Chris Diamantopoulos stars in two projects for Netflix - Red Notice and True Story - both out now on the streaming service. Red Notice is Netflix's latest hit movie, featuring a cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot with Diamantopoulos as the film's villain. In the series True Story, he acts alongside Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes. These are just a few more roles to add to his already impressive career.
Diamantopoulos spoke to Screen Rant about his latest roles, his career as a whole, and why he steals socks from set.
Screen Rant: It's been a wild month of releases. This is very exciting!
Chris Diamantopoulos: Yeah, it really is. It's been a lot of fun. I didn't know when I was shooting Red Notice and True Story that both of them would end up dropping on Netflix in the same month. It’s been a really big one, two punch.
You're like a Netflix darling right now.
Chris Diamantopoulos: I don't know about that. But I certainly will take it. It's been a lot of fun. The jobs are so different and the characters are so different from each other, that it's been a real blast for me. I've been doing this for a really long time. I've been acting for over 35 years. So it's fun to find new ways to do something different.
Let's talk about Red Notice because this is a huge Netflix debut that they had here. Tell me about that experience and what opportunity this character had that was unique to you?
Chris Diamantopoulos: It's the biggest movie that Netflix ever produced. And it's the biggest box office draw that Netflix has ever garnered. It hit everything that they wanted it to hit.
For me, it was a chance to try something in the action genre that I've always wanted to do, that I've long been a fan of. And, it gave me a chance to work with five of the most remarkable talents and personalities in Hollywood: Beau Flynn, Rawson Thurber, Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. I'm a big cinephile. I'm a great audience member, I love watching movies. And I've loved projects that each and every one of them had done. I kind of fanboyed out the entire time. I just really had a marvelous time. From a creative standpoint, for me, it was a chance to play a villainous role and sort of hit on some fun bonding tropes and other sort of fantastical elements of character that I hadn't necessarily done before. I really just had a great time.
It definitely comes off that you had a great time with this character and the physique, what the heck!
Chris Diamantopoulos: I'll take it. It's funny, when I first read for this, the character was supposed to be pudgy, and balding, and just a little bit more of a joke. I was actually kind of looking forward to gaining a little bit of weight and going in that direction.
And it was just a few weeks before we started shooting that Rawson called me and said, "Hey, you know what? I'm thinking actually, just to make him a little bit more of a formidable adversary. I want this guy to be a viper. I want you to really get into great shape. Is that doable?" I was like, "Oh, yeah, no problem." I already started binging on pizza and doughnuts. But yeah, I love a challenge and I love a goal. So, I knew I had three and a half weeks to go from this to that. That was kind of fun. And at 46? Yeah, sure. Why the hell not get into the best shape of my life?
Your whereabouts are a little unclear. Do you think we're getting a sequel? What does your heart say?
Chris Diamantopoulos: I think we're definitely going to get a sequel. That is what my heart says. That's what my heart hopes for. I don't think it’s not out of any kind of logic that, despite the fact that Sotto gets trounced on by a bull charging at full speed and gets slammed down a shaft, he can survive that. Maybe with some impediment to who he is. But yeah!
If Darth Maul can just survive getting cut in half, Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc pit -- you can make it.
Chris Diamantopoulos: I like your thinking. I want you to get in touch with Rawson right away and start working on a draft.
I got you. Anyone can come back.
Chris Diamantopoulos: I think so too.
No, I think it'd be really funny to see him in a neck brace, but still ripped. Just the neck brace. Wearing nothing but the neck brace. That’s how we know he’s injured because he just has the neck brace!
You've been a part of some awesome projects across your career. Have you heisted anything from any of your sets, do you have a most prized possession?
Chris Diamantopoulos: It's a great question. By the way, most actors wouldn't tell you the truth, because they want to seem so good and they would. Sure, I have! Of course. This is really weird, and it's not a sexy answer. But I take the socks.
Listen, here's what happens. It's cold in the morning, you get to set, you get in your trailer, you take off your clothes, you take off your socks, and you put on the socks and you put on the costume. The end of the day. I just want to go home and I might make it home in time to kiss the kids and put them to bed. You're getting changed. The socks are really the last stage to take off and then put the other - I've already had the socks on! So I leave the socks on. I steal set socks!
I think this is a great move because I hate socks. I can never find them.
Chris Diamantopoulos: It's true! Not to mention the fact that - and you probably aren’t going through this because you’re young - but putting socks on reminds me that my hips aren't that flexible and why does my thumb hurt only when I'm putting the socks on, like what the f***? WHY?!
Thank you. And your like toenail gets caught on it if it’s old
Chris Diamantopoulos: And you're like, "Oh s**t, now I’m angry." Yes. And I don't have a file. Exactly. It's so true.
And actually, while we're on socks, let's talk about this. You know, when you buy new socks, and they have that little thread that keeps the nose or the toe of the sock with the opening, it keeps it together. And if you just pull it open, sometimes you'll rip the sock. You have to use a seam ripper. Who owns a seam ripper? No one owns a seam ripper. Are you going to use scissors? Sometimes you'll thread it you'll cut the socks. That's what I have to say.
This is not where I saw this one going. But I think this is good.
You must have this experience. Because you're in a lot of really awesome stuff like The Office, Community, Arrested Development, where you kind of pop in, make a huge impact, and then bounce.
Chris Diamantopoulos: It's cool. I've been really lucky. I've done some series as a regular, but I haven't been in one that's necessarily caught on. I did a really beautiful series for Amazon called Good Girls Revolt. It was a real shame that didn't have legs because it was just getting started. It used the first season to get itself on its feet. I think the creative minds that were involved with that were just so lovely. It was a great cast and a great crew. I've had some disappointments in my career, as we all have. We put our heart and soul into things that don't quite work.
