Tony Dalton suddenly rose the ranks to become one of the most celebrated personalities in modern-day television. His stand-out role as Eduardo Lalo Salamanca in the Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul launched him into a global fray of antagonistic characters who are easy to fall in love with because of their obvious charm coupled with an unbound ruthlessness when the situation calls for it.
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Needless to say, Dalton’s role as Don Eduardo became one of the essential and popular characters in the series. Even entering into the picture as late as in Season 4, he managed to pivot all of the attention toward himself with his on-screen presence, as his outward charm relayed an even more sinister feel to the role and he went on to execute the perfect balance between the two during his purposefully lived tenure at the show.
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Tony Dalton Speaks About Salamanca in Better Call Saul
When the Salamancas made their debut in the Breaking Bad universe, it was gloriously creepy, unhinged, and comedically sinister. The arc soon escalated, as it always does with the Breaking Bad duo, and Hector Salamanca and his family became officially relegated to the ever-expanding world of crime lords. In a brilliantly executed plot, Hector Salamanca’s stay in the series played into the scriptwriters’ golden opportunity to exploit the memorable presence of the actor and tie it in with Tony Dalton’s entry in Better Call Saul via a hotel desk clerk bell.
As the prequel now comes to an end, Dalton opens up about what had first drawn him to the character of Lalo Salamanca — “I mean, this is exactly what I was looking for, something that is going to be done by people who have a different point of view, very precise and artistic, and it was perfect for me.” Even though doomed in the end, as was made categorically clear in the finality of the Breaking Bad storyline, it didn’t stop the fans from feeling a niche adoration for the character.
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What’s On the Roster For Tony Dalton’s MCU Character?
Now that he has begun to seemingly charm all of his audience with whatever role he plays, Tony Dalton relays his famously disarming presence to the role of Jacques “Jack” Duquesne in the Phase 4 Marvel series, Hawkeye. Otherwise known within the Marvel comic universe as the infamous Swordsman, his character in the series is one that comes off as playfully arrogant yet likable to a degree. Set up for taking the fall for Eleanor Bishop’s crimes, the clueless Duquesne trudges on until the end when he finally, upon learning the truth, joins Kate Bishop and Hawkeye to assist in whatever way he can.
The series marked Tony Dalton’s entry into the MCU as the Swordsman, whether as a passing reference or to be later utilized on a much larger cinematic scale remains to be revealed. The actor, however, recalls his good guy routine in the Marvel series with appreciation and associates it with his spectrally opposite role as the antagonistic Lalo Salamanca.
“I would think my history with Lalo and with a whole bunch of other characters, I’ve been doing this for a while… four years playing a hitman so that doesn’t help to have a good image of your characters. Harrison Ford is always the good guy. But in [What Lies Beneath], he’s the bad guy and you just don’t see that coming… I think they did the same thing in reverse [with Jack Duquesne].”
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When asked if he would like to continue appearing in the MCU, he replied in the affirmative saying, “Of course, I would do that role again. It was fun. It’s nice to be the good guy for a change. [Duquesne] is a completely different character than Lalo and it’s a whole different direction.” It would indeed be a grateful addition to bring in the superior skillset of Tony Dalton as the Swordsman in the MCU instead of merely executing his role as a means to an end for a more prominent Kate Bishop narrative.
Source: Discussing Film
