Chris Diamantopoulos, the Villain in 'Red Notice', Feels Honored to Be 'in the Presence of Greatness'

"They say don't meet your heroes. I think in this instance, I was lucky to meet my heroes because they upped my game. I got to see how something like this really gets done," Diamantopoulos says

Chris Diamantopoulos. Photo: Austin Hargave 

When Chris Diamantopoulos was pitched the role of Sotto Voce in Netflix's Red Notice, he quickly jumped at the opportunity to work with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson).

"I was like, 'Can I just be a fly on the wall of that movie?' Because that sounds like the most fun that I could possibly ever have as an actor," Diamantopoulos, 46, tells PEOPLE. He previously worked with Johnson in Empire State, and says the actor is "a prince among men" and "the sweetest sweetheart."

Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, and Chris Diamantopoulos. Amy Sussman/Getty

In the Netflix project, Diamantopoulos plays the film's villain opposite Reynolds, 44, Gadot, 36, and Johnson, 49, — a character he describes as "wrapped in mystery, but basically he's a baddy."

"He's also as many villains are a victim of his own massive insecurities that once you see Ryan and DJ and Gals characters picking away, it can be really, really fun," he adds.

Some of that fun, the Silicon Valley actor references, are his moments filming alongside Reynolds.

"There were moments where I just couldn't carry on with the take, because he's coming up with so many funny one liners that I had to stop and laugh," he adds. "I say this with all sincerity and respect, he's kind of like a living, breathing, muscular, handsome Bugs Bunny."

The actor also has fond memories of shooting a special scene with Gadot: "I got to tango dance with Wonder Woman!"

"I would say that tango dancing with Gal goes on my bucket list for sure of things that I'd always hoped to do," he says. "And by the way, my wife [Becki Newton] would concur."

Chris Diamantopoulos. Rodelio Astudillo/Amazon Studios

His favorite part about playing a villain, however, is that he doesn't "have to worry about if people like me."

"I became an actor so that I could change up my personality and be different people from different walks of life," he says. "There's no world or reality where I would ever be these people and so that's what's particularly fun about it."

Aside from his role in the movie, the actor has also been the voice of Mickey Mouse in the Disney series Mickey Mouse for 10 years — a role he considers "the job of a lifetime, particularly as a father of three."

He also noted that throughout the pandemic, he learned to "cherish the moment."

"What the pandemic gave me was a real sense of understanding of all of the s— that we thought was important isn't important. What's important is the people that we love and how much kindness we can spread out and how we can enjoy the moment," he says.

Red Notice is out now on Netflix.