Eugene Cordero Interview: Simply Beverages, Loki & More (2024)

Eugene Corderohas been a rising star in the past few years thanks to the likes ofThe Good Place, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Lokiseason 1 andTacoma FD.

Cordero is now seeing his star profile expanding to becoming Simply Beverages' first-ever on-screen spokesperson in 20 years, with Donald Sutherland previously holding the voice-over spokesperson position.

Related:MCU Theory Fixes Loki Ending's Multiverse Plot Hole For Season 2

In honor of the first round of ads being released for the new campaign,Screen Rantspoke exclusively with Eugene Cordero to discuss his Simply Beverages commercials, his return forLokiseason 2, fish-related memes, and more.

Screen Rant: I loved the Simply ads, especially the "Homeowner" one. How did it come about for you to become the new face of the Simply brand?

Eugene Cordero: Me becoming the face, that wasn't my choice, I mean, why would you choose this face? [Chuckles] But if you do, I guess they were looking to have more fun with it, actually have a face involved, since you were just so used to an amazing voice for the last 20 years. I think as soon as they switched over to having an actual person there, when this was all going down for me, they were ready to have fun and they were ready to jump into the the comedy of it a little bit more and enjoy the difference between how complicated life has been going, especially with everything going on, plus just [the reliance on] electronics, just us even on this Zoom.

I think I got excited with the idea of being part of it and I think they were looking to have a friendly-ish face and I think that's mine. I couldn't be more excited to be here, it was a cool approach. I was happy to jump in and be the face for your possible morning's and possible afternoon's juices and alternative milks and stuff like that, too, so, I'm in.

I know we always keep a good bottle of Simply Orange around the house.

Eugene Cordero: That's where it should be, and I'm glad it's yours.

How much input did you have in the actual creation of the sketches, because they feel very much in line with what we've seen before from Simply ads but then also feel in line with your unique sensibilities.

Eugene Cordero: I think when they were having it go in this route, they did a great job of already kind of having the tone and the way that they wanted to present it, especially for it to be a little bit lighter in the sense of how they were going to approach the ads. So they had that already, and I think it was great that they had me with MerylHathaway and Neil Casey, people that I've worked with before and people that are in the comedy world, to kind of work off each other, so it feels more naturalistic in that way. It keeps even the dialogue simple and fun, so they set that up pretty well.

Then the cool thing is while we were shooting it with the brand, they were just like, "Be yourself." So even with the quirkiness that I kind of walk around with, I think they embraced that and were happy to play in that world. So I think what you're seeing, and the way that they're moving forward with it, is to make it as natural and fun as possible. It was just like, "Hey, have fun on set, enjoy the juice, enjoy the brand and let's see what happens." But they were so happy to kind of play around on the day and it was just a fun environment.

Just being on set for these, it didn't feel at all like, "Oh man, we're doing a bunch of commercials," it felt like, "Oh, we're just having a dialogue and talking about this thing." It was a win-win for me, because that was less stress on me. Other than the cool suit, obviously, that I was rocking in it.

What was the process behind the creation of the suit?

Eugene Cordero: That was Simply going, "This is what we want" and then me showing up there and going, "Are you serious? This is amazing." It was velvet on velvet, man, it was solid green velvet. I would wear it in life, it would depend on the occasion, obviously, now I guess the occasion is this. But I would have never thought, "Hey, let me buy a velvet green suit and wear it around," but now, I'm all for it, I was psyched.

It was a killer look, for sure, definitely now thinking of adding it to my own wardrobe. So as you mentioned, you come from the comedy world and even though you've been around for a while, the past few years have really seen you come more into the spotlight, what's that been like for you getting to play in so many different worlds?

Eugene Cordero: I've loved it, I'm not gonna lie, it's been amazing. I've felt like I've done a pretty good job of realizing that I'm lucky to [not only] have these opportunities, but take advantage of those opportunities. But I feel like every aspect of my career so far, especially in the last two-three years, I'm starting to do more things that you would hope for, you know, being involved in franchises and worlds that you're like, "Oh, man!"

I jumped into Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, and then having a campaign of something that is great, I couldn't be happier. It helps that everything that I've been a part of, everybody has been great to work with and this campaign in particular, working with Simply, it's just like, "Oh, man, I hope this keeps going because that vibe there is just as fun and something that I'd love to keep doing."

Donald Sutherland carried it for a little while, so I think you've got a good chance.

Eugene Cordero: Dude, a little while, you're talking about 20 years! He's got a soothing voice. Mine, I wouldn't say it's cutting, but I would say that it's unique in its own way. In the same way, I feel like with all of the things I've been involved with, they've really embraced the unique qualities that I've been able to bring to the table and raise those up and make me feel like, "Hey, that's actually something that we'd like," so it's good.

That's awesome. I've got to ask about Loki, they recently confirmed that almost all of the original cast are coming back for season 2. So can we look forward to seeing more of Casey in season 2?

Eugene Cordero: Yes, yes, you can.

Can you give me any kind of tease of what he's got going on?

Eugene Cordero: You know, I can't, because I don't even know. There's so many passwords and passcodes that I have to fill out just to even look at the pages that I'm on, and the way that it works is things constantly change in a great way. There's so many moving parts in that universe that things keep changing, so I can't really nail it down, but I'm excited.

