I want to jump on it right away. It's going to
be a great show. If you know wingman, you have
a wingman, right? In the history of wingman.
In the history of wingman. You got Batman and
Robin. All right. You got your - You got Goose
and Marek. Goose and Marek. Yes. Goose and Marek.
You got Goose and Marek. Who else did we see?
Oh, we got Opie and Jax from the great show of
Sons of America. Yes. And then you got two guys
that are hardcore brothers to the end. You know,
literally to the end. You got - Marcus Phoenix.
And you got Dom Santiago. And what better way
to get the podcast going, guys, to have the man
himself, Carlos Farrow, in the podcast, baby?
What is going on? Thanks, guys. I guess I got
to get it out of the way, because you guys set
me up so beautifully. So, bitches! Funny when
you guys were naming great brothers and homies
to the end you guys are like maverick and goose
I'm like, that's a really really good one really
relevant to today's fun. Well, if you notice
the majority of those women I mentioned died
How you been brother I'm house you were talking
about the weather it is hottest balls over there
I believe Yeah, yeah I could be like no man.
It's kind of like LA bullshit. It's too fucking
hot. I Was in I was in Palm Springs this last
weekend and You know, we're indoors so it shouldn't
really affect us But and I've been to Palm Springs
before so it's a desert you gotta kind of expect
it to be hot but it was like eight in the morning
or nine in the morning when I'm arriving in the
driver gets me there and it's some 114 Wow. Wow.
It's 8 .30 in the morning. Yeah. Wow. And it
was only going to get hotter. So come on, man.
We're melting over here. Jesus. Man, dude. It's
hot. So let's start from the beginning, Carlos.
Tell us, I mean, where you're from, where you
grew up, and how we got to become the voice of
the great Dom Santiago, man. Take us away. Take
it away. I was born and raised in San Francisco,
California. It was pretty the way to get to where
I am now or to do what I do now Was pretty different
because it was so long ago and that's just a
fact I mean if you look at IMDB or you look at
other stuff I've done I've been at this for a
while, but I started just pretty traditional
with you know studying coming up and you know
Doing you know regional theater and and being
a kind of a theater guy and making a living and
this is the this is the Cliff Notes really, I
mean, nobody knows what Cliff Notes is anymore.
But the abbreviated version is that, you know,
when things start to happen, when you start,
you know, being on TV shows, you know, people,
you know, notice it's, it's one of the old like
sayings in show businesses. The most important
thing is to be seen, to be, to, you know, so
putting yourself out there is key. And I was
really fortunate that I came up right at the
tail end of, of only like five networks. And,
you know, Good things happen when you pilot the
Enterprise, you know what I mean? Yeah, I know.
Actually, he's part of the Star Trek cast also.
So by the time that these new consoles... Yeah,
this is awesome, guys. I've never told this story
so succinctly, so thank you for the opportunity.
So we ended up... being involved in cartoons
and anime dubs exactly and I mean exactly at
the time when they were coming up and I was well
aware of PlayStation 2 and Nintendo and I mean
everything every console there's ever been Sega
Genesis and on and on but all of a sudden there
was this new this new generation, literally and
metaphorically, of the original Xbox and PlayStation
2 was up in its game. And by the time we were
at Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, I was already
like a veteran because I worked on all these
games while I was working in TV, you know, on
camera and things like that. And you just never
know what's going to what's going to work like
they ask. They ask actors all the time. They're
like, did you know that Gears was going to be
this big? Absolutely not. In fact, all there
was was doubt back in 2006, 2007. And as you
can imagine, I know the story better than probably
anybody besides the developers that were there
at the time. I was there every step of the way.
And to answer your question even more directly,
since I tightened that whole story up, is I...
I was the first of the cast that we've had for
five games. I was the person that has been involved
the longest. Wow. And that's kind of a fun trivia
thing because you think, what about the rest
of the squad? What about all those sorts of things?
Well, the reality is that when I... was trying
to book the job. The game had a different name.
For the people that don't know the story, it's
kind of fun. Originally, this was going to be
an Unreal Tournament game. Oh, yeah. I mean,
you think of the aesthetic, you think of the
company, and it just makes sense. I believe at
first it was Unreal Warfare. Then when I started
auditioning and all that stuff and booked the
job. So now I got cast in this game called Warfare.
And so I'm in this game, Warfare, and it had
a team and a squad that I never met them. We
never got that far. But I know that all of a
sudden, everybody got fired but me. I mean, essentially,
that's what it boils down to. And I'm grateful.
And I'm grateful not just for keeping the gig,
obviously. But the reason was really great. And
that was that the team at Epic and Cliff and
Rod and everybody, they seemed to kind of agree
with my choices. Because Cliff Bozinski said
this every now and again, that the people that
were playing Latinos or anything that might be
Latino that has a name like Garcia or Gomez or
whatever, they pretty much all sounded like a
knockoff cheech. You know what I mean? So that's
kind of what people expected, what they wanted.
I didn't approach it that way. And I think that's
what kind of, I'm speculating now, but I like
to think that that's what kept me in the mix
because there was alternate takes somewhere out
there in the universe. There are takes where
it was like, why don't you make it more urban?
You know what I mean? And, you know, you guys
are in the RGV, you know, which has become sort
of almost a second home to me. And I got to tell
you, you guys understand what they mean when
they're saying that. So everything went from
being like, you know, military banter and sort
of, you know, what's that? And helping the player
along to like, Marcus, what's up? Hey, what's
going on? Why are they coming in here? No, so
so so when I I had a real handle on who I thought
Dom was from the very beginning the more story
they gave me the more Notes and the more lore
that I that I was getting given You know, man,
you just you know, this guy's not And I'm not
trivializing, it's just a fact. This guy's not
just the guy from the neighborhood. He's not.
