July 5, 2024 • 40 mins
The BUZZ officially wraps up "Hotel Cocaine" week as we sit down with the star of the MGM+ series, Danny Pino. The actor, who plays Roman Compte on the show, talked with us about the upcoming episode, "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." As viewers will see in the new episode, Roman will face a point of no return that will not only affect him, but his family as well. We talked about the introduction of new characters entering the scene, including Ray Dorado (Erniel Baez) and Yolanda (Mayra Hermosillo), and how they will be playing a pivotal part to the already established characters.
Some other aspects of the conversation we got into included how fans still love and appreciate the show, "Cold Case," and that they would like to see it potentially rebooted. Pino talked about writing two episodes of the series and if he would like to write for, "Hotel Cocaine." The actor also shared some insight on Norman Lear, as he got to work with him on the NETFLIX/Pop sitcom, "One Day at a Time," and take part in the script reading at the ATX TV Festival.
"Hotel Cocaine" drops new episodes on MGM+ every Sunday at 9 PM ET, and you can stream all of the previous episodes currently on the platform.
Some other aspects of the conversation we got into included how fans still love and appreciate the show, "Cold Case," and that they would like to see it potentially rebooted. Pino talked about writing two episodes of the series and if he would like to write for, "Hotel Cocaine." The actor also shared some insight on Norman Lear, as he got to work with him on the NETFLIX/Pop sitcom, "One Day at a Time," and take part in the script reading at the ATX TV Festival.
"Hotel Cocaine" drops new episodes on MGM+ every Sunday at 9 PM ET, and you can stream all of the previous episodes currently on the platform.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Buzz Buzz Buzz is on the Buzzis on the show that gets you up
close and personal with some of thehottest stars. Now here's your host,
Novelle Jayly. What's going on everybody. It's novel Jay Lee with the latest
buzz at Buzzworthy Radio. And weare wrapping up Hotel Cocaine Week with none
(00:21):
other than the star himself, DannyPino, who plays the role of Roman
Comfti on the MGM Plus series.It's always a fun time when we have
Danny here on the show, andwe got to talk about the upcoming episode
that airs this Sunday. We alsotalked about his time on Cold Case,
and we even we even got totalk about when he did the live script
reading at the ATX TV Festival forthe Norman Leared tribute. Never a dull
(00:44):
moment. Here it is Danny Pinoon the buzz Cast. Check it out.
I been a fan of yours forso long, and you know,
we've already talked about how much I'veenjoyed your work and how much I appreciate
you as an actor, and I'mjust glad I was able to talk to
you again. So thanks man.No the other way round. Thank you
for having me, Thank you forshining a light on our show. You
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know, the cast that you seeon screen, we represent at least one
hundred and fifty to two hundred peoplein the crew who've given so much to
bring the story, these characters,this world of nineteen seventy in Miami to
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an audience, you know, Andso we're always really really happy to talk
about our show, if not forour own personal efforts, but because of
the efforts of you know, theHotel Cocaine family as it were. Absolutely,
I mean this show, you know, I've never talked about it enough
that I just talked about it yesterdaywhen I had Ernelia Obiaz on the show.
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It was just like the fashions ofthe show. I know, we
talked about it briefly when we werein person and Edie X, but just
the style of it all, justthe flashiness of it all, is just
another reason why I was so attractedto the show. I mean, obviously
the soundtrack is also, you know, one point, but of course,
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but the style, the glamour ofit all is it's absolutely entertaining to see
that, and that's one of thethings I love about period pieces and just
you guys, you just bring theflavor. That's the best way of saying
it. I appreciate that. Imean, kind of, like I said,
just now, you know, theactors really get a sense of the
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character. But you know who isour wardrobe designer, our production designer who
puts us in the space of themutiny, and then all the other sets,
the hotel rooms of the mutiny thatall have their own theme, Our
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cinematographers, the directors, I mean, the writing, the lighting of it,
you know, and like you said, the music. You know,
all of that plays such a hugepart in making the authenticity of our show
not only realistic, but I feellike our show really heightens the sense of
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the seventies, right. It's likethe people I've spoken to who lived through
that era in Miami, that wassuch a transformative era in Miami. It
really changed the tone and the shapeand the face and the culture of the
city, certainly the economics of thecity. The people who lived through that,
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I've had an opportunity to speak tosome of them now that we've aired
three episodes, and from what Ihear, we've achieved a certain level of
authenticity. But then in addition tothat, It's what Chris Broncotto was hoping,
you know, our main writer andshowrunner was hoping to achieve, is
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this heightened sense of reality of themutiny. It had somebody very close to
me who went to the Mutiny quiteoften say about our show, it's like
the Mutiny but better. You can'tget a better compliment than that. So
that that's a true testament too,obviously, Chris and and everybody that's involved,
(04:31):
Maurice as well, Maurice Comty,and I even said this comment with
Ernio the other day, is thatI appreciate the fact that that level authenticity
is there, not just with theClub Mutiny and the Mutiny hotel itself,
but also with the characters involved,you know, and with the Cuban the
Cuban culture, and just how it'swritten, not offensively, but to the
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point where it's we're respecting it,like we were watching it. We respect
it. So I I think that'sanother reason why I think a lot of
people are responding it to it sowell. No, I think you just
again your fingers right on the pulse. You know, the fact that Maurice
has been able to contribute, youknow, not only as father's you know,
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experience as the general manager of themutiny, but also making it so
that a show is highlighting the CubanAmerican experience. And I think it's important
to also mention that this is theCuban American experience is very broad and vast.
Like to be able to truly capturethe Cuban American experience is impossible in
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one show film. You know,I think the vast majority, in fact,
I know the vast majority of CubanAmericans were not involved in anything they
had to do with drugs or cocaineor you know, any of anything of
that nature. It was you know, a very very select few. But
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they live their lives, you know, feverishly. And I think that that's
what makes telling that story interesting,is that seemingly every decision is life and
death. Uh and so you know, but I think it's no different than
watching you know, the Italian Mafia, or you know, watching The Godfather
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of Harlem or uh watching Boardwalk Empire. You see all of these different cultural
groups, ethnic groups, uh,within within our country trying to get a
leg up the economics or in termsof you know, power and whatnot.
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But as we all know, that'ssuch a small minority of that group.
I just think it's obvious, butit's an important to state that that is
not you know, the overall CubanAmerican experience. Uh. But but but
for me, it's really fun tobe able to you know, play characters
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that I would have met or youknow sort of you know, would have
would have heard about in Miami.Uh. And to be able to use
our our culture and our language.You know, Spanish in Miami is just
thrown around, uh sort of socasually, you know, to be able
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to go with that, Yeah,I heard that in Spanish and English.
That's Spanglish is authentic not only tothe period but to modern Miami. Absolutely.
This So I I know, youknow, I've seen the fourth episode,
so I'm just preparing all of younow. I'm just gonna give you
a little bit of a of aspoiler alert for what's the kind in this
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one. So it's a it's theholiday season right now in Miami. That's
that's happening on episode four. Sobasically it's a time of mistletoe presence massacre.
That's literally isn't summed up in episodefour. I'm just letting y'all know,
right, now. So it's it'sI described it as, this is
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the episode where we definitely see Romanhas no other way to go, but
in this direction, there's no wayback for him. And I'm very interested
to see how this now is goingto play out going forward, because he
tried so hard to get from hisbrothers, get away from his brother's life.
