Michael Mando: Scorpion in Spiderman + Better Call Saul & Vince Gilligan Ep. 93 | The Crew Has It

And at first you feel like you, you, you honest to God, feel like a five-year-old. It's the weirdest thing. Cause you're like, I'm actually a kid. Like I'm a superhero. Yeah. You know, when you're a kid, you're like doing that in front of all these other grown adults. They're like holding the mic. Everyone's like, and you're going. So you had the Spider-Man premiere last night. Uh, I think it was it last night or the night before? I think it was the night before. You've had a crazy couple of weeks, huh? Yeah. I've been promoting three films at the same time. Okay. So first, 72 hours. 72 hours. Then, uh, comic-con, we were promoting Batman nightfall. Wow. Uh, the trilogy animation. It's a rated R for, uh, Warner brothers and HBO and DC comics and, uh, Spider-Man. Yeah. Wow. So who do you play in Batman? Bane. Wow. Yeah. It's the, it's the origin. It's the origin story of Bane. Wow. And it's a three-part film. It's like a, it's a really good script. It was, that was a lot of fun to do, man. I, guys, I can't tell you how geeked out I was when I saw it. All me and Batman go at it. I was just like, dude, because it was animation. I think it brought up the child in me even more, you know, it was awesome. And so the, and then now you're Scorpion in Spider-Man. Yeah, dude, that's nuts. I know I've been, I'm very grateful and you guys are, you guys are killing it too, man. Yeah. We're trying. I mean, I'm not Scorpion with Tom Holland, but you know, we're doing our thing. Dude's got his own show. Come on, man. Um, okay guys, what a gift we have today. We have. Um, Michael Mando in the building. He's got so many things coming up. There's so much to talk about. I'm so excited. So just give him a warm welcome real quick. The crew has fans. Thank you. What's up? So how's life been? Life's been good, man. Life's been grateful. And, um, I've been grateful and, um, trying to, you know, stay, stay level-headed. Don't get too high. Don't get too low. Yeah. De Niro said it best in one of the interviews I saw him in and he's absolutely right. Just, you know, it's great, but stay. Right. Stay grounded. Don't get too out. You can't get too. You just gotta be just right. Yeah. Yeah. You think, you think this is, you're in a sweet spot right now in your career. You feel like you're hitting your stride. You know, I've been, I'm really lucky cause it wasn't planned that way. Like I never, I never thought, man, I want to be in all these big franchises. It just worked out that way. You know, I've got, you know, boss is the first thing I've done on Far Cry three and that started my career and that was a huge Ubisoft franchise. Then better call Saul and then Batman. Spider-Man Gundam. I just finished shooting Gundam with Sydney Sweeney and I didn't plan it that way. Everybody's like, oh man, you're like a franchise actor. And I'm like, I didn't, I didn't think of it that way when I was doing it. I'm trying to think of it that way, but in hindsight I go, wow. Like it really worked out that way. Yeah. So, so, uh, far cry three, that it was a video game. That was your first thing and you voiced it, but you was live action. It was full. Yeah. It wasn't just voice. It was voice and motion capture. So. It was just full on acting. It wasn't like, like the voice and the capture of the body and the face were happening at the same time. And I was really lucky cause we did a promotion, um, uh, 45 minute film with Christopher Mintz plus, and I played that character in real life and people didn't know that character went viral within like a week. And, um, because of the definition of insanity monologue that really started my career and people just started knowing me as Voss cause they were, they were, they were, they were playing this game with this fictional character and then they realized there's a guy who looks exactly like him. So they were like, that's the guy from the game. That's the game guy. You know what I mean? It's crazy. So I was more famous as the character in a game before I was famous as an actor. Yeah. So I was, do you know who David Dobrik is? He's a YouTuber. He's like one of the biggest YouTube, you know, here, here's the problem. I'm not, I, and I feel horrible. I should research this more. I was just sitting. I was sitting at a table with an incredible writer and I couldn't, I didn't see half of the things he's done. So I'm not a good person to like, I'm sure I know him by face. I'm literally the same. Yeah. Johnny asked me like if I watched like 10 movies, like every other day, I'm like, yo, bro, I haven't seen this movie. I haven't seen that movie. I'd be feeling like shit. But it's like, I don't know, but I just be, I just be vibing. You know what I do? Don't feel too bad. I rent movies. Yeah. Like OG style. Yeah. Like blockbuster. No way. Not blockbuster. Blockbuster. But I I'll, I'll just pick movies. I like to watch. I don't have, I'm, I don't know how to, I shouldn't say this on the air. I'm not going to say he sends in the Netflix thing still, he's the only guy still mailing in Netflix. I'm not going to, let's go somewhere else. So this morning I was working out, uh, I was working out with them and they were asking, what are you, what are you doing today? I was like, oh, we're working out with who? With David Dobrik. He's a gym in his house. So they're all YouTubers and they come in and he's got an amazing gym that everyone works out at. Shout out to David. I'm gonna look you up after this. Shout out David. David is also a big YouTuber, has a tattoo of that on his arm. What's that? What are you putting? No, of your monologue in. Oh, the, the Voss character. In Far Cry 3. Oh. So I was, I told him. Oh, he had a tattoo. Yeah. So I told him, I was like, oh yeah, we're interviewing Michael Mendoza. Dude, the way he snapped his neck, he was like, dude, this is my tattoo. I was like, whoa. Like he's like the character. What's his name? What's his name? His name's Ilya. Ilya. How are you brother? I hope, I hope that, um, my tattoo and my face, is it my face on his? It's, it's the. It's the quote. Oh, the quote. Yeah. The definition of insanity. Oh gee. I hope, I hope, uh, that tattoo brings you a lot of luck. But they love video games. So they were like talking to me about Far Cry 3 and like really bringing me in the lore of how big it is. That's actually an Einstein quote. It's one of the biggest games ever, bro. It's an Einstein quote. Ah. So, so, so Voss popularized it and the character I play popularized it in like pop culture, but Voss is quoting Einstein. Damn. That's so cool. So that's, that's where that is. Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. Yeah. Expecting things to change. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. That's so cool. So, so after that, after Far Cry 3. I'm just curious. Uh, did your friend, what did it say when in the quote, did it say Voss or did it say Einstein? It's, it's from you. He said. The reason he got it is you. Yes. So he's quoting Voss. It's not Einstein. Like when I said you, he was like, oh, I got it. A lot of people have tattoos of that character. Um, that character really hit a nerve in, in popular culture and it really went viral, you know? It's insane. It was like. People calling me before I knew what viral was going like you're trending on YouTube and I didn't, at the time I didn't know what the hell that meant. It was 2012 and um, I realized like it had over 5 million likes or whatever it was. And I'll be honest with you at the time I was embarrassed by it because we had decided that we weren't going to do the accent. So the accent, the, the take that they used was a rehearsal take. Mm-hmm. And we thought, ah, maybe not do, let's not do the accent. So I did it again the next day without the accent and we all agreed that it was better without the accent. So when I heard it with the accent, I'm like, fuck, they took the, they took the rehearsal take. And I was so depressed that I was like, no, one's going to know it's me, whatever. And it went viral. And at the time I was like so scared because I thought, man, I don't know if it's that good. I felt like the other version was better, but, uh, in hindsight, it, it, it was the right version to pick. So I'm happy they did. It's so interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I literally was just having this conversation with G. I'm like, bro, they always use the take that you like, like expect the least, like it's like you do one take, you be like, oh yeah, that's the one. And then you see the final cut and it's like the take you're like, oh, that was the shittiest take, but they used that one. It's nerve wracking. Especially when you discover it in a premiere and you're sitting there and you're going, fuck. Oh, so you didn't, you didn't know until the premiere that they used the take? I wasn't at the, so it aired at an E3 convention. Cool. I wasn't there. I didn't even know it was airing. And, um, at the time they didn't release my name, but people who knew me called me and they go, that's fucking you. And I go, no, they go, dude, that's you try to deny it. And now it's, I, I, I realize it's like the reason why my, my, maybe, you know, maybe the reason why my career really started is that it was total. It was a fluke, man. That, that whole thing was, it was on the cover of every magazine around the world and it was a total accident. Yes. And I'm in the game, but I'm in the game for like 10 minutes, six minutes. So were you like, were you hustling and auditioning and going crazy before that? Or what was the journey before Far Cry happened? Oh man. Where'd you want to start? Where was the journey? I mean, I was definitely auditioning and, and, uh, you know, I take the bus from Montreal to Toronto. It's like a 12 hour bus. I'd sleep overnight in the bus shower at the YMCA at the time. And I, I tried everything as an actor and I would like sometimes stay in character. Walk around Toronto, like as the character I'm about to audition for, take the, take the bus back home. I did it all, man. I did it all. I was homeless at some point. I used to hop from friend to friend's house. One of my, one of my good friends had to kick me out cause I overslept. He had a little, little house and I slept on his, we had, we both slept on this like queen's bed that was on the floor. And um, it was winter and I accidentally burnt his sheets because he had a heater and, and I overslept. And he's like, "Man, you gotta go, you gotta go." My younger brother ended up, he was going to the University of Montreal at the time and he ended up renting me a dorm at a university that I wasn't going to because I had nowhere else to live. And I remember just kind of pretending I was in university just so I could have a place to sleep. Guys, we're going to take a quick break from the episode. This company needs no introduction. We love them so much. I mean, look, we're all prize picks up. We've been making picks, World Cup, Oscars, NBA, UFC, you name it, we've done it. We've been having so much fun. Even at the NBA finals, I was putting in picks. It makes watching the game a blast. I mean, it's hella fun. I mean, we got Gianni over here throwing picks on the hot dog eating contest. I mean, who's doing that? I mean, I could get 70 glizzies down myself. Pause. I mean, okay. But yeah, the boy, he won almost 30 bands. I won around, I would say 20. I would say 20. But I got to lock in. I got to lock in a little bit more. 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My, damn it, dude. I got to tail you. And that's Gianni. That's really Gianni's sport. Like, I know most of UFC because of G, but, you know. It is what it is. We cashed out, baby. So, were you watching Breaking Bad at the time before you got Better Call Saul? No, man. I hadn't seen Breaking Bad. It's weird how the universe. It's like right now, right? I was just having lunch with Mario and you guys worked with him. Yep. And it's just like weird how things like that line up. I was at my father's house. And my father and my brothers were watching the last two episodes of Breaking Bad. And I had never seen the show. And I saw it. And I'll never forget the name Vince Gilligan. It just popped on the screen. And I went, man, this is so fucking good. And I told my dad, because I had just done Orphan Black. And I said, I want to be on a show like this next. That's what I want to do. And my dad said, you know, just like stay humble. You're not there yet, you know, kind of thing. And two weeks later, I get an audition and I see the name. And I think to myself, this can't be. Like, this can't be. I've got to get this. I've got to. This is like destiny kind of thing. So I do the audition. My friend leaves. It's like five in the morning. And I realize that there's no audio on the tape. No. So I got to call somebody else to do the audition and send it on time. Because I was like, if I don't send it on time, they won't. So I send it on time. And I end up getting the thing. And I give the camera, this camcorder that I bought to the guy who helped me read the last minute as a gift. Oh, my God. How many? Do you just book straight off tape? No, I got the tape. Then I was invited to screen test with Vince and Peter Gould and Sharon and Sherry Thomas and the casting directors in L.A. And then off of that. By Ellie Thomas. