Eugene Cordero – Tacoma FD

By starrymag | April 9, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) There are a couple of animated things that are not out yet, but that are coming out pretty soon. I’m a voice on an AppleTV+ series called “Central Park,” which is by Loren Bouchard who does “Bob’s Burgers” and with Josh Gad. It’s like a musical animated project. I’m doing that and then I also am a voice on this “Star Trek: Lower Deck” TBS All Access show. I’ve been busy lending my voice to some things. On camera wise, a lot of “Tacoma.” I did that for most of it.

Q) How was your character Andy on “Tacoma FD” originally described to you?

A) When I auditioned for the part of Andy, I think they wanted to have a little bit more of a Napoleon complex. Like a small dude who thinks that he is the main guy type of thing. Also, they were really pushing for him to be balding and curmudgeon-y. I think that’s the way the breakdown of the character was, if I remember. It was kind of bordering along that type of character. Then, when I went in to read for the guys (Kevin [Heffernan] and Steve [Lemme])…Wendy O’Brien is the casting director and she’s one of those people who always pushes for me, but also lets the guys see a bunch of options in case they see something that is not on the page and is different from what they pictured. I think they pictured a guy they knew in college. I think that’s what they were originally saying to me. I’m definitely not that guy. And so, I was kind of doing it the way that I thought would be the way I feel I could play it for a longer show and what would be more for fun and also give them something different. I think I did do a take and try it in that small-man complex way. I don’t know if they liked it and it felt fine or if it was more fun for me to just kind of be the way Andy is now, which is basically he is the guy who will always be the rookie. Even with Lucy (Hassie Harrison) being there and if there is another person that comes the team, I’m definitely going to be picked on as though I just got there even though I’ve been there for years. I think it’s that kind of place where even though everybody is a bunch of Seniors you still treat them like Freshmen.

Q) We saw Andy’s competitive side come out. Is he always trying to prove himself to the guys?

A) He definitely knows that the guys love him and he feels the comradery, but I think it’s the frat always competing with each other. I think we saw it last season where Andy went over to the Chief and he felt maybe there was a different place for him. I think he knows that these guys treat him the best and he loves the guys in his station. It’s more of a competitive everybody wanting to win. But I’m sure that there is a little part of Andy that wants to be better than everybody else just because he always gets put in his place before he needs to be, which I think is always funny. Andy is trying to be like, “I’m great,” but before he can “I’m…” he’s already pushed to the side. I think it’s pretty fun to see them kind of challenge each other.

Q) Do you have any favorite scene partners or someone you were looking forward to working with more in Season Two?

A) I think I was just excited to see everybody mixing it up a little more. With ten episodes in the first season and a lot of that being introducing the characters and not really getting a good grasp of them yet…Even with Season Two with the premiere, we dive right into it. You are not getting re-introduced to the characters. We’re assuming you watched the first season and know who we are, so let’s just get into it. A lot of the second season is kind of mixing it up and you can see the interaction a little bit more. I wanted to do a bunch of scenes with everybody, to be honest. There are so many group scenes that I love, but for us to get branched off with me and Captain or me and Chief or me and Lucy – those kinds of moments are really fun because we get to see what the relationship between the two people are. I wish (and you get to see it a little bit more) … Obviously, there is some fun that is had when it is Ike and Andy, but it is also a lot of fun when it is Granny (Marcus Henderson) and Andy. I just like working with those guys as well. And Lucy and Andy get to kind of be rookies together. They’re the young “rookies” even though Andy is not the young one. But he definitely plays that part because he likes a bunch of things that everybody else doesn’t like but maybe can be attributed to more of a feminine energy at times.

Q) Well, we saw that his mom works at that beauty salon in the waxing scene last season.

A) He’s definitely a mama’s boy and a sister’s boy. The ladies in his family he definitely connects with.

Q) Is there much room to improv in scenes?

A) There is room to improvise a bunch, but a lot of the time I find that…Even though I love to improvise whenever I can, I found that the scripts are so well written. Kevin and Steve have done such a great job with the rest of the writers in the Writers Room (a lot of them are returning from last season), so they have a real idea of what our voice sounds like already that when I look in the script it doesn’t feel like we have to go past what is already on the page. So, a lot of the time we are just sticking to the page and if there is time towards the end, we’ll go for it. I’m sure if you talk to Kevin and Steve, they’ll say that all I do is go off book, but that’s because I don’t remember my lines. [smiles] So, a lot of improvising is because I didn’t do my homework. [smiles]

Q What have been some of your favorite moments from filming “Tacoma FD?”

