Starring as an iconic character can be both a blessing and a curse—but if one of the original creators of the original cult classic signs you up, well, what’s there to lose?
It took a lot of starts and stops for DJ Cotrona to get here. He stars as Seth Gecko in the Robert Rodriguez television adaptation of the director’s beloved cult classic film, From Dusk Till Dawn. This isn’t the first time he was asked to take on a special role: Cotrona was casted as Superman in George Miller’s Justice League, a film that was canceled due to the Writers Guild strike of 2008. The actor is now known for his role in films like G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Dear John, and a few shows (like Skin) and pilots that didn’t quite take off—until now.
Playing one-half of the criminal team The Gecko Brothers could have been a nightmare in terms of the inevitable comparisons. Seth was originally played by George Clooney in his first film role, but Robert Rodriguez asked Cotrona to create a new interpretation of the character, which includes a bigger focus on the vampire mythology. This all leads to the separation of the two brothers as Richie (Zane Holtz) is now a culebra, or vampire. Fans of the film shouldn’t worry; Cotrona as Seth is just as quick-witted by way of mouth and his gun draw.
Paste caught up with the actor in time for tonight’s premiere to talk about Season Two, how his character is being reframed, and what he learned from two acclaimed directors, Robert Rodriguez and George Miller.
Paste Magazine: Congratulations! How does it feel to have a second season?
DJ Cotrona: Thank you. It feels great. I’m really proud of the project, and I love our whole cast and crew—Robert and everybody on our creative team. I’m very happy to get to keep working with these guys, and I’m excited for the fans to see what we’ve been up to.
Paste: Have you thought about long this show might last?
Cotrona: That is up to Robert. I know Robert and our showrunner [Carlos Coto] have some big plans to go five seasons, but again, there are a lot of factors involved in those type of decisions. I hope we get to continue for a long time to come, we’re having a great time.
Paste: From what I hear, the cast and crew have a collaborative rapport and you’re like family. What’s a typical day on set like?
Cotrona: It’s very much like a family. That’s the best way I can put it. In all the best ways, in all the frustrating ways, but I think we really benefit, creatively, from a having such a tight-knit group. First and foremost, that’s a testament to Robert and the environment of his studio that he created down in Austin. We’re far away from Hollywood, we’re not near New York or any of the filming hubs. It’s just known from different actors, and throughout the years, anyone that’s had the opportunity to work with Robert—he’s just this touchstone for getting your creative juices flowing again. Any actors I spoke to when I was considering this project, they told me to ‘Go. It doesn’t matter what the role is, it doesn’t matter if it’s a show or movie, just go to Austin and shoot with Robert and you’ll get invigorated, creatively.’
That bleeds into our relationships. The fact that we’re down there [together]—it’s the same crew that Robert uses for the majority of his career; they’re all very familiar with each other and work really quickly as a tight-knit group. The same goes for the cast. For the first two seasons, we all lived in the same place in Austin while shooting. We truly are lucky in a sense that we all do really get along and have a great time.
Paste: You and Zane Holtz seem to have a great relationship.
Cotrona: I love Zane to death and we get along great. We’re very fortunate to get along off camera, and we love working together. I think we have a similar approach to our work and a similar attitude about this industry and about being actors. We realize how lucky we are and appreciate this opportunity. I really mean it, regardless if you’re working on a big film, or you’re working on a television series, it’s very, very rare to get the amount of creative freedom we are afforded by Robert and our showrunner, Carlos. Especially when you’re dealing with such iconic characters that Robert and Quentin [Tarantino] created. When you get to work on characters so beloved and well-known, you expect to get the minimum amount of creative control, but it’s truly the opposite of it. We’re in the trenches everyday trying to do the best we can.
Paste: The second season doesn’t have a rubric, or anything to really connect the plot with the first movie. Was there a particular idea of your character you were excited to explore?
Cotrona: Completely. I’ll be honest with you—obviously by design, the first season was weaving in and out of the original film’s storyline. The film is from almost 20 years ago, so Robert wanted to remind people of these characters and the world. It was fun, but it comes with the obvious comparisons, which can be tough sometimes. You have to understand, I’m just as much as a fan of the film as anyone else, so I was holding Zane and myself up to the harshest light. These characters are so cool and we’re lucky to do them with the original creator and director himself. We’re not doing it with anyone else, so that gives us a lot of confidence.