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That's I want to say it thatway, and being involved with the
DA Informant and but now here weare at this crossroads, and now it's
just what's Roman going to do?So I think that's really that's really the
best part about this episode is justyour gonna see You're just basically gonna see
Roman has really no other place togo but in this direction, and once
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you see it all play out,guys, you'll understand why Roman is making
the decision he's making. So that'sI could not have described the episode better
than that. Uh, it's exactlywhat happened, what happens in episode four.
But Roman kind of warned everybody inepisode three. He did though he
(09:28):
did so I figured in that episodewe can talk about this a little more
freely since this aired, guys.But so I did feel that something was
gonna go down with Roman. Comeepisode three, especially at the end for
those of you who haven't seen ityet boilerarler for you guys. But in
episode three, at the end wherethat pivot happened, where Nestor's life was
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saved, because even I was kindof shocked when I watched it. Originally
that was where it was gonna go, and then when it did happen that
way, I was going, oh, crap, So what is Roman's game
in this whole entire thing now?So now my mind even kind of went
left because I was not banking onthat happening at all. I honestly thought
(10:13):
Nestor was going to get taken out, but the fact that he wasn't really
it really did a mind f onme at that point. I love that.
I mean that that just it speaksto, uh, you know,
Chris Broncado's acumen in writing this worldright and taking characters to the edge,
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and you think that's, you know, certain action is going to take place,
when in fact, it's been buildingtowards this sort of inevitability that of
course it would go this other way. Absolutely, yeah, yeah, no,
I think and what you said isabsolutely right. Episode four in a
lot of ways is a point ofno return. Yeah, it's we got
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some interesting characters coming in in thisepisode. We got the introduction of Ray
Dorado. Officially he was mentioned inthe previous episode, but we now get
to see him in this one.So we did talk to ERNELI about that,
So that's gonna be interesting. I'mexcited for that. Erniel. Erniel
is so great in this Uh youknow, Ray Dorado is yet another character
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added to you know, to theensemble that is who's larger than life.
He's this banker who seemingly has youknow, uh a lot of control.
Yeah, and not only the mutinybut in Miami. Ah. And I
think you're gonna find that Erniel andRay Dorado his character are gonna be pivotal
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to uh, you know, thethe pieces that are moved along the chess
board. I said this to himwhen we were talking, and I said,
when I saw episode four, Iwas like this, this this is
the episode where it jumps completely off. And he just starts laughing and the
only thing he says to me is, you're not ready for what's ahead.
(12:09):
You're not ready for what's ahead.After episode four you think you saw what
you saw now and you think thatwas crazy, wait until you hit episode
five, all the way up untilthe end, and I was going,
I've heard, but you know what, this makes me feel good because I
mean, honestly, the end ofthis episode on Sunday, guys, it's
not just on Roman's part, butthere's so many, so many facets that
(12:33):
you're gonna see just in the lastten minutes alone, for a lot of
these characters. You're literally you're gonnasit there and go, holy shit,
you sell this show so much betterthan I do. I think from now
on you're coming with me to doall the interviews to talk about the show.
I mean really, I mean youyou saw me when I was there.
(12:56):
It was just it was just sofunny. So, guys, if
you haven't watched Interview with Us three, it was me Danny Mark for your
Steen and and you'll ask. Guys, we were all at atx TV Festival
and all you all you hear.And the funny story about this I didn't
tell you is that everybody who waswaiting to talk to you guys next in
the waiting room, all of themliterally walked up to me and said they
(13:18):
obviously loved you because I just allI heard was Mark chanting your name when
you went into the room, andlike they literally all I heard was going,
novelle, novelle, novelle noll.And I was literally like, yeah,
that's about right. You had ablast. That was a great conversation.
I mean, any conversation with youand with with you know, Yule
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and with Mark, I mean that'sjust you know, you come in so
well prepared and with so much enthusiasm. Uh, and you know the show
really well, like you can.I could tell that that you're following along
the storyline sometimes can get divergent andso and that's a good thing about the
show. That's as it was evidencein last week's episode that premiered, that
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was that one part where it pivotedin such a way where I didn't think
it was going to go. Andthat's really what's so interesting about it.
Even with episode two and one ofthe things I actually said this to Laura
Gordon. Her and I actually messagedthe one day and I literally said to
her in episode two, I waslike, oh, so they had your
(14:24):
character do that. Good for you, but also not expected. But that
was one of the reasons why Ifelt that Janie really is the right hand
man to Roman, and she wouldI mean, this is literally like a
ride or died. I honestly Irespect it. You know what, If
this is what she's going to do, I'm mad respected, I really do.
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I also felt the other aspect ofepisode four that I will say was
very interesting to me was the waythat Chickliss's character, Michael Chickless's character,
his reaction to basically another spoiler,guys, just his reaction to Roman about
this whole entire process and with thedaughter and how all this came about.
(15:09):
And we already saw in the lastepisode, so this is technically not a
spoiler, but it is with allthe information that he now has, it's
time to you know, we canrelease him. We can release Roman from
this project and go about our lives, and then it doesn't necessarily happen that
way. And I just was veryenthrall that the fact that you see this
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tough guy, and believe me,you worked with him even prior to this
on the Shield for a few episodes. You see this tough guy in checklists
in the previous episodes, and thenall of a sudden, that's the personality
shifted a little bit, Like youactually see him with remorse, and I'm
kind of sitting there going didn't expectthat. Wasn't expecting that. Yeah,
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honestly relating to Roman a lot inthis episode. So that's gonna be a
very for those that are going towatch this on Sunday. That's gonna be
a very interesting pivot as well.So well, I love that you brought
up Laura Gordon and Jane is sucha strong character and a strong female character.
Uh, you know, I thinkyou were gonna start seeing that that
(16:22):
Tanya Watson's character so will have adefinite impact on our story. Baleria Karina
Bradley's character My Daughter is a veryheadstrong team that you're that you'll see And
in this episode, might I haveMosio's character Yolanda is introduced. He's getting
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ready to get there, another veryvery strong female character. I mean to
add to you know, uh,the male characters, like you're bringing up
Julio and Burton and Ray Dorado,uh and then obviously Nestor you know,
you have you have all of youknow, this this sort of male you
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know, uh like this male dynamo, male dynamic effect primarily and now you're
to to your point too, Ithink where you're probably going is that now
you're seeing all these the ladies arenow coming in there having this strong presence
in the show. You don't reallyget to see a lot of that in
most shows. Like you're now goingto see these ladies coming in fierce and
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holding their own against all of theseactors on the show. And when you
brought up with the character of Yolanda, you know, but literally right away,
in the first five minutes, Iwas already enthralled with this this character.
She was already a force to bereckoned with. And that was just
the way that she played it.There was just certain there was just certain
things that she was doing in thatin in those scenes in the beginning that
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literally I just sat back and said, wasn't ready, but wasn't ready for
that, And then it was justit just completely and not only was like
because I wasn't ready for that,That just shows just how much I was
already going to be invested in thischaracter. And I already said it in
person. I already said it theother day with E and I'm gonna say
it again. Get the air conditioneron. When Roman and Yolanda meet,
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I'm just gonna say that right nowagain for the upteeth time when they meet
and they're in the club unique pleaseplease please have the air on because it's
literally one of the hottest scenes I'veseen so far. We had a blast
and or choreographer putting it together.But you know, I have to also
(18:47):
tip my hat somebody who I havenot mentioned when we're talking about you know
how the last episode, episode three, and now episode four, you know
all we're all brought together. Imean, I I'd be remiss not to
mention Fernando Rozar, who directed itboth both of those episodes of the block,
our second block of episodes three andfour. You know, the first
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block was directed by the Maestro,who's just fantastic. He also directs our
final block of episode seven and eight, but Fernando is directed three and four.
