0:00

With Mario a little bit. It's on

0:03

Mario Lopez joining me now on zoom from

0:05

DC swamp Thing, my man ship.

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Hold on, sorry, sorry sorry,

0:11

Here we go one more time. I got my little glass

0:13

cut this out. I'm getting old, but

0:15

I'm gonna go without. No,

0:17

I'm not gonna do now. I'm not gonna did you do a

0:19

surgery? Oh wait, anut, we'll talk about

0:21

that. We talk, We'll talk about that. Here we go one more

0:24

time. You're on Mario Lopez

0:26

joining me now on zoom from DC swamp Thing,

0:28

my man Iron ZERI and welcome back.

0:30

Man. Hey, Mario, it's

0:32

so nice to see you, So nice to see It's so nice

0:34

to be having something to be, you

0:37

know, having to talk about it. Yeah, such

0:40

such a depressive time, not just here but around

0:42

the world with all the social unrest and global

0:45

pandemic. It's like enough, I

0:47

know, I know enough already is right? Well, you look healthy

0:49

and and we were just talking before the

0:51

family as well. So that's good. Is that? Are you home

0:54

at the moment right now? I'm home.

0:56

I'm here in my house and I like the layer.

0:58

I like the layer with the animal

1:00

friends, very

1:02

cool with the stone. Yeah,

1:05

what's happening here. Cut a kind

1:08

of a picture. There you are, You're back, Yeah, I'm

1:10

back. Yeah. You know I've been living

1:12

in this house for twenty eight years now, is that right?

1:14

Wow? Yeah, this is the house that nine

1:16

o two on oh made possible for

1:19

me. And uh, you know where am I going? Right

1:21

in the center of Hollywood. I'm in the hills

1:23

here, so it's kind of quiet, awesome, pretty

1:26

centrally located. It's I'm a lucky

1:28

guy. You can't beat that every

1:31

day serious appreciation on that property. I'm

1:33

sure there.

1:36

Hey, um, I'm please tell me, is this

1:38

swamp thing? Is it like the

1:40

movie back in the day? Because I love that No,

1:43

Mario, that was campy,

1:45

love that though. I love that swamp thing and

1:47

she was hot. But Adrian

1:50

Barbow absolutely, and then Heather

1:53

Lockley or recreated the character. No,

1:55

they brought it back with a very serious

1:57

tone. This is really this is a surreal

2:00

experience. It's it's

2:02

it's you know, it's

2:04

a science fiction adventure,

2:06

but it's grounded in a if.

2:08

I'm a surreal reality in Moray,

2:11

Louisiana, a swamp and

2:14

um, you know, there are strange things afoot

2:16

in the swamp. There's some you know, evil

2:18

doers that are poisoning the swamp for

2:21

financial gain, and because the swamp

2:23

is eerie and has dark spirits around it,

2:25

together they're rebelling. And

2:27

when the scientists go to figure out why, one

2:30

guy, Dr Alec Holland slips into

2:32

the water and he transforms

2:34

into the swamp thing. And oh

2:37

man, this is this is done on a level that

2:40

hundred million dollar blockbusters are done.

2:42

This is top tier film production.

2:45

We had three cameras working

2:47

the whole time, and as you know and film, there's

2:49

a crew, and there were three crews

2:52

and they worked like special ops. We had

2:54

a visual effects, makeup department. We had a visual

2:56

effects um prop

2:58

department. These departments came

3:00

together and worked under you

3:03

know, our first director Lenn Weisman, who

3:05

you know shoots hundred million dollar blockbusters

3:08

underworld on just unbelievable.

3:11

And having James One from Aquaman

3:14

held me this and produced this seriously,

3:17

this is I've never been more excited

3:19

about any project I've ever been associated

3:22

with because it talks to the eight year old boy inside

3:24

of me that just as

3:26

a little kid, I put the cape on, I ran around with a sword,

3:29

didn't everybody didn't read a little boy just wanted to

3:31

be that guy. And I get

3:33

to play the Blue Devil, which

3:36

is, you know, kind of a superhero,

3:39

but he's a demon, so he's like

3:41

a bad superhero. Well

3:43

he uses his powers for good, not

3:45

evil, but he doesn't like good superheroes.

