Based on real life events, MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine focues on the late 1970s and ealry 1980s cocaine scene of which The Mutiny Hotel is the epicenter. General manager Roman Compte, a Cuban exile doing his best to fulfill his own American dream is at the center of it all.
We spoke with the cast of Hotel Cocaine about their characters, and what it was like to step into the 1970s.
Participating Talent:
- Danny Pino (“Roman Compte”)
- Yul Vazquez (“Nestor Cabal”)
- Michael Chiklis (“Agent Zulio”)
- Mark Feuerstein (“Burton Greenberg”)
- Tania Watson (“Marisol”)
- Corina Bradley (“Valeria”)
- Laura Gordon (“Janice Nichols”)
Hotel Cocaine Cast Describes Their Characters
Corina Bradley on Valeria: She is Roman’s only daughter. She’s 16. And she’s Cuban, but she grew up in the United States. She’s your typical teenager, honestly. She’s very curious and rebel-ish. And she kind of gets sucked into her dad’s world, and as any curious teenager is, she starts to investigate. She’s trying to understand what’s going on around her because no one is really telling her.
Laura Gordon on Janice Nichols: Janice is the manager of all the mutiny girls at the nightclub at The Mutiny Hotel. She is Roman’s right hand woman and confidant. She has secrets and a backstory that definitely plays out in mysterious and dangerous ways.
Tania Watson on Marisol: Marysol is Roman’s girlfriend, and she is stepmother to Valeria. Marisol is a Spanish teacher. She’s very intelligent. She’s very kind. She’s very loving. At the beginning of the show, she’s in a very good situation. She has everything she ever wanted, just a simple, good life and honest relationship. However, as the show goes on, she’s going to be more and more conflicted. Especially since the arrival of Mr. Cabal in their lives. This is going to be a bit of an issue for her. She’s going to have to deal with it.
Michael Chiklis on DEA Agent Zulio: He’s a drug investigator and he’s trying desperately to make some kind of a difference with regard to the the growing cocaine trade in Miami circa 1978. And pretty much failing miserably. Well, I shouldn’t say that. He’s doing his best under incredibly difficult circumstances. But it forces him to do some things that are beyond unconventional and pretty terrible, frankly. And he becomes someone that I don’t think he started out being.
Mark Feuerstein on Burton Greenberg: He is a coke snorting hippie and the owner of The Mutiny Club. Burton grew up kind of a misfit, a freak. Misunderstood. He’d rather be playing with snails in the outfield than playing the actual baseball game. And his mother was the only one who understood him. She encouraged him to be as strange as he wanted to be. And when certain things happened to her, he realized he would spend his life building a place for all the freaks like him. All the artists to come and cavort and create. And that’s what The Mutiny Club is, so it means a lot to him. When, halfway through the season, The Mutiny Club is in some financial trouble, he’s forced to deal with some unsavory characters, let’s just say, and gets a little deep into Zulio’s world.
What Was It Like Stepping into the 1970s?
Corina Bradley: Honestly, it was very different. It was really fun to go to work every day and step into this world. For me, it was interesting, because I love the 70s. I love 70s music and style. So it was super fun to play a character that actually was in this time period.
Laura Gordon: We had the best crew creating that look, with such great authenticity. The set designer, Raymundo Cabrera, was amazing. The costume and hair and makeup did such a big part of my job. I’ve never felt like that. The costumes and the hair and makeup played such an intrinsic part to my preparation in playing Janice, just because they were so fabulous. Such a departure from what I would normally wear and that era, particularly disco, you’re working in a nightclub, we could almost not go far enough. I delighted in it every day that I got on set.
Tania Watson: Most of the clothes was originally from the 70s. And then hair makeup. You should have seen the trailer, they had so many reference pictures. They were so thorough in everything. And as Laura said, it just builds the character way more. I mean, you work from home, you do your job, but then you get there and you go oh, okay, now I understand. Now I see it.
Danny Pino: Adela Cortázar, our wardrobe designer. The minute you step into those platforms, the minute you put on that polyester and the lapels are wider than anything else you’ve ever worn, and you’re in the humidity of the Dominican Republic, which is doubling as Miami in 1978, and you walk onto a set designed by Raymundo Cabrera, and you are standing in the world famous The Mutiny Club, you can’t help but be transported.
Yul Vazquez: That was that was pretty easy actually to do. Because really, the costumes were incredible. The whole thing gave you a tremendous feeling. Everything they did the visuals, the sets.
Michael Chiklis: Our set designers, costume designers, all departments on this, really do an incredible job. And honestly, until my moustache went on, I wasn’t Dominic Zulio. I’m telling you, the certain aspects of this thing, when I’d see [Mark] come out of the trailer with the big heels and the the huge collars, the open shirts. It just I could hear the guitar in my head. And it just transports you into that world. Listen, I’m an older guy, so I remember the 70s, and it just transports you into that world. It really is actually helpful in playing the characters, just visually seeing everything. The sets were stunning and the costuming was perfect. I think that the crew did a phenomenal job in that way.
Mark Feuerstein: We would have loved to shoot in Miami, but Miami doesn’t look like Miami and 1978. The Dominican Republic looks like Miami in 1978. Adela Cortázar, who designed our costumes, flew back to LA to go to vintage stores to get all the clothing. And then we had this guy, Raymundo Cabrera, who designed each room. Burton Goldberg, the guy [my charaater is]based on, actually designed all 140 rooms of The Mutiny Club. So we have our brilliant art designer Raymundo, who designed the Alice in Wonderland suite, which is like a trippy MC Escher painting, the Lunar Dream suite, which is like a David Bowie trippy hallucination, and then there’s the aquatic erotic suite, which has a pool in it.
Transport yourself back into the 1970s by watching Hotel Cocaine on MGM+.
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About Hotel Cocaine
The Mutiny Hotel becomes the epicenter of the Miami cocaine scene in the late 1970s and early ’80s; at the center of it all is general manager Roman Compte, a Cuban exile doing his best to keep it all going and fulfill his own American dream.
Hotel Cocaine streams on MGM+.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.