Emcee, I'm going to try to explain for you! I know I was going to have to go further into this...
I do agree that it is "acting" but as an actor, I also believe that everyone puts a bit of themselves in every character they portray.
I mean, if you are just looking at confidence, clearly the Incredible Esparza has a great deal of confidence, he just radiates it. But, when he is just being himself, he is more reserved and quiet.
Norbert however, on the occaisions I have met him, just walks like he owns the world. He makes no apologies for who he is, and I think he lacks a certain vulnerability that someone like Raúl Esparza has. Which is what made him so great as Jon. There are so many times in TTB where Jon is evaluating his life and wondering if he's doing the right thing, and if he has what it takes.
I just think it would be hard for someone like Norbert to play a character who has to doubt himself, when it seems as though he never has to doubt himself. If you ask me, I think Norber KNOWS he is talented. There is nothing wrong with that. "When you got it, you got it." But Raúl, he often seems surprised that people think of him as the Incredible Esparza.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL