The Dark Horse of Acting - Build's Pete
A case study of acting techniques
When the series started I had absolutely no idea what journey Pete will have in the narrative - I somehow avoided a fair bit of novel related posts and did not until Episode 7 that Pete and Vegas are the secondary couple. Even when I did realize it I did not give it much thought because well, Pete was such an understated character compared to the rest of them. I honestly can't even recall what I thought about him beyond "ahaha lol what a funny guy he makes funny faces hahaha" and "lol lol he's so done with Tankhun he's so relatable lol lol".
I know that everyone likes to think of every character as morally grey in the show but in my opinion, within the context of the world the showrunners have created, Kinn and Porsche are relatively morally upright, Vegas is relatively morally uhh...bad, and Pete is the one that is truly genuinely morally grey. In DnD terms - he would be what I would call a true neutral (compared to Kinn's lawful good, Porsche's chaotic good and Vegas' lawful evil) (just to add here lawful here doesn't mean legal - not gonna explain the whole DnD thing here, please google it if this doesn't make sense to you in any way).
Pete's unique combination of high empathy and high cynicism has led to creation of this increasingly interesting character, brought to life by Build's flawless execution - understated in the initial episodes, unexpectedly intense in the later episodes.
Apo, Mile and Bible are overwhelmingly charismatic - I don't think they could do a scene where you would look away from them. Wardrobe and makeup also plays a huge role in that but I don't think you could ever cast these three actors as side characters because they would simply take over a scene. Build on the other hand blended seamlessly into the background in the first few episodes.
In this scene even when Pete is talking it's hard to take your eyes off of Porsche. It's partially because how the camera is placing Porsche in the frame (1/3rd of the way in and he is also very tall and in front) and partially because Build seems to...almost have a dial where he can switch off his charisma.
This scene on the other hand, the camera actually focuses on Pete but you can see how even blurred Apo's Porsche is dominating the scene. If you didn't have context clues from reading other people's post about Pete on socials you would never clock him as anything more than a boy-next-door in the wrong business. This boy does not belong in the mafia.
His scenes with Kinn and Vegas are also in the same vein, he strictly feels like a side character until-
8 episodes later we have this scene and it's really hard to believe this is the same guy from the gifs above. You cannot take your eyes away from him. Think we can all agree he looks unhinged here and finally looking like an actual gangster. I never would have guessed that I would see this side of Pete considering how Build was playing Pete until this point - it was such a surprise for me.
This is another interesting one: Bible has incredibly sharp and defined bone structure while Build has a very soft face. Usually a face like Bible dominates the screen and it usually does but here Build is able to match Bible's energy. Nobody is overpowering anybody and he looks nothing like the soft boy of the first few episodes - he looks calculating, assured, almost at peace and juuuust a little bit dangerous. Comic relief side character has walked out the door, she is charisma incarnate, she is the moment.
My favorite scenes with Pete are the ones where he is giving people advices. He has done it for Porsche, for Kinn and finally for Vegas here. Build really does the detached cynicism™ with perfection. Notice how dead his eyes look here, how slack his face is. He is understanding but also tired. He is resigned.
Now compare that to his eyes here- they look so alive - again it's almost like it's two entirely different actors and I know that's the whole point of acting but!!! I am in awe!! I have no option but to stan!!
And finally my absolute favorite frame featuring Pete. The direction was so good and Pete looks - well he looks like a lot of things - but he mostly looks evil here! Like he has just succeeded in tricking somebody. Like a cat who has just cornered a rat - it's such an unsettling smile, that paired with the unsettling music and Vegas' smile fading when he sees Pete smile - I had my jaws on the floor - Build was the showstopper, he was so real for this I can't even.
I think the showrunners could not have casted a better person for this role. Build's Pete is a truly remarkable work of subtle acting, absolutely unexpected, the dark horse of the cast.
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