In season three of AMC’s neo-western crime drama, Breaking Bad, Leonel and Marco Salamanca are first introduced as The Cousins. Together, they play twin brothers and fearsome hitmen of the Juarez Cartel. And while they were both murdered by an exploding bomb strapped to the back of a tortoise, they earned a second chance in the show’s spin-off prequel, Better Call Saul. We had the chance to talk with the real brothers, Daniel and Luis Moncada, about their bodies of work and their plans to take on the acting world by storm.
INKED: You play a cartel assassin in Better Call Saul. Do you relate to that role?
DANIEL (DANNY) MONCADA I just put my past experiences of violence, prison, and people I have met, and other circumstances, into effect.
What other character roles would you like to play in the near future? As much as I like to play the bad guy, I would love to play a superhero at some point. Also, would love to do something that is boxing or MMA-related.
Have you ever gotten seriously injured doing your own stunts? No. Everything I’ve done has always been rehearsed, and I trust the stunt coordinators that I have worked with. Shout out to all the stunt performers out there, without them there would not be action on film. We need to get those guys Oscars and Emmys.
How did you get into acting? My brother Luis went to audition and after the audition, then casting directors started chatting with him. They asked him if he had any new tattoos. He replied, ‘Yeah, my brother just did a tattoo on me’ (as he was pulling up his left pant leg). The casting director and her associates looked at each other and asked, ‘You have a brother? Does he look like you? Has he ever acted?’ He said, ‘No,’ but the casting crew looked at each other again, got the sides [dialogue pages for the scene] and handed them to my brother and told him, ‘Bring him in tomorrow, and make sure he studies.’ The audition was for Breaking Bad, and my brother has a tattoo of La Santa Muerte (Saint of Death). On “The Cousins” intro for Breaking Bad season 3, episode 1, there is a scene of us paying homage to La Santa Muerte. Coincidence?
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Inked.
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This story is from the November 2018 edition of Inked.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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