3:48

Batman leaves

3:51

it, leaves the bad guys and handcuffs for the cops

3:53

to pick up. Well, not

3:55

the Blue Devil. He leaves the bad guys in

3:57

pieces. He creates a blood bath like

3:59

no, but he survives this guy. And

4:03

when Daniel Cassidy, my character resumes

4:05

his human form and he sees he's covered with blood

4:07

and he knows what he's just done, it's

4:10

it's with a lot of reluctancy and

4:13

trepidation for what he's

4:15

become. And it's because he's made this deal

4:17

with the phantom stranger we don't

4:19

know is God or the Devil.

4:22

And it all takes place in Moray where

4:24

there's the Swamp Thing. There's a lot of supernatural

4:27

activity going on, and I'm so grateful to

4:29

play this character and be woven into

4:32

an iconic story like Swamp

4:35

Thing. I'm welcome with unbelievable people on

4:37

this Mario, it's going the fact that

4:39

it's going to be on broadcast television. When

4:41

we shot this originally as a hard

4:44

are not for adult, not for adult

4:46

situations, not form for language,

4:49

but because of the horror, it's

4:51

so visceral, it's so jarring

4:54

that this is transformative television. This

4:56

is big block this is big blockbuster

4:58

filmmaking on the

5:00

c W Tuesday. Well, that's that's

5:03

awesome. Mat Congratulations on the

5:05

project. Like I said, I love the movie back

5:07

in the day, so it sounds like everything's just taken next

5:09

level. Did you where did you shoot it? We

5:12

shot it in Wilmington's, North Carolina,

5:15

same sound stages that they shot One Tree

5:17

Hill and Dawson's Creek

5:20

and Fantastic Productions down

5:23

studios down there in a very sleepy town,

5:25

the beach community, Wilmington, North Carolina.

5:28

But it's also a very foodie uh

5:31

town. It's it's it's beautiful. It

5:33

was like being on vacation, but it was also

5:36

being on location with you

5:39

know, people that I admire. The actors

5:41

on this, Jennifer Beale's Will Patton,

5:44

Uh, Crystal Read, Andy

5:46

Bean, Derek Mears. These

5:48

are people that have done amazing things

5:50

in their careers, bring together with

5:53

top top directors, and

5:56

let's talk about the writing for a second. That's the

5:58

hardest thing to do in action and venture, to create

6:00

depth of character, to create a

6:03

quality character, because there's no time

6:05

for that. Usually it's explosion, rush

6:07

to the next set piece, rushed to the next

6:09

monster. So these

6:11

guys, who are all working at the top of their

6:13

game, were able to do that. We're

6:15

able to create these characters and create enough depth.

6:18

We're even in the first episode you start caring for

6:20

this people, but you become invested in these people

6:22

so quickly because really a testament

6:25

to the mastery that the writers have brought

6:27

to this project. Mario bang

6:30

my fist on the table. This is going to be the most watchable

6:32

thing on TV this year. There's nothing

6:34

like this. There's such a hunger

6:37

for quality content because there is none,

6:40

and now we've got this. It's gonna

6:42

blow people's mind. You got me fired up. Did

6:45

you see it's did you see

6:47

Tiger King? Well,

6:50

yeah, a train wreck

6:53

of a whole. Yes, Alabastion

6:56

was on U Metting with the Stars. I mean

6:58

that makes it very watchable. You know what it's like

7:00

to be on that show. No, it's true. That's

7:02

true. No, But I like the fact that you

7:05

kind of were in this sci fi

7:07

space too with Sharknado obviously for like a while,

7:09

and and now have transition

7:11

into this whole other sort of production was

7:13

Swamp King. That's great, man, that you've been able to

7:16

kind of find this whole new genre to kind of capitalize.

7:19

It's you know, it's nothing I've

7:21

tried to steer myself towards. I found

7:23

great failure when I tried to dictate

7:25

what my career should be. You

7:27

know, it's a very humbling experience when you

7:30

just have to be open to whatever the universe

7:32

has. And when I made that transition

7:34

and really started with Dancing with the Stars because

7:36

like, I'm an actor and I don't do this, and then you

7:38

know, I saw you blow up for it, and I started

7:41

to do a little cost analysis

7:43

of it, Well, what are the pros and cons? And

7:45

the pros were I would get to learn a new skill,

7:47

that I would be on TV and stay topical,

7:49

that I had a chance to win money for charity,

7:52

and what are the bad things? What were the cons? And

7:54

there weren't none. It made me check myself.