He comes from a military family. And, you know,
enough for nothing, man. I mean, I think I can
do this in 2024. I can say that from back then
to now, not only do I know the guy, but I've
pretty much been validated and justified that
me being that bitch, you know, the guy that asked
for detail. And then he's always going, he wouldn't
say that. I mean, that's exactly what was going
on. I was like, why would he say that here? He
wouldn't do that. His objectives and why he's
fighting, all of that stuff is not the obvious.
It's not what you guys think. I've done my research.
By the time we got to books and comics and all
that, now we're all working together. We're all
collaborating. So now we're up to like Gears
2 and Gears 3. I think I've been proven right
that this guy was not that voice, that pretty...
Almost dismissive, to be really fair. There are
characters of all kinds of ethnicities and races
that you get set up for stuff, you know what
I mean? Like in storytelling, it sounds like
a joke, but you always know in the horror movie
who's going to die first. trying to deconstruct
that, you know what I mean? And that's good.
And that's sort of my thing is that I was like,
this guy's not just that. He's not just the what
is that guy and incoming, you know what I mean?
This guy, every word, because like I said, I
am that bitch. I wanted every word to belong
to Dom. And here's trivia, and again, it'll finish
my answer to this crazy speech about Dom, is
that every actor in the squad got to say, sup,
bitches, okay? Every single one. But it became
mine because I just knew how he would say it.
And I don't think that that was the case with
every one of my squad mates. I think that they
were doing what is, you know, it's pretty obvious.
It's just, you know, a trash talk, you know?
But to me, it was... it almost had an air of
this the spicy flavor of my sub bitches is that
it's vindictive yeah it's it's it's um it's about
something it's not just like you know shit yeah
it's kind of shit yeah yeah yeah but but the
sub bitches is very in your face yes you're the
enemy and uh and you killed my brother you killed
my family you this is it's one of those moments
where dom has a bit of release and not just,
you know, crying. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, consider
the fact at the time where Xbox was flowing with,
I mean, I'm going to bring this up. It was flowing
with Halo for so long. Halo was doing great.
Then all of a sudden it happened to where Bungie
just said, you know what, we're just going to,
we're done with this. And 343 Studios said, you
know, we'll take it. And they literally milked
it. To me, I think they just milked it. So we
needed something fresh. And when Gears came along,
I go, well, you know, let's give me my buddy
of mine said, let's give it a try. We fell in
love with it real quick. All the characters,
every character was like genuine. Yeah. And it
was an awesome story. That's when the recasting
really made a difference. Like I said, I never
met the original cats, but my guys, I mean, we
we've all been at it together for so long. But
like we we've always had the. The great fortune
because it is rare in show business in anything
any TV show cartoon doesn't matter It's rare
for like the two leads or the two You know your
your player one player to your co -op guys. It's
very rare for them to record together because
Technically speaking it's it you get you guys
work in sound right cleaner audio I mean, I saw
you guys very responsibly muting my mic, you
know Yeah, putting your guys off when I'm talking
all those things come into play to the hundred
degree in a in a property and Thing a project
like this and so me and we have the great and
it shows man I know it shows because I I play
the games me and John DeMaggio who plays Marcus
Yeah, we we work together when when when there's
a scene when mark with Marcus and Dom we're in
the booth together and that is by now by 2024
standards it's completely unheard of because
they can clean it up they can overlap us they
can make they can get choices and create a conversation
right seems like we're in the same room but they've
been very smart i think because john and i have
been friends for over 20 years we've we've had
uh We've played we played cop one and cop two
on spawn the animated series. Oh There's an anime
there's an anime on YouTube called gogo 13 Queen
B. It's for free. You can see it it's it's uh,
it's from the late 90s and He's gogo 13. That's
James Bond assassin in this in this anime. That's
very adult dirty is all So there's this cartoon
out there that it's Marcus versus Dom. And it's
cool. It's really awesome. But what that brings
to what I was saying is that he and I have a
shorthand. We have a chemistry that really, every
game, every scene, every Maria scene, every Gears
3 scene, everything I think is kind of a little
better because we play off each other. And all
these improvisations, John's Master at what he
does and he really is really good. And I tend
to think I'm okay, too And when we start fooling
around in the booth There's stuff that I could
tell you man, like I'll give you a couple, you
know, how who wants toast and all that? Yes,
that's John just improvising. That's we have
We have this new we have this new this news.
It was called the net not natural. It's uh, the
Whatever the torch is, you know when we finally
got a flamethrower. Yeah The flip but it has
a name I know what you're talking about He came
up with who wants toast and My favorite and and
again since we're going down trivia lane with
Dom here If you guys don't mind if you'll indulge
me We were in the booth together and we they
hadn't they had they usually have drawings or
concept art for the monsters The new monsters
the old monsters any changes to gear to to you
know, when they say these frags are different
They're like this we tend to be able to see them,
you know, so um, they they had these new I don't
know I don't remember right now if it was there.
I think it was the wretches but in the script.
They didn't have no pictures. So they just said
we were reading along together doing the lines.
And we both at the same time saw that it says
a bunch of creatures approach their feet and
they are monkey like dogs. And then it says these
monkey dogs approach Dom. And it said monkey
dog like twice. And John started going monkey
dog, monkey dog. That's the monkey dog. And I
couldn't fucking resist, right? So now that we're
rolling, I was like, Marcus, monkey dog. And
he started going, the monkey dog. And we just
kept saying monkey dog. And with things like
that, you know, it was funny the first five times
we did it. Right. After the fifth time, Nobody's
laughing anymore, but we're like hysterical and
everybody else is like fucking hilarious. Can
we keep going? I had a question for the question.
