Date of publishing: 28th
March 2009
Roberto Urbina has acted in several films. Known by
Heroes fans for his role as "Santiago" in
the webserie "Heroes: Destiny", he has starred
in a couple Spanish language films that have also
been released in English format: as "Sebastian"
in Dependencia sexual (Sexual Dependency) (2003),
and "Jose Gutierrez" in Hacia la oscuridad
(Towards Darkness) (2007). Roberto also starred as
"Guile Pardo" in The Argentine (2008), which
was filmed in English and translated to Spanish. His
other film roles include playing "Reese"
in Blues (2008), "Rafael Ramirez" in The
Ball Is Round (2008) and last but not least in "Che:
Part One" from Steven Soderbergh with Benicio
Del Toro and Julia Ormond. Besides his film career,
Roberto has an activity of DJ, check out his website:
www.camachoandvass.com
Gilles
Nuytens: So you
are firstly a DJ, how did you get into acting?
Roberto Urbina: That’s not
necessarily true. I am a DJ and an ACTOR. They are
just different ways of expression. I began acting
when I was very young. My first film was shot when
I was 15 years old. And it came across by coincidence.
I went with a friend to an audition that he was going
to do, the director asked me to audition and I did,
and got the part.
Gilles Nuytens: How
have you first heard about the Heroes webisodes?
Roberto Urbina: Through my agent.
Gilles Nuytens: How
was the audition process for Heroes webisodes? Was
it as hard as it could be for the "standard"
episodes?
Roberto Urbina: It was the exact
same process as it would be for any other “standard”
episode.
Gilles Nuytens: As
for most of the webisodes, the story hasn't really
a "proper" ending, do you know of any project
to make you appear in the show? Any chance to see
you again?
Roberto Urbina: I most certainly
hope so. I really enjoyed this project, I got to work
with great people and I think it had a very interesting
storyline. As for making the character appear in the
show I have not heard anything about it.
Gilles
Nuytens: 4 episodes
and approximately 20 minutes of video, so how long
was the overall shooting?
Roberto Urbina: It took us about
two weeks to shoot.
Gilles Nuytens: How
did you enjoy this shooting, shooting for Heroes?
Roberto Urbina: I loved it. I got
to work with really amazing people, Eagle, the director,
was incredible. Lina was amazing too, we became good
friends.
Gilles Nuytens: The
webisodes are officially for US viewers only, so that
means that non-US people cannot access them on the
official and legal way, this is like forcing people
to download them on illegal sites if they want to
see it. What do you think about that?
Roberto Urbina: I completely agree
with you. It was even more of an issue to me because
I am Colombian, and my whole family and a lot of my
friends are living in my home country. This restriction
made it hard for them to see my work in my home country.
I really think it should be available for any territory,
even more so given the fact that Heroes has such an
amazing following worldwide.
Gilles Nuytens: What
was the most difficult part you had to play for this
series of webisodes?
Roberto Urbina: Mmmmmm, maybe some
of the wire work for the stunts ??? We had no prepping
time, so I just had to go to set, rehearse a few times
and then shoot…. But it was also the most fun.
Gilles
Nuytens: Is it different
to play for a small webseries than for a feature film
or a standard TV show?
Roberto Urbina: Well this are the
only webisodes that I have done, and this particular
one had a feature film style of shooting, so no.
Gilles Nuytens: What
else would you like to add about Heroes that we haven't
yet talked about?
Roberto Urbina: I think you pretty
much covered everything.
Gilles Nuytens: You
have a part in "Che: Part 1", how was the
experience there, playing in the biography adaptation
of a legendary man?
Roberto Urbina: I have to say that
it was one of the most amazing experiences I have
had. I am a Political science major and have always
been interested with this character. Seeing Benicio
become CHE was extraordinary. But what I enjoyed the
most was talking to people that actually lived and
fought in the Cuban revolution. Mind blowing.
Gilles
Nuytens: Will we
see you in "Part 2"?
Roberto Urbina: No, my character
stays behind in Cuba while CHE ventured into South
America.
Gilles Nuytens: Anything
else you'd like to share with us about "Che"?
Roberto Urbina: Not really, I just
hope that A LOT of people watch it so that CHE becomes
a little more than just a face on a t-shirt. He was
an amazing character.
Gilles Nuytens: In
"Towards Darkness", you share the lead role
with America Ferrera, how was she to play with?
Roberto Urbina: She was very nice.
We had a good time shooting that one.
Gilles Nuytens: What's
next for you, do you have any other acting projects
coming?
Roberto Urbina: I’m actually
shooting an episode for Greys Anatomy, and there are
a couple of independent features that I might do.
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