AL CORONEL -ACTOR & FACE OF COD: BLACK OPS COLD WAR

This interview was an inspiration, and absolute pleasure to sit down and talk with Al Coronel, the new face of Call of Duty: Black OPS Cold War….

How would you introduce yourself to our readers who might be unfamiliar with you…

Oh, I am Al Coronel, I am an actor and a native of Los Angeles. And as you know I am one of the characters in the new Call of Duty Black Hawks video. Yes, very cool…I’m so excited and so is my brother, he’s a die hard Call of Duty fan.

How powerful/strong would you say that Dreams are…was it your Dreams that kept pushing you

It’s just so crazy.. like when I talk to people about my life experiences, and the slightly different career paths that somehow merge together to get to where I am today. It feels like I lived a couple of life times, but yet it’s something that has always been in me to be an actor ever since childhood. Especially being raised in Los Angeles with the entertainment industry constantly around you. I was a huge fan of television growing up. I knew all of the TV Shows, and all of the characters in the shows. I always thought to myself as a kid...’ wouldn’t that be cool to do that’. Of course as you get older, you are told to go to school, get an education, and degree. Also, to find a career, a stable career, and we all know with acting you have more failures than successes, and it can be very challenging.

And some people may give up too soon on that dream, because of the difficulty of that dream. I went to school, got my degree, and while I was working in the military (and while I was in school), I picked up the hobby of Salsa Dancing. Through Salsa Dancing, and becoming a professional Salsa Dancer I was asked to be involved in TV, and Film projects. Based on many peoples inputs, and also famous people - like the actor Edward James Olmos. He was a big influence, and he told me ‘if you really want to do this you have to go back to school, you have to study, you have to get knowledgeable at what it is you want to be successful at. You are going to guarantee yourself more successes than failures’. 

So that is when I decided to go back to school to study theatre and acting, and I am so glad that I did. I like that point…because I am born in Los Angeles, and if you are not from there you only see the fun aspect of it (acting), like the red carpet, and they don’t really grasp that it is a talent, an art. And I think they think you can get up one day, snap your fingers, and say I want to be on television. Even though you had the Salsa Dancing that led to your first introduction to the acting, you respected it (acting) enough to go back to school.  

Yes, I had many people ask me – how can I become an actor, and do what you do. One of my first questions is – what are your reasons for wanting to become an actor. And I listen clearly to their answer. And if their answer is ‘ I want to be famous, I want to be rich’ I always tell them, you might need to rethink that. That should  not be your primary reason for doing it, you are setting yourself up for a serious disappointment. 

It is an art, I am so much about the love of what I am doing, and enjoying the process…the byproduct of it can be fame, and financial stability.

What is the current project that you are working on, and what is the character that you play –

On Call of Duty Black OPS Cold War, I am the face and likeness of a character called DGI Mendo Garcia. He was a former Cuban military assassin, who once he left Cuba he became a hired assassin. So he works for whoever will pay him..uuhh the money that he is looking for. He is very ruthless, and very cold blooded.

What was most demanding for this role and why…since you are the face and it looks so futuristic…

Well, first of all for me I am the PacMan, Centipede, and Missile Command generation. I grew up playing those video games, so for me to find out that I was going to be involved in the game that I am a huge fan of, and have played all the previous versions of Call Of Duty – was a dream come true. I would also say it was a bucket list item. So to say was it challenging…I was having so much fun. That knowing that I was going to be a part of something that had a huge fan following. And I did not know to what extent my character was pretty dominant until I started hearing that they liked what they saw in my character, and true to form they have used DGI Mendo Garcia in a lot of their commercials for not only Call of Duty, but also to promote the multiplayer platform to promote Zombie version of it. And now I am seeing today they released another commercial for Season 1, that had my character all over it. It is all of these things that are very nice. 

If there was one thing that was very challenging was for me to hold completely still; and to hold different facial expressions when they were scanning my face for the likeness. It was tough because they had about eighty cameras above and around my head in a dark room. Then these cameras would flash consecutively, and I was trying to keep my eyes open while these cameras took pictures. For a second I had the thought – oh my gosh ‘ if I’m not able to keep my eyes open will I get fired, am I going to loose this opportunity’. Thankfully I was able to get through that, and I spent about two and a half hours in this dome that looked like a time machine. This machine scanned my face in every gesture possible that I could make. They had the samples of what they needed me to do, and I just had to hold it while these cameras took photos.

Your past experiences, a Professional Salsa Dancer, and a Veteran – thank you…would you say most prepared you for this role, and how…

Thank you…all of my life experiences have all come back to be beneficial for me, specifically the military experience because I tend to get cast in those roles of law enforcement, detectives, CIA, and FBI. And I believe that the military experience lends itself to me having that presence. Sometime I am at an event, and people will come up to me and say…’ you are part of the military’. I then say  how did you know, and then they say…’ oh, it is the way that you stand, and carry yourself’. To have that in my body has truly been beneficial to my acting career.

What is the best advice that you have been given…

Study. You want to be successful (to be good), you have to study, you have to make yourself undeniable. When I work on a project you have to be the first one there, you have to be prepared and ready to go. I don’t want to be that person that holds up production because I am not prepared; not on time, or I do not know my lines. And all of these pieces have to fit together for it to be successful. It is very important to be prepared and to study.

What is the self-talk(s) that you give yourself when challenges arise in your life…

Sometimes it is not just me saying it, it is my wife as well. Gosh, I have had instances where I have said…’ I don’t know if I will be able to do this’…and my wife has been there and says…’you can do this, now get your head on straight, and get it done’. An example of this - I just did an episode of Westworld, where I had to speak Portuguese, I do not speak Portuguese. I speak Spanish, and English fluently. So I had to learn how to speak Portuguese in less than a day, more like twelve hours. There was a part in getting ready that I looked at my wife and I said ‘I really don’t know if I can do this, I’m concerned’, and my wife said...’you’ve got this, just focus your energy you can do it’. And thankfully it worked, and got me through it, it came out very well.

What is something that not many people know about you…

Ohhh…something that not many people know about me. Well I am avid scuba diver, it is one of the more peaceful activities I have gotten involved in the last twenty years. Right during the pandemic I was able to get out and go scuba diving, and it was welcomed. I am a certified rescue diver. That is so cool!

What are your thoughts on 2020, what was the biggest lesson you learned from this unprecedented year –

Patience…patience. People lack patience, especially now people go from zero to angry in no time flat. I think it has shown me how being isolated has its effects (on people); because we are social beings. Our ability to socialize has been limited or taken away so it has shown me the need for patience, and to focus our energy away from this pandemic. That is one of the biggest lessons for me, and how once this social factor is taken away how it effects everyone in general, and negatively.

The last and most fun question! What is your favorite way to unwind, recharge, and relax…

Watching YouTube videos, hahaha…I drive my wife crazy. I have been watching a lot of Tesla videos, because we just bought a Tesla. So I have been trying to educate myself to all things Tesla. Yes, right now YouTube has been my guilty pleasure. Thank you Al!.........Thank you for inviting me, and to talk to you about the Game, to share the excitement, and also the love for the Game. Thank you so much! Oh!!!...they released just last night a new skin, outfit for my character. It is called, and copied from the character Tyler Durden from the movie with Brad Pitt called Fight Club (1999). They dressed up my character just like Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club. It is very exciting!