The anticipated Far Cry 6 comes out on October 7, featuring Giancarlo Esposito as the dictator Anton Castillo. The Ubisoft game sees players take on the role of Dani Rojas, a rebel on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara out to stop Castillo. Known as El President, Castillo has a plan to take the island out of the past while in the midst of a revolution.
Screen Rant spoke to Esposito about working on the game, his experience with motion capture, and how Anton compares to his character on The Mandalorian.
Screen Rant: I am so excited for this game. My friends and family will not be seeing me for weeks once it comes out. How does it finally feel to be right around the corner? I feel like we’ve been talking about it for a while.
Giancarlo Esposito: It feels great. I always felt like they had a date they wanted to put it out and then it changed and another date. And I thought, “Oh, if they put it out when everyone’s so harangued and harassed by a pandemic, it might be a good thing to take their mind off of it.” But I think people are in a better place now and sort of starting to come out of their cocoon and their caves, but yet still having to be cautious. It’s a good time for renewal and I’m so excited it’s finally happening.
So much work and intense labor went into making this, but it truly is cutting edge in its technology and its storytelling. I certainly have been in wonder and amazement over what they’ve done and can’t wait to have it shared with everyone.
I know you lived it, you were in it and you kind of know everything that happens, but have you had the chance to play through a little bit?
Giancarlo Esposito: I had a very brief moment while I was there, before it was actually completely finished, to test the water, and it was very, very exciting, but I have not played the whole thing. I’m threatening to be on line at the GameStop or wherever I can get it to go and support as well and bring it home and have that feeling of putting it on and learning it.
What the wonderful part for me this has been. I’m not an expert on video games. So I’m then educated by folks like you and folks who are in this world, and I’ve had a peek into the world from behind the scenes.
It’s just hitting me now, realizing how futuristic this really is. And when I started to look at the pieces they showed me, I went, “Wait a minute, this is not a game. This is an interactive film that you can be a part of and guide the motion of and the trajectory and the outcome of the storytelling.” And that’s really exciting.
In your opinion, what makes a compelling villain? What are we in store for with Anton?
Giancarlo Esposito: Well, what really makes a compelling villain is someone who is astute and extremely aware of his surroundings. Anton is the master of his ship in this particular place called Yara. He’s watched his father build an empire on a little island that he takes one step further because he wants to empower the people. He thinks that’s in his vision. Then he’s in a conflict, and the conflict is that we have a revolution happening! And the conflict is that he is up against other particular problems that allow him to be more vulnerable and allow him to see that he must pay attention to his child.
So it becomes, in a way, a family story about a man trying to empower his son to take up the mantle of his leadership, that he knows in the future he will need to be grooming his son to do that, and his son has a different view. So it becomes a very interesting juxtaposition of family, politics, leadership, corruption, and history.
There are many characters in the game, and I think you are poised to see Anton Castillo – El Presidente – in many different incarnations in this game because of the journey that he has to take. And those incarnations are inclusive of him being powerful, being vulnerable, being a thinker. Seeing and unraveling his history as you go through it, you start to understand he’s not just an evil dictator, he does have a vision, and that is something that I think is very important for the game as well.
You did motion capture and the voice for this character. What is the most challenging part of doing that versus a film or television project where you’re fully physically on set?
Giancarlo Esposito: Well, you are fully physically on set doing this motion capture, but you have many different pieces of technology that you have to work around. And for me, it was about forgetting about them and being real. So it reminded me of rehearsing a stage play, and to me, you have to be very present in those moments.
The film is put together from many different takes [from] many different angles. This is done on an angle on me with a helmet on and cameras and a wide shot and all these markers to mark my physicality from ankle bone, toe bone, to knuckle, to head. And so, all of that, when you’re actually acting within it, you have to forget about and just be, and to me, that was an acting exercise.
To understand that the most important thing was the material and how they filmed it, to have that understanding is wonderful. And also, it includes me in understanding how it’s going to be in the end. But then you have to let all that go and just be within that moment with someone who looks as funny as you do, it’s like you’re in the circus with the suit on and the helmet on, but it’s making that connection that’s most important.
So how does Anton Castillo stack up against another popular villain you’re playing right now, Moff Gideon?