A) I will say that there are a couple of things in Season Two that I absolutely loved filming. In Season One (what we’ve already seen) I loved doing the Flame-O stuff. I think that was really fun. And doing the B-Team episode was a real blast for me. And the werewolf…When Ike thinks he turned into a werewolf, the full moon fever episode whre it’s the Halloween one. That one was…We had to do that as a night shoot and Gabe [Hogan] who plays Ike…We went until like seven in the morning, but that guy kept me laughing the whole time pretending he’s a werewolf. The day and night went by so fast even though we had to spend all of that time shooting. It was my favorite thing. But really, overall, I just think anytime we get to do those scenes where all of us are kind of sitting in those lounge chairs or in a kitchen and we’re just around the table bullshitting…That is where we are just joking around and having a ball. Those kind of blend into each other because it feels like we’re always doing it, but those are my favorite shoots.

Q) You have great comedic timing! Has it always been a natural ability to you or have you studied and worked at it?

A) I spent a lot of my time studying. I went to school for theater, but even when I went to school for theater in New York I dove into the improv and sketch world pretty quick when I was in college. It was right when the Upright Citizens Brigade was big in New York or just getting going. So, I was kind of on the ground floor over there watching shows and trying to be a part of that world. I’ve spent a lot of my time kind of focused on comedy and making my comedy better. I think a lot of the time the timing is just from the reps of doing it a lot. For TV, a lot of the time the editing is what makes the timing great. So, it might seem like my timing is pretty good, but the editing that Kevin and Steve do with the writers and Editors of the show really kind of highlights the comedy. I gotta give them credit for that.

Q) What can you tease are some things we’ll be exploring in Season Two?

A) You’ll see us at a Firemen’s Ball, which is very fun and an opportunity for us to get in our dress up blues and be as professional as we can be – which obviously doesn’t go great. You’ll see us tackle another fire. You get to meet more of Andy’s family. A bunch of fun stuff happens. There are definitely more sports. Weirdly, we play so much more sports in Season Two. We play hockey, ping-pong, poker…We play a bunch more games. We’re lifting weights a little bit more. I remember in Season One all we did was box. That was one of the main things, but for this one we play softball. The cops are back. There are a bunch of fun stuff. You get to meet the C-Team. You get to meet another group of guys from the fire house. It’s really great! The world has really expanded so there is a lot of opportunity to see what the world is a little bit more and if we get more seasons who we’ll be playing in the world. We meet Pinisi’s father. So, we meet a lot more family. We get a lot more family in this season and that’s great.

Q) What do you think it is about “Tacoma FD” that’s made it a fast fan favorite comedic series?

A) I think the reason why it’s doing well and people are on board with it is because I think it’s goofy enough that people who are just wanting to watch kind of a mindless goofy show it’s goofy enough for that. But also, there are enough jokes in it that if you really listen you can pick up some smart moments in the goofy ones. I think the mix of that is really fun. Kevin and Steve have really focused and honed their comedic voice and it just makes it fun. I think because they already had a fanbase, but were able to expand it to kind get their own new fanbase with “Tacoma” it really helped. The thing that I love and hope is the reason why is that first responders are liking it because we’re having fun when it’s time to have fun. When it’s time to do the job, we’re never bad at our actual job. Any time we’re at the actual fires or we’re saving people, we’re not doing any of that stuff wrong. Maybe there are hijinks happening around that, but the actual work we have our technical consultant make sure that it doesn’t seem like we’re doing poorly. That’s what we wanted to make sure as well. I think the mix of that really helps the show feel somewhat fun and real and goofy and relatable. Because it’s a workplace comedy that people wanted to be in as a kid and they admire now as adults. I definitely admire all of the firemen. Whenever I see a real fireman, I always bow down to them because just wearing that stuff for an acting scene seems rough for me. I couldn’t imagine having to fight a real fire.

Q) I’d be remiss if I didn’t say we loved you as Pillboi on “The Good Place.” What did it mean to you to be a part of such an iconic series?

A) Oh man! “The Good Place” was one of my favorite things to shoot and the people that created that show (Mike Schur and everyone who is on the writing staff of that show) made sure it was a great standalone show that just kind of fits in its own place in the world. I’m just so happy that I got to be a part of it. There is a part of me that will always have a special place in my heart for it because not only did Manny [Jacinto] (who played Jason) and I become really good friends since that show started, but it also means a lot to us that we got to play a couple of Filipino guys that we didn’t have to mention that we were Filipino. We were just a couple of guys who hang out and share the screen together and do funny stuff. That representation for us was pretty huge and that has nothing to do with the comedy of the show already. Also, I love the fact that we were basically just one brain. Even with Donkey Doug (Mitch Narito) – with all three of us we shared a brain. We didn’t get much bigger once we brought him along either.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and the work you do?

A) Thank you! Hopefully, there will be a lot more stuff that you can see that you’ll find out about when it comes out. And there is a bunch of great stuff happening in “Tacoma” coming up. There are a bunch of stuff I’ve been working on that I can’t quite say what it is yet, but it’s fun and I’m excited to be a part of it. There is plenty more, so hopefully this is just the beginning!