And when we're talking about how doyou build the tension that's already script,
but how do you elevate that tensionand how do you maintain the audience's
(19:36):
sort of innocence to what is aboutto occur? And then Fernando does a
fantastic job of revealing those moments ofcharacter and how we're amplifying the tension of
the drama. He does that incrediblywell. So excited. I I'm you
know, Episode four is the lastepisode I've seen ahead of everybody, so
(19:57):
once five drops for the rest theseason after that, I'm now excited to
watch this with everybody not knowing what'sahead, not knowing what's coming. I'm
literally right there in the seat goingI'm ready, like bring it, like,
let's go. I'm sorry, I'mexcited. I'm excited for them to
see this episode, but I'm moreexcited to watch it new with everybody else.
(20:18):
So I'm I'm totally I'm totally ready, man, I'm totally ready.
Absolutely listen. I didn't really afteryour panel at at Accessible for Hotel Cocaine.
There was a couple of things Iactually the next time I talked to
you, I wanted to ask you. One the fact that Cold Case still
gets brought up. Everybody loves theshow and everybody wants to see this come
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back. What's to say to youabout the fact that they love this show
so much they want to see itreturn. First of all, I'm grateful,
you know, I had such anamazing time seven seasons of a show
that people are still discovering, rightnow now that now that it's streaming and
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uh, you know, it's beingaired on reruns and whatnot on on cable
networks, and you know, Ithink it speaks to I mean, time
is a character on the show.Uh. And so to speak of sort
of the timelessness of of Cold Case, uh is I think, you know,
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a testament to everybody who worked onit. You know, the crew
with plastic crew, great directors,an amazing writing staff, with fantastic show
runners over the seven seasons. MeredithSteam who was our creator of the show,
Katherine Morris who you know played LilyRush incredibly well, uh, you
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know, the rest of the cast. I mean we we we grew to
be a family. Everything from youknow, celebrating holidays holidays together to you
know, fighting over the check atlunch to playing you know, in a
softball league against other shows. Youknow it, it became it became a
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family. I mean a lot ofus had kids during that time. We
became parents. During that time.We all sort of, like I really
experienced some major moments in our personallives together. So to see that people
still talk about what we achieved andtalk about our show and the fact that
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you know, it is being discussedor reboot is flattering, it's humbling,
it's exciting, and overall it justmakes me happy and makes me incredibly grateful.
Was that show the first time youever wrote episodes for a series before?
Yeah, I co wrote two episodesin season six with l would Read
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and then season seven with Adam Glass. That was the first time I'd ever
well, I mean I'd written inthe past, you know, for her
and you know, for stage,but never in sort of a script format.
Gotcha. Just going into that processwith that nerve racking few because I
feel like I would be that guygoing, I have absolutely no idea,
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what the heck I'm doing it?Yes, yes, the the the answer,
the short answer is yes. Butyou know it was made that much
more organic because Greg Plateman, whowas our co showrunner at the time,
reached out to me and he said, look, there's this Vanity Fair article
about Cuban baseball players being brought intothe United States eventually almost smuggled into the
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United States as a commodity. Andthen you know the people who smuggled them,
whether you know they would get acertain percentage of those players sort of
lifetime salaries, right, their contracts, and so it was really interesting article.
Uh, kind of nefarious and underworldy, you know in terms of the
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dealing as to how it how itall went down, but also with the
geopolitics of these players. Could gaintheir freedom, you know, and be
out of this you know, repressiveuh, you know, totalitarian system in
Cuba, right, and be ableto achieve their dreams, right, and
the dreams of their families right,and and not be held back and imprisoned
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on their own island. Right.Uh. So there was all of these
dynamics that I understand very well,you know, being Cuban American. Right.
So, after reading like the twentypage article of Vanity Fair, Greg
said, look, let's have lunchand I'd love I'm going to write,
uh the script, but I'd lovefor you to give me sort of like
color commentary on the culture whatnot.I wanted to be authentic. About a
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week later, we sat down atthe commissary at Warner Brothers. And as
soon as we sat down, hesaid, so what did you think of
the article? And I pulled outan outline for the episode. I was
like, here are your characters,how these are the flashbacks, here's the
music. That we're going to use. Right, we have Celia Cruz,
we have Benny more Right, wehad a bunch of different Cuban artists that
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I knew the format, having beenon the show for six seasons doing twenty
two to twenty four episodes to see, right, I knew the way the
show was constructed. And so theminute I took the outline out and he
looked at it, and by theway, the outline was way too long.
I mean it was a three hourepisode, right, It was like,
(25:48):
I'm sure this is like an hourbasically forty four minutes sans commercials.
Guys, yeah, exactly. ButI think from that point on he said,
you know what, I think maybewe should co write this together.
Uh. And so that's what reallyopened the door. And because I had
his blessing, uh, he thensaid, look, my my duty is
(26:11):
as showrunner. Uh. You knowthey're they're too extensive, and I won't,
in fact be able to co writeit with you. Would you want
to co write it with el wouldread? And Elwood is a fantastic guy
and a great writer, and wegot along very well and in a lot
of ways, having a co writer, being able to bounce things off of
(26:32):
Elwood who's six' eight and wasalignment at Michigan. You know, so
bouncing would really real easy. Uh. It made it made navigating those nerves
and made navigating sort of that pressureof writing an episode much easier. That's
awesome. And could you ever seeyourself writing an episode of Hotel Cocaine and
(26:53):
then that too distant future Oh wow? Uh huh. You know, I'll
answer that in saying that Chris Brancatoand Michael Paynes, our two main writers
on the show, are incredibly collaborative. And there there have been moments already
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in the first season where there werescript uh you know, uh, there
were things in the script that,uh we we would discussed about authenticity,
about the Cuban American experience, youknow, about you know, those those
sort of uh you know, thatangle on how we were we were telling
(27:38):
the story, and you know,to my great good fortune and Yule's great
good fortune, they were willing andopen and really encouraging of how can how
can we make it more authentic?How can we actually delve into the reality
of the geopolitics of Miami in Cubaand the United States, and you know,
(28:03):
and the Cold War of the youknow, the seventies in South Florida,
and actually that is oftentimes more interestingthan a sort of made up version
of it. And so I'd saythis that you know, I'm I'm excited
about what the future of the showcould be, and I think that you
(28:23):
know, I'm open to contributing totelling the story in however many ways.
There was a point there was acomment that you just said that was also
something that I wholeheartedly agree with,which was obviously about Michael Pain's and Chris
Broncato. They're very open to havingthat discussion of how to make this authentic.
(28:45):
And the one comment I did saywas that I love the fact that
this is character driven, this isnot plot driven, and there's a You're
actually seeing a lot more of thepurpose behind why these characters are doing what
they're doing. And I love thatthis is the storytelling that is behind it.
And they're also utilizing your talents andyour abilities, whatever, if they
(29:10):
are asking for some type of input, incorporating that into the story, and
that's also driving the character. It'snot the plot of the character. And
that's really one of the biggest thingsthat I fell in love with the show
because you were able to tell thatright away how character driven this is.