I'm excited to do more and I don't know to what capacity I'll be able to be a part of it, but I'm excited to do it. So yeah, get ready, it'll be fun, I hope? No, it will be, it'll be great. [Chuckles]

One of the things that I love about season 1 is all of the memes that came from that and your scene with Loki where he's threatening you is one that I see pop up all the time. Have you seen it the meme circulating?

Eugene Cordero: I have, I've walked down the street a bunch and people have asked me what a fish is or if I know what a fish is. It's a polite way of them saying like, "Hey, I know where you're from," but then also calling it out. And people still scream Pillboi, so it helps. But it's neat to have those kind of, I don't know if it's catchphrases, but moments that people feel that they connected to or feel that are fun that I was a part of.

And it feels cool that people can ask me what a fish is or sometimes people ask like, "Do you now know what a fish is?" or, "Do you need me to explain to you what a fish is?" I think the biggest moment happened recently when I was at the zoo with my kids and somebody came up and went like, "Hey, by the way, there are fish over there if you want to take a look at some." I thought that was neat.

They saw the opportunity and they took it.

Eugene Cordero: They did and hey, I remembered it and I thought it was funny, so there you go.

It'd be unfortunate if it was just like, "Uh, thanks?"

Eugene Cordero: [Laughs] Or if it wasn't actually me. People who like get in a fight, because they're like, "You don't think I know what a fish is?" I don't know why the guy who looks like me would still talk like that.

It'd be a funny interaction, to say the least. With Star Trek: Lower Decks, I know last season saw Rutherford really go on quite the emotional journey and it ended on a pretty big cliffhanger. I know Jack Quaid and a few other people have already done their work on season 3, have you already done your work as well?

Eugene Cordero: Yes, yeah, we've already finished most, if not all, of season3's recordings and have been moving on to more past that. I think we're coming out pretty soon here in the summer, so you'll be able to see the journey that Rutherford takes in this, and it's awesome. It's really cool.

It's very Trekky in that way that the writers of the show are just so on top of and love kind of turning the kind of storylines that you've already seen on its head and Easter eggs all over the place. There's a lot of that stuff happening in season 3 and I think there's even more of Rutherford figuring out who he is before the Oculus and everything happened. It's neat to see, but he's still a goof and he's still really good at Engineering.

Did you get to go back to studio recordings with other cast members this time around?

Eugene Cordero: Not with other cast members, but at least with the studio themselves, which has been great, because obviously their setup is way better than what I was doing during the quarantine. It was just nice to be able to get that kind of feedback and not have to worry about the math of the audio issues or anything like that while we were recording, and also to be able to see some of the animatics and some of the stuff when it was happening.

It was great and I get excited that way, so I was happy to be in studio. I can't wait, hopefully soon there'll be some records together. But I've seen Tawny, she and I are friends and we've seen each other outside of it, so that's helped. But yeah, we're excited to do some in-house [recording with] all four of the main cast just joking around. I'm sure none of it would be playable, because we'd just be laughing the whole time, but it'd be great.

As long as you're having fun, that's all that matters. So with season 3, I know we're getting Jonathan Frakes' William Riker from the live-action shows, so I'm curious, if the opportunity were to arise for you to play Rutherford in live-action, would you take it?

Eugene Cordero: Oh, man. I mean, you mean what I wear that [headpiece and] shave my eyebrows and shave the sides of my head? Yeah, yeah I would do all of that, sure. Would I wear an awesome Starfleet uniform? Absolutely. All of those things I would do. I think that's easier for me to answer than Noël having to get in all green to do hers. But I would definitely be down, I would love for that to happen. Hopefully, knock on wood, that's something that would be in the works down the line.

Fingers crossed, Paramount+ seems to keep expanding that Star Trek universe every day.

Eugene Cordero: They love that universe.

Before we go, I do want to ask about Tacoma FD. I know it was only just renewed a few months ago, but I love the Broken Lizard group and that show has been awesome all three seasons. How's it coming on season 4?

Eugene Cordero: Season4 is starting up. Those guys are the funniest and the easiest to work for and work with. Season 4 is gonna be great. You think the hijinks that was happening already would keep happening and instead they're raising the bar and making crazier stuff happening. Crazier things happen, so get ready for more, there's a lot of goofs. I would say Tacoma FD is filled with goofy moments, even when the plots aren't the craziest, it's the goofiest moments, so it's fun and I'm happy to be part of it.

Now did you already get to film it or is it gearing up?

Eugene Cordero: Not yet, just getting started with it now. Same kind of thing of I can't really fill it with any teasers or any things like that, but yeah, definitely some fun things and crazy things are to happen, especially with Penisi, he does crazy things.

Simply Beverages Campaign

Simply® Beverages, The Coca-Cola Company’s second-largest brand in terms of net revenue in the United States, is rolling out a new portfolio refresh. The new 360-marketing campaign features two new humorous spots and debuts Eugene Cordero of Loki, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Easter Sunday fame as the brand’s first ever on-screen spokesperson in 20 years.

The modernized Simply campaign introduces a new brand platform – Say Yes to Simple – which brings charm and levity to the complications of everyday life while celebrating what happens when you choose simplicity.

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