Courtesy of MLC PR
“Bounty Hunters” is a new comedy series that follows book-smart Brit Barnaby (Jack Whitehall) who gets a worldly wake-up call when a deal goes bad and NYC tough girl Nina (Rosie Perez), rocks up to help with trouble not far behind. G-Rod plays a series regular character “Cousin Pancho”, who is Rita’s cousin. The series premiered on October 25, 2017 on Sky One. Check out the trailer after the interview.
In addition, G-Rod can next be seen in the scripted anthology series “Tales” on BET. “Tales” is a series of song stories that weave classic and current hip-hop songs into visually stunning narratives. G-Rod will play lead character Detective Emilio Sanchez on the November 7, 2017 episode entitled “All I Need”.
G-Rod was recently seen in the Starz series “Power”. In addition to “Bounty Hunters” and “Tales”, G-Rod will be guest starring on the CBS series “NCIS: New Orleans”.
He first discovered his interest in acting when he interviewed for a U.S. Border Patrol position wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps. During the interview, he was told they would start describing a job-related scenario and he would have to explain how he would handle the situation. Instead, mistakenly, he began acting out the scenario in front of the interviewers. At the end, the director informed him he successfully passed, but in his 30 years of conducting interviews, he had never seen someone act out the actions. It was during this time G-Rod realized acting was something he wanted to explore further. He began studying scenes from his favorite movies and even filmed them to entertain his friends and family.
Afterwards, he decided he wanted to improve his acting skills and began attending classes with Lori Wyman and Marc Macaulay, an actor with over 30 years of experience as an actor in film & television projects. He began scene study work with Marc where they spent a great deal of time exploring acting techniques and on-camera execution. He also attended classes at the University Center of the Performing Arts in Davie, Fl and HB Studios in New York City.
His work includes appearances in “True Memoirs of an International Assassin,” with Kevin James, 24: Legacy, alongside Corey Hawkins. He co-starred alongside Benjamin Bratt in “MacGyver,” “The Walking Dead,” “Ballers” opposite Rob Corddry, “The Red Road with Jason Mamoa,” “Constantine,” “Graceland,” and “Burn Notice.” He will also appear in the TV series “Power,” this Summer, and “Orange is the New Black.”
We had the awesome opportunity to interview G-Rod! Check out the interview below.
Thank you for granting the interview, G-Rod! We’re excited about “Bounty Hunters” and BET’s “Tales.” Let’s talk “Bounty Hunters.” Tell us about your role and your character, Pancho.
Thanks for the opportunity! Pancho is this big lovable, obnoxious simpleton that lives within the moment with zero calculation. His desires for waffles and whip cream will more than likely dictate his next move regardless of the consequences. He walks around life not giving a f*ck—not that he doesn’t want to but he probably doesn’t know how to. I think we’ve all at some point have come across a Pancho in our lives at varying levels. This one, however, is cranked up to the max and not operating on all cylinders.
You’re starring alongside Rosie Perez, Gloria Garayua , and Jack Whitehall. What is a typical day like on the set?
I didn’t have a chance to work with Gloria but it was a pleasure working with Rosie and Jack. Jack has these faces—man the guy is hilarious. He has this awkwardness about him that can pretty much drive the comedy with very little effort. Typical days on-set moved very quickly since they had to get a lot in within a short period of time. One of the most memorable days—we shot a scene for episode 2 which involved a bathtub, me nearly naked and Jack in his underwear. There were a lot of laughs. I remember telling Jack when we wrapped “well this will be unforgettable—we kind of just went to second base”.
What can the audience expect?
I think the first episode really gave a pretty good feel for the rest of the season—except, the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper. More of those moments where you find yourself looking at the screen telling the characters “nope that doesn’t seem like a good idea” followed by an “I told you”. I think you can put together a very talented cast and still have a miss because the on-screen chemistry isn’t there. Especially when dealing with a comedy—that’s not the case with Bounty Hunters. If I, myself, am laughing out loud at moments when I know camera A is over there and camera B is over there—we got ourselves a hit!
What do you enjoy most about playing Pancho?
I really enjoyed this role because I was able to go to a different place mentally—pictured myself as a big goofball living life as snotty nose kid who gets cranky, hungry and doesn’t think too deep. I typically play very dark roles and really go in—not Jared Leto levels (sending dead pigs to people’s trailer’s) and not respond to my given name but I go dark and it takes me some time to snap out of it. Put it this way—London folks never really got to know G-Rod. Only Pancho.
What inspired you to become an actor?
I kept getting called out as a cop, firefighter, boxer and in some cases criminal and I just thought—I have to do something with this. This dude came up to me at the airport once asking for an autograph—he said he saw my recent UFC fight. I told him “I don’t fight…well professionally” and he smiled and said “ohhh ok I get it we’ll keep it cool” and proceeded to snap a selfie of us. I thought to myself what if I acted as if I was this fighter he saw and charged him for a photo…hahaha and the rest is history.
Is there a role in your career that you would love to play?
I would love to do a commercial but no one wants to hire me—no one wants to hire me for a damn commercial. I remember walking into this commercial audition for DIRECTV; the casting director looks up and looks at the camera guy with a very confused look but he doesn’t want to turn me away because I might snap—thinking what the hell was his agent thinking. Listen, I get it…imagine a guy like me in a commercial delivering a UPS package to your door…wait…it would have to be a gun commercial where a dude comes out pointing his gun at me cut to the gun brand website and stuff…hahaha true story but I’m a big ol’ teddy bear in real life.
Many actors like to show their range. Was comedic role something you always wanted to play?
Yes, and something I hope to continue doing. I am a very funny dude! Well at least the people around me tell me…they keep laughing at my jokes so that must mean something. Here’s the thing, I’m not your typical looking dude and I think comedy really bubbles up when you don’t expect it and with me…hell there’s a million different ways we can play that.
You’re also starring in BET’s “Tales.” You play Detective Emilio Sanchez. Tell us about your role.
I’m very excited about TALES on BET! The concept is so dope—each episode is based on a different hip-hop song with an entirely different cast and I appear in the episode based on “All I Need” by Method Man and Mary J. Blige. I’m a big 90’s hip-hop head and a big Wu-Tang fan so when I first read the script—I was mind blown! I couldn’t believe I was invited to be a part of something so damn unique. In Short, Detective Sanchez is a dick cop who’s probably not too happy with his life and chooses to out of his way to make dick moves with the people he interacts with on the daily. You put the power of a badge and a gun on that and it’s more than likely not going to end well. I had the great pleasure of working with Irv Gotti, who directed and created the show.
What do you enjoy most about Detective Sanchez?
I finally had the chance to play a cop, which I been wanting to do knowing all along, and then when I did, he would either be an a-hole or a corrupt pig…hahaha. I really enjoyed being on the other side of the law while still playing a bad guy. There’s a heated action scene towards the end involving stunt work which I performed myself. Anytime I have to get my hands dirty, bloody or physical in a scene I’m game…this one takes it there.
What do you like to do when you’re not filming?
Spend time with the family is most important to me followed by training—weight training, stunt training, firearms training and keeping my acting chops sharp by attending acting classes from time to time.
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Learn about “Bounty Hunters” and Sky One: https://www.sky.com/watch/channel/sky-one/bounty-hunters.
Connect with G-Rod:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5225366/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamgrod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrgrod/
Featured Image Credit: Photography by Justin Scudney.
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