LOS ANGELES | Pablo Schreiber didn’t need much more than his character’s nickname to say yes to “Orange in the New Black.”
“When you’re given a character called ‘Pornstache,’ you know it’s going to be good. All you have to do is fill in the details,” Schreiber says.
Indeed, corrections officer George “Pornstache” Mendez became a breakout character the minute the Netflix series premiered. And, now? The guy with the ‘70s moustache is key player in season two.
Originally considered for the role played by Jason Biggs, Schreiber became intrigued when he heard about the “other” male role on the show.
He had worked with creator Jenji Kohan on “Weeds” and knew she wouldn’t lead him astray. Even better, “a friend was on the writing staff and she sent me a text: ‘Hey, you’ve got to look out for this guy Pornstache. We’re coming up with great storylines for him.’”
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That sealed the deal for the Tony-nominated actor. “It was a license to do whatever the hell I wanted, which was really fantastic and liberating.”
Because he wasn’t a series regular during “Orange’s” first season, Schreiber wasn’t contractually bound. That prompted him to take a job on NBC’s reboot of “Ironside.” Luckily for “Orange” fans, the series didn’t last and he became available once again.
Fans who have already seen all of the second season know Mendez is crucial to the plot. The sadistic correctional officer isn’t just the poster boy for a corrupt system, he’s a key player in two characters’ lives.
“I’ve never done a role where I was given so much comedic license,” Schreiber says. “I’m able to go all over the place. Pornstache? Let’s rock.”
Over a decade, the 36-year-old brother of actor Liev Schreiber has starred on a number of series – including “Weeds,” “A Gifted Man” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”
“My first gig was ‘The Wire’ and I was spoiled, obviously. It turned out to be the best thing ever invented and nothing ever seems to measure up.”
On Broadway, he found himself in a similar situation. “The third play I did was ‘Awake and Sing.’ It was the most amazing experience you could have on stage” and he landed a Tony nomination. “It’s hard to get back to that.”
While Schreiber enjoyed his time on stage, he knew it couldn’t be his life’s work.
“Have you seen what people get paid in theater?” he asks. “You can’t make a living in theater. It’s a tragic truth. Nobody does just theater anymore. If they do, they’re single, they have a rent-subsidized apartment in New York and they’re making zero dollars. So you have to have a side gig. Or you have to make money somewhere else and go back and do theater as a passion project.”
Television, then, has been Schreiber’s go-to.
“It takes a different skill set,” he says. “In theater, you’ve got to have vocal projection. Oftentimes, when movie stars do theater, they find it’s not their medium. They work in close-ups – it’s in the eyes – and they don’t know how to project. It’s not easy to reach the back of the theater and maintain the emotional integrity of the piece.”
A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the father of two boys, Schreiber wasn’t sure what medium he wanted to work in. “I had a dartboard mentality – throw darts at the wall and see what sticks.”
When Schreiber was in college, his brother was working steadily in the business. “Wonder Boys” was filming nearby and he asked Liev if he could help him meet the film’s casting director.
“And he gave me a great piece of advice: ‘Do you want to be known as the guy who’s my little brother or do you want to be the guy who’s known as you?’”
Pablo took his own path and now has his own successful career.
That “Orange is the New Black” could be a big calling card simply makes him smile.
“I doubt that Jenji is going to kill him off,” he says with a smile. “I think the character is so good she wants to keep him in her pocket.”