7:56

It's like, look, you need to leave the ego. You need to be

7:58

open to these experience is and you

8:01

can be an entertainer. You know, that's

8:04

part of what I do. And you

8:06

know, magically the safety

8:08

net appeared at that moment. And I've been very

8:10

lucky to have continue to work just

8:13

being open to whatever the universe has for

8:15

me. I'm just very grateful. It's always filled with gratitude

8:17

because there's a thousand guys maybe more,

8:19

that could do this. I'm so glad you didn't get the audition.

8:22

I would have been in trouble. But

8:24

you know it's it's Um,

8:27

I feel very lucky. That's awesome in the industry

8:29

that's very competitive, and I get to do these things.

8:31

And I pinched myself. I'm

8:34

lucky. Great, great attitude and perspective

8:36

you have right there. Um, I

8:38

can't believe man, that Beverly Hills

8:40

nine O two and nine O two debut thirty

8:42

years ago this week, right,

8:45

Yes, it's insane and saved by the bell.

8:47

How many years ago was that? Sixty

8:50

five years ago? It must have been. I

8:52

think it was like thirty something

8:54

something something like that. It was around the

8:56

same time it was. Yeah, it feels like and

8:58

you're great man. You you you've you've kept

9:01

yourself together there. But do you remember anything about

9:03

the first day on set? I was trying to think about my first

9:05

day on set. I can't remember. I literally

9:07

cannot remember. I remember

9:10

the first episode. I don't necessarily remember the

9:12

first day. But the first episode we did

9:14

this special. It was originally

9:16

titled The Class of Beverly Hills, and

9:19

you know, I had this drunk scene where

9:21

you know, it's talking about, you know, having

9:23

just broken up with Kelly Taylor and how she's

9:25

the biggest bitch. And that was my audition

9:27

scene for the thing. Um,

9:30

playing drunk is you know what, there's a fine line

9:33

there. I was really like, oh my god,

9:35

how do you reel it in? How do you make it convincing?

9:37

And you know, I was ad libbing

9:39

up a storm working with Brian Green when

9:41

he, like the characters, trashed the corvette.

9:44

I just remember everybody feeling

9:47

very grateful to be working. You know, we're all very

9:50

young. We were put

9:52

onto this show. Everyone had a screen

9:54

test for it, so everyone

9:56

earned their their place on that

9:58

on that cast. But um, it

10:01

was kind of intimidating. I'd never worked at

10:03

that level of content before. I had

10:05

done soap operas before, and commercials

10:07

and one thing or another. But you know this for

10:10

what I thought back then and still today,

10:13

was the big time. And you know

10:15

I I learned very

10:17

early in life my mom, who used to take

10:19

me to my commercial auditions, and I remember

10:21

my first commercial. The

10:24

guy came into the room and said, hey, what can I get you for

10:26

breakfast? One of the p a's and I

10:29

as a new experience for me and I was gonna

10:31

say, you know, French does to got

10:33

some cinnam in bread. Friends had to dread like that. And

10:35

my mom put her hand on me and she said, he'll get

10:37

his breakfast. And I looked at

10:40

I didn't understand what was happening. And when

10:42

the guy left the room, my mom said, you know, I

10:44

and you may be in front of the camera, but he's

10:46

behind the camera, and he's just as important as you are.

10:49

And I'm sure it's got something more important

10:52

to do than to get your breakfast. So

10:54

while you can, why don't you go

10:57

get your breakfast and while you're there, go

10:59

introduce yourself there everybody on the set. Mom,

11:01

And that's the kind of way it's

11:04

set my tone for every

11:06

set I've ever been on. You know, I always get

11:08

my own food unless I can't if I'm

11:10

in a makeup chair, and then I'm grateful for someone who's

11:12

going to bring it to me. But I'm happy to go out

11:14

and get my own stuff. I like a little mixing

11:17

up with the cast and crew, and I always introduced

11:19

myself to everyone on set. I appreciate

11:22

what they're doing to make this project. I

11:24

mean, everybody's got an oar in the water when

11:26

you're doing you know, production,

11:29

everybody's got an oar in the water. You're sitting there

11:31

in the sound booth right now, but you

11:33

know you've got a group of techies behind

11:35

you working the controls and making true

11:37

your levels of lighting. And that's a pina

11:41

pinata very. He's

11:43

very helpful, he's very No, you're

11:45

you're You're right, though, And I don't take

11:47

it for grant for granted at all. Hey, I wanted

11:49

to ask you, is it true that you originally

11:51

beat out Luke Perry for the role of Steve

11:53

Sander has been but Aaron found a way

11:56

to get Lucan obviously eventually.