I've been in the bank for a while. I'm pretty
sure you've gotten asked this question quite
a few times when you get the scripts and to do
the role plays on the game. The scene where you
find Dom finds his wife I mean when you read
that how do you prepare yourself for that in?
particular scene I Appreciate the question and
I and I I understand it now. I'm sweating you
guys give me a second I'll tell you the story,
and I'll try. I've told the story before, but
I'll try for you and your viewers. I'll try to
give you a little more detail, a little bit more
spin on what was happening. So unlike other games,
Gears of War is a very special property. There's
no two ways about it. If you think about all
the games, I've been really fortunate to work
in so many. Met marquee properties. I mean, I'm
still working with Assassin's Creed. I'm still
working with Saints Row I'm still working with
payday I'm still I can go down the line so many
cool ass properties that are on game 3 game 5
game 13 so I am I've seen a lot of the process
from back in that from like, you know now it's
called the og phase and and and now currently
what's happening with games and what's still
doesn't happen, which happened really wonderfully
with Gears, is we do get the script. It's treated
like a feature film or a series. I can see where
we're going, where we're headed with the thought
process. So I can work on the script in advance.
And again, what I say, I'm that bitch, right?
So I get the script in advance. I tear it up
and figure out what I see there and then talk
to the director and talk to the client, talk
to the coalition now. basically and say, look,
this is what I'm thinking. Are we on the same
page? And this is so. So now you know why I get
to that level when I show up ready to work. And
now this is the part I have said before, and
that is that to other podcasts, to other interviewers
is that when I showed up and the Maria scene,
like you said, you read it, you're like, fuck,
man, like like this is not. your basic video
game cutscenes. Yeah, exactly. They're never,
and I can say this confidently, people will always
bring up a scene from Final Fantasy or Halo,
it's not the same. It's not the same to have
a human person have to go through, and by virtue
of your playing the game, you go through it.
It's something so horrible, right? So I thought...
I'll tell you what I thought first, and then
I'll tell you what happened. I thought I was
going to come in and tell the director, the producers,
that I was going to say, hey, so this is what
I think. I think this is dark. I think this is
fucked up. I think that if I act this, I'm going
to need to optimize the situation in the recording
studio. John, I don't know how he feels about
this. to them that it's going to be a fucking
mess. And I said, so that's what I'm ready to
do. But I want you to tell me if you really,
and I'll never forget this for the rest of my
life, I said, do you want me to go there? Now,
what I thought they were going to say is, what
the fuck is wrong with you? It's a video game.
Right. Right. Exactly. What are you thinking,
Mr. De Niro? Could we just get the monsters and
move forward? You know what I mean? Well. This
is what their reaction was. I said, do you want
me to go there? Unanimously, they went, yeah.
It was practically like giddy, like, fuck yeah,
let's do that shit. And I was like, yeah, it's
easy for you guys to say, yeah, let's do that.
I have to go, I have to go. that's something
that no human being, you can live 80, 90 years
in your life and never go through anything even
close to that, right? This is sci -fi horror,
every kind of genre. It is best in one scene,
right? So I'll give you guys a very, it's not
like a secret, it's just not known very much.
I did the mocap for that too. Yeah, so me and
John were in North Carolina, and I was on their
mocap stage, and I wore the dot suit, which,
by the way, if you guys ever think about doing
mocap, don't. Notice. Notice. Right now. Unless
you are far more secure with your ego than I
was, because that, you could put Anybody you
could put an athlete a movie star in that mocap
suit and we've seen like people with the dots
and shit I mean, I just watched a video of the
cat from stray wearing the dots. Okay, right
So it's really common and I've done it on a few
games But that was that was the first time that
I was balls out, you know doing a scene It was
about me and it was like doing theater I had
the scene memorized and I was doing the I was
doing like it was in a movie or a play Which
is cool as shit, but it means I have to act it
twice Yeah, okay when we record it now I had
to act it when we were doing the motion capture
most of them But the but the reason I tell you
guys and your viewers is when you watch it now,
it's not like a robot It's it's me. It's not
that Maria scene is completely mine and I Had
them turn down the lights in the recording studio
number that bitch. Yeah I I did the scene and
I I don't know man, I don't know how much, I
mean, I'm trying to keep this stuff succinct
here, but I will tell you, it was really, really
hard. And really, I was going through, really,
everything you hear and see. I'm really going
through it, like, for realies. And John, you
know, I think he lucked out in the dialogue department
that he got to say, you know, Dom, it's OK. Which,
by the way, it's not fucking OK. Exactly. There's
almost a tradition now, at this point with Gears,
something horrible happens. And they go, like
when Dom bites it in three, Anya's like, it's
OK, Marcus, it's OK. Anyway, so so we we did
the scene and I went there and the I think it
played we got it in one take and When they yeah,
fuck it. Fuck. Yeah I should say shit. Yeah I
can do this all day I'll give your your viewers
that played Gears 1 flashbacks That's why I had
to lighten the mood with revival. So yeah, man,
we did the thing. And again, what I thought we
were going to do, like, so what goes through
your mind when you read that in the script? What
went through my mind is, I can't believe they're
really going to let me do this because it's pretty
heavy shit. That being said, it completely changed
my career. It changed everything. It was the
coolest thing at that point. It was the coolest
thing that had ever happened because people kind
of. didn't there was all there's always trolls
and haters that will be like what the fuck is
this let's kill monsters but yeah by and large
everybody was like you know they they felt for
dom they understood his story more they they
tapped in him you know you got to remember the
first person you ever the first thing you ever
encounter in the gears of war universe if you've
never even heard of gears of war yeah first person
you see you don't see marcus first you see dom
you hear jack rip that door and then you see
What does Gears of War look like? It looks like
Dom. It's the cog armor. It's the Lancer. It's
Jack. And then the brothers are immediately taking
us on this trip that would go on for so long,
you know? And I wanted that weight there when
we did the Maria scene. And so to wrap that up,
I will tell you. So there's a reason. And I blame
myself that for three, that scene that I mentioned
lightly, I said, you know, Dom bites it. Yeah.
I really feel that somebody, I don't know who,
but somebody was like, one more time, they were
like, yeah, let's do that. You know what I mean?