And that's one of the most interestingthings about a television show that grabs my
(29:30):
attention and it it has that inspace here on this show. So it's
really refreshing to keep hearing that fromeverybody who I have talked to about the
show. So that's really, really, really great. And the other question
I did have for you was Iwatched the Norman Lear panel you were ocular
(29:52):
harmon from. You did the scriptreading from Maud, which was the episode
of Maud's Dilemma which involved mod abortion. How much fun did you have doing
that because I was told I washaving a good time watching apparently because I
didn't think people were watching me havea good time. But I enjoyed it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, you knowit. Something I want to say
(30:17):
to the last comment you made priorto the Norman question is that our show,
I think Hotel Cocaine is a fantasticcombination of character and plot. Right.
I've watched and I've been a partof shows that are you know,
(30:44):
balanced towards the plot more. Yeah, and you lose your connection to the
story because not connected to the characterscorrect. I've been a part of,
you know, productions that are muchmore character driven, and it starts to
(31:04):
get flat and you start to loseyour interest because there's not enough plot,
Like what is the story? Whatare they what are they trying? So
I feel like the shows that Ilike to watch, or maybe are the
most successful, are the ones thathave that that balance between plot and character,
and that character sometimes drives you towardsthat inevitable plot twist or vice versa.
(31:32):
The plot you get the situation whereyou can't get out of, and
the characters revealed through that. Right, So that combination I think is vital.
And it's one of those things thatwith Hotel Cocaine, through Chris Broncado,
through the direction, through our writers, with this fantastic cast that if
you ask them, listen, youneed to invest in the character and bring
(31:57):
something that's not on the on thepage age to the screen. This cast
is you know, more than happyand more than willing to step up to
that. Right. Yeah. ButI think it's also important to say that
MGM plus is a platform that isn'tlooking at its watch. It's not looking
at the clock saying we need tobe out of this in forty eight minutes.
(32:20):
With commercials, we need to move, so you need to cut all
the air out of the episode.And what you end up having in a
lot of those situations where you havea network that takes all the air out
of a scene is oftentimes when humanbeings have a conversation, the silences speak
more than the words, right,And when you know you're paying too much
(32:45):
attention to what we have to beout of this in forty six minutes,
what usually gets sacrificed the most oftentimesare the silences, are the pauses,
are those moments that aren't scripted thatpay off, you know what, whether
in that scene or later on,right. And so that that's one of
(33:07):
the things that I'm excited about beingon this platform. Uh MGM. Plus,
it feels like you're you're not you'reYou're not trying to go and sell
something. You're the only thing tosell is the authenticity of the story and
of the characters. And that allowsus to sort of tell the story the
(33:29):
way that we're telling me. Andso now going back to Norman Lear,
you know, I had the greatgood fortune, uh the distinct honor of
spending some time with Norman lear whenI was on one day at a time.
Yes, Hustina Machallo and Rita Moreno, Tony Plana and you know that
(33:52):
fantastic cast uh and uh Glodia Uh. It was to be in that room
with him and to understand ah hiscontribution to the history of television auh and
(34:13):
the history of our country. Frankly, you know, bringing up important issues
that weren't easy to talk about.Maybe still aren't easy to talk about today,
right, but that are important forus to discuss and kind of see
each other as human beings, rightand not as and not as issues right
where human beings that have to dealwith How you said that, I like
(34:36):
how you said that. Agreed,But to be a part of that reading,
I'll be honest, it was Iwas nervous, man, because it
was oh yeah, I was nervous. I mean we did the read through
and I was laughing so hard becausethey're the whole cast was so funny.
(34:58):
And U. You know, I'vedone theater, you know, in the
past. It's something I love todo. In fact, I did a
play right before COVID and it reignitedsort of my my love for live performance.
And that night was the closest thingthat I felt to that since being
(35:22):
on stage in I think it waslike twenty nineteen, right before the pandemic.
Yeah, and you know, it'sit shouldn't be. It shouldn't have
been as surprising as it was forme. But at the read through,
we're going through it and I'm laughingkind of under my breath at all the
lines that are being said. It'skind of quiet. There's nobody in the
theater, right, so we're justgoing through it. We're like, okay,
(35:44):
yeah, this is this is fun, this is this, this is
gonna be great. It's a littlemir but not. But the minute you
step out with the audience and youstart hearing the feedback and people are laughing
at these lines, and you're like, I knew this was funny. I
was hoping that it was funny.Uh, you know, it turns from
being okay, this is kind ofnerve wracking the minute you have that other
(36:07):
uh, that other character you knowin the audience that takes some of the
timing of the scene away, orthey add to the timing of the scene
because you have to wait to laughand whatnot, and and the whole cast
starts to ride this this wave thatNorman Lear was riding was when he was
(36:27):
producing and writing these shows. Youjust felt sort of that energy of the
evening and the nerves went away,and it was it was really about telling
this story and enjoying time together.That was. It was such a great
It was such a great experience,and for obvious reasons. The story the
episode that they used for that obviouslywas as you said, it may not
(36:51):
be the easiest story to talk about, but it's something that we need to
talk about. And but it wasvery well done. So very happy I
got the chances that for sure.And man, I don't know where the
time went, but this has beenprobably one of the most fun I've ever
had of you. This is thelongest we've ever had the chance to talk,
and I was so glad we evergot to do it. And Melle
(37:14):
and thank you so much for reallychampioning our show. It means a lot
to us. You know, wewere in the Dominican Republic kind of off
and on for almost five months moreand a half months, and it was
a little bit of a vacuum rightwhen we were just we were doing this
and we were hoping that people wouldrespond to it. Kind of in the
same way of going, you know, doing a read through without an audience
(37:35):
and then all of a sudden,there and you start to get the response.
So I think we all appreciate yourenthusiasm for the show. We appreciate
you giving us a platform to promoteour show and to maybe expand the audience
so that they can enjoy it too. Absolutely, I mean and also too,
just a quick comment, just seeingeverybody together. I saw the pictures
(37:58):
and everything when you got I didthe premiere last month. It's just I
was just I was just staring atI was like, oh, like,
there they are. There are mypeople, you know. So I was
very happy that, you know,they got They're getting that recognition that it
servicely deserves and it continues to deserve. So I'm I'm hoping and saying,
(38:19):
not saying. If I'm saying,when the news drops that we're getting a
season two, you know, we'llbe back and we'll be doing this some
more. So I can't I'm lookingforward to it, and I may or
may not be taking somebody's statement foractual truth and potentially get on a plane
and go there. Let's go.I'm just I'm just saying if if,
(38:42):
if, if said actor decided tothrow that in my face in person on
recording, I'm totally not going tosay no. I actually flat out told
everybody else who I talked to youthis week, yes I will go.
I will, Like you know what, that's where we'll do the next like
when season two drops, That's wherethe interviews will be is right there in
(39:06):
the dr let's freaking go. Honestly, there's no place better. So we
look forward to hosting you there absolutely. Man, dude, this was great.
