Exclusive Interview: Vadhir Derbez Discusses His Action-Packed Film, White Elephant

Vadhir Derbez is an international superstar who is best known for his roles in Mujer, casos de la vida real, Gossip Girl: Acapulco, and Entre Correr y Vivir. In 2020, he became a household name in the States with a breakout performance in The Seventh Day, and he’s continuing to build on his legacy with the release of White Elephant.

Starring opposite Michael Rooker and Bruce Willis, the action-packed film follows an ex-marine enforcer who must battle his conscience and code of honor when he is forced to do things for the mob.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Vadhir about the release!

PC: Tell us about White Elephant and your character in the film.
Vadhir: For all the action fans out there, they’re going to love this one. It’s definitely full of action, and I love the script. I really like the way that the characters are written and all the situations that they get into. Honestly, one of the biggest things that I love about this movie is the cast. I love the cast that we have. It has John Malkovich, Michael Rooker, Olga Kurylenko, and Bruce Willis. Bruce is such a legend. It’s such a wonderful project to work on. You have these mobsters and gangsters living the life they live and doing the dirty work. You have my character wanting to prove himself and take over. They get into this messy situation when Michael Rooker’s character decides to have a change of heart.

PC: You’ve done it all throughout your career. What was it about this particular character and script that attracted you to this project?
Vadhir: I’ve really wanted to do an action film, and this definitely checks that box. As I said, I really liked the script. I liked that Jesse [V. Johnson], the director, was doing it because he’s really good at doing action. When I heard about the cast, it was a very nice surprise. It was shocking to hear the big names that were in it. I really liked the opportunity that I had to play around with my character and make it mine. I got to work with Michael Rooker who is wonderful and has such a dark sense of humor. He was always playing on set and doing his thing.

We both vibed with the director. He let us play around with the scenes. He would get the scene, and then he would always let us do an extra take. He would be like, “Do it with your style.” Then we would play around and get in new, fresh takes based on whatever we thought of. That was fun.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, there’s so much action in this film. Can you talk a little bit about the physical preparation that you had to do for this role as well as the gun training?
Vadhir: I had to go weeks prior to work with the stunt guy. My character is not this dude who is just in the streets with a gun. He has military training. He has been doing this for years. He’s very precise about his work. We really needed to relay that on screen and in a controlled way. I had to go and do handgun and rifle training in addition to all these other different kinds of guns that I use in the film. I had to know how to use them without looking down at them. It was very fun to do the fist fights and the huge knife fights with this six-foot dude who looks like a tank. There was a lot of fun choreography that I was able to do. I did my own stunts for that one, even though we did have a stunt guy there. That was a fun experience.

PC: You’ve made a name for yourself in LatinX cinema. How do those filming experiences compare to this project? What are some of the major similarities and differences?
Vadhir: The equipment is very, very similar. Nothing with that changes. I think that in the US, we have a much bigger budget and more organization. They really like to stick to those goals and schedules. In Mexico, we’re a little more laidback where the work stretches out. We’re like, “Okay, we’ll pay extra hours and we’re fine with that.” But it’s fun being able to work in both countries and see those differences. It’s very exciting. In Mexico, we’re not doing big action films, so the fact that I got to do it here in English was very exciting.

PC: It was recently announced that your co-star, Bruce Willis, is retiring from acting. Has this project become even more special now that you got to work with him before his retirement?
Vadhir: It’s been such an honor to work with him. It’s sad that he’s retiring. But it’s understandable because it’s for health reasons. It was very special to know that I got to share one of these last moments with him and get to know him outside of what we know him for on screen. He’s such a great guy, so professional, and I really admire all of his work. I’m a big fan. Since I was a kid, I always watched his movies. It was very, very awesome to work with him.

PC: This is such a fun ride for an hour and 30 minutes. Is there a scene in particular that you’re really excited for your fans to see when this movie drops?
Vadhir: The whole intro with my character was very funny. There’s this explosion in a building, but it was only supposed to be three windows that explode for the camera. They ended up exploding the whole entire building. The side came out and all the windows. The whole rest of the building broke. We didn’t see it all on the camera, but it was so big. That was very fun. When audiences see that in the movie, they can now know that that explosion was big.

PC: Outside of this film, what’s next for you?
Vadhir: I just finished a series for HBO called Mariachis. It’s a very nice, heartfelt story about a dad that gets Alzheimer’s and we try to bring him back with music. I also just did a comedy with Rob Schneider. He’s hilarious. I love Rob Schneider’s work, and he’s directing and acting in it. That was very fun to do. Then I’m going to keep releasing music this year.

PC: You’ve brought so many complex stories and characters to life on the screen. What’s left on your bucket list? Is there a dream role that you would love to bring to life in the future?
Vadhir: There are so many things that I’m dying to do. I love medieval shows, so I would love to do something like that. I would love to do a period piece and do more action. I’d love to be in a superhero film. I’d also love to do something like Green Book. Doing things in English opens up a whole new world to repeat genres and things that I might have done in Spanish but now want to do in English.

To keep up with Vadhir, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. White Elephant is in select theater and on AMC+.