Vadhir Derbez’s journey to joining the cast of White Elephant was par for the course for any actor. As he recalls in our interview ahead of the film’s release, it involved a standard audition tape and then a lunch meeting with the film’s director and co-writer Jesse V. Johnson. During their meeting, Derbez says he and Johnson talked about his character, Carlo Garcia, and what White Elephant was ultimately going to be about. Derbez also admits that Johnson’s English accent made it slightly difficult to gauge where he stood in terms of landing the role — “Some things I could understand, and some others I couldn’t.” — so much so that he had to ask his manager to later confirm with Johnson if he was going to be in the film or not. “He was already talking with me like I [was] in, but I [didn’t] know if I was in.” However, there was one unmistakable name that Johnson dropped that was clear as day for Derbez: Bruce Willis.
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With the announcement earlier this year of Willis’ aphasia diagnosis, a neurological disorder that affects one’s ability to communicate, White Elephant is sadly one of the beloved actor’s final films. Per Variety, Willis’ more recent directors were already concerned about his safety and memory prior to the anouncement. Johnson in particular, who had long been a colleague of Willis’ since his early days as a stunt coordinator, had noticed a change in Willis during a meet prior to shooting White Elephant, telling Los Angeles Times that “it was clear that he was not the Bruce I remembered.” That being said, Derbez, who shared a couple of pivotal scenes with Willis had nothing but praise for the veteran actor in our interview, saying, “He did so well. He did amazing. He’s such a legend.”
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White Elephant tells the story of mob enforcer Gabriel Tancredi (Michael Rooker) who experiences a sort of moral crisis when his long-time friend and crime boss Arnold Soloman (Willis) orders a hit on two police officers (one of whom is played by Olga Kurylenko) for accidentally witnessing an assassination committed by enforcer-to-be Carlo Garcia. “[Carlo] is this character who’s about to take over, and he knows that, but he’s still trying to earn that respect,” says Derbez of his character. “In [his] world, one of the most important things is that [the] people who are going to follow you respect you, so he also has a ‘young blood’-like energy to him, where he just wants to go and get the job done.”
Vadhir Derbez’s Best Scenes Are Opposite Michael Rooker
What makes Carlo’s character arc throughout White Elephant so intriguing is how the film positions his character opposite Rooker’s Gabriel in the gang. As evidenced by the film’s trailer, Gabriel, a former Marine, is no stranger to using violent means, especially when achieving his or Arnold’s goals. However, facing a moral dilemma spurred by the deceased wife’s birthday, who had always encouraged him to use his combat skills to help others, Gabriel switches sides in the middle of training Carlo to replace him. “I love the twist where [Carlo] now needs to confront [Gabriel],” says Derbez. “It’s very interesting because, at the end of the day, they’re not really friends. They’ve been building this relationship because they’re hanging out and learning from each other, but they’re not best friends. As a spectator, you’re seeing that [confrontation] and [wondering], ‘Are they going to respect each other, or are they [going to do what needs to be done?]’”
The intense way Carlo and Gabriel’s relationship in White Elephant unfolds in largely thanks to Rooker, who, as an actor playing both hero and villain, brings the emotional stakes to the action. Indeed, for Derbez, Rooker proved to be the perfect scene partner. “I enjoyed it so much because he was joking all the time. He has a sense of humor to him and [this] energy, so it was very fun for me and the rest of the crew to just have him on set and make [these] crazy decisions [as an actor] and improv,” he says. “It gave me a good opportunity to do the same. Even during [filming], the director [would get the scene and then allow us] another take to do whatever we wanted.”
Similarly to Carlo, there’s an eagerness and excitement to the way Derbez talks about his work and his career, particularly as someone who established a name for himself in Mexico and is on his way towards rising to the top of American cinema. Though he started acting at the age of six, Derbez says he’s constantly learning from those around him. Notably, it was his father, Eugenio Derbez — an accomplished actor in Mexico who recently appeared in this year’s Best Picture Oscar-winner CODA — who proved the most influential to him. “I think the best advice he gave me was to always be prepared — to, no matter what, always keep learning and taking classes — because you never know when that golden opportunity is going to come.”
Working opposite Rooker and Willis and the rest of the cast of White Elephant, Derbez says “it was school for sure,” seeing the ways in which they embody their characters and, more importantly, “the energy that the other actor gives you [and] just taking that in.” When asked to look ahead at his career and what his dream collaborations would be in Hollywood, Derbez says, “There are so many amazing actors and directors, but I’ve always been a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio. It’d be awesome to do a film with him.”
White Elephant is now available in select theaters and streaming on AMC+.