Thank you, Thank you here somuch. I want to thank Danny
Pino for stopping by the podcast totalk about the latest episode, The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year, whichpremieres this Sunday night at nine pm Eastern
(39:27):
on MGM Plus. You currently canalso stream in the previous episodes on the
platform at your disposal. And Iwant to thank you guys for making Hotel
Cocaine Weeks so much fun. Thiswas a blast. My name's Novelle j
Lee. Making sure you keep gettingthe latest buzz with Buzzworthy Radio by longing
on to our website at buzzworthyradiocast dotcom. You can also follow us on
(39:49):
x at Buzzworthy Radio, liking uson our Facebook page. We're also on
Instagram at buzz ANDAPF and at BuzzworthyRadio, and you can stream our podcast
on Amazon Music and iHeart. We'llsee you guys next time. Take care,
stay in the no Catch up onall the buzz podcasts and videos at
buzzworthyradiocast dot com. Keep getting thelatest buzz with Buzzworthy Radio now on Amazon Music
Buzz Buzz Buzz is on the Buzzis on the show that gets you up
close and personal with some of thehottest stars. Now here's your host,
Novelle Jayly. What's going on everybody. It's novel Jay Lee with the latest
buzz at Buzzworthy Radio. And weare wrapping up Hotel Cocaine Week with none
(00:21):
other than the star himself, DannyPino, who plays the role of Roman
Comfti on the MGM Plus series.It's always a fun time when we have
Danny here on the show, andwe got to talk about the upcoming episode
that airs this Sunday. We alsotalked about his time on Cold Case,
and we even we even got totalk about when he did the live script
reading at the ATX TV Festival forthe Norman Leared tribute. Never a dull
(00:44):
moment. Here it is Danny Pinoon the buzz Cast. Check it out.
I been a fan of yours forso long, and you know,
we've already talked about how much I'veenjoyed your work and how much I appreciate
you as an actor, and I'mjust glad I was able to talk to
you again. So thanks man.No the other way round. Thank you
for having me, Thank you forshining a light on our show. You
(01:08):
know, the cast that you seeon screen, we represent at least one
hundred and fifty to two hundred peoplein the crew who've given so much to
bring the story, these characters,this world of nineteen seventy in Miami to
(01:30):
an audience, you know, Andso we're always really really happy to talk
about our show, if not forour own personal efforts, but because of
the efforts of you know, theHotel Cocaine family as it were. Absolutely,
I mean this show, you know, I've never talked about it enough
that I just talked about it yesterdaywhen I had Ernelia Obiaz on the show.
(01:53):
It was just like the fashions ofthe show. I know, we
talked about it briefly when we werein person and Edie X, but just
the style of it all, justthe flashiness of it all, is just
another reason why I was so attractedto the show. I mean, obviously
the soundtrack is also, you know, one point, but of course,
(02:13):
but the style, the glamour ofit all is it's absolutely entertaining to see
that, and that's one of thethings I love about period pieces and just
you guys, you just bring theflavor. That's the best way of saying
it. I appreciate that. Imean, kind of, like I said,
just now, you know, theactors really get a sense of the
(02:36):
character. But you know who isour wardrobe designer, our production designer who
puts us in the space of themutiny, and then all the other sets,
the hotel rooms of the mutiny thatall have their own theme, Our
(02:58):
cinematographers, the directors, I mean, the writing, the lighting of it,
you know, and like you said, the music. You know,
all of that plays such a hugepart in making the authenticity of our show
not only realistic, but I feellike our show really heightens the sense of
(03:23):
the seventies, right. It's likethe people I've spoken to who lived through
that era in Miami, that wassuch a transformative era in Miami. It
really changed the tone and the shapeand the face and the culture of the
city, certainly the economics of thecity. The people who lived through that,
(03:47):
I've had an opportunity to speak tosome of them now that we've aired
three episodes, and from what Ihear, we've achieved a certain level of
authenticity. But then in addition tothat, It's what Chris Broncotto was hoping,
you know, our main writer andshowrunner was hoping to achieve, is
(04:09):
this heightened sense of reality of themutiny. It had somebody very close to
me who went to the Mutiny quiteoften say about our show, it's like
the Mutiny but better. You can'tget a better compliment than that. So
that that's a true testament too,obviously, Chris and and everybody that's involved,
(04:31):
Maurice as well, Maurice Comty,and I even said this comment with
Ernio the other day, is thatI appreciate the fact that that level authenticity
is there, not just with theClub Mutiny and the Mutiny hotel itself,
but also with the characters involved,you know, and with the Cuban the
Cuban culture, and just how it'swritten, not offensively, but to the
(04:55):
point where it's we're respecting it,like we were watching it. We respect
it. So I I think that'sanother reason why I think a lot of
people are responding it to it sowell. No, I think you just
again your fingers right on the pulse. You know, the fact that Maurice
has been able to contribute, youknow, not only as father's you know,
(05:16):
experience as the general manager of themutiny, but also making it so
that a show is highlighting the CubanAmerican experience. And I think it's important
to also mention that this is theCuban American experience is very broad and vast.
Like to be able to truly capturethe Cuban American experience is impossible in
(05:41):
one show film. You know,I think the vast majority, in fact,
I know the vast majority of CubanAmericans were not involved in anything they
had to do with drugs or cocaineor you know, any of anything of
that nature. It was you know, a very very select few. But
(06:08):
they live their lives, you know, feverishly. And I think that that's
what makes telling that story interesting,is that seemingly every decision is life and
death. Uh and so you know, but I think it's no different than
watching you know, the Italian Mafia, or you know, watching The Godfather
(06:30):
of Harlem or uh watching Boardwalk Empire. You see all of these different cultural
groups, ethnic groups, uh,within within our country trying to get a
leg up the economics or in termsof you know, power and whatnot.
(06:51):
But as we all know, that'ssuch a small minority of that group.
I just think it's obvious, butit's an important to state that that is
not you know, the overall CubanAmerican experience. Uh. But but but
for me, it's really fun tobe able to you know, play characters
(07:14):
that I would have met or youknow sort of you know, would have
would have heard about in Miami.Uh. And to be able to use
our our culture and our language.You know, Spanish in Miami is just
thrown around, uh sort of socasually, you know, to be able
(07:38):
to go with that, Yeah,I heard that in Spanish and English.
That's Spanglish is authentic not only tothe period but to modern Miami. Absolutely.
This So I I know, youknow, I've seen the fourth episode,
so I'm just preparing all of younow. I'm just gonna give you
a little bit of a of aspoiler alert for what's the kind in this
(08:00):
one. So it's a it's theholiday season right now in Miami. That's
that's happening on episode four. Sobasically it's a time of mistletoe presence massacre.
That's literally isn't summed up in episodefour. I'm just letting y'all know,
right, now. So it's it'sI described it as, this is
(08:20):
the episode where we definitely see Romanhas no other way to go, but
in this direction, there's no wayback for him. And I'm very interested
to see how this now is goingto play out going forward, because he
tried so hard to get from hisbrothers, get away from his brother's life.
(08:43):
That's I want to say it thatway, and being involved with the
DA Informant and but now here weare at this crossroads, and now it's
just what's Roman going to do?So I think that's really that's really the
best part about this episode is justyour gonna see You're just basically gonna see
Roman has really no other place togo but in this direction, and once
(09:05):
you see it all play out,guys, you'll understand why Roman is making
the decision he's making. So that'sI could not have described the episode better
than that. Uh, it's exactlywhat happened, what happens in episode four.
But Roman kind of warned everybody inepisode three. He did though he
(09:28):
did so I figured in that episodewe can talk about this a little more
freely since this aired, guys.But so I did feel that something was
gonna go down with Roman. Comeepisode three, especially at the end for
those of you who haven't seen ityet boilerarler for you guys. But in
episode three, at the end wherethat pivot happened, where Nestor's life was
(09:50):
saved, because even I was kindof shocked when I watched it. Originally
that was where it was gonna go, and then when it did happen that
way, I was going, oh, crap, So what is Roman's game
in this whole entire thing now?So now my mind even kind of went
left because I was not banking onthat happening at all. I honestly thought
(10:13):
Nestor was going to get taken out, but the fact that he wasn't really
it really did a mind f onme at that point. I love that.
