Christian Camargo is underappreciated as an actor, period. On-screen, his soft-spoken tone and dark eyes afford him the ability to either coerce you into a feeling of terror, or a feeling of comfort and ease. On the phone, however, it’s the latter Camargo that Remezcla is met with. Talking with the actor about season two of Apple TV+’s See, Camargo is keeping fans in mind, extra care is taken so as not to spoil anything for the audience.
“Last season, he was on a mission to find the sighted children and he was ruthless. He was always on the move. This season, I think it’s really about how his whole world has imploded and he’s realized that he has backed the wrong horse to be honest,” Camargo explains.
Now is a good time to remind you what occurred in the first season of the Apple TV+ show. Six centuries into the future, humanity has lost the sense of sight until a precious few are born with the ability to see. The sighted are branded witches and are hunted. This is the case for a set of twins, Haniwa (Nesta Cooper) and Kofun (Archie Madekwe). Their step-father Baba Voss (Jason Mamoa) swears to protect them from the Witchfinder General Tamacti Jun (Christian Camargo) who is sent by the villainous Queen Kane (Sylvia Hoeks) aka the person his character is not so sure about anymore in season 2.
Tamacti Jun reemerges into the dystopian world this season with a questioning, pensive mindset, says Camargo. “He could have faith in the wrong Queen and that has not only killed many, many, many people by his own hand, but he sacrificed his own family. And, now he’s on an internal quest to see if it’s worth living or not.”
In real life, however, there are at least two things he does not question, his family and his heritage. Camargo is the son of actress Victoria Wyndham and the grandson of actor Ralph Camargo. The difference in their last names is intentional. When Christian’s mother Victoria wanted to pursue acting, her father encouraged her to drop his last name and instead opt for one that was more anglo sounding.
Camargo recalls the decision was based on his grandfather’s experience in the industry, “My grandfather, who was an actor for, for many years, had to hide behind radio because of his skin color. And put on a persona, you know, of being white. Then, when he was on camera in front of the camera, he played Native American because Native Americans at the time were considered “savage.” And it just the whole thing is absurd to me.”
Camargo continues, “If you look back in history, which a lot of Americans don’t, we need to realize that, like where I live now in California, was not actually part of the U.S. It was part of Mexico. So, my grandfather’s family went from being part of their own country to them being “illegals.” Spanish wasn’t allowed to be spoken in the house. Because he really was trying very hard to assimilate.”
For Camargo however, his heritage is a source of great pride. So much so that when it came time for this actor to establish himself, he took back his grandfather’s name, Camargo. That name has seen him go from Broadway, to playing The Ice Truck Killer in the first season of Dexter, and then on to Penny Dreadful. Camargo has more than 55 acting credits to his name in America.
Ultimately, See and the story told through it, is something that Camargo is proud of and that he connects with. “It’s not about the color of your skin. It’s about other things. It’s about family. It’s about moral code. It’s about everything. And to me, no culture exemplifies that more than the Latino culture.”
See, starring Christian Camargo, Jason Mamoa, and David Bautista, airs on Apple TV with new episodes airing on Fridays.