The Indie Weekly with Vince Zangardi
Vince Zangardi is one of the key players in the pilot for WESTCHESTER. He plays Marc: the son of a Sicilian wise guy who just can’t seem to escape his father’s shadow no matter how hard he tries to live "the straight life". He’s also a part of the group of friends that WESTCHESTER is based. A very complicated and interesting role of someone trying to fight stereo-types when in fact the stereotype they fight is a part of their reality. Vince Zangardi is originally from Williamsburg, Virginia but now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Similar to thecharacter he plays his family and friends are the most important things in hislife. Welcome to this instalment of The Indie Weekly with Vince Zangardi.
Q1:How did you get involved with the pilot for WESTCHESTER? Getting involved with Westchester was, in a big part, luck. I sent my headshot to Don, they called me in for an audition, and here we are almost a year later, with a hot show on our hands.
Q2 What is it about this show and character that made you want to get involved? As soon as I read the script, I knew I wanted in. As an actor you might play lots of roles that you fit, and the occasional one you don’t, but it’s a rare thing to find a character who is truly a reflection of yourself. A character who thinks the way you do and sees the world the same way. That’s Marc. Marc and I may not live in the same situation but we have so much in common, I knew I had to play the role. As for the show itself, all it took was ten minutes in the audition room with the Westchester "family" and I was sold. They are good people. They’re passionate and smart and they look out for their own. That’s a very rare find in the business and I feel lucky to be working with them.
Vince Zangardi as “Mark”
Q3Marc embodies the counter culture to the “ugly” side of Italian subculture. He’s the son of a wise guy who just wants to walk a straight line in life but has a hard time breaking away from his old man’s expectations. What’s it like to play a character with so many moral dilemmas? It’s definitely a challenge. Marc is constantly at odds with the people around him, especially his family. He wants nothing to do with the business that his father hoped his only son would take over and he’s trying, unsuccessfully at times, to protect his sisters, that don’t always want his help. In the show Marc fights a lot, but he’s always fighting for things he believes in. That can be tough to play because despite his aggressiveness Marc is truly a good guy. He’s loyal and he genuinely wants what’s best for the people he cares about. But the moral dilemmas are what make him fun to play and interesting to watch. Westchester is a coming of age drama and those types of internal struggles are something we all go through, in some way, growing up.
Q4: Marc finds three brothers in his friends that compensate for his sisters. To his sisters he has to be a protector watching over them but with his friends he seems to feel he’s loved and respected and that he can expect it back in the same way. How much can you identify with this character and how much did you have to compensate/research for? This was actually one of the easiest parts of Marc for me to connect with. I have two sisters, one older, one younger, and no brothers, so all my life it has been my friends who filled that slot. I live in Brooklyn with three of my best friends and our "crew" is not that different from Marc’s. Each guy has the role he plays in the group, but when it comes down to it we are family and I know they have my back no matter what. So when it came time to play a guy whose friends were so important to him, it wasn’t a big stretch.
Q5: Marc is a self-starter and a go-getter who loves his family while rejecting some of their fundamental values. He’s torn between two worlds. How did you find the balance between the love and hate for where he comes from? Well, finding that balance is something I think Marc continuously struggles with, that’s where the conflict comes from. If he had it all worked out, he wouldn’t be very interesting to watch. But as far as beginning to understand Marc’s situation goes, it helps a great deal that these characters are based on real people. It means I have a very thorough history of Marc that I can study and try to understand how he’s come to the place where he is now and then where he will go as the show progresses.
Q6: What is it about his struggle that you think people will identify with unilaterally? On the surface it may look like his struggle is unique, dealing with the organized crime side of his family, but when you really look at it his situation it’s like a lot of kids in America. He’s trying to find himself, grow up, make his life what he wants it to be, all while dealing with his family. I don’t think it will be difficult to identify with Marc or Twin or any of the characters in the show.
Q7:The core friend group displays an organic chemistry on screen. How did you work on creating that authenticity? You know, unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time to rehearse and really work on that chemistry so I think I have to attribute some of that chemistry to good casting. Don picked a good group of guys and we all got along really well from the start. But that said, we did chill on the set all day and hang out so it was easy to transfer those good times on to camera.
Teaser
Q8: What was it like working with Don Capria? Don was great to work with. He’s so passionate about Westchester that it makes everyone on set passionate about it. Everyone there wanted it to be as good as he did. He was also really smart from an acting perspective. He knew what he wanted and how to get it from us but still gave us plenty of freedom to breathe our own life into these characters. Some directors I’ve worked with get spread to thin trying to deal with the myriad of responsibilities they have, that true acting direction can fall by the wayside, but not so with Donnie. He does great work and I think it’s pretty evident how smart he is when you watch the show.
Q9: What’s the Westchester “family”/ on set experience like? We had a blast, simple as that. Don, Rob Scalere, they’re all great people and they made everyone very comfortable on set. I remember one day on set I had a later call time than the rest of the cast and I actually went in early just to hang out with them. It was like that.
Q10: What do you think this show has to offer audiences? Westchester is not like anything else on TV right now. It’s based on real people and a real place that most people know nothing about. It’s also got a music influence that makes it pop and stand out from other shows. It’s got high drama, action, good music, it’s funny, and above all, its real. What more do you want?
For more clips, behind the scenes footage, and trailers you can find WESTCHESTER onfacebook and myspace
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