I mean that that just it speaksto, uh, you know,
Chris Broncado's acumen in writing this worldright and taking characters to the edge,
(10:35):
and you think that's, you know, certain action is going to take place,
when in fact, it's been buildingtowards this sort of inevitability that of
course it would go this other way. Absolutely, yeah, yeah, no,
I think and what you said isabsolutely right. Episode four in a
lot of ways is a point ofno return. Yeah, it's we got
(11:00):
some interesting characters coming in in thisepisode. We got the introduction of Ray
Dorado. Officially he was mentioned inthe previous episode, but we now get
to see him in this one.So we did talk to ERNELI about that,
So that's gonna be interesting. I'mexcited for that. Erniel. Erniel
is so great in this Uh youknow, Ray Dorado is yet another character
(11:22):
added to you know, to theensemble that is who's larger than life.
He's this banker who seemingly has youknow, uh a lot of control.
Yeah, and not only the mutinybut in Miami. Ah. And I
think you're gonna find that Erniel andRay Dorado his character are gonna be pivotal
(11:46):
to uh, you know, thethe pieces that are moved along the chess
board. I said this to himwhen we were talking, and I said,
when I saw episode four, Iwas like this, this this is
the episode where it jumps completely off. And he just starts laughing and the
only thing he says to me is, you're not ready for what's ahead.
(12:09):
You're not ready for what's ahead.After episode four you think you saw what
you saw now and you think thatwas crazy, wait until you hit episode
five, all the way up untilthe end, and I was going,
I've heard, but you know what, this makes me feel good because I
mean, honestly, the end ofthis episode on Sunday, guys, it's
not just on Roman's part, butthere's so many, so many facets that
(12:33):
you're gonna see just in the lastten minutes alone, for a lot of
these characters. You're literally you're gonnasit there and go, holy shit,
you sell this show so much betterthan I do. I think from now
on you're coming with me to doall the interviews to talk about the show.
I mean really, I mean youyou saw me when I was there.
(12:56):
It was just it was just sofunny. So, guys, if
you haven't watched Interview with Us three, it was me Danny Mark for your
Steen and and you'll ask. Guys, we were all at atx TV Festival
and all you all you hear.And the funny story about this I didn't
tell you is that everybody who waswaiting to talk to you guys next in
the waiting room, all of themliterally walked up to me and said they
(13:18):
obviously loved you because I just allI heard was Mark chanting your name when
you went into the room, andlike they literally all I heard was going,
novelle, novelle, novelle noll.And I was literally like, yeah,
that's about right. You had ablast. That was a great conversation.
I mean, any conversation with youand with with you know, Yule
(13:39):
and with Mark, I mean that'sjust you know, you come in so
well prepared and with so much enthusiasm. Uh, and you know the show
really well, like you can.I could tell that that you're following along
the storyline sometimes can get divergent andso and that's a good thing about the
show. That's as it was evidencein last week's episode that premiered, that
(14:03):
was that one part where it pivotedin such a way where I didn't think
it was going to go. Andthat's really what's so interesting about it.
Even with episode two and one ofthe things I actually said this to Laura
Gordon. Her and I actually messagedthe one day and I literally said to
her in episode two, I waslike, oh, so they had your
(14:24):
character do that. Good for you, but also not expected. But that
was one of the reasons why Ifelt that Janie really is the right hand
man to Roman, and she wouldI mean, this is literally like a
ride or died. I honestly Irespect it. You know what, If
this is what she's going to do, I'm mad respected, I really do.
(14:46):
I also felt the other aspect ofepisode four that I will say was
very interesting to me was the waythat Chickliss's character, Michael Chickless's character,
his reaction to basically another spoiler,guys, just his reaction to Roman about
this whole entire process and with thedaughter and how all this came about.
(15:09):
And we already saw in the lastepisode, so this is technically not a
spoiler, but it is with allthe information that he now has, it's
time to you know, we canrelease him. We can release Roman from
this project and go about our lives, and then it doesn't necessarily happen that
way. And I just was veryenthrall that the fact that you see this
(15:35):
tough guy, and believe me,you worked with him even prior to this
on the Shield for a few episodes. You see this tough guy in checklists
in the previous episodes, and thenall of a sudden, that's the personality
shifted a little bit, Like youactually see him with remorse, and I'm
kind of sitting there going didn't expectthat. Wasn't expecting that. Yeah,
(15:58):
honestly relating to Roman a lot inthis episode. So that's gonna be a
very for those that are going towatch this on Sunday. That's gonna be
a very interesting pivot as well.So well, I love that you brought
up Laura Gordon and Jane is sucha strong character and a strong female character.
Uh, you know, I thinkyou were gonna start seeing that that
(16:22):
Tanya Watson's character so will have adefinite impact on our story. Baleria Karina
Bradley's character My Daughter is a veryheadstrong team that you're that you'll see And
in this episode, might I haveMosio's character Yolanda is introduced. He's getting
(16:47):
ready to get there, another veryvery strong female character. I mean to
add to you know, uh,the male characters, like you're bringing up
Julio and Burton and Ray Dorado,uh and then obviously Nestor you know,
you have you have all of youknow, this this sort of male you
(17:11):
know, uh like this male dynamo, male dynamic effect primarily and now you're
to to your point too, Ithink where you're probably going is that now
you're seeing all these the ladies arenow coming in there having this strong presence
in the show. You don't reallyget to see a lot of that in
most shows. Like you're now goingto see these ladies coming in fierce and
(17:36):
holding their own against all of theseactors on the show. And when you
brought up with the character of Yolanda, you know, but literally right away,
in the first five minutes, Iwas already enthralled with this this character.
She was already a force to bereckoned with. And that was just
the way that she played it.There was just certain there was just certain
things that she was doing in thatin in those scenes in the beginning that
(17:59):
literally I just sat back and said, wasn't ready, but wasn't ready for
that, And then it was justit just completely and not only was like
because I wasn't ready for that,That just shows just how much I was
already going to be invested in thischaracter. And I already said it in
person. I already said it theother day with E and I'm gonna say
it again. Get the air conditioneron. When Roman and Yolanda meet,
(18:25):
I'm just gonna say that right nowagain for the upteeth time when they meet
and they're in the club unique pleaseplease please have the air on because it's
literally one of the hottest scenes I'veseen so far. We had a blast
and or choreographer putting it together.But you know, I have to also
(18:47):
tip my hat somebody who I havenot mentioned when we're talking about you know
how the last episode, episode three, and now episode four, you know
all we're all brought together. Imean, I I'd be remiss not to
mention Fernando Rozar, who directed itboth both of those episodes of the block,
our second block of episodes three andfour. You know, the first
(19:11):
block was directed by the Maestro,who's just fantastic. He also directs our
final block of episode seven and eight, but Fernando is directed three and four.