Yeah. And, you know, that's, I don't resent that.
I welcome it and I appreciate it. I'm grateful
that I got to tell the story and that I got to
do that thing I do, man. Right. It changed the
way the players interacted with the team, too.
It was such a pivotal moment. You've been you've
been grinding away on this epic journey to save
your family. Yep. And for it to just go away.
Yeah, be for not and and I'm laying the cat on
the back here when I got to that point of that
game. Yeah, bro. I had to put my control out.
I balled up, bro. Yeah. Oh, my God. Do this.
No. What's going on? We all stop playing that
for a few minutes because like, what the fuck
is that? I won't name. I won't name what outlet
said it, but it was very kind. When that came
out when the reviews came out and they were like
I said by and large you were positive And they
said that see see I'm trying to be humble without
being humble so So no this this very large large
like might even be the largest outlet said that
the Maria scene Carlos Ferro changed video game
voice acting forever And I appreciate that. And
it's really funny, because if you are a gamer,
it doesn't have to be a hardcore gamer, just
a gamer that's been playing forever and ever
and ever, always has a console in the house,
knows all their games, and then is a shooter's
guy first or third, doesn't matter. If you have
followed gaming, you'll notice that the second
that that Maria scene happened and then the Gears
3 scene happened, all of a sudden, all these
franchises were like, the horse going to fucking
die. Thank you. And I didn't say there was that
game. I didn't say that. I just picked a horse.
I picked an animal out of clear blue sky. Let's
kill the horse. Let's just kill the horse. I
always kill the horse. You know what's funny?
Guys, you guys are making, you know that that
conversation happened. You know that conversation.
I believe it. And you know it went exactly like
that. They were like, can we kill the horse?
No, let's kill one of the guys. Nah, that's going
to be too obvious. No, do we have a horse called
Dom? No. No, because it's gonna hurt more to
kill the horse. And I'll be honest, when part
three came out and at the point where Dom becomes
the hero and takes one for the team and bites
it. But I put my control down and I walked out.
What's the point of playing this game anymore?
You're in big company, dude. There is a I think
you can join YouTube. What's it YouTube? Yeah,
it's YouTube not twitch. It was on YouTube. There
were all these videos Dom dies rage quit and
and it was it was people crying It was people
just just streaming man, and yeah, they they
threw the fucking controllers. They broke their
own yes yes because you know immediately uh my
only beef if it is it's not a beef really my
only concern was that it happened too early in
the game like i don't think we're even the third
act yet and it happened and so um i think everyone
having to play as jace or anya i mean if you've
played as dom always like i've never played a
gears of war game four and five included unless
I can play as Dom. And I know that it's not just
because it's my character. A lot of people say
that when I was hosting esports in Vegas and
in Mexico, there were these four on four fucking
battles that were four Doms against four Doms.
There you go. Dom is a very beloved character.
Yes, yes. When people wanted to get different
Lancers and skins, it wasn't like I want one
that's shiny or I want a gold one with stripes.
It was like I want a Nasher, and I want it to
have Maria on it. I want the Dom one. I want
the one that has, you know, that one's kind of
fruity. It's pink and blue. I want it. It's the
Maria Dom one, you know what I mean? Right, right,
yeah. And I really appreciate that because it
means that all this thought that we put into
it, that I put into it, that the writers put
into it, that we were onto something and that
it had that effect on games. and more importantly
than anything. And it's like gamers, man. Yeah.
And I think a lot of gamers. And to tell you
the truth, I stopped playing Gears for a while,
man, because, I mean, don't get me wrong, I got
the Dom Zombie. I got that one I had to get.
I had to get that one. The Dom Zombie. Oh, man,
you should have heard people. People were sending
me pictures of Zombie Dom and I already knew
about it. They were sending it to me and they
were acting like, are you guys, I don't know
if there's any Latinos in the room. there's a
couple okay well you know what i'm saying is
that um they got very much like you know what
i mean like they were like you know what i mean
they were like did you just did you just call
dominic santiago did you just from cera no i'm
kidding they're like did you just make him a
zombie when we just got dealt with him dying
like that is so disrespectful that's so disrespectful
ain't it and then well like i said i when that's
the next the next thing i want to step into um
when they debuted the trailer for uh gears uh
gears of war e -day I jumped back on I jumped
back on Gears 5 and I found the collectors Dom
available and I bought that sucker man ASAP I
go here's five Gears five like people come at
me with criticisms about form five because it's
not the first story the original trilogy, but
here's the thing is In and I'll do it in tears
number one Four's opening is the prequel scene
at asphalt fields with Dom and Hoffman And we
worked, excuse me, we worked like a couple of
years to try to figure out how to incorporate
Dom into four, how to kind of have some fun with
the universe without being dismissive of the
original trilogy or being too like... you know,
not to be shitty with anybody. So you say, how
do we do this? What's the mix of continuing the
story of the locust and the swarm without being
kind of like shitty to the story that was already
beginning, middle, and ended, you know? And so
I dug, I really dug the opening scene from Four.
And like I said, we worked really hard on it.
I was very proud of it. I didn't, I understand.
I still am very proud of what we did with Four.
I've never, every time I work on something, of
the five games, we record all new audio. So all
of that, I'll take that and anything, take cover.
It's every time it's different in every game.
We recorded original except for the Gears of
War Ultimate Edition, which is arguably my favorite
thing of the games, my favorite game. And it's
because they... It wasn't a remaster, that's
a real wrong term. It rebuilt Gears 1 from the
ground up, and the only thing that survived was
the audio. And I thought it was really smart,
it fixed a lot of, not glitches, but certainly
things that could be improved upon, story -wise
and mechanics -wise. So you get to play Gears
1 in the universe of Xbox One. So I dug what
we did there. You mentioned five about the Collectors
Dom. There's this badass picture of Farmer Dom.
