Carlo Mendez Reveals His Mental and Physical Preparation for Dexter: Original Sin Season 1

INTERVIEW

Carlo Mendez’s acting career has followed a compelling trajectory. What begun as a childhood tendency to pass the time, confined to his childhood bedroom quickly evolved into an escape from the monotony of the 9-to-5 grind. Now, 17 years later he’s lighting up the silver screen, showcasing his versatility in roles that range from the classic heartthrob to dark, layered characters—most recently stepping into the shoes of a sinister cartel figure in Dexter: Original Sin, Season 1.

Combining his passion for fitness, with an eagerness to take on new roles, Carlo is dedicated to testing the limits and challenging his career. Cemented in his grounded mindset, Carlo has maintained a humble approach to working hard and shaping his acting career, integrating valuable advice from his sister, Eva Mendes to navigate his years in the acting industry.

In this exclusive interview with CSP Times, Carlo reflects on his career so far, shares his advice for aspiring actors, and opens up about what’s next on his horizon.

Can you share a bit about your upbringing and how it influenced your passion for acting?

I was born in LA of Cuban parents, and at age nine my mum moved me to Miami. I used to get in trouble a lot, and would get punished and sent to my room. Because of this, I had to use my imagination to make the time pass by. I was also hooked on movies as a kid, and so I would always imagine a scenario that I was in the movie with the actors when I was in trouble.

One day, I was working at Home Depot, when I just decided that I didn't want to do this forever, so I packed all my stuff in my car and said to my mum, "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving to LA. I have to pursue this passion of mine as there's nothing else that fulfils this." She understood. I drove out to LA and there was transitional moments of being lost for the first couple of years where I didn't know what to do. Eventually, I asked for advice and direction, got into acting classes and I was able to get a manager. Then, I booked my very first theatrical audition, which was 90210. I remember being in my own little trailer and I was like, "Wow, this is it—this is what I want to do for the rest of my life." Then I go out, shoot my scenes, and it never aired—they cut out my scenes from 90210, so I was pretty devastated. Though I never got an answer as to why, I'm pretty sure it simply just didn't work within the story.

Now that I realise anything can happen. I've been acting for 17 years now and there's been some high highs and then there's some low lows—but I'm enjoying the journey of it. The beautiful thing about acting is you never reach a plateau. You just have to keep going, keep working, keep hustling, keep learning, keep being enthusiastic about it and keep falling in love with every project that you do—and there's nothing else I'd rather do.

So your sister Eva Mendes has also seen success in Hollywood. Is there any advice that she gave you when you were looking to go down the same career path?

Work hard, be humble, do your homework, be nice, have gratitude and work really hard—the advice that I would give to somebody else, you know. It is a very tough, competitive industry. You cannot just be a good actor. You have to be a great actor, because there's no guarantee you're going to book a job.

Do you have any favourite childhood memories with your family that come to mind and may have influenced your current identity as an actor?

You know what? Those two things are kind of separate. Like I said, I was a very wild child. They used to call me the "Tasmanian Devil," like the cartoon. He just runs in circles, destroying everything. That was me. When I was sent to my room I would allow my imagination to run wild, and envisage being in a movie, doing stunts and acting. So the two were kind of separate, but came together and made me who I am now.

How does your passion for fitness help your mental and physical presence on screen?

One of the reasons I started working out is because I was always a skinny, small kid and would get picked last for every sport. As I started getting older, I wouldn't gain weight no matter how much I ate. I started to look at myself and thought, I need to do something. So, I started hitting the gym—started building a body, and with that building confidence. As I got older I realised, you'll regret not going to the gym, but you'll never regret going. There's something that going to the gym does mentally, physically, and for your soul. There's nothing that replaces being healthy. It's hard, but it is not as hard as people think because your body is all that you have, so you have to take care of it, as well as your soul and your mind—it's all intertwined.

So, my dream is to be physical when doing movies. I think it's very important to push your body to the limits, it's a beautiful feeling and a beautiful thing to push your body to really see how far you can go with it.

