I appreciate you and
also your intellect and you know your questions and just
how much you sort of bring yourself to it. You
know it's it's easy. You make it really easy.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Well, thank you, my friend. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
If you're ever in New York, let me know I'll
be following your career.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Obviously.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
The fourth season of The Umbrella Academy is out now
go watch it over and over again and until we
meet again.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Thank you, Tommy, and I will I'll reach out to
you in New York once I get there.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
All right, sounds good, be willing Man.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Thank you too many.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by me, Tommy Dedario.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Tell your friends.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Until next time, I'm Tommy Dedario
Host
Tommy DiDario
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