I don't know if you see that. Yes, but yeah,
it's it's it's it's heaters on Chippendale's
territory. You know, like I've wanted I may even
do it now because of this podcast. You just gave
me the idea. I've wanted to put that picture
up and like play like some house music in the
background, you know, because it will make the
picture look very different. But but here's five
I think has the most beautiful of all the Multiplayers
and yeah, and and that and I'm someone who grinded
out every night Hours and hours in gears to horde
mode and in gears three horde mode, but I will
tell you I sucked around those laser encampments
Like if you if you if you had a homie that would
be like you guys are at level 32 and you're like
Man, is tonight going to be the night? Are we
going to finally hit 50 together? And you just
have seen. That's like last week. Well, I was
the guy. I was the guy. I was the guy with the
lasers that people would be like, what are you
doing? Because you would just see, I'd be like,
in it, and then just poof. I hated that shit.
But five, five, I dig the multiplayer. And I'm
very proud of everything we've done with the
franchise. That's awesome. Now the question per
se is right now is that everybody wants to know,
will you be in Gears of War E -Day? It is way,
way too early for me or anybody else to answer
that question. It's the development stage of
the game. I'm in a real tricky position because
I can't, if I say I am, it's the biggest news
in video games. If I say I'm not, it's the biggest
news in video games. But I think that it's always
been, things like that, things like that are
always, there's very few places, guys, and I
mean this from my heart, from the heart, okay,
there's very few places in your life where you
truly have power. You know what I mean? Like
you start figuring out that you don't have as
much power in your house as you thought. You
know what I mean? You start figuring out that
at work, you can be the supervisor, you can be
the owner, and you still don't have the power
you think you did over the landlord. You know
what I mean? And over all kinds of things that
play into it. Everybody, I'm not a parent. but
I've helped raise kids and you know, you think
that you're the, you know, metal metal, you know,
and you find out very quickly that that's not
the case. Right. You got to kind of deal with
what you can. Well, in the case of video game
and specifically the video game industry and
really all geeky stuff like cartoons and animated
shows, this is when the public actually has power,
guys. You remember what happened to Sonic the
Hedgehog? Yes, yes everybody thinks I mean, I
mean we all have our own version of a conspiracy
freak because It's healthy to be a little bit
paranoid and stuff So you kind of think oh man,
they pulled the wool over my eyes You think that
just to protect yourself? But the reality there
is when they showed us a trailer when they put
all that time energy and money into a trailer
for a skinny Sonic with weird teeth You know
what I mean? That's not on purpose. Yeah, I got
you. I got you. I got you. You don't represent,
you don't represent your team, hundreds of people
in man hours. You don't do it and go, ta -da,
just fucking with you. That's the same. Right,
right, right. So when the public were like, how
fucking hard can it be? And someone went into
Photoshop and just made a photorealistic sonic,
which by the way, all of us that have been on
the internet since 96 or whatever, we'd all seen
photorealistic Homer Simpson, Jessica Rabb is
a good one, photorealistic cartoon, I know, let's
take a moment. But cartoon characters, photorealistic,
you know? So the Sonic thing, we were right.
And we had the power and we had a voice to say,
you're taking not just something beloved, like
I've always loved Superman, it's this is something
very specific to like two or three generations
of kids and adults that's that's sonic and mario
and all of these these guys the specific gaming
uh area we all have our heart is connected to
it and people you know they made their voice
known that's why they fixed it and i i think
that um i don't i think it's uh It's interesting
that they're not being an official announcement
and this is the most by the way guys you guys
This is the most I've ever talked about the Xbox
showcase. I'm not talking about much But again,
if I say if I say that, you know, I'm under non
-disclosure agreement I'm contractually I can't
say anything that dude that duh, right? Something
without saying what I say if I say I know from
the last 25 years plus years in show business,
I know what it is to be cagey on purpose and
to try to get attention. I'm certainly not doing
that, especially not to you guys. The reason
I want to do this podcast is because I have a
real connection to the RGV. My peoples have been
very good to me there every time I visited. And
I try, I try desperately to give back and to
be supportive of artists locally. And so I wanted
to be really straight with you guys is that I
think if it weren't the case, I think that that
would be crazy. and i think that uh i think that
i think el público would make it known that it's
crazy oh yeah you know what i mean real quick
and and if it is the case then we all got something
to look forward to and celebrate so it's kind
of sorted no matter what you know what i mean
i i And that, like I said, this is me not being
cagey. This is me just being like, hey, man,
they don't make announcements like that at this
stage of the game. They just wanted people to
know that it's happening. And people have been
coming at me all over the internet, and John
as well, being like, what's this mean? What's
the deal? And I saw an article that I think one
of the people, one of the big bosses, I won't
name names, but just that the same thing I'm
saying is, whether it is or isn't, we don't make
announcements in the video game industry. We
don't make these kinds of announcements. It's
premature to make these announcements. It's only
because, again, this is me just for example,
what if the game's delayed? You know what I mean?
What if, God forbid, something happens to me
or John, and we're in the hospital, and it pushes?
Or somebody has a different creative take. I
just think that it would be fucking crazy. You
know what I mean? I think we've been in this
so long with that Brothers to the End thing in
Gears Inc. We've leaned into that as artists
and as creative people. We've leaned into the
community of Gears of War. I mean, Mexico might
as well be called Mexico City Gears of War, you
know what I mean? It is so special in Mexico
City. It's the home, really, of Gears of War.
And, you know, it's not a secret that maybe my
Dominic Santiago might have something to do with
it, you know? And in this country, and also in
Europe, man, when I'm in the UK, for example,
I mean, Scotland, Liverpool, London, Wales. Everybody
knows my character the way they know my character
and I don't think that anybody would respond
well to to such a Change, you know, that's that
and there's no reason for it. I might add as
well, you know, right, right There's there's
plenty of time and energy and money to go around,
you know, gotcha. I hear you man It's it's just
that if you're gonna announce a prequel You know
with our favorite characters our beloved characters
There's an expectation there, I'm sorry. There's
an expectation there. So like I was saying to
you, they'd be crazy, right? They'd be crazy,
right? You know what I'm saying? So that's the
most I can say, guys, and that's a lot. That's
a lot. Thank you so much. That's fine. That's
fine. We understand where you're coming from.
