Giancarlo Esposito was recently announced to be the villain in the upcoming Far Cry 6 video game. Which, is set to launch on February 18th. This isn’t the first time Esposito will portray a villain, as he’s known for his roles in Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian. In Far Cry 6, Esposito will play President Anton Castillo. He’s a dictator who will use his power to get what he wants. He also has a son, Diego. This decision was made so he wasn’t a “one-dimensional villain”, according to the developers at Ubisoft Toronto.
In a recent interview with THR, Esposito answered such questions as:
What was appealing about this project that made you want to step back into gaming?
Pay Day 2 was a very different shoot. It wasn’t motion capture at all. I had some experience with director Wes Ball on his film Mouse Guard before it got shelved during the Disney-Fox acquisition, so I had about a week and a half of working in a motion capture suit. I found it challenging, but it introduced me to this whole world. So, when Far Cry 6 came up I was interested because we never completed the movie and I was also just getting comfortable working in this space. To use just your physicality and face and emotions, it reminded me a bit of doing a stage play. I come from theater, so it was a way for me to explore this new world and get back to my roots, as well.
Your character is a sort of dictator and the game deals with themes of nationalism. Did you take any influence from real-world leaders or politics?
I’m very interested in third-world country where dictators have taken power and taken advantage of their population. Mugabe is one, obviously Castro is another. I’m interested in those countries in Africa where there are leaders who have such great resources but haven’t been able to take advantage of them and use them for their own country. I haven’t drawn from any of that experience — because I’ve been to Burkina Faso, I’ve met a couple of dictators.
What I get from them is an overwhelming sense that they’ve seized power and control but what’s lacking to me is their ability to translate that into caring and compassion for their people. There are some seeds there that I felt like I would like to cultivate in terms of seeing a different type of dictator. I feel like we have an advantage with some of the themes in our piece to open up people’s eyes to the flip side of that. I really like the story of King Solomon, someone who ruled with an iron hand but shared his wealth with the people and empowered them. We have an opportunity to tell a story that is a little larger than the particular dictator story that we’re privy to in our news and our history.
He was also asked for he is able to achieve the goal of being a captivating villain.
How do you make a captivating villain?
A good villain is a human being. As an actor, if I have an opportunity to portray a real human being, then you’ll see all the black and the white of that personality. For years, we see villains and we’re afraid of them and normally hate them. What makes a good villain is to make the audience love and hate them.
Are you excited to see Esposito as Anton Castillo in Far Cry 6?
For the full interview, please visit THR.
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