11:58

Yeah, you know, I don't really

12:00

know how that went down. I I've heard

12:02

that before, but

12:05

I don't know. I originally auditioned

12:08

for Steve Sanders. I don't know what Luke uh,

12:11

what character he was. I know that he

12:13

wasn't in the the premier

12:15

episode, So you know, they

12:17

may have loved what Luke had done. He

12:20

maybe just wasn't necessarily right for Steve Sanders.

12:23

I mean, look at the two characters.

12:25

What Luke brought, those smoldering good

12:27

looks, that attitude, that broken bad

12:29

boy mentality was a complete

12:32

departure from Steve Sanders.

12:35

So what they liked about Luke

12:37

they created a character for and made, you

12:39

know, the bad guy or bad

12:42

boy. Yeah, the bad boy, that's

12:44

right. Yeah,

12:47

yeah, yeah, the bad boy. And

12:49

that was an integral, integral character

12:51

in the whole you know, group

12:54

of characters we needed, we needed

12:56

him. Yeah, I know it all worked out. Um

12:58

listen, I'm before I let you go on. Put you on the spot. Quick

13:00

questions, quick answers. Okay, oh

13:03

boy, okay? Favorite show you've binge

13:05

during Quarantine? I

13:08

just binged Ratchet? Do you like

13:10

it good? I did kind of like it.

13:12

I also binged Away.

13:14

I kind of like that too. Oh that's the

13:16

space one with what's

13:19

her name told

13:23

us about it. Yeah, yeah,

13:25

that's nine O two one. Oh memory.

13:28

Wow, we made almost three episodes.

13:31

You know when

13:35

we won People's Choice Awards that

13:37

night was was magical that I

13:40

remember going in a limousine with

13:42

the guys getting there, and you

13:44

know the fact that we won that when

13:47

we had no critical acclaim. It was

13:49

all the fan support. But

13:52

you know, the critics didn't really love the show, but

13:54

the people did and that was an opportunity

13:56

to really push what we were doing through

13:59

to mainstream and that was that

14:01

was a fantastic memory. I've got a great picture

14:03

on my wall of all the whole cast after

14:05

just having received that award. Oh yeah, that's

14:07

an amazing So wait a minute, So three

14:10

episodes, so how many years? How

14:12

many ten years? Ten years? Wow,

14:14

that's amazing. We had.

14:16

We had a couple of seasons where we did thirty two

14:18

episodes. What what episodes?

14:23

Dramatic for your lives? No?

14:26

Where do you got that big house over there? Day?

14:29

Um. We would do double ups

14:31

where there we would have two

14:33

mirror crews. We'd have to make

14:35

up departments, we use different sound

14:38

stages. We would shoot two episodes

14:40

at one time. It's a lot of work with a single camera.

14:42

That's a lot of work. Wow. Well, we had another

14:45

film crew, and you know on cam

14:47

on set we would often use two cameras, but there

14:49

were two mirror crews shooting

14:51

two episodes at one time, and

14:54

you know where the normal order would be twenty six

14:56

to have another six episodes to shoot on top

14:58

of that, they got to the point where we didn't

15:00

even remember our words. We'd have to study

15:02

the script right before and then the

15:05

the you

15:07

know, the script. He would have to tell us this

15:09

is what's happening in this scene, and we'd refresh and

15:12

do it. Or it's like doing a soap opera, doing

15:14

a soap opera. Oh my god, sixty pages

15:17

a day. You didn't even imagine. Heang Aaron's

15:19

felling man killing you right there. Hey, so nice

15:21

to catch up with you man, Thanks for your time

15:23

and congratulations on

15:25

everything. Swamp thing Tuesday's

15:28

on the c W and thanks

15:30

so much for checking in. I hope to see you in person. Bud, same

15:33

here, take care man, you by everybody, go

15:35

on with Mario A little petti