And when we're talking about how doyou build the tension that's already script,
but how do you elevate that tensionand how do you maintain the audience's
(19:36):
sort of innocence to what is aboutto occur? And then Fernando does a
fantastic job of revealing those moments ofcharacter and how we're amplifying the tension of
the drama. He does that incrediblywell. So excited. I I'm you
know, Episode four is the lastepisode I've seen ahead of everybody, so
(19:57):
once five drops for the rest theseason after that, I'm now excited to
watch this with everybody not knowing what'sahead, not knowing what's coming. I'm
literally right there in the seat goingI'm ready, like bring it, like,
let's go. I'm sorry, I'mexcited. I'm excited for them to
see this episode, but I'm moreexcited to watch it new with everybody else.
(20:18):
So I'm I'm totally I'm totally ready, man, I'm totally ready.
Absolutely listen. I didn't really afteryour panel at at Accessible for Hotel Cocaine.
There was a couple of things Iactually the next time I talked to
you, I wanted to ask you. One the fact that Cold Case still
gets brought up. Everybody loves theshow and everybody wants to see this come
(20:42):
back. What's to say to youabout the fact that they love this show
so much they want to see itreturn. First of all, I'm grateful,
you know, I had such anamazing time seven seasons of a show
that people are still discovering, rightnow now that now that it's streaming and
(21:04):
uh, you know, it's beingaired on reruns and whatnot on on cable
networks, and you know, Ithink it speaks to I mean, time
is a character on the show.Uh. And so to speak of sort
of the timelessness of of Cold Case, uh is I think, you know,
(21:27):
a testament to everybody who worked onit. You know, the crew
with plastic crew, great directors,an amazing writing staff, with fantastic show
runners over the seven seasons. MeredithSteam who was our creator of the show,
Katherine Morris who you know played LilyRush incredibly well, uh, you
(21:51):
know, the rest of the cast. I mean we we we grew to
be a family. Everything from youknow, celebrating holidays holidays together to you
know, fighting over the check atlunch to playing you know, in a
softball league against other shows. Youknow it, it became it became a
(22:11):
family. I mean a lot ofus had kids during that time. We
became parents. During that time.We all sort of, like I really
experienced some major moments in our personallives together. So to see that people
still talk about what we achieved andtalk about our show and the fact that
(22:36):
you know, it is being discussedor reboot is flattering, it's humbling,
it's exciting, and overall it justmakes me happy and makes me incredibly grateful.
Was that show the first time youever wrote episodes for a series before?
Yeah, I co wrote two episodesin season six with l would Read
(23:00):
and then season seven with Adam Glass. That was the first time I'd ever
well, I mean I'd written inthe past, you know, for her
and you know, for stage,but never in sort of a script format.
Gotcha. Just going into that processwith that nerve racking few because I
feel like I would be that guygoing, I have absolutely no idea,
(23:22):
what the heck I'm doing it?Yes, yes, the the the answer,
the short answer is yes. Butyou know it was made that much
more organic because Greg Plateman, whowas our co showrunner at the time,
reached out to me and he said, look, there's this Vanity Fair article
about Cuban baseball players being brought intothe United States eventually almost smuggled into the
(23:49):
United States as a commodity. Andthen you know the people who smuggled them,
whether you know they would get acertain percentage of those players sort of
lifetime salaries, right, their contracts, and so it was really interesting article.
Uh, kind of nefarious and underworldy, you know in terms of the
(24:11):
dealing as to how it how itall went down, but also with the
geopolitics of these players. Could gaintheir freedom, you know, and be
out of this you know, repressiveuh, you know, totalitarian system in
Cuba, right, and be ableto achieve their dreams, right, and
the dreams of their families right,and and not be held back and imprisoned
(24:37):
on their own island. Right.Uh. So there was all of these
dynamics that I understand very well,you know, being Cuban American. Right.
So, after reading like the twentypage article of Vanity Fair, Greg
said, look, let's have lunchand I'd love I'm going to write,
uh the script, but I'd lovefor you to give me sort of like
color commentary on the culture whatnot.I wanted to be authentic. About a
(25:03):
week later, we sat down atthe commissary at Warner Brothers. And as
soon as we sat down, hesaid, so what did you think of
the article? And I pulled outan outline for the episode. I was
like, here are your characters,how these are the flashbacks, here's the
music. That we're going to use. Right, we have Celia Cruz,
we have Benny more Right, wehad a bunch of different Cuban artists that
(25:26):
I knew the format, having beenon the show for six seasons doing twenty
two to twenty four episodes to see, right, I knew the way the
show was constructed. And so theminute I took the outline out and he
looked at it, and by theway, the outline was way too long.
I mean it was a three hourepisode, right, It was like,
(25:48):
I'm sure this is like an hourbasically forty four minutes sans commercials.
Guys, yeah, exactly. ButI think from that point on he said,
you know what, I think maybewe should co write this together.
Uh. And so that's what reallyopened the door. And because I had
his blessing, uh, he thensaid, look, my my duty is
(26:11):
as showrunner. Uh. You knowthey're they're too extensive, and I won't,
in fact be able to co writeit with you. Would you want
to co write it with el wouldread? And Elwood is a fantastic guy
and a great writer, and wegot along very well and in a lot
of ways, having a co writer, being able to bounce things off of
(26:32):
Elwood who's six' eight and wasalignment at Michigan. You know, so
bouncing would really real easy. Uh. It made it made navigating those nerves
and made navigating sort of that pressureof writing an episode much easier. That's
awesome. And could you ever seeyourself writing an episode of Hotel Cocaine and
(26:53):
then that too distant future Oh wow? Uh huh. You know, I'll
answer that in saying that Chris Brancatoand Michael Paynes, our two main writers
on the show, are incredibly collaborative. And there there have been moments already
(27:15):
in the first season where there werescript uh you know, uh, there
were things in the script that,uh we we would discussed about authenticity,
about the Cuban American experience, youknow, about you know, those those
sort of uh you know, thatangle on how we were we were telling
(27:38):
the story, and you know,to my great good fortune and Yule's great
good fortune, they were willing andopen and really encouraging of how can how
can we make it more authentic?How can we actually delve into the reality
of the geopolitics of Miami in Cubaand the United States, and you know,
(28:03):
and the Cold War of the youknow, the seventies in South Florida,
and actually that is oftentimes more interestingthan a sort of made up version
of it. And so I'd saythis that you know, I'm I'm excited
about what the future of the showcould be, and I think that you
(28:23):
know, I'm open to contributing totelling the story in however many ways.
There was a point there was acomment that you just said that was also
something that I wholeheartedly agree with,which was obviously about Michael Pain's and Chris
Broncato. They're very open to havingthat discussion of how to make this authentic.
(28:45):
And the one comment I did saywas that I love the fact that
this is character driven, this isnot plot driven, and there's a You're
actually seeing a lot more of thepurpose behind why these characters are doing what
they're doing. And I love thatthis is the storytelling that is behind it.
And they're also utilizing your talents andyour abilities, whatever, if they
(29:10):
are asking for some type of input, incorporating that into the story, and
that's also driving the character. It'snot the plot of the character. And
that's really one of the biggest thingsthat I fell in love with the show
because you were able to tell thatright away how character driven this is.
And that's one of the most interestingthings about a television show that grabs my
(29:30):
attention and it it has that inspace here on this show. So it's
really refreshing to keep hearing that fromeverybody who I have talked to about the
show. So that's really, really, really great. And the other question
I did have for you was Iwatched the Norman Lear panel you were ocular
(29:52):
harmon from. You did the scriptreading from Maud, which was the episode
of Maud's Dilemma which involved mod abortion. How much fun did you have doing
that because I was told I washaving a good time watching apparently because I
didn't think people were watching me havea good time. But I enjoyed it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, you knowit. Something I want to say
(30:17):
to the last comment you made priorto the Norman question is that our show,
I think Hotel Cocaine is a fantasticcombination of character and plot. Right.