But yeah, you're right. I have had a really lucky time popping into something like Silicon Valley. It was just supposed to be two, three episodes and it ends up being this character that somehow hits a nerve with the culture. I get to pop in and destroy the characters’ lives and then pop right back out. There's something really lovely about that. I feel really fortunate.
I love doing stuff like Community and even The Office where people will stop me and say, "Who are you to break up Jim and Pam?!" and I'm like, "Okay, first of all, they're not real people. Second of all, I'm an actor, and Greg Daniels was like, 'You want a job?' And I was like, 'Yeah, sure. I'd love a job. I want to be reviled by America. But I'd love a job.'"
It's fun. I love popping into shows and being able to play a unique character that I haven't done before. I thought Marky Bark on Arrested Development was so much fun for me because I was a huge fan of the show. I got to work with the great Mitch Hurwitz, who was just a genius on set. And I got to watch all of these fabulous actors and be the characters that I was entertained by as an audience member. I'm a pretty lucky guy.
The reason I bring that up is, I just wonder how often you have that effect of people coming up to you and just saying the most out-of-pocket roles, like the Jim and Pam thing.
Chris Diamantopoulos: Totally. People will come up to me and they’re like, "Nip Tuck! You're the guy that shot your friend!" And I'm like, "Yes."
Or another guy was like, "Oh my God. Did Paulie Walnuts really hit you with the pipe? Was that a real pipe?" And the answer is, there were two pipes in that scene in The Sopranos. There was a rubber pipe for my coverage and then there was a lead pipe for Tony's coverage. They got mixed up. I'm not kidding. I got hit in the knee with a real lead pipe. That was a good one.
Did anything break?
Chris Diamantopoulos: I mean, the pipe dented and I walked off set thinking, "What the f*** just happened?" I was alright. I figured it out [and] once we figured it out, we shifted it. But yeah, I had a limp for a while.
One of my favorite things that you did was The Twilight Zone reboot episode.
Chris Diamantopoulos: Aw you’re a sweetheart for bringing that up. I love that.
I thought they did such a terrific job with that whole series. Listen, I was a huge fan of the original and what's funny is, that episode was the one that always terrorized me as a child. And that’s the thing! Metaphorically speaking, I was the gargoyle on the wing, right? There's something really neat about that. I had a really good time doing that one.
And that was one of the, maybe not rare, but one of the times in my career where it was just offered to me. As an actor, I'm constantly auditioning for things. That’s my job and it can be frustrating or grueling, sometimes, but it's also an opportunity to act when I haven't done something in a while. But The Twilight Zone was one where we just got that pleasant phone call where they said, "They'd love you to play this character." And I was just so, so pleased to do it.
We have Red Notice and then we have True Story coming out on the 24th with Wesley Snipes and -
Chris Diamantopoulos: Just this actor, very little known. Actor/comedian named Kevin Hart. Here's the thing. Because I'm in it, people are now going to know who this guy is. It's going to put them on the radar.
All jokes aside, I do have to say those guys were phenomenal to work with. Kevin is just such a professional. He's so great. And their chemistry, Wesley and Kevin's chemistry, is out of this world. I think the show is awesome. It's like a serialized Goodfellas. It's got a Scorsese-esque vibe to it.
You're gonna love this! No, really. You are. I think that you're gonna watch it in a weekend. It's one of those things where you're like, "Okay, I gotta see the next one." It's such a great turn for everyone involved. Kevin is giving a tremendous, dramatic performance. Wesley is just a movie star out the wazoo. Billy Zane coming in from left field just rocking the world. I love Paul Edelstein, he's so good in this. And me and my buddy, John Ales, are playing these Greek gangsters. You're gonna dig it.
I'm also dying because I feel like you play a lot of villains and I'm like, this is Mickey Mouse!
Chris Diamantopoulos: Fair enough! I do lend my talents to the iconic Mickey Mouse, but I am not Mickey Mouse. I just give him his voice. I play some villainous roles. But I'm a father of three and happily married. But yes, I do have the privilege and the joy of being able to say, "Well, hot dog!" you know, and that's the job of a lifetime. I have to tell you. That it is more fun than you can possibly imagine.
I'll never get too old for that.
Chris Diamantopoulos: It's so much fun, man. I can't even tell you. I don't know how it happened. How I am lucky enough to be this guy. It's awesome.
I am a lucky dude. The animation part of my career was one that sort of sprung up inadvertently and kind of out of nowhere and before I knew it I'm just working on some of the most delightful animated programs.
During the pandemic, I got to do some adult-animated, not only comedy, but adult-animated drama: Invincible and this great new show that's coming out for AMC, they're trying their hand in animation, it's called Pantheon, and it's amazing! I just say, keep them coming. I'm having such a ball.
You've done a ton of DC voices, Green Arrow and Steve Trevor. When are they going to pull you to the live-action side?
Chris Diamantopoulos: Come on! Listen, I'll tell you for sure. You know what I would love to do for Marvel? I want to do a Moon Knight series
They're doing a Moon Knight series. I thought you were telling me you’re in it!
Chris Diamantopoulos: I’m not. But I'd love to do that. Or you know what? I was also thinking, if they're listening, I should do a Green Goblin series and I should play Norman Osborn.
I think that DC or a Marvel on-camera character for me would be fantastic. I’m ready. I think that would be super fun.
Also, they did a graphic novel - I've already played Green Arrow - but they did a graphic novel called The Longbow Hunter that was so good. And I thought that that series could be a really neat, limited series. It's sort of a slightly, more older, weathered Oliver Queen. That'd be fun.