More From The Mayor of Gotham City, Nestor Carbonell

It’s been amazing. It’s interesting how I got that part. I was doing Lost at the time and I had auditioned for it, but didn’t hear anything. I was in the jungles with Michael Emerson, doing a scene for Lost, and I got a call from my agent, in between scenes, saying that after having auditioned awhile back, Christopher Nolan wanted to see tape on me. I said, “Oh, wow, for what movie?” I had just assumed that that part was gone, but my agent said, “For that Batman movie.” So, they sent him some scenes I’d done from Smokin’ Aces, which hadn’t been released yet, and I got the call later. Once I got the part, I thought, “Wow, I’ve done mostly independent film and TV. I’ve never done a movie on this scale.” Of course, your first one is very intimidating. Obviously, Christopher Nolan has done some great work. But, the set could not have been more warm, inviting and relaxed. It’s the kind of environment he creates. Everyone jokes around and it’s very loose. It’s a pretty extraordinary working environment, given how intricate, involved and smart his films are. He has a very relaxed atmosphere, and he’s very smart to do that. That’s who he is.

They’ve told me nothing, beyond what I’m reading on the page. But, I got used to that with Lost, and even Dark Knight. I didn’t get a script for Dark Knight Rises, or even Dark Knight. I’m only picking projects now where I’m not allowed to know anything about them. It seems like a pretty good rule of thumb. Absolutely! The true fan doesn’t really want to know. You want to know, but you don’t. I think it’s great. With Lost, I had never worked on a show before where I had my name on every page. I was like, “Wow, I know it’s a big show. It’s so sweet of them to invite me and put my name on every page.” I didn’t realize that it was so I didn’t spread it on the Internet without them knowing who to come after. But, I loved that. I was part of a show where there was such anticipation, as to how it was going to be resolved. They were obviously telling a good story, if they had to put my name on every page. As Ringer kicks off, I think there will probably be even more secrecy than there is now. Right now, my name is not on every page, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that started happening soon.

There was only one elective at my college for acting, but thank god for that elective because we had a great teacher who introduced me to the Meisner technique for acting. Once I read that book, I said, “Wow, if I could do that and have that honest moment on stage, that would be amazing.” I had that once and it was like a drug. You’re actually connecting with somebody under imaginary circumstances. It’s crazy. You’re pretending to live something, but actually feeling like you are. That’s pretty cool. So, what drew me to it was that proverbial first moment that I felt.

I’m still as passionate about the actual craft and that moment. If you lose that, you’re dead in the water. But, I’ve put the business in perspective. I’m married with kids now, so I’m able to see the big picture a lot easier now. It’s an amazing job, but at the end of the day, it’s a job. Between action and cut, that’s my time and my partner’s time, but everything else is put into perspective. It’s a great job and I’m grateful when I have it, but the important thing is obviously at home.

I haven’t done enough action. On Smokin’ Aces, I got to do a fair bit of action and I love that. It was so much fun. It was cool. It was great working with Joe Carnahan. I’d love to work with him again. He’s got such a great style, and tries so many different things. He’s not afraid to try different genres. I’m always drawn to comedy, too. I did a little turn on Wilfred, which I had a lot of fun with. That’s a very funny show. But, I wouldn’t mind getting back to that, at some point, as well. I miss it. If it’s strictly comedy, I like to bring some darkness to it. If it’s strictly drama, I always like to lighten it up as well. I like to find some kind of dimension and make my characters human, so that it doesn’t feel like a sketch and feels more like a slice of life.