Man of many parts
Santiago Cabrera puts his talent for transformation to good use
Keeping track of Santiago Cabrera’s wide-ranging portrayals is a difficult task.
The Chilean co-starred in HBO’s recent melodramatic miniseries
Big Little Lies. Before that, he was a musketeer on BBC’s The
Musketeers. His other credits range from a guest appearance on the sitcom The Mindy Project, to a recurring Lancelot part in the fantasy
Merlin, all happening after his 2006 breakout as the addict artist on the sci-fi series Heroes.
Now the 39-year-old shows up in Michael Bay’s special effects extravaganza Transformers: The
Last Knight. Cabrera plays a military officer in the unit of Col. Lennox (Josh Duhamel), caught up in the war between mankind and the Transformers.
Taking a break from the Toronto
TV shoot of Salvation, Cabrera appraises his Transformers experience and the impact of his assorted performances. Q: Is the Transformers’ film your first blockbuster?
A: I would say it’s the first time doing something on that scale. It was actually a great experience. Q: Who do you play?
A: I am a team leader and sort of mercenary who’s an ex-Navy SEAL. And the thing was we had ex-Navy SEALs with us at all times during filming. It was fantastic to have an instant source to ask them something when it came up — the lingo or whether we’re loading a weapon right. Q: Did you expect that kind of specificity from director Bay?
A: Michael first said to me when I auditioned that he wanted the military stuff to feel as real as possible in contrast to the fantasy world of the robots. Q: Was it difficult pretending to see the Transformer robots?
A: No, (Bay), makes it feel authentic for the actors. There were lots of green screens but we had lots of real explosions and choppers buzzing over our heads.
Q: Did you always follow the script?
A: Michael was full of ideas and he sometimes springs things on you, so you have to be ready. He’s at the top of his game and he knows what he wants. He’s a hard worker, and he expects that from everybody in his cast and crew.
Q: Were you anxious about acting in a big special effects movie?
A: (Bay), gives you a load of confidence just by hiring you because he’s telling you he knows you can do it. And it’s exhilarating and fun, and there’s the attention to detail that’s impressive. Q: Where did you film your Transformers’ scenes? A: I was all over the place. In the
U.S., I was in Arizona and then Detroit, and in the U.K. we filmed in London (sound stages), and in Wales at a quarry two hours out of Cardiff on this dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Q: That’s odd — a quarry near Cardiff ?
A: It was really quite a sight. When I arrived Michael was in the middle of it bouncing around the world he was creating. And later there were lots of explosions and 200 military men running around. I expected the movie was going to be massive in its scope and it was.
Q: Salvation’s probably more modest. What does the CBS series (airing next month), focus on? A: It’s a science-fact show and
really relevant. It’s a drama about a (doomsday), asteroid heading toward earth but there’s tonguein-cheek humour in it. Q: Are you ok with not being known for one kind of role?
A: Slowly but surely everything in my career is coming together to the point where people will start recognizing me, but I’m fine that they don’t. In a way, it makes me happy. That sort of anonymity allows me to do different things. Q: Is it true you lived in Toronto as a child?
A: Yes. I was about three to five or six when I lived with my family here. I have great memories. The snow for sure was a big one and playing hockey on the street in the neighbourhood was another one.