This is a short interview that I had with Mario Castañeda about his work in Due South, as he was having a break from a signing session in La Mole 98. ¡I hope you all enjoy it!
Q: Before starting, thank you kindly for this interview, Mario. The first thing everybody wants to know is: How were you chosen to dub Paul Gross / Benton Fraser?A: Well, you know that we get many movies here in México, and one of those was the Due South Movie. Luis Alfonso Mendoza, who does Ray’s voice, made the first cast without knowing that it was the pilot for a series… and a very famous series… The truth was that it was one of those moments in which he saw Paul Gross and imagined how would he look with my voice. So the decision was Luis Alfonso’s… later, the whole series arrived, and I was delighted to do it.
Q: What do you think of Benton Fraser as a character?
A: I think he is one of the most sensational parts I have ever interpreted. He is a perfectly constructed character. Paul Gross gives the perfect acting to a man who comes from the high territories in Canada, a man who hasn’t had many contacts with people, who has been with animals and nature, and suddenly finds himself against the brutality of a city like Chicago. He is sweet, noble, has all the human virtues, and I would dare to say that he has almost no defects. In fact, he doesn’t. He is a very rich character.
Q: He had his moments… like with Victoria…
A: Well, but that… ¡He fell in love! He was in love with her, and like all human beings, he can reach perfection, he isn’t perfect. (Laughs)
Q: If he was perfect, it would be boring… like McGuyver…
A:Hey, he isn’t that perfect! (Laughs)
Q: Note… Mario also does Richard Dean Anderson’s voice in McGuyver.
A: And in Legend, and possibly in the Stargate t.v. series as soon as it gets here.
Q: Good luck…. How would you describe Due South?
A: Its a series… well, it has the classic characteristics, it’s a Police drama series, but it has many important parts of comedy. Obviously is not a dramatic series, structurally speaking. It has a light comedy, very elegant and fine. Everything goes around Benton, and deals with real life situations. What makes and gives form to Benton is very defined, as his ability to hear at long distances, follow trails…
Q: Taste gross things…
A: (Laughs) ¡He tastes everything that comes in front of him! (Laughs) It’s a familiar series, very funny, the acting is perfect. As a dubbing actor, one does expect this kind of opportunities. It’s a diamond in the crown.
Q: You know that the series is divided in four seasons, the first two with Ray Vecchio / David Marciano / Luis Alfonso Mendoza, and the last two with Ray Kowalsky / Keith Callum / Jose Antonio Macias… What is the main difference in Benny’s attitude towards both Rays, in friendship terms?
A: I think that he makes a difference in the beggining, because he doesn’t know what’s going on. But as soon as he gets to know the second Ray, he protects that friendship in the same level that he has with Ray. It’s the kind of friendship that would give his own life for the other. Benton is like that, and as soon as the friendship clicks in, is forever, like with Ray… In fact… I think that’s the end, with them going to the Yukon, to the Territories…
Q: Unfortunately, there have been very nasty divisions on Internet fandom because of the change of Rays and the end…
A: Well, I… I think of myself as Benton Fraser, speaking about knowing him, I see that changes as part of my life. The end of the series, that’s my ending. Because I give the same care and respect to each episode. Now, I like the whole series, but I think that his character is better constructed, psychologically, structurally and acting wise, in the first season. Is true that he might have changed from living in Chicago, but one does want to keep the Benton Fraser who arrived from Canada.
Q: From all the episodes of the series… Which one you remember the most?
A: I do remember when Victoria leaves in the train, and he runs behind her. She lifts her hand, and Ray yells ‘She’s got a gun’… and Benton raises his hand to take hers, and Ray shoots wanting to kill her because he thinks she is going to kill him… and there wasn’t any gun…. And he hits Benton, and Benton falls, and remembers the words she said to him in that snow storm, when he pursued her as a Mountie… And we never got them right in English, so we used a poem in spanish that says: (Making Fraser’s voice) ‘If to your feet I come, as a beaten soldier, and one look I beg with caution, almost fear." (Changes to his normal voice) And the voice fades, and the view spins, with him in the floor, wounded with a bullet… ¡It killed me! ¡That episode killed me!
A: It’s one of the best episodes… You remember when Fraser dresses as a woman?
Q: Yes, of course (Laughs)
A: Could you say something with the voice you gave ‘her’? Anything…
Q: My throat is a little sore but… (As Ms. Fraser) Oh, Ray! Where are your manners? (Laughs)
(There’s one last question, but that’s for the Slash Zone)
If you want the poem recited by Mario, or any other of his answers in .wav format, please e-mail me to marioz@spin.com.mx
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