I've watched and I've been a partof shows that are you know,
(30:44):
balanced towards the plot more. Yeah, and you lose your connection to the
story because not connected to the characterscorrect. I've been a part of,
you know, productions that are muchmore character driven, and it starts to
(31:04):
get flat and you start to loseyour interest because there's not enough plot,
Like what is the story? Whatare they what are they trying? So
I feel like the shows that Ilike to watch, or maybe are the
most successful, are the ones thathave that that balance between plot and character,
and that character sometimes drives you towardsthat inevitable plot twist or vice versa.
(31:32):
The plot you get the situation whereyou can't get out of, and
the characters revealed through that. Right, So that combination I think is vital.
And it's one of those things thatwith Hotel Cocaine, through Chris Broncado,
through the direction, through our writers, with this fantastic cast that if
you ask them, listen, youneed to invest in the character and bring
(31:57):
something that's not on the on thepage age to the screen. This cast
is you know, more than happyand more than willing to step up to
that. Right. Yeah. ButI think it's also important to say that
MGM plus is a platform that isn'tlooking at its watch. It's not looking
at the clock saying we need tobe out of this in forty eight minutes.
(32:20):
With commercials, we need to move, so you need to cut all
the air out of the episode.And what you end up having in a
lot of those situations where you havea network that takes all the air out
of a scene is oftentimes when humanbeings have a conversation, the silences speak
more than the words, right,And when you know you're paying too much
(32:45):
attention to what we have to beout of this in forty six minutes,
what usually gets sacrificed the most oftentimesare the silences, are the pauses,
are those moments that aren't scripted thatpay off, you know what, whether
in that scene or later on,right. And so that that's one of
(33:07):
the things that I'm excited about beingon this platform. Uh MGM. Plus,
it feels like you're you're not you'reYou're not trying to go and sell
something. You're the only thing tosell is the authenticity of the story and
of the characters. And that allowsus to sort of tell the story the
(33:29):
way that we're telling me. Andso now going back to Norman Lear,
you know, I had the greatgood fortune, uh the distinct honor of
spending some time with Norman lear whenI was on one day at a time.
Yes, Hustina Machallo and Rita Moreno, Tony Plana and you know that
(33:52):
fantastic cast uh and uh Glodia Uh. It was to be in that room
with him and to understand ah hiscontribution to the history of television auh and
(34:13):
the history of our country. Frankly, you know, bringing up important issues
that weren't easy to talk about.Maybe still aren't easy to talk about today,
right, but that are important forus to discuss and kind of see
each other as human beings, rightand not as and not as issues right
where human beings that have to dealwith How you said that, I like
(34:36):
how you said that. Agreed,But to be a part of that reading,
I'll be honest, it was Iwas nervous, man, because it
was oh yeah, I was nervous. I mean we did the read through
and I was laughing so hard becausethey're the whole cast was so funny.
(34:58):
And U. You know, I'vedone theater, you know, in the
past. It's something I love todo. In fact, I did a
play right before COVID and it reignitedsort of my my love for live performance.
And that night was the closest thingthat I felt to that since being
(35:22):
on stage in I think it waslike twenty nineteen, right before the pandemic.
Yeah, and you know, it'sit shouldn't be. It shouldn't have
been as surprising as it was forme. But at the read through,
we're going through it and I'm laughingkind of under my breath at all the
lines that are being said. It'skind of quiet. There's nobody in the
theater, right, so we're justgoing through it. We're like, okay,
(35:44):
yeah, this is this is fun, this is this, this is
gonna be great. It's a littlemir but not. But the minute you
step out with the audience and youstart hearing the feedback and people are laughing
at these lines, and you're like, I knew this was funny. I
was hoping that it was funny.Uh, you know, it turns from
being okay, this is kind ofnerve wracking the minute you have that other
(36:07):
uh, that other character you knowin the audience that takes some of the
timing of the scene away, orthey add to the timing of the scene
because you have to wait to laughand whatnot, and and the whole cast
starts to ride this this wave thatNorman Lear was riding was when he was
(36:27):
producing and writing these shows. Youjust felt sort of that energy of the
evening and the nerves went away,and it was it was really about telling
this story and enjoying time together.That was. It was such a great
It was such a great experience,and for obvious reasons. The story the
episode that they used for that obviouslywas as you said, it may not
(36:51):
be the easiest story to talk about, but it's something that we need to
talk about. And but it wasvery well done. So very happy I
got the chances that for sure.And man, I don't know where the
time went, but this has beenprobably one of the most fun I've ever
had of you. This is thelongest we've ever had the chance to talk,
and I was so glad we evergot to do it. And Melle
(37:14):
and thank you so much for reallychampioning our show. It means a lot
to us. You know, wewere in the Dominican Republic kind of off
and on for almost five months moreand a half months, and it was
a little bit of a vacuum rightwhen we were just we were doing this
and we were hoping that people wouldrespond to it. Kind of in the
same way of going, you know, doing a read through without an audience
(37:35):
and then all of a sudden,there and you start to get the response.
So I think we all appreciate yourenthusiasm for the show. We appreciate
you giving us a platform to promoteour show and to maybe expand the audience
so that they can enjoy it too. Absolutely, I mean and also too,
just a quick comment, just seeingeverybody together. I saw the pictures
(37:58):
and everything when you got I didthe premiere last month. It's just I
was just I was just staring atI was like, oh, like,
there they are. There are mypeople, you know. So I was
very happy that, you know,they got They're getting that recognition that it
servicely deserves and it continues to deserve. So I'm I'm hoping and saying,
(38:19):
not saying. If I'm saying,when the news drops that we're getting a
season two, you know, we'llbe back and we'll be doing this some
more. So I can't I'm lookingforward to it, and I may or
may not be taking somebody's statement foractual truth and potentially get on a plane
and go there. Let's go.I'm just I'm just saying if if,
(38:42):
if, if said actor decided tothrow that in my face in person on
recording, I'm totally not going tosay no. I actually flat out told
everybody else who I talked to youthis week, yes I will go.
I will, Like you know what, that's where we'll do the next like
when season two drops, That's wherethe interviews will be is right there in
(39:06):
the dr let's freaking go. Honestly, there's no place better. So we
look forward to hosting you there absolutely. Man, dude, this was great.
Thank you, Thank you here somuch. I want to thank Danny
Pino for stopping by the podcast totalk about the latest episode, The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year, whichpremieres this Sunday night at nine pm Eastern
(39:27):
on MGM Plus. You currently canalso stream in the previous episodes on the
platform at your disposal. And Iwant to thank you guys for making Hotel
Cocaine Weeks so much fun. Thiswas a blast. My name's Novelle j
Lee. Making sure you keep gettingthe latest buzz with Buzzworthy Radio by longing
on to our website at buzzworthyradiocast dotcom. You can also follow us on
(39:49):
x at Buzzworthy Radio, liking uson our Facebook page. We're also on
Instagram at buzz ANDAPF and at BuzzworthyRadio, and you can stream our podcast
on Amazon Music and iHeart. We'llsee you guys next time. Take care,
stay in the no Catch up onall the buzz podcasts and videos at
buzzworthyradiocast dot com. Keep getting thelatest buzz with Buzzworthy Radio now on Amazon Music
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