What challenges did you face when starting out in the industry and how did you overcome them?

I faced getting typecast a lot, it doesn't happen much any more, but it's hard. Your looks can either play for or against you. My looks were kind of against me, and I wasn't given some of the nitty gritty roles that I like. The difficulties at first was just trying to break through and show my depth—I don't just have to play the pretty boy. Those roles don't do anything for me, they don't push me or make me better.

You're in Season 1 of Dexter: Original Sin. Was there anything in particular that you focused on when you were preparing for the role?

I studied the text and did a lot of background work on the character. He is a flashback of the character from the original series. I created a lot of his backstory, who he was when he was younger and what he did. From that, watching shows and reading a lot about similar real life characters helped with the process.

Can you tell us anything about your character?

He, without hesitation will end your life. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and is a very scary, menacing guy because he's calm, calculated, and cool. He knows what he wants and doesn't play around. He's trying to build an empire and build something for himself, but is going about it the wrong way. I loved playing that character because it's obviously completely different from who I am. It was so much fun to do, and very satisfying. I'm just so lucky that I got the part as it shows that I can play a menacing character like this, and I can really push myself. I don't want to limit myself in any capacity when it comes to acting.

What was the most challenging scene or moment for you whilst filming and how did you approach it?

Without giving away any spoilers, there's one scene where I approach a someone and my character really wants to lash out because I feel like this character has betrayed me. But I think to myself, keep it inside, just keep it in. Sometimes our emotions get the best of us. So the challenging part was just keeping the feeling inside when I really wanted let go. There wasn't a whole lot of time to play around with the scene. So I had to trust the system, the process, and let it go. When I saw a final product, I thought it was great. Sometimes I just have to learn how to trust the direction and the director, even if it's against my instincts.

What was the experience like behind the scenes?

The experience behind the scenes was amazing. Everybody was so nice and receptive, and it was one of the greatest times I've had on a set. There's something about just working together at a certain level where everybody works as a team. When you're going to auditions it can be somewhat competitive, but once you're in the room with everybody else, there's no more competitiveness, just teamwork. You don't want your partner to fail, you want them to be amazing so you can also be amazing.

What projects would you like to explore next in your career?

Next. Gosh. Everything. Anything that would challenge me. When I when I first started out, I remember being scared of taking on characters that would challenge me because I was still young and new to the scene. Now I think... bring it. Give me the crazy, gritty characters. I want do something—shave my hair off? Yes, let's do it. I'll take it a step further. I want to do the things that you would not normally see of me.

If you could give advice to your younger self when you were just starting out, what would it be?

I think about this often, and I would've told my younger self to go to the military, do you four years being a marine and kicking ass. Learn the lifestyle then straight out of the military go to California to get into acting and pursue your life. But since that didn't happen and I can't do anything about it, I would just tell my younger self to calm down, relax, work hard, be grateful, don't worry about what other people say or think, and just pursue what you really want, which is acting. Know that everything is going to be okay.

What are five favourite restaurants that you can recommend to people in LA?

There's a Brazilian place called Bossa Nova. Great food. Love it.

Catch LA, there's few on the on the East Coast.

El Floridita, which is the best place to go for Cuban food in all of LA. You can enjoy salsa music and dance a little bit too, it's great for nightlife.

Do you have any advice for others?

Whatever your passion is, or whatever you want to pursue in life, work hard, study, learn, and don't care what anybody else says or tells you. You know, often we limit ourselves, but the only limitations that there are in life are the limitations we put on ourselves. Nothing in life is impossible. This is the only shot we have in life, and you really should just go after what you want. Why not live it to the fullest?

Also, have gratitude, help other people, be nice, be kind. But at the same time, and I'm kind of contradicting myself, be an animal when it comes to what you want. Go after it. Get it. Have passion. Because this is it, and we don't know if we're here today, gone tomorrow. Just live life and be kind.

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