All I know is when I saw the trailer, my nephew
sent me the trailer, and he goes, dude, did you
see this? I go, no, what is it? He goes, check
out the trailer. I checked it out, and it shows
where Marcus is falling through one of the holes,
and he's about to slip off the pipe, and I see
that arm come down, and as soon as I saw the
arm come out, I recognized the get -up. Like,
are you fucking kidding me? I got up, ran around
the house like a little girl, and my wife goes,
you are fucking nuts. I go, oh my God, it's Tommy's
back, he's back. I watched it live. I had the
same the same kind of feeling in that I liked
how that was put together and But but I but I
will tell you this the second that I saw that
I was like, okay Well, here we go because me
and John are all we're gonna be is asked, you
know And and it's a bummer because you know as
you can imagine either way we'd want to say you
know what I mean, but it's just part of our business
that and then there's there's a laundry list
of good reasons of Why not to go official? But
I will tell you, I am spectacularly excited about
what's been shown and what story can be told.
I mean, it's my franchise, man. I'm very excited.
Right. Well, I think I can speak as a fan of
the game in general that we have expectations
that they're not met. We're riding! There will
be trouble. This will be this will be one of
those moments in your podcast that your viewers
will screen cap because they'll know they'll
they'll they'll say what you what we were talking
about and what you just said and that I went
like this Yes. We'll put question from a card
operation human shield. Yes. Let's do this. Did
you have any question quiz? Hey, I've been wanting
to ask all y 'all a question. Go for it. I've
been playing years lately. Why does it go just
to 13? 13. Yeah, it's five. It's Gears five or
six. Which one do we know? We're Gears five right
now. Yeah, it only goes up to 13. 13 what are
you doing 13? I've been getting multiplayer online.
We only get 13 stops at 13. Oh you need help
Okay, so listen this is this I want you to know
what's what's your brother's name quiz quiz?
Quiz like a quiz that you take at school. No
quiz quiz like it's like quest without the T
Yes, a quick quiz. So I'll tell you quiz you
just gave me my favorite moment of this whole
podcast No, I said my favorite, favorite moment
because it was, I mean, I mentioned Cheech earlier.
That was some Cheech and Chong level comedy.
That was like, are we, hey man, am I driving
okay? It was hard, man. I mean, that was fantastic.
That was like, you know, I have a question about
Gears of War 6, and we're on five. That's what
I meant. Why does it go to 13? None of us know
what you're talking about. And you're like, let
me explain. In multiplayer, why does it go to
13? Guys, you know you're gonna have to explain
that at some point. Maybe right now is not the
time. Right now is not the time. When we get
off the air, we will go over your question. We'll
roll back. Let's stick it on the refrigerator
there like a little post -it, then we'll get
back to it. Are we gonna go over this thing?
I don't know how we're gonna go over this. That
was fantastic. All the success that you've had
with Dom with Gears 1, 2, and 3, the fans, well,
I'm pretty sure you go quite a few Comic -Cons
or signings and everything. What's the reaction
when they come and see you to get the autograph?
What are the requests? So because we're running
out of time? Yes. Am I am gonna tell you actually
I've got I've got like another good 15 minutes
in me, okay, okay, so so this is It's all good
guys. First of all, that's all I'll give you
the serious answer first and that is is I I have
so many wonderful experiences There there is
there was a guy I believe it was in Albuquerque,
New Mexico Shout out to Gears Inc and all the
people that have Gears Inc here. He had saved
he'd saved a space on his arm. It was just like
a banner, you know? And it was reserved for my
autograph. And that is like, OK, that's not that
unusual in that I was going to be signing Carlos
Ferro Dom, which is what I signed on the Gears
of War stuff. And I was like, OK, more power
to you. You're going to have that on your arm
for a while? Knock yourself out. but the thing
was is what was around that banner, around this
very small banner, this little space, it was
a variation on the Maria tattoo. And the Maria
tattoo, but it was a variation, it wasn't Maria,
it was more Gears of War lore and the look of
not... just maria but the maria and remembrance
that you you know like the uh... the statue in
mercy the right right it like a tombstone guys
you know i mean and uh... and uh... he had played
years of war every years of war collected all
the comics and everything with his little brother
and his little brother died and he was he has
played two anymore and so he channeled all of
this grief into this ink. And for those of you
that have tattoos like I do, and I have a pretty
big one on my right arm, that's also about processing
grief. It was a lot for me, but it wasn't like,
oh, you weirdo, I'm giving you my autograph on
your arm. It came again like, wow, I'm helping
you finish the journey of the tattoo. Does that
make sense? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
I'm being a part of something bigger than what
a cool character I play in this cool video game
series. And that changes you, man. That makes
you, as an artist, yeah, man, it's cool to be
well -paid or well -known, but those of us like
me, one more time, that bitch, I got into this
to be, and I tell students this, I tell my students
this, unless you're getting into this to be the
greatest of your generation, like to be the best
there ever was, it probably isn't for you. because
that's what you want. So that's for you. That's
internal. But if external things happen like
that, there's nothing better, man. It changes
you. It lifts you, the other person. It makes
art, art. It's not just video games. It's not
comic books. These things have profound impact.
The X -Men got me through stuff when I was a
kid. Spider -Man, I was Peter Parker. And I know
the people that relate to Dominic Santiago. I
know the people that hear my voice when I go,
Marcus! And they're like, fuck, I'm there. I'm
right there again. Right. You know what I mean?
