We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with actor and writer Xavier de Guzman about his journey as Berto in Take Two and his career. Check out the full interview in the video below!
How did you approach the challenge of portraying Berto Vasquez?
XAVIER DE GUZMAN: Berto was an interesting character because Berto was who I was in high school. I was always on the computer. I was very tech oriented back in high school and I was always curious about how computer programming and hacking. This character didn’t really know how to communicate with like girls yet as well. So and then that was me in high school as well too. I didn’t really know how to be smooth or suave and I was so that was fun going back to that memory of me and channeling that to bring out who I felt Berto was.
Can you share any memorable fan encounters or experiences related to your character?
XAVIER DE GUZMAN: Related to my character, not so much. But I do remember the first time somebody stopped me on the street and they’re like, hey, you’re that guy from that show. I was like, yeah, that’s me. But an interesting fan encounter that happened. So you know the show The OC with Rachel. I grew up watching that and so I was already a big fan of Rachel. So I remember the cast went out one night and it’s been a while since The OC came out, so the younger generation wouldn’t really know.
But there was like a group of young, younger, 20 year olds, 21-22 maybe. And they were passing by us and you had the girls in front and then the guys in the back, the girls, they just kept walking. But then it was the guys in the back. There was like the biggest guy and like after we’ve already passed that he’s like out loud, you can hear he’s like It wasn’t that Summer? Referencing Rachel passing. That was funny. I remember that one.
How has the character affected your own career and the opportunities that have come your way?
XAVIER DE GUZMAN: Ever since then I’ve definitely read for a lot of bigger projects and it has allowed me to and reading for these bigger projects. Now it has me reading with like a list actors. So in a way it’s good, but at the same time it’s so much more nerve racking because i’m reading against actors that I see and I’m like, these actors are incredible. Like I remember there was one role where I was up against Karen Egerton. He played it in The Kingsman. Terran was also, he played in Rocket Man, he played Elton John in it. And I look at Terran and I’m like there’s no way.
I’m going to get a roll over him. And obviously I didn’t get it, but it’s like this. It’s insane who executives are choosing. Who’s this guy who’s been on this one show or this guy who has like Oscar nominations? And it’s like, it’s it’s so daunting and scary, but at the same time it’s like okay, this is the level that I’m at now. This is where I need to step up my game. I need to read more books. I need to study more scripts so I can keep up with these people that I’m competing with and it’s scary, but at the same time it’s such an interesting theory.
The interview with Xavier de Guzman has been edited and condensed for lenght and clarity. Check out the full interview at the top of the article!
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