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. They're great. Shout out. Shout out. They're awesome. Shout out to you guys. Thank you so much. And they liked it. And it's kind of weird. Like, you go through a process where your agent will say, all right, AMC, Vince Gilligan, you know, whatever, likes you. In a couple of days, we'll know if AMC likes you. And then AMC likes you. And then in a couple of days, it's like, Sony likes you. It's like, you go through these stages. Did you guys go through that, too? I mean, Michael, when did you book Power Young? Did you have to do all that? Bro, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't remember the shit. It was like 12. You were 12 years old. I was like 12. Dude, I didn't start acting. I think I remember doing a self-tape for sure. But I don't remember doing. I don't remember doing any, like, chemistry or screen test reads or anything like that. Because, like, the character was, like, a small character at the time. So I don't think they really needed, like, too much, you know, from the audition. So I think I just did a self-tape. And, yeah. If I'm right. If I'm wrong, then. Wow, man. I don't remember. Mine was a co-star that turned into a recur that turned into a whole show together. Oh, wow. So mine was just a tape because it was a co-star. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they're like, we wrote you and Michael a storyline, season six. And then, again, they were like. Good for you, guys. Congratulations. So we kind of got lucky, to be honest. We didn't have to do the chemistry reads and the screen test and all that stuff. Congratulations. How old are you? I just turned 30, which is crazy. 30. You look so young. Good for you, man. I just auditioned for a high school. I did a high school tape last night. Oh, good for you. And what about you, Mike? How old are you? I'm 25. I'm going to be 26 in September. Good. You guys are young, man. You got. Play your cards right. Yeah. You guys have a. You know, you guys are being. I have been gifted something beautiful. And you're very talented. You know, you've got the opportunity to really make a great life for yourself and, you know, your future kids and all that stuff. Thank you. Thank you. So play your cards right. Thank you, man. Yeah. Good for you, man. Keep going. So you get to set for Better Call Saul. Yeah. Are you scared, nervous, excited? By the time I was on the set of Better Call Saul, it was like the first time I've really been in America. Wow. Because I've been in. At that time, I had only come for a day or two. It was. To promote Far Cry 3. And it's funny because I bought a Venom, Matt Gargan Venom sweater. It was the only piece of clothing that I bought. And I end up playing Matt Gargan. Brother, the universe is in you, brother. I need to. This guy's connected, bro. And then Mario Van Peebles. And then he comes here like this. It's crazy. It's so strange. Yeah. Shit happens like that. He's insane. So then I, by the time I'm, I know I got the role. I've, I studied, right? So I've seen Breaking Bad. So I know what I'm dealing with. I know how good it is. And I'm in America going, wow, this is America. This is where, you know, Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy and Mike Tyson are from. It's like, wow, this is it. So it was, it was really surreal. And then to be on a studio and realize like, wow, this is where they shot this great show. And everyone on that set had like Breaking Bad tattoos. So we knew we had huge shoes to fill. And I think the approach was. This is not Breaking Bad part two. This is a completely new show. It's called Better Call Saul. And we need to approach it as such. However, I can now say in hindsight, if it wasn't for Brian and Aaron and Anna and Dean and Giancarlo and all these amazing actors on Breaking Bad, there would be no Better Call Saul. So I always give a hats off to them first, you know? Yeah. What was Vince like on set? Dude, Vince is a genius. Yeah. Honestly, he is a genius. It's my favorite show of all time, Breaking Bad. It's my number one. He's the best. He's the best. And, and, um, dude, we were just talking. We, I wrote him an email the other day. I finished Pluribus and I was like, man, we got to get a drink and talk about this. Cause I loved it. And Ray's just so good in it. Um, but I'll tell you a story about Vince just to get an idea of how he's like. In season six of, um, uh, Better Call Saul, my character is stuck in a motel. I don't know if you guys were, do you guys see Better Call Saul? Yeah, I, I didn't, I don't, I watched four seasons, four and a half. So that the last, the last seasons, it's like Breaking Bad when you see the last and you look back, you go, okay, so you got to, if you, if you ever care to, you got to get through the end of seasons. That's when you'll really get the show because it just goes like that. And season six is, I think the best season by far. It's a really great season. And, um, and it should be, that's how they build it, you know? Anyway, so I'm in this. I'm in this motel room and, um, I'm stuck there and there's, uh, the twins from Breaking Bad. They want, they, they want to kill me and everyone's coming to kill me in this motel and I'm like a sitting duck. And he says to me, I want you to just go from here, walk over there to the light, go to the AC and then find something to do here or maybe pick up the phone or something and just kind of go around the room. And we do maybe