Me just doing the revive me, revive me. And you
can't put a price on that. You can't be rewarded
with just being famous or whatever, or how many
followers you've got. For me, that's like one
of the, if not the most memorable, that's one
of my most memorable But I'm not going to make
that be the last story. I'm going to tell you
the one that I think is the funniest. OK? All
right. And I've probably only told this once
at a con, like I was doing a panel about what
a big shot I am. OK? You are big. The panel was
like a Q &A with Carlos Faro and asked me anything.
And it was funny because. I mean, for an actor,
I'm gonna talk about how beautiful art is and
all, but for an actor to have a room of 200 people,
just wanna know everything about you. Right.
It's really cool, you know what I mean? It's
really cool. I betcha. So, I... So I told the
story at the panel because it happened at a con
this this this interaction that I'm gonna tell
you about is that I finished a finished I finished
a Panel, but I wasn't at my table is the point
I was I was walking around with security and
I told security just you know, we're good man.
I'll meet you at my table I'm gonna go in the
bathroom and then take a leak. So I go to the
urinal now We have we Guess at cons. They don't
have to use the public Toilets and shit because
there is one by the green room or behind a curtain
There's one that you can go and not get fucked
with right, right? So that you're not you know,
so dr. Who can take a piss, you know, I mean
So I was like I'm gonna use I'm to do that. So
I didn't I just went through I got told meet
me my table So I went to now again. This is the
private bathroom. So the bathroom is completely
empty. There's not a soul, no other guests were
in there using it when I went in there. Right.
So there's like probably 12 urinals, like a big
lineup of urinals. So I go and I stand in the
middle, like middle more or less urinal, so I
don't feel lonely. And so I'm standing there
doing my business and a guy comes in and it is
crystal clear that this kid is not a guest. And
that he doesn't work for the convention And that
he's just an attendee that followed me And he
walked and I was like, I mean we've all been
there I mean shit We probably were there like
yesterday where you're in a public urinal and
you kind of you don't really talk to another
person But you kind of acknowledge their existence
right or you don't one or the other you don't
exist or you go But that's, at best, that's the
max, right? Yeah, exactly. I'm really setting
you guys up because I think it's funny. I'm sitting
there, I'm standing there, better said, I'm standing
there doing my business. And the guy of all the
urinals, he stands in the one right next to me.
Oh my gosh. Oh, come on, man. And now, I'm just,
I'm showing you guys, I was like this, like.
Like, what do you do, right? And I look over
at him, and I was gonna say, really, dude? Like,
really? Like, 13 urinals, and you picked the
one next to me, right? So that's me. I'm gonna
tease him. I'm gonna give him shit, right? And
so I look over at the guy, and he looks at me
square in the eye, which is not more than seven
or eight inches. He's right next to me, guys.
He is right next to me. And he goes, say sup,
bitches. What? Are you serious? What? I swear
to God on the souls of my parents, that that
really happened. Wow. He looked me in the eye
and said, with a kind of a half smile, like,
like, like, like, this is it worked. This is
a great fucking idea. And he goes. Say so bitches
and I looked him right in the eye and now I'm
like this like like what the fuck and I go Can
I wash my hands first? Not sorry Not I'm sorry.
I bothered you nothing. It was like oh One must
wash their hands before doing lines from video
games I'm not kidding. I just zipped over, washed
my hands, and he fucking practically ran next
to me to wash his hands. And by the way, that
I thought was funny. I think he washed his hands
and he never peed. He never opened his pants.
You know what I mean? Like, it was all bullshit.
So he washes his hands, and I go, and I go, so
you're a fan, right? And he goes, yeah. And I
go, I said, OK. I said, well, I got to get back
to signing. And I said, and I'm still trying
to process it. I'm like, come meet me at the
thing. And he goes, he goes, like that? Like,
come on. Like, fucking do it. And I'm like, so
I did the line. I was, I went, stop, bitches.
And then he went, ah. And I said, you wanted
to do that while I was peeing? Like, I had to
say it, you know? Like, if this is your thing,
you know, you might go to jail. It might have
been a ritual for him to go to the restroom,
bro. You know what? He picked his moment. It
wasn't great. It wasn't a great shot, man. He
didn't get tased. I mean, it was a good day.
It was a good day. It was a good day for him.
Yeah. I mean, I'd like to hear that dude tell
that story from his perspective. He's alone in
the bathroom. No, you don't want to hear that.
No. He was in the bathroom. Dude, here he was,
like, doing this. I just walked up there. I went
for it. I took my shot. We're best friends. We're
best friends. I knew he couldn't get away. No,
he took his hand. He can't get away. And I told
him, why does it only go to 13? So I'm like...
Hey, dude. Hey. Come here. Come here. Come here.
First things first, I want to say, first of all,
thank you for joining us on the podcast, man.
I know you're a very big... Oh, that's right.
Any social medias that you have that you want
to... Yeah. My socials, I think you guys were
linking me up there, but real Carlos Ferro on
Instagram. Not the real, just real Carlos Ferro
on Instagram, real Carlos Ferro on Twitter, or
X, whatever the fuck they want to call it. And
Facebook, just Carlos Ferro. But, you know, everybody's,
I mean, justifiably so, everybody's kind of abandoning
social media, you know, to like do shit. But
but um, which I think is healthy man, you know
what I mean? Like like, yeah, yeah, there's I
think this is nice to have a split of real life
versus online Excuse me not to old fog yet, but
it's just that these days It's getting harder
to be you know online, you know, and and everybody's
got their their gloves on man fisty It's very
that was why I make those jokes. It's like, you
know, you you go on somewhere to be like, you
know Check this out and anything. I mean, seeing
what you guys are into. If you say, oh, yeah,
we got this picture of, you know, Charlie Brown,
but it's not Charlie Brown. He's got like this
beard. And then they're like, they'll immediately
be like, pussy. And you're like, how do you make
that jump, right? He goes, that's me! Believe
me! I said, how do you make that jump, you know
what I mean, when someone insults you? When you
were just going like, man, you know, I think
Spider -Man into the whatever, Spider -Verse
was fucking awesome. And everybody's like, you
know, yeah, where are your panties? And you're
like, what the what? I mean, by the way, these
examples I'm giving, I've seen, man. I've seen
people that say that, I mean, I'm thinking, no
one, no one could talk shit about, I'll pick
something, you know, Star Wars or Star Trek,
that it's just like, it was cool, something cool
from sci -fi. And somebody will like, you can
see that they must spend most of their day just
waiting to fuck with people. You know what I
mean? And not for nothing, it was, I swear, man,
it wasn't always like that. And I think you guys
are old enough to remember, it wasn't always
like that. The internet was, I mean, this is
definitely me on a soapbox as an old man. The
internet was actually, at one time, the opposite.
