Pablo Castelblanco, the Colombian rising star from ABC’s Alaska Daily

It’s a blessing, of course. I’m very grateful and very happy about being able to be on the show and just learn. It’s funny to say that you’re at a job and that you’re learning, but I am learning so much. Every day I wake up and I’m just like, Oh wow, this is like a dream. This is like, as an actor, what you’re always trying to do and to be able to do it...Sometimes I just have to ground myself and be like, Wow, I am doing it. And that feels great. I’m so, so blessed and feel very happy, very ecstatic, and very proud of myself as well. As you know, I’m Latinx, Latine, but I’m also an immigrant in the U.S. So, also to know all the hurdles that not only myself, but all my friends that I grew up with in the business, and just know that it’s possible to get to that level.

Being on the show, working with Hillary is amazing. She’s such a kind performer. And with me particularly, she’s very generous with her knowledge as well. She has this experience of many, many years and of course not only the awards, but the way she understands the frame and everything like that. I’ve always been in awe of that, and sometimes I just ask questions, so she gives me information and it’s so great to learn from her. And my family, they were so excited. They’re in Colombia, so it’s a lot of explaining to them about the process. It’s like, Oh, I got a pilot. And they’re like, what is that? Are you a flight pilot? no, I’m not. (laughs) So you just got to explain the whole process in business. Yeah.

They outwardly were very supportive. I don’t know if maybe to themselves, they were a little bit scared. They were supportive and they knew, you know, when I made the move to New York, Netflix as a big thing had started and a lot of opportunities in Amazon and stuff like that. And this business in Colombia, even though there’s some, it was not as big as I wanted, or maybe, I was young and I didn’t really know. I just knew if I wanted to do this as a performer, I had to come to New York to pursue my dream in a way that I found fulfilling and that I would find a space for myself. When I presented that whole scenario to my parents, they understood, Okay, if that’s what he wants to succeed at, he should move up over there and do that.

Yeah, definitely. And Bogota is a huge, metropolitan city with 8 million inhabitants. But it was the American way that was a big culture shock. I would be talking to people (I went for college first.) And when talking to people, and say they’re talking about SpongeBob and making quick fun references, which I saw when I was a kid, but in Spanish, right... I had to translate all the jokes. The first few years I was culturally translating everything. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I remember...being lost in conversations even though we had the same experiences.

To be very frank with you, I’m still in a stage of my career where I audition. I don’t get to take projects. I audition for them. When the audition came in, I really liked the script because for me particularly, Gabriel very much adds a bit of the levity to the show. I think he’s also the youthful energy and beautiful energy, which can be translated in maybe obnoxiousness if he’s asking too many questions as he’s doing the intern thing, which I find lovely to do. I just remember reading that and being like, Oh, this is such a good script, and in regards to what it does for journalism and what it does in highlighting niches specific to the indigenous communities in Alaska.

I can also see myself in this world because I’m very interested in journalism. I like reading the news and listening to podcasts. So I’m like, Oh, this meets that world and it meets my comedy background too, in a very protective way on this show. Hopefully when people see Gabriel and he’s not always joking, sometimes he has to fight through being green in his business, you know, he’s not a reporter like the rest of the people on the show that have been doing it for years. He’s kinda new at it, so I hope people who either are reporters like yourself or anybody in any job just can see in Gabriel like, Oh yeah, when I was an intern, this is what I used to do. Oh yeah...when I was starting, I was so nervous about, let’s say a designer was so nervous about a first plan or presenting their first design.

My favorite trait of Gabriel is just how earnest he is. Like it’s his superpower to be so earnest and so full of joy, you know? I don’t have that myself, so I feel that is one of my favorite things about him. My least favorite trait could be, how sometimes people could perceive him as naive. And I feel that it could also be a pro because...well he’s still not jaded to the world, you know? But some people might be like, Okay, pick it up. Like, don’t be that naive.

In Room 104, I didn’t get to meet Jay, but I did work with Mark, and because he was directing that episode while acting in it too, it was so quick. Getting to work with him was great, but he was very busy and had a lot on his plate. So I just focused on learning and seeing how he was performing and acting at the same time on the same thing. And I think he did it seamlessly. He was very caring with the rest of us young performers there. Like he was getting us accustomed to it.

It is a very interesting episode, right? You know to put into a different light as to Alaska Daily. I will say, once you get to work with someone like Tom McCarthy for example, who directed our pilot and the second episode, who is also the creator of the series...There’s this thing about actors, directors, writers, which I think I’ve seen in Mark Duplass, that I find so captivating. Because whenever they have something, I mean, maybe I’m just making up in my head, but you can kind of tell if they’re giving the note or if they’re thinking about something as the director, as the writer or as the actor. It´s so interesting to see how they talk to you or how they’re trying to get a shot. For example in the pilot, I remember Tom giving directions on the camera, our camera team and how to try get reactions from people. It was just so interesting. I’m in awe of people who get to do it all.

Right now I’m focusing on Alaska Daily. I shot a film last summer called Ganymede, directed by Colby Holt and Sam Probst. It was such a beautiful script and such a beautiful movie. I’m so excited when that comes out. But right now for Alaska Daily, I’m very excited for the next episode that’s coming out, episode 104, because it’s Gabriel’s first opportunity to tell and write a story. He has always wanted to be a journalist and in this episode, he gets his first assigned story. You get to see how he goes about it and his nervousness and how oh wow, this might be a bigger thing, like a bigger task to do that he had expected even though he’s been dreaming about it his whole time.

The advice I have for young Latine actors is just to know to really trust your voice, really trust your background. I know sometimes myself included...I remember when I arrived and I was just very much focused on getting rid of my accent. And then there came a moment that I was like, No, I’m just going to be proud, be committed to myself and to my culture, and that will open doors for me, which I think eventually did. So I will say just be truly committed to who you are, whatever that is, you.