one or two takes and the camera's following me around like this and it's following me around, it's following me around, it's following me around. And I'm thinking. why are we shooting this you know and i'm doing it again and again and i go to vince And I go, Vince, what's your idea? Like, what does this represent? And he goes, I just want to show the amazing work of the set design. Oh, that's cool. It had nothing to do with me. He had these amazing artists that did an incredible set. And Vince was just saying, chapeau, you know, I love your work. It's now featured in the movie and it's eternalized on screen forever. He was just giving a shout out. He did the same thing at some point. The character, my character's demise was about to happen. And they had, they were like, we never got a shot of your boots. I want to make sure that Jennifer Bryan gets her work in there. And then there's a shot where I step and then they show the boots on the close up. So, you know, you work at the highest level and you realize he's incredibly generous. He's inclusive of everybody on his team, brings everybody up. And it's not true what they say. You know, you don't have to be a weird maniacal genius. You could be a very kind, sweet. Leader. Yeah. And, and still get your shit together, you know. Did he direct a lot of the episodes or he was just on set? He directed, I was lucky to work with him on, the real episode him and I worked on together, like where we were together, together, was season six, episode two. Cool. And it was just like candy, dude. It was like, I was like, wow, this guy's probably the smartest person I've ever met in this industry or one of, I don't want to, you know, piss off other people, you know what I mean? Yeah. But he's as smart and as kind as you can get. Did you die? Did you die in the final season? I do. Yeah. Uh, so like you weren't getting the phone call, like season, I did, I did, but you got the phone call, but like, it wasn't, did you know it was the last season I knew it was the last season, but I did get the call from Vince. Yeah. Oh, what was it like, should I tell you guys the, I don't know if I should say it or not, I should, oh, fuck, should I say now you have to, oh man, I had smoked a joint. You know, that was, you was like, oh no, I got it, I got it, I got it. No, no, no, before, I didn't know they were going to call me. Oh no. Oh, so he called you. Oh my God. Oh no. Yeah. I was a bit high and I was like, hello, yeah, what's up? You seen Vince Gilligan? No, no, no. It was on the phone. But did you see his name come up when? Yeah. I mean, I was still operational. Yeah. I wasn't like out of my mind. Yeah. But I had, you know, I had a couple of puffs, you know, a couple of, an hour ago or whatever. Yeah. So I was a bit, it was, it felt surreal. I was in Montreal, it was snowing and I was like, wow, this is the call. You know, it felt like I won an Oscar. I'm like, this is the call that every actor gets, you know, and they were so gracious about it and they're like, dude, you're going to break the internet and it's going to kill. Wait till you see what we got for you. And I was like, I'm in good hands. This is the, that's the way to go. It's unbelievable. And it did, it broke records. It was trending and it like, it just did so well. That episode did so well. Was it emotional that day? You know, my father had passed. So I play a character that is trying to save his father's life and is willing to do anything to keep his father safe. And my father passed away between season five and season six. And that was the first time I get in front of the camera and my father wasn't around. And I play a character that's trying to save his dad. So I remember I had Rich, you know, my final take, they had this camera where it like kind of leaves the desert and goes up. And I said, could you say that this takes dedicated to my father? Yeah. And I remember just bawling in the desert and crying and they had to give me like a minute to just like be by myself. It was, it felt surreal. It was like a lot of little things like that, that would happen. I know like a tree, a light lightning struck a tree in front of my house and it fell on my driveway when I came back home, there was like all these like weird things that were happening. Dude, you're so connected to the universe and the world. I'm like envious. I think I know. I think I just, I think, I think I just look for it. I think I look forward a lot too. But I feel like that's like, dude, you're like a young, good looking guy with an actor on your own podcast. I'd say you're doing pretty well. I wasn't at the Spider-Man premiere two nights ago, I'm doing okay. I'd say you're doing really well. Come on, man. You guys are blessed. No, no, of course. I look for it. I'm just being funny. I see shooting stars, right? Yeah. People say, oh, you see shooting stars all the time. Yeah. But I stare at the sky a lot. Do you know what I mean? I love looking up at the sunsets and the skylines. I think that's why I have those stories. I don't think it's me specifically. I think I just kind of like to spend a lot of time looking at things and thinking about them. I know we're on our phone too much, Michael. I think that's what it is. Oh yeah, definitely. We have to look at this guy more. Our phones are microwaving our brains and our signals to the universe, bro. It's bad. Yeah. So as a Breaking Bad fan, I have a couple of questions. You lived in the same place that they lived? Not the same house, same city. Right. But you shot on the same stages and you were around. Yes. What was your day-to-day while filming Better Call Saul? Where was that from, by the way? Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm so jealous. My For You page is like the pizza lady coming out and yelling at people. I see it all on my TikTok. It put Albuquerque on the map. A hundred percent. It really did. They have a statue there and you're treated like royalty. When we go to Albuquerque, our pictures are everywhere and the city welcomes us with so much love. And Netflix went. I think they built a 50-second movie. It's a $50 million studio. So Albuquerque's turned into like a mini industry city. I didn't know Netflix has their own studio there. Look, don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure, but you do the Google search. But I know there's a big studio there. I'm pretty sure Netflix bought it. Wow. Anyway, so it's amazing. People ask me, can you tell me like, what do you remember? Is that what. Yeah, just kind of like, I'm always interested. This is actor talk. I'm interested on like the days off. Like, you wake up, do you go to a little cafe in Albuquerque? I'll tell you what I. Yes. That's what I like. You know what's weird? I get weird. I don't know if you guys are like that. I get food, specific food craving, depending on the character I'm playing. So I remember when I was. It was plantain chips and like one season I was obsessed with plantain chips. It's like I'm like a pregnant woman. It's like, why do I have this particular craving? So I remember the. The huevos rancheros, the breakfasts and with the coffee, you get your spots. The pizza there was great. You get your spots. But I think my memory of Albuquerque is I'll always say it's knowing that you're part of a show where the creators of the show have thought about everything and everything's connected. Every word, every gesture, every color means something. And you feel good because you know you're doing something that is artistic and has integrity. And you walk out of that stage and you look up at the Sandia mountains and the sun is setting and the mountains, they call them watermelon mountains because the mountains turn pink and the wind, just the desert wind, and you've got that moment where you go, "This is great." Yeah. That's what I remember. I know that feeling that you're talking about too when you're in a different place that you don't know that you're not from. Yeah. You're shooting there and you're like, "What a fucking gift." Yeah. That's, to me, that sums up my experience. And it's just beautiful. I loved it. Loved it. I'm not the type of guy who wants to do something again. I don't want to go back and shoot. I'm not like, "Oh, I wish I was there again." But I'm so grateful to have been on that show and to have lived that. Yeah. Did you stay most of the time there or did you fly back and forth? No, I stayed. I think I've used acting as a. I travel a lot for my work, so I don't travel a lot for vacation, but I love. When we shot Spider-Man, I was in London for like months and I was just like, "Even though I'm not shooting all this spot, I'd rather just stay here and get to know the city and get to know the people." That's kind of the way that I am too. All right. So let's get into. So after Better Call Saul happened, what was the next couple years after that? Because that ended what, 2021? It was about three, four years ago. I took a break. The first thing I did was I took a break. I went to live in Miami and I was like, "You know what, I need to- Good man. It was like I didn't want to be in LA. I love LA, but it felt too much industry to me. So I took a break and then I went to shoot all these projects that are coming out now. It started with an independent film called King Ivory. We went to the Venice Film Festival with that. Cool. It was a great independent film and then did the short film called Boyfighter, shot a movie called Gundam based on the Japanese anime, and then Spider- Criminal on Amazon that's coming out later, 72 Hours and Batman. Wow. I think that's what I've been doing, but it's weird because it's all coming out at the same time. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of a cool moment. Everything's kind of like, you know? Yeah, it is. It is a cool moment and I'm very grateful. It's weird because also some of the stuff that you've shot two years ago. Yeah. Two years ago is coming out after things that you've shot a year ago. Yeah. So yeah. In your brain, it's like pieced differently. It's weird because people are watching this before that, but you've shot that before this. Yeah. So you shot Spider-Man in London, not New York City. It was in London. Yeah. And how was that experience? Like when you got that call, what was that audition like? Screen test? Did you- No, it was an offer. You know, they called me and they said, would you be interested in coming back as Scorpion? And at first, you know, you're. Look. Marvel is. Marvel and DC are arguably the two biggest franchises in the industry, right? Anytime anyone gets a Marvel role, you're. immediate response should be gratitude and it is gratitude and at the same time the actor in you goes a lot of people are going to see this I want this to be done right I don't want this to be there it's so there's like you're a little bit nervous and you don't really know the script you don't exactly know what it is so there's there's an element of it that is you have to take a leap of faith and I met Destin Daniel Cretton and within like 30 seconds I was like I want to work with him yeah and I knew I was like yeah yeah I I don't I want to work with him let's do it you know so you had a small scene in one of the previous yeah yeah I was teased in in um Spider-Man Homecoming which I think was shot almost nine ten years ago wow yeah yeah so cool and then the offer was to bring you back and then like what what are the I mean this is just actor talk again like we're nerding out but like what are the scripts like they're not sending you through synchronize online no they they so they they off they come they they tell you what they're thinking and I know with big budget films that scripts change all the time yeah so you you you know you kind of it's like a leap of faith you know to all actors who have been on this on Marvel films I'm sure they can relate and to all the fans out there you know it's good to know that these actors you know they're they're vulnerable you know they're in vulnerable places they're in vulnerable positions you know so it's not an easy position to be where you don't really know you know what it is that you're gonna do yeah so but you got to trust them Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal and Rachel O'Connor and Sony you know they're masters of what they do clearly very successful with the franchises so you take a leap of faith in these people and I'm glad I did and and they're wonderful people they've been wonderful to me and I'm grateful for it when stuff changes like weeks before whatever are they hand delivering scripts