After the success of Transparent, Amazon is releasing another original series just in time for the holidays. Their latest, Mozart in the Jungle, premieres on December 23 and is set in the world of classical music. Gael García Bernal plays enfant terrible composer Rodrigo, whose appointment as head conductor of a New York City orchestra has caused a stir among staid conservatives who used to run the show. While music fans are sure to love the series, there’s also enough scheming, sex, and behind-the-curtain intrigue to interest viewers who don’t know the difference between Strauss and Schubert. Bernal spoke with Vogue.com about his first big foray into television (if you can still call it that), the inspiration behind Rodrigo, and the one show he can’t stop streaming online.
What attracted you to this specific character?
The world of classical music is so fascinating. It’s a world that encompasses people from everywhere and erases the basic restraints of nationality; everyone is united by this common language of music. That was very exciting to me to be part of.
Were you a fan of classical music before you came on the show?
A fan? No, but I appreciated it and respected it and listened to it every now and then; but I didn’t follow it. Now thanks to the show, I’m closer, but I still can’t call myself a hardcore fan because there are still so many things I need to listen to.
Your character in the show, Rodrigo, looks a lot like composer Gustavo Dudamel. Is that just a coincidence?
[Laughs] I mean the character is based on every conductor, from Dudamel to [Vittorio] Monti to Claudio Abbado to [Leonard] Bernstein to [Herbert von] Karajan.
Did you see a lot of concerts to prepare for your role as a composer?
Not as much as I would like to because there’s not enough time! I’m in different parts of the world and these things happen in such a small space, but YouTube is a great place for seeing people from different countries.
Mozart in the Jungle is your first major TV series. How was this different than filming a movie?
Well the result and the expectations are really interesting because they are very immediate; I mean, we just finished shooting like four weeks ago.
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What do you think of this new kind of TV experience online?
I have no clue where this is going—this is beyond me. Perhaps this is a generational thing, but I can’t incorporate it yet into my system. It’s changing so much. If you go back to Fassbinder’s films or even Bergman’s films, they were made for television in a way, because they were episodic. This is where [the way we watch TV now] came from—it’s not new. But the format you can access this now, all in one go, in one weekend, it’s fantastic.
Have you ever binge-watched anything online?
I watched The Wire. It’s incredible. It’s absolutely incredible. I couldn’t stop watching it. That was the point when I realized this has a lot of reach, bigger reach than I thought that these things could have—it’s like the Balzac of the 21st century.
Any other shows you’ve been particularly drawn to?
I don’t know, a lot of people go crazy about Breaking Bad, but I don’t like the soap opera aspect of it and only following one character. I like the context to all of it, all the pieces, like The Wire. It’s more about the state of things; it’s not about the narrative of a person. I mean, The Wire is the description of the world and the beginning of the century.
What can we expect from you next?
I’m doing a film called Desierto. I finished shooting it with Jonás Cuarón, son of [director] Alfonso Cuarón. And then . . . who knows?