‘Better Call Saul’ Star Michael Mando Shares A Heartwarming Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Varga Episode

[The following story contains major spoilers for Better Call Saul episode, “Rock and Hard Place.”]

“No, it wasn’t me! It was Ignatius! He is one! ”

thirteen years ago, breaking Bad Viewers first heard Ignacio’s name when Saul Goodman accused him of allegedly playing Lalo. Well, in today’s tragic episode. you better call saulFans finally learned how Ignacio’s (Michael Mando) story ended.

In the last moments of the episode “Rock and Hard Place” starring Gordon Smith, Ignacio “Nacho” Varga sacrificed his life for the life of his father (Juan Carlos Cantú) and as the episode title says, Ignacio really turned out to be a rock and a hard place.

If he was conquered by Salamanca, he was tortured until he surrendered to Guy Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) responsible for the attack on the Lalo Salamanca complex (Tony Dalton). In season four, Gass turned Ignacio into a double agent, and he has since helped him crack down on Salamanca’s drug operation and Don Eladio’s (Stephen Bauer) cartel. Naturally, Gus also wanted Ignacio dead to defend his old revenge plan against the men responsible for the murder of his beloved partner, Max (James Martinez), in season four. breaking Bad.

Eventually, Ignacio made a deal with Gass in which he traded his life to defend his father, however, instead of shooting Gus’ tutor Victor (Jeremiah Bitsui) in the back with a bullet during a meeting with Salamanca, Ignacio was released for a long time. Time. Just take Juan Bolsa’s (Javier Grazeda) gun, cut the piece, and commit suicide.

“This is the fairest in the iconography of the characters. Incredibly tragic. It’s from Shakespeare, but that’s what makes a character iconic. He lived and died for true love. “Just thinking about it makes me shiver,” says Mando. the hollywood reporter.

In the final days of going to the set, Mando was also quite excited. you better call saul Homage to the crew character. “They surprised me with Nacho’s shirts and they all had these teardrop tattoos. It was very exciting for everyone. I knew the character meant a lot to them, but until that moment I didn’t know how much it meant to them,” Mando shared.

In the second part of the last part. Conversation with THRMando also recounts all the “terrible” events that seemed to want to extend his tenure. breaking Bad AMC Prequel / Sequel.

Ignacio decided to leave on his own terms after controlling too many monsters for so long. What made your decision and your final farewell?

This is the fairest thing about the character’s iconography. მსგავსი is similar Romeo and Juliet. Incredibly tragic. It’s from Shakespeare, but that’s what makes a character iconic. He lived and died for true love. Just thinking about it makes me shudder. He believed in purity and virtue and sacrificed his life despite being given power, money and influence. Denying everything and doing good is truly honorable character. And it’s done in such a painfully real way, that I think the writers did the job cleverly.

What stood out on the set of your final days?

The episode is full of these great moments. I cut my finger on the first day of shooting. (Mando holds up a scarred hand.) I could not move my hand. I couldn’t feel the nerves in my left hand, so I had to wait a week before I could shoot.

On the day we filmed the desert games, the cameras were still on Gass and Salamanca. And just as we were about to turn on the cameras, out of nowhere, we came across a gigantic sandstorm. So we literally had to run backwards before our cars sank into the sand. When I got home the next day, lightning struck a tree in front of my house and a fallen tree blocked the entrance. So many scary and life-changing things happened that made him special to me and the team.

They surprised me with Nacho shirts and they all had these teardrop tattoos. It was very exciting for everyone. I knew the character meant a lot to them, but I didn’t know how much it meant to them until that moment. So the team was with me and it was a magical message.

After holding his tongue for years, Ignacio finally told Salamanca and Gass how he felt about them. Do you give different flavors during the day? Or was each play pretty consistent?

When the cameras were on them, the footage was very different. But as one day we had to think, I got a note [writer-director] Gordon [Smith], and he interpreted me completely differently when the cameras turned on me. At first I was a little resistant to the comment, but in the end I got it. [Ignacio’s] The heart is praised in front of the audience. That’s kind of weird because we know how all the people in this scene die, without exception, and they’re all witnesses there. [Ignacio’s] Death.

It is obvious that he is going to die, and the audience there witnesses his death. I felt like I was in the courtroom, and for me it was the courtroom: “How deep is my father’s love? That’s why he was tried. “How pure is your heart in wanting to do the right thing?” For once he is not afraid of any of these people. He also puts his ego aside and is willing to tell a story that will save his father, no matter what others think. Finally, his gesture is very bold. There is not an iota of regret, doubt or other assumptions. So he was really committed to self-sacrifice.

Did you expect such a result from the beginning?

When I got this role, I wanted to pay homage to the new Mexican culture and it was very important to me to play a character that wasn’t a bad guy with stereotypical brown skin. And I remember, I wanted to go back to the end of the stories of the Aztecs and the Mayans. And then I saw a documentary that didn’t reflect its best light. They said they believed in human sacrifice. They offered human sacrifices to the gods to bring rain, and that sounded very barbaric. Then I heard a Latin American historian tell the same story, but he missed a very important detail. The strongest men in the city competed in a sport watched by the entire community, and it was the victors who willingly sacrificed themselves to the gods to put out the rain.

So their relationship to life, death, and the afterlife was very, very different from our Western understanding and fear of death. It wasn’t so much whether you were going to die, but when you died and why you died. So I thought it was incredibly beautiful that the episode started with rain falling on this purple flower, which also symbolizes enlightenment.

some of my favorites you better call saul Scenes include Ignacio and Manuel Varga. Were you and Juan Carlos Cantú together during that last devastating phone call?

I asked no one to be there for my call. I didn’t do this scene with Juan Carlos; Rich [Sickler], AD, read these lines from the camera. And he did the same thing with the phone call from Gus and Mike. Juan Carlos wanted me to be there for his coverage, so I was happy to be there and support him in that. I thought Nacho’s character went through so much and no one could understand where he was. Nor did he want his father to see the reality of what he was experiencing, so at that moment I thought it would be ideal if Juan Carlos weren’t there.

Well thanks for my favorite. Saul Character, Michael.

To be honest, your words made the day beautiful and also touched me a lot. The character means a lot to me and hearing what you say confirms all the sacrifice and effort and fills me with gratitude.

The interview is edited for length and clarity.

you better call saul It runs on Mondays on AMC.