Mundie Moms

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Alberto Rosende Talks Playing Simon Lewis in the Shadowhunters TV Series #Shadowhunters



Recently I had the chance to talk with Alberto Rosende about his role, playing Simon Lewis in Shadowhunters (which airs tonight on Freeform at 9/8 pm CST). One of my favorite things about the TV series has been Alberto's portrayal of Simon. He has captured the essence of what I loved about Simon's character in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments book series. I love seeing that brought to life in the TV series. The best part of our interview was getting to geek out over Simon's character together. Please note that I have condensed our interview, only included the Q&A portion of the interview, below.

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What Do You Admire Most About Simon?
I've read the books (the Mortal Instruments series), and my intro to Simon was just like all the fans. I was charmed by his humor, his integrity, and his loyalty to his best friend, Clary. I feel like I've made a new best friend in playing Simon. What Izzy says about Jace being the ultimate protecter, I feel that Simon is that ultimate best friend. He has an undying willingness to save the people he loves. We need more people like that in the world. 


I have loved your portrayal of Simon. It's one of the things I have loved about the series. How have you approached bringing book Simon to life for the TV series?
Simon is a mundane thrown into the Shadowhunter world, and has to explore it. He's been thrown into the deep in and told to float. He's doing the best he can. Our biggest job with the series, is we knew we'd have to change the story. You can't tell the same story, that story has already been told in the books, but we had to get the true essence of the characters. When we do that, the fans trust us with their story. I wanted to bring the true Simon to life.

What Can Fans Except To See With Simon's Journey?
Simon is the most important, underrated character. We really get see his importance at the end of book six (City of Heavenly Fire). I want to show how Simon began his journey and all he's learning about himself. In the tv series, starting with episode 3, we see Simon go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. With episodes 8, 9, 10 and 11, we get into the thick of the Shadowhunters' world, and the heart of the season. We see the characters explore who they really are. 


How Are You and Simon Alike?
He's the character I relate to the most. Simon's a great best friend. He reminds me of my best friends. I see their qualities in Simon. They're loyal. They're excited to learn about the world around them. Those are the type of people I want to be around. 

If There Was One Prop You Could Keep, What Would It Be?
I would have to pick two. The first, is Simon's glasses. I'm in characters when I have his glasses on. I could be doing anything on set, but as soon as I put the glasses on, I became Simon. I really want to keep those close to me. The second one would be Simon's van. I love Simon's van. I like that they kept it old like it is in the books. I think there's even a spider or two living in there. The van is like it's own character, and really means something to Simon. It also represents Brooklyn. I want to drive it around Brooklyn. 


Thank you to Alberto and Freeform for making the interview possible! 

One of the things I loved about my phone interview with Alberto, was not only getting to geek out over our love of Simon's character, I felt like Alberto truly gets Simon. He's a fan of the books, but most importantly respects Simon, and gets his character. I really appreciated his wanting to stay true to the essence of Simon's character. It's one of the things that has really stood out to me so far in the Shadowhunters series. Fan wise, I love it when actors really, truly understand the characters they're portraying. Thank you Alberto for loving Simon's character as much as we do! 

Tune into Freeform tonight at 9/8 pm CST to catch the third episode of Shadowhunters! 

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