Giancarlo Esposito: Well, Anton is very different than Moff. I think they would butt heads in a very, very, very incredibly big, big way. Moff is not a parent, but someone who feels like he has to take a parental attitude over his world, over this universe that’s crumbled that he’s trying to put back together. He knows everything, you have no idea why. You’re trying to figure out how does he know what he knows, but he has this information and you’ll come to find out in episodes to come why he knows what he knows and what his true intention is. He wants this child, but what does he want the child for? You don’t really know, but again, you’re held in suspense until you realize that he may want that child for good, to help heal and change the universe.
What these guys have in common is that they’re both very powerful men who have to make decisions for others. Moff Gideon has to make those decisions because he takes [it] upon himself to be that warden that has been empowered somewhere along the line, we don’t know where, to figure this out and put the pieces back together. Anton is trying to save his little island from commercialization [by] other countries who might come in and try to take his natural resources. So you have two different agendas, but lining up in the same direction.
I have to ask you, you’re filming that scene with Luke Skywalker. When you were on set, what did they tell you was happening? Did you know it was supposed to be Luke or were they just like, react like something wild is happening?
Giancarlo Esposito: I got to tell you, they’re so good at keeping secrets and allowing us to know just enough, but not enough to be able to really get what’s happening. None of us knew. I mean, it is such a great thing that they’re able to keep the lid on that. I know that they trusted us to not let it out in the world, but I think by virtue of the fact that it was such a secret, it also gave us the ability to surprise ourselves. And so, I love the fact that they’re able to use the technology, some of which is being used in Far Cry 6, to have that moment be so surreal for Luke and to have that be such an important moment for our show. Because as Moff Gideon displays in that scene when he looks at that screen and he sees the Jedi, it’s just, “Oh my goodness, what am I going to do now?” And Moff knows, very, very clearly from his expression on his face, that he’s in trouble and that we’re in trouble because here’s really the true hero coming back to us in a mythological way.
This show is so great because it deals with mythology, and it’s a throwback to the original Star Wars, and the success of it is enormous because of that. Right now, in our world, we need to feel like we’re empowered as human beings. I need to feel like Anton Castillo is empowering his people, trying to save his nation, even though he’s got to do bad things to achieve that. Moff Gideon is someone who wants to control. And maybe underneath it all, I always think, because it gives me a variance of character, that he wants to do something good, that he has the knowledge to do something good. He doesn’t want it all for himself, because what is the self? There’s nothing left, right?
He wants to put back some kind of order, and we all need order in our lives right now. We don’t know how to get that order in our own lives right now, during the time in our world, except to empower ourselves to be more loving, more kind, more gracious, to contribute more to our society, have our voices be heard in a good way, in a calm way that can elicit the change that we want to have happen in our world. We need strong leadership that doesn’t vacillate, that really allows people and humanity to soar and to grow. We’re in a big, huge shift, not only in our entertainment business but also in our lives.
If we can look in the mirror every day and go, I matter, I matter, and even though I feel like I’ve been told I don’t or if I just have that thing that doesn’t allow me to feel like I’m somebody, well, you are. And I’m here to tell you, you’re a superhero. If I can come from what I’ve come from and through in my life to focus on what I do by cultivating what I do today – that determines my tomorrow, learning how to produce, learning how to direct, learning how to deepen my acting, learning how to be completely present – then anyone can. And that example should live through people. I’m insecure, I don’t know, am I going to do it right? There’s no right or wrong. Experiment, be collaborative with people, and you’ll come out on top always if you’re open, vulnerable, present, and alive.
I guess I should say, I’m really grateful. It’s a good time to be me, but it’s a good time to be you too, and that’s the whole point of it. If I can go out and say something to someone that truly is from my heart, I realized, don’t close your lips. You like someone’s hairstyle, say it. Be honest, you like someone’s attitude. I said it to someone yesterday, “You know what? I realize every time I come here, why I like to come to the optometrist is because of you, because your attitude is so good.” And this person turned to me and smiled and went, “Whoa,” like she hadn’t been told that in forever. I really keyed into it. You have a great personality, and I like being around you, and you made this easy, and it’s great. When we can say that, it’s an acknowledgment of our inner mirror of goodness and gracious and happy people.
Far Cry 6 comes to PlayStation 4 &5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, Google Stadia, and PC on October 7.