are like are they precious about it like yeah they're very precious about it I remember the head they have a security guard I think they have like people whose job is just to watch you you know who are you texting oh what are you texting it's like that no no I'm kidding they're not going who you text it but I you know they you know they've got so much money on the line and so much IP on the line and so many fans and so many speculations look man it's it's it's all good you know what I mean yeah I'm pretty good at not saying that I'm pretty good at not saying anything are you taking any photos on set are you too worried you know I didn't know that they encouraged us to I by the end of the by the end of the shoot um they they I found out that they were like yeah yeah take it and then post it when the movie comes out I was like oh I could have taken photos this whole time yeah so I've got a care I've got stuff on on the I took some on the premiere I did a story I just posted a story and I have a little story of like my little journey on the premiere I'm going to do that when the movie comes out I have a few like behind the scenes I'm going to do that when the movie comes out I have a few like behind the scenes moments particularly with like the makeup people who I think did a wonderful job and I think some stuff with Tom um that I'll post yeah did you have crazy uh days in the makeup trailer like how long was it for you know it's weird it doesn't look like I have a lot of makeup on but the makeup team um on that is Oscar nominated winning Oscar winning team uh Olivia and Ollie and and Emma they're just amazing and we did this thing with the character like very subtle things that you would notice like we taped my ears back changed the eye color a little bit like very little things where they changed the shape of the nose and very subtle ways you know with makeup just to give him a kind of like otherworldly kind of like mysterious scorpion-like energy you know what I mean so that took a while that took it it took a bit of time then the scar I have this really beautiful scar that was based on I hope I'm not pronouncing it wrong but kintsugi I think it's called and Ollie came up with it you know the Japanese um artist that he takes pottery that's broken and he uh glues it back with gold I have seen that I've seen it on Instagram have you seen that Michael no I haven't seen that so basically the idea is that is that beauty comes out of a fracture so you know if you've been through hardship and you put yourself back together and that's where the light comes through and that was what um Ollie came it was Ollie's idea and he goes you know what about if your character has that tattoo on his hand and that the scar is is a call to that so those those things took a lot of time in the makeup chair yeah and uh how long before your call time did you have to like to like oh man I don't remember to take I don't three hours two hours I think it was less I think it was like maybe maybe an hour maybe depending if they had to do the hands yeah it's not horrible it's not horrible you got to show up a little early when you have certain you know makeup or this and that sometimes people are going four or five hours early I'm like yeah yeah yeah you got it changes your whole yeah life everything um so you saw the movie two days ago yeah was there anything different that this will come out Tuesday so the movie will already have been aired yeah um was there anything different in the you know anything different that happened on set and then that you saw or anything like unexpected or did you love did you love what I love the film I think Destin is a is is you know like I mean obviously he's doing Spider-Man so he's obviously a director to look out for right but I'm I'm so excited for his career he's had already in an unbelievable career yeah so it's the guy like that you you can't say like what do you mean what are you excited about he's directing the biggest movie in the world but I I feel like I can't wait to see more of Destin's work so um I'm a big fan of his I thought Tom was phenomenal in the film Sadie was Zendaya was phenomenal John Bernthal was so funny um Liza was so great uh Trammell was so great everybody you know everybody gets their moment and everybody shines in that movie yeah how many pages would you shoot a day like one or two man they they can take us as long as they want man it's Marvel dude you're like hey you know building guns that's great you know put a helicopter in I mean they can do whatever they want yeah you know those films are so profitable yeah it's it's a little harder because uh like I mean we just had one of our other friends who was on BMF which is another one of 50 shows and he is on a uh he did a Tyler Perry thing he was like yeah we shot like 100 pages a day it's so 100 pages 115 to 100 to 115 pages a day what do you mean a day a day not a hundred pages a day 100 pages a day a page is one minute yeah they would they shot the whole movie in one day they would shoot like three four episodes in a day they shot the whole what I think they shot 20 episodes in a week and a half I know that was our same reaction okay so they have multiple cameras everything they have like oh I see I see they're like shooting it like a sitcom probably everything no it was it's like uh Tyler Perry he does it at his Studios but it's like very uh it's like almost like that's how okay so they've got all the cameras set up so crazy and Ridley Scott shoots like that he shoots multiple cameras at the same time yeah we usually do that in power like two or three Max but like I like I do you guys like the multiple camera things I like it do you like it I like two yeah I like two cameras yeah when it's like three cameras that's why that's when I know they're trying to like get through fast I'm like uh they don't have to man I've shot I've shot with multiple cameras a lot and the director puts I love it you know why because everybody's live yeah there is no such thing as oh it's my coverage oh now it's your cover oh now it's that is true too and everybody's in it and everybody's giving everything at every at every moment so I love I mean look you got to be adaptable right you got to work with Michael Mann came up to me and said hey we're