It wasn't about... a stage to fight on, which
is what it is now. Everything is a debate and
an argument, right? Everything, whether you win
or lose or come out kind of not as beat up and
all that. It used to be about finding your people.
The internet was always about finding community
from those fucked up angel fire websites to AOL
to news groups. The reason everybody was congregating
is that you were not the only motherfucker that
wanted to plan the Apes action figure from the
70s. Somebody in Florida had one, and they'd
sell it to you if you give him his Superman action
figure, you know what I mean? And if you're into
sketchy, weird shit, you'd find those people,
you know what I mean? And you guys could have
a group called sketchy, weird -ass people. And
by the way, nobody would fuck with them, you
know what I mean? And nobody would fuck with
anybody. It was cool. It was cool. And so it's
like, oh, I say this about cons, actually. It's
being a victim of your own success is that it
gets so commonplace and so great so quickly that
it's bound to get torn down and fucked up by
people, you know? Right. Right. We're great and
all, but we ain't that great always, you know?
It's fine until, you know, a weirdo approaches
you in the bathroom. In the bathroom. I agree.
That's going to be my T -shirt. to promote anything
I work on now. It's all playing games until they
stand next to you in a urinal. Put a urinal in
the back. Put some bitch in the back and I'll
be fine. Mr. Ferrell, thank you so much for coming
on the broadcast, man. This was a lot of fun,
guys. Thank you for having me on. And love and
respect to, you know, Harlingen, McAllen, Farr,
fuck even Brownsville. I ended up, because of
the weather, I got stuck in the region just a
few weeks ago. Yeah, so I saw like two more towns
I had never seen because I couldn't fly out of
Macallan. But it was cool, man. Depending what
you're into. And this is an endorsement, guys.
Don't get it twisted. You can get into some real
trouble in the RGV. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's my
biggest endorsement. Nobody said to me somebody
said to me. This is a real conversation. I had
somebody the last time I was there's a few weeks
ago This was not long ago. It's like maybe a
month ago. I wrote McCallan and somebody said
to me at the flux shout out to the flux So so
I'm at the flux and I said to somebody that I
was gonna go to these bars that I've gone to
before to these like small deep night night club
not like clubby club just like a DJ bar and I
was talking about the ratios and shit and just
how fun it is, essentially. I was bringing it
up. And the person I was talking to that was
in line said to me, oh, no, I don't go there.
I don't go there. I go, did you used to? And
he goes, no, not really. And he goes, and I don't
think you should either. And by the way, I just
said. I just said I liked going to this place.
And the person goes, no, I wouldn't go down there.
And I said, why? And I thought the answer was
chef's kiss. He said, because you're going to
get shot. Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah. And I was like,
really? I don't think so, man. And he goes, no.
And then somebody else goes, yeah, man, my friend
got shot. And I was like, OK, first of all, relax.
Okay, relax. And they said, no, it's dangerous.
And then I said, and this is a weird way to end
the podcast, but it's funny. I said, when I was
your age, swear to God, I went full viejo fucking
negro, you know? I got all OG immediately. I
said, when I was your age, I signed up for danger,
motherfucker, shit! Like, what do you mean is
dangerous? What the fuck? And then and then and
then you know what he said didn't go to it goes
only to 13 Once again, thank you so much, man.
Thank you for your time, man. I appreciate you.
Hopefully we can do this again later. All right,
man. And when everything's said and done and
up on Xbox running, hint, hint, hopefully, and
we can have a full disclosure from you and see
what happened, what do you think of the game
and everything, buddy? Or if you just want to
come back and talk. If you want to come back
and talk and talk about all that. I appreciate
that. When you were making that statement, I
swear I thought the comedian in me wanted to
push leave on the... You said it! You said it!
You'd be like, and so you want to come back and
have full disclosure? Black screen. All right,
guys. I'm out. Thank you. Thank you, man. We
appreciate you. Bye -bye. Have a good night.
Oh, my gosh, guys. What an episode. That is awesome,
Mr. Carlos Soto. Wow. Wow. Quez got an ass. An
ass whooping that it only goes to 13. Quez, you
are now up there with that guy from the bathroom,
dude. Congratulations. You're number two. Ladies
and gentlemen, thank you so much for tuning in
to this episode. What a great episode, man. Fantastic
episode. That was amazing. For the sponsors,
I will have everything up and running for you
guys during the episode. I'll have all the information
up there for later on when I go back and edit
everything. So don't worry. You guys will be
on the podcast. Episode 201, 202. 202. 202. And
have him on your... What an episode. What an
episode. It was awesome, man. Fuck yeah. That
was awesome. Talk to actual Dom on the tune.
God damn level 13. Let it go. It only goes to
13. I'm telling the truth. Wave 13. Is it because
I'm playing easy? Guys, thank you for tuning
in. We'll see you next week. What do you want
me to say? Say the line! Alright guys, we'll
see you next week on Tuesday. That was our next
episode. You will see us on here. And like always
guys. Ready? Yeah. 3, 2, 1. Ladies skaters! Peace
out guys!