Better Call Saul Star Was Just Fired For Fighting On Set
Michael Mando was in a fight with a co-star and got fired from Ridley Scott's upcoming drama Sinking Spring.
Michael Mando (best known for playing Nacho Varga in 59 episodes of Better Call Saul) has been fired from his newly cast role in Ridley Scott’s Apple TV series Sinking Spring. While firing a lead actor in the middle of production is hardly unheard of in Hollywood, it is never done lightly, and there must always be a good reason. Apparently, there was just cause for Mando’s dismissal, as The Hollywood Reporter claims Mando was fired for fighting with a co-star on set.
Details of the on-set incident have yet to be released, including which co-star Michael Mando was fighting with, what the cause of the fight was, and how exactly the fight happened. But it must have been bad if the clash resulted in Mando being kicked off the production after filming had already begun. Producers have said that they attempted to resolve the conflict between the two parties but were unable to do so, leaving them with the only option of recasting Mando and starting fresh with a new actor.
Brazilian actor Wagner Moura has already replaced Michael Mando in his role for Sinking Spring. Mando was set to star in eight episodes of the Ridley Scott drama, where he would have played Manny Cespedes, a good-natured friend of the show’s protagonist Ray (played by Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry). Now, Moura will take over the role and join a cast that also includes Marin Ireland, Kate Mulgrew, Amir Arison, Ving Rhames, Dustin Nguyen, Nesta Cooper, Idris Debrand, Liz Caribel, and Will Pullen.
Due to fighting on set, Michael Mando will no longer appear in any episode of Sinking Spring. The show was penned by Peter Craig, who is known for writing Top Gun: Maverick, which was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award. Craig also wrote The Town (2010) and The Batman (2022) before teaming up with Ridley Scott for Sinking Spring.
Despite Michael Mando’s absence from the series, the show must go on! Sinking Spring, which will be released either later this year or early 2024, will be directed and executive produced by Ridley Scott. The show is about long-time friends and delinquents who aim to pose as DEA agents to rob a house in the countryside. However, when things don’t exactly go their way, they end up in the middle of the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the East Coast. The show is based on the Dennis Tafoya novel Dope Thief.
Sinking Spring will air on Apple TV and is being produced by Ridley Scott’s production company, Scott Free Productions. Scott is currently also working on another Apple TV-associated production, Napoleon, a film based on the French leader’s rise to power and stars Joaquin Phoenix.
Following the ending of Better Call Saul, Sinking Spring was Michael Mando’s only upcoming project. The actor has had 32 credits tied to his name, including playing Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Mark Vega in The Hummingbird Project (2018). Since being fired from Ridley Scott’s Sinking Spring for fighting a colleague, it is currently unknown if Mando will be able to book another acting gig anytime soon.