shooting with half a camera I'll be like yes sir you know what I mean actually we're doing no camera this year like all right whatever you want yeah yeah you know you gotta you gotta the director sets the tone yeah I know Christopher Nolan doesn't have phones no but I heard nobody sits down no old boots there's a lot yeah whatever it was Tom was telling me about the set and I'm like dude you're working with Christopher Nolan whatever he wants you do it's all good let's go so he's sitting down ah damn I look I don't quote me on this I might I could be paraphrasing but yeah he shot Odyssey before or after Spider-Man I believe he shot it before wow that's so cool yeah yeah yeah I gotta see that movie everybody's been asking if I love the Odyssey I thought it was so good I I love Christopher Nolan is so I I hope to work with him yeah who's a dream director for you Christopher Nolan is one of them Denis Villeneuve is one of them Denis Villeneuve is French comes from Montreal just like me oh have you seen Dune Michael yes Dune Dune 2 was arguably one of the best movies I've ever seen yeah Dune is great the second one was like I just think on another level didn't even enough captures tension in such an incredible way I remember when I first saw Sicario oh and the scene where they're driving where they're driving across the high the highway you know what I'm talking about border and the car just hits the bump and I'm going man they're getting tension out of cars moving at a slow speed and I'm on the edge of my seat going this is great that's what I think can you swear on this podcast I think that's what uh differentiates a good director from a great director is the little things like that like the little stuff like Christopher Nolan even in Odyssey of like the sound design with the just everything that he does that the little things that you don't even like notice are just like that's what makes this so captivating you know they say like to go from like to do like a seven is very hard and then to go from like seven to eight is extremely hard and then go from eight to eight point five is like you to dedicate your life and then from like 8.5 to 9 it's like you got to dedicate your life and then you got to sacrifice you know the the it gets harder and harder to to do something like and then at some point you get to like a 9 or a 9.1 and you go this could be a 9.2 but my kids are gonna hate me you know my wife's gonna leave me is it really worth it that's actually you know what i mean yeah he doesn't even have i heard i'm not saying i'm not saying that's what it is yeah but i'm saying it it the point of the story is not that any of these people have hurt any of their families obviously but the point is it it takes the dedication becomes so much uh so much more when you try to go from like 8.5 to 9 yeah and that's um that's why you gotta you know respect and give the flowers to these people who've gone from 8.5 to 9 yeah did you take acting class or did you i studied theater yeah oh hell yeah any any i think everyone i think act young actors ask me all the time i say start in the theater it gives you a sense of not that you have to but i like the theater because it gives you a sense of an audience it gives you a sense of yourself around an audience as an actor on in the theater you learn to block yourself um i think i started in the theater i did classical and contemporary theater amazing i want to go back to the theater yeah i miss the i know i feel like once you hit marvel you're the villain in the next film like you're like oh my god i'm gonna like it's time for a little theater now well i mean it is theater you know like to stand there and kind of move like this and you've got this imaginary tail but they're they've got these gigantic rigs pulling cars so if you move if i move like this you have a truck move it's surreal you really have a that is fucking wild dude it's insane i mean there's stuff that was cut from the film but there's one particular thing where they moved a huge container truck they pulled it and i was like like as far as like this camera this camera it was almost that far and i remember just going taking spider-man going and the truck went like i don't know how many tons the truck was and you're going fuck this feels so cool that's so sick yeah it feels i gotta be i was moving like this you know and and at first you feel like you you honest to god feel like a weirdest thing because you're saying i'm actually a fucking like i'm a superhero yeah you know when you're a kid you're going yeah yeah it's like you're fucking doing that dude in front of all these other grown adults they're like holding the mic everyone's like and you're going i i'm so i know i want to see the movie so bad everybody go see that movie hell yeah watch 72 hours it's gonna make you laugh i read that like a couple times then watch uh then go see spider-man and then go watch the batman animation when it comes out at the end of the august august dude i'm so i'm so happy for you this is just so awesome uh we're gonna get some rapid fire questions we'll get you out of here all right you got a busy week for you um okay uh a role that you wish you got i don't have that kind of mentality and that's why that's why he is uh has trees falling down in front of him and he sees shooting stars i mean you know everyone wishes they want this or they don't want it yeah but i don't have that thing when it when something goes to somebody else it's theirs and i don't i don't think about it anymore i gotta let that go sometimes sometimes i'm like dude i it's almost like um it's not yours anymore why would you want it yeah do you know what i mean yeah it's like wearing someone else's underwear it's like that's yours you know what i mean i'll get someone else's ball sweat on your balls i'm like that's yours that's yours i would have loved to play that you know that's what i'm saying i'm like that's what i'm saying i'm like that's what that's as far as it goes for me i'm not like you know i'm just like that would have been that's that's the scar city mentality though you're 100 right that's the scar city dude you you you will you will get what's yours you're 100 and don't worry about and also here's the other thing about that you you're imagining yourself in that