Interview: A Few Questions with Horatio Sanz Guest Starring on THE RESIDUALS

Season Two of THE RESIDUALS is currently airing on BroadwayWorld exclusively. The show, from husband and wife team Michael Paul Smith and Gillian Pensavalle, takes a look at the funny, often times bizarre, world of commercial auditions.

Guest star, Horatio Sanz is a familiar face to the audience. He was one of the stars of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE from 1998 through 2006. He reappears every once in a while in a traditional Christmas skit co-starring, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan where they sing their original Christmas Carol, "I Wish It Was Christmas Today." Since then, Sanz has appeared in a great variety of television and film projects including, STEP BROTHERS, 30 ROCK, GIRLS, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT and MODERN FAMILY just to name a few. Sanz hails from Chicago and is a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. He is still seen from time to time performing with them in their Los Angeles and New York locations. He recently started a podcast entitled, "The Hooray Show" on the Earwolf network.

As one of the guest stars of Season Two, Horatio plays "Ken," a client hiring the actors for their new commercial. Ken is one of those people that has a lot of money and is therefore not subject to boundaries or social norms.

Horatio was kind enough to answer a few questions I sent him as his episode was about to air:

BWW: Were you a fan of this show before guest starring?

HS: Yes. Gillian and Michael are my buds and I knew the show. It was fun to enter a familiar world in a strange character.

Tell me about the character you will be playing in your guest appearance.

My character Ken is an amalgam of a few rich weirdos I know. Some who are great people but have no business in anything creative. I wanted to play someone not closed off to anything sexually. I mean, like... anything.

Did you have any experience in this world of commercial auditions before mainstream success?

Yes. I was awful and stopped going when I started making money. So I remember well how disgusting it can all be. Gillian and Mike and everyone involved know that it's insane but also getting those jobs can really help you along the way. Luckily for me my mooched off my parents and didn't need a lot of money.

Although a comic take, there seems to be a lot of truth-based humor to this process on THE RESIDUALS. Can you share a funny/odd audition story from your past?

I once took a job wearing a Captain Crunch costume. You'll be hard pressed finding a more hellish scenario than getting up at 5am to dress as a cereal mascot.

Horatio Guest stars on the third episode of Season Two entitled, "The Client." His episode is available here.

To get caught up with THE RESIDUALS, visit www.theresiduals.tv. You can also follow the show on Twitter @TheResiduals, "Like" it on Facebook, or follow them on Instagram.

Photo Credits: THE RESIDUALS & NBC