In the upcoming Apple TV series Sugar, Bernardo Badillo plays the role of Manuel Enriquez, a character that challenges the conventional casting of Latinos in Hollywood. We explore Badillo’s contributions to Sugar, his methodological approach to this character, and his experiences working with Colin Farrell. In Sugar, he plays Manuel Enriquez, a complex antagonist in a narrative filled with moral ambiguities. The role offered Badillo the opportunity to delve into a character who, while villainous, is defined not by his ethnicity but by his backstory and actions.
Gloria: How do you maintain a sense of authenticity and individuality in this type of environment? This type of work setting often encourages conformity.
Badillo: I think just knowing who you are as a person. Most of my friends, I’ve had for 13 years, so almost like over 30 years. I think because I didn’t come from a family of artists, my friends and family watch my shows. When I go home, we’re not talking about my work. We’re not talking about Hollywood. We’re just talking about normal stuff. I think grounding yourself and surrounding yourself with people who are just regular and aren’t consumed by Hollywood, I think that makes a difference. And again, also, I think because I try to be authentic in terms of the work and not about it. The idea of fame, I don’t care if people are famous. I’m not saying that it’s not great to meet a famous person, but to me, I’m not necessarily doing the work because I think I’m going to be famous. And I’m not saying that there aren’t perks to that or even rich or whatever. But to me, it’s not about that. I wouldn’t have gone to school seven years in a row and got my bachelor’s degree if I didn’t love the work. I know that that’s what’s grounding me, the work and the love for it and not the fame and the Hollywood sort of idea.
Gloria: Let’s talk about Sugar now. How did you feel to be part of such a groundbreaking series like Sugar and what drew you to this project? How did you get into this role and what can audiences expect from it?
Badillo: My agent got me the audition and I auditioned, but it wasn’t clear what the show was. It was very top secret when I was auditioning for it. But it did say Fernando Meires was directing and he’s one of my favorite directors. He directed City of God, which was this incredible Brazilian film, and I watched it in the movie theater when I was like 17 years old, and it’s incredible. The funny thing is that when I auditioned, I got only a very small chunk of the dialog and that was it. So I didn’t know what the story was. I did not get the script, I did my best in the audition. Then I got the part and then slowly we started to get the script. Then I knew that I was starting and that I was going to get to work with Colin and it was all kind of a surprise. I didn’t know what my character was going to even be doing in the show.
Gloria: Tell me about Manuel Enriquez, the character you’re playing.
Badillo: Well, Manuel is not a very good guy. I can’t say too much about it. But he’s not a good guy. But what I liked about this particular character was that even though he does bad things, my character is part of a crew of antagonists for Colin in the show. But the character didn’t have to be Latino. Meaning like, Yes, the character speaks Spanish, but it could be it could have been anybody. So what I liked about it was that even though I’m like in a crew of bad, it’s not like a crew of Latinos. It’s not like, it doesn’t come into play so much that I’m Latino, except that I speak Spanish, right? So what I liked about this role was that it wasn’t like, because you’re Latino, you have to play the bad guy, right? Like, you know, the bad characters are diverse. It’s not all one. It’s not all one-sided.
Gloria: So how did you approach yourself in the world of Sugar, you know, to bring the character of Manuel to life?
Badillo: For this particular one, I gave myself a traumatic childhood experience. We’re talking about specifics, I gave myself a very traumatic childhood experience that I created in my head. I used music and, I played that over and over in my head and, and I went through the emotions of that traumatic experience. So it grounded me in why my character would go and do bad things as an adult. So that's really where I use my method of acting. So that was that was very specific for this character that I made that childhood trauma very specific. There's a reason why people get into situations or do bad things, and that's bringing authenticity and that's bringing the truth. That's sort of my guiding light, meaning like, that even though I'm not playing that trauma, I know that I can use that to ground me every single day when I'm on set. And then I go from there.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Marvin Gloria
- Written by
- Christina Rosas Anastasiou
- Photography
- Isaac Alvarez
- Retouching
- Brianna Kish
- Hair & Makeup
- Pilar Vasquez
- Styling
- Christina Rosas Anastasiou
- Clothing provided by
- Ivan Bitton Style House