role right right and you're imagining great things maybe you got that role and the director's like i don't want you to play like this yeah and maybe you're gonna hate it so if they didn't see it yeah then maybe it's better that they didn't cast you because they didn't see it you're right so that's the attitude you should have yeah you're like thank god because if if they don't see what i see yeah they don't get it yeah and that's okay they're they're on another frequency and that's okay maybe a better one maybe another but that's what so yeah look at it like i love that it's not the thing that you missed is not the thing that you thought it was going to be or else they would have casted you yeah you're right yeah you're right 100 most underrated actor you know what man there are so many underrated actors so many it's it's uh it's like musicians and artists and painters there are so many i'm looking at the camera right now there are so many incredible actors who um are waiting for their break are waiting for the opportunity to be discovered um it's a tough business um work on your craft work on yourself try to keep loving your heart um i think denzel washington said no one can put money in close fists yeah no one can shake your hand if your fists are closed try to keep an open heart and um and just have faith man it's tough yeah but have faith and and all you guys i'm sure feel like you're underrated and you're not giving the opportunities that you deserve and that's true you are as good as you think you are so keep going i love that um a co-star that made you up your game everybody yeah everybody yeah everybody i'm in front of is there i my my whole thing is like let's go you know everybody's there to everybody look everybody wants to shine man you got to accept that yeah it doesn't matter if you're the lead or the second or the third everybody's going to get on set and everybody's going to want to be yeah the shit yeah and you got to accept that so anybody that steps in front of me i know they want to be great i want them to be great and um if if um yeah so everybody do you have a favorite show of all time i don't like like rating things number one two three yeah um i think breaking bad is is um i haven't seen a lot of shows but breaking bad i think is would definitely be top there is that your number one too mike i would have to say out of all the shows that i've been watching just watching full breaking bad gotta be yeah at least top three top two bro that show is so ridiculous yeah i watched it in like a week bro with my mom like i finished it i think i think better call saul top or whatever but when i watch better call saul i remember i go wow like the craftsmanship of that show is incredible it's elite yeah the way they cut the way they cut it together is great but i would say breaking bad dude thank you so much for coming we appreciate it man thank you guys um plug any i mean dude you got so much coming out 72 hours already out on netflix spider-man oh i'll plug something shamelessly let's do it i've got music coming out please oh my god we've got an album coming out what kind of music is it you know it's funny i i played it to the uber driver in the car i'm like what you think of this bro that's so funny and uh i think it's like uh i think it's like uh singer songwriter alternative r&b cool maybe i don't know i we're not trying to do anything we're just trying to express ourselves but it's my goal is to like when i'm shooting or if i'm doing a comic-con that i can pop into a pub and just with a guitar and you know i'm a small audience just kind of have an hour get you guys if we're all in the same city be like hey why don't you guys come by the pub dude do your little skit or whatever talk to the audience that's why i'm doing music so that i can disconnect from the the acting still do something artistic and then be able to have a an audience that you can share with um instantaneously anywhere in the world i would love that that's so i was gonna say do you get on like the the productive side of your music as well yeah yeah i write it and produce it oh you make music too yeah yeah i make i make beats and stuff but i've been listening to uh a lot of music that's been sounding so amazing to me i'm i'm this close to getting a guitar and trying to learn how to play guitar you got to do it you should man oh hey michael how about this bro listen you want to make a big deal you want to make a deal right now on camera let's do it start learning the guitar tomorrow tomorrow all right i'll go i'll go and next time i see you if we do this podcast again you'll play something for us yes all right could you keep that promise yeah i'll keep that promise because i was talking to um andy hill figure yesterday tommy hill figure's brother and he he um he has his own band i think he's like the basis of his band i think he plays the bass yeah and um i told him the same thing i'm like i'm this close to buying a guitar he was like get a guitar and there's just a couple chords that you need to learn and once you learn those chords everything else will just fall in place for you i'm like sounds very simple but well you made a promise you're gonna get it oh yeah i'm gonna get it i'm gonna get a guitar for sure next time we're gonna jam together next time when i see you in person we'll get together and we gotta do something maybe hit up at a pub yeah it'd be so cool yeah we'll cook something up for the fans but your instagram is uh michael mando yeah what are your instagrams at gianni vp ll michael michael rainy jr michael must follow you right now matter of fact we got merch that just came out we got what else we got mike we're just gonna plug it for the fans we got some cool stuff coming up go see spider-man i mean what an episode this was for us shout out caps on fuego for the hat i'm trying to think of what else we good mike give us one i think we should be gucci hell yeah give us everybody man wait hold on i gotta follow michael i gotta i'm following you i gotta turn my phone back on no you're good you're good you're good michael's phone you guys are awesome and you have it thank you so much you guys got a great vibe i hope you guys meet these people in real life they're awesome last one to the airport buys breakfast day one day one