When Alfred Molina landed the role of Satipo alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was the break of a lifetime. Prior to that, Molina primarily appeared in television shows, so being featured in an Indiana Jones movie elevated things for him. That said, there was a fair share of drawbacks to go along with the part.
For one, Molina experienced dailies for the first time. In laments terms, they are raw footage used to verify lighting, set details, and similar sound configurations. Molina, however, found himself overanalyzing his performance. He anticipated his portrayal would derail the film due to the constant reviews, except the final cut came out perfect. Steven Spielberg is to thank for intervening. He suggested to Molina that he stop watching the dailies because it was negatively affecting his performance. Once Molina took the advice, he delivered one that is now part of cinema history. People tend to forget that the Golden Idol scene has been referenced various times in media, indicating how well it is known.
Secondly, Molina had to contend with promotional trailers that featured him alongside movie star Harrison Ford. The Spider-Man 2 actor had zero clue that his character would be hyped so avidly when Satipo died in the first ten minutes. Molina had to explain to his friends that the trailers were deceptive because they made him seem like a main character. And while that archetype accurately describes Satipo, he's far from the central antagonist given his early demise.
The key takeaway is that Raiders of the Lost Ark served as a launchpad for Molina's career. Molina went on to star in various TV movies before finally landing a role alongside Johnny Depp in Dead Man (1995). From that point onward, it was nothing but top-tier flicks for the veteran actor. His list of movie credits at the time included titles such as Boogie Nights, Spider-Man 2, Frida, and The Da Vinci Code. In our opinion, the latter provided Molina with his first opportunity to showcase his talents to a broader audience. Both Frida and Spider-Man 2 were significant theatrical releases but leaned toward specific demographics, whereas The Da Vinci Code was something that appealed to any adult ages 18-36.
Molina's current prospects include another TV series and the movie, When We Get There. In it, he plays a character named Marcus. Little else is known about him or the plot of the film.