Crave Online: Do you have Chihuahuas?

 
George Lopez: I have three of them.

 
Crave Online: Are they from the pound or rescued?

 
George Lopez: One was born naturally, from a result of the relationship between the mother and the father, and one was a rescue, and one we bought.

 
Crave Online: These dogs start the “No Mas” movement. What did you think of that political allegory?

 
George Lopez: You know, Placido Domingo does the "no mas" speech in the movie, but I did it virally. You know, "enough is enough." All that stuff really helped. I mean, I enjoyed that "no mas/enough is enough" campaign.

 
Crave Online: Do you think these little dogs have been over-exploited in Hollywood?

 
George Lopez: [Laughs] Well, I mean, they're accessories. Paris Hilton and different actors and actresses that carry them around. Yes, they're cute dogs. They're small but they think that they can take anyone on. I mean, I've seen my dogs at a dog park where I have to put them in the car because they were going to beat up everyone in the park. You're like, "Come on, what's going on?" You're carrying them under your arm, you're like, "Are you crazy, what's going on?" And it's like, "Let me back out there! Let me back out there!"

 
Crave Online: Do you relate to Papi's strong romantic streak? Do you have a strong romantic streak?

 
George Lopez: You know, I don't. It's funny because when I did the voice, Disney people would say, "God, he's so romantic. He's so great." And I'm like, "You know that's me, right?" And even when I saw the movie, I was like, "That is more romance than I thought I put in it." Just the vulnerability. I think all the years of rejection from women, I finally found an outlet to let it go, where it wasn't me personally, but it was a dog. When I recorded the first time, I recorded with Drew, the first hour and a half. I only was supposed to have one recording session, that was it. That was just one hour, or one hour and a half, two hours, and that was it for me. But when her and I got together and I sang to her and she rejected me, and everybody was in there like, "Awww..." they were like, "Hey, we might have something here." So when they started to see that, and then every time they prepared it, everywhere this dog has a camera on him, they tried to get me to put a line in there. A lot of them work. A lot of them work and it created a part where the dog was kind of invisible in the middle of the movie, and now he became the dog that runs through the whole film.

 
Crave Online: So how much time did you spend recording the part, and how much did it change depending on what the dog did?

 
George Lopez: You know what was great was in the beginning, I recorded for an hour and a half, and then we got that whole kind of romantic thing where I sang to Drew Barrymore through Plexiglas. That's really the only way I should be close to Drew Barrymore, is through plastic. Then when I started to record and they started to shoot in Mexico and they were bringing back footage and you got a chance to see what was going on, I went and asked them if I could re-record a lot of the stuff from the beginning, because I didn't have a reference point. I said to Raja the director, "Can I re-record this?" And he's like, "It's fine." And I'm like, "To me, it seemed a little flat, so I wanted to re-do it and bump it up a little bit." So it was great to be able to do that. I even saw him yesterday and said, "Can I go in there and re-record stuff?" And he's like, "No, there's 3,000 prints already."

 
Crave Online: I assume you don't dress up your dogs at all.

 
George Lopez: I do not but I've had dogs dressed up in my house. Here's the craziest thing. Our friends have a brown chihuahua that was a female, and we have our youngest chihuahua, which is a male. My wife and the other person's owner and the kids decided that it would be great if we had a chihuahua wedding in the backyard. I tried to get out of it, but I came home at the wrong time. They were just starting the wedding. So my smallest dog has a top hat on. They found a top hat. And they found a bowtie and a tuxedo shirt. So there he is, and they're holding them in their hand, and he's like, "What the hell do I have on?" Then the other dog had a wedding dress on, and they were going to marry them. My daughter was doing the services. But in the middle of the wedding, the mother-in-laws fought. The two dogs got in a fight in the backyard, the bride lost her dress in the middle of the ceremony, and the father went missing and nobody could find him. I thought, "I've been to this wedding!"

 
Crave Online: Why do you think you appeal to such a wide, mainstream demographic?

 
George Lopez: I think that there's a naturalness to me that I've always had, even when I did stand-up, when I wasn't very good at it. There was just kind of this general kind of being in the place and warmness that I'm not sure if I have when I'm not on camera, when I'm not in public, because I'm kind of still really shy. But I think that there's a genuineness, and I think it draws people together. We did it in the show, and I think that's one of the reasons why the show is bigger in syndication than it was in production, because more kids have got a chance to see it. I think movies like this, and even my stand-up that's very adult, it's still not mean. It's just edgier, it's not mean. Mean closes people off. Even though you're talking about subjects that are really kind of edgy and different and deal with race, it's not where I turn everybody off. So I've been able to be a nice mix. And I think one of the things that benefited that was just being ignored for so many years, and how that feels. Like today there was a reporter here that was from Ohio and wanted to go to the game. Today, Ohio State is playing USC and he was talking about how he's going to go back and he didn't have money for a ticket. I go, "How much are they? A thousand?" He's like, "No, they're probably like 400." And I said, "I'm going to give you $400 and you can go to the game." He's like, "No you're not." And I gave him 600. So I gave him $600 in cash and he's going to the game. The cameraman found two tickets, so he's taking the cameraman. So both of them are going to go to the USC/Ohio State game. One's a USC fan, one's an Ohio State fan. I’m fortunate in having some financial thing, it's not just all about me. I actually enjoy doing that,  that somebody was going to go and have a nice time.

 
Crave Online: Do you subscribe to any philosophies like The Secret's Law of Attraction?

 
George Lopez: Yeah. You know what, I do. I started to do that, and it hasn't let me down yet. I'm going to keep doing it until it doesn't work and it really has been working. I mean, I get so much. To be kind to people and to help and to be generous to people, and to help people who are in poor health as I was, that my wife and I do, is great. I'm getting a Make-A-Wish award in Phoenix next month, because I've done a lot of Make-A-Wish with kids and things like that. I've heard stories of entertainers who have promised to be there, and then have not been there, and then the child goes away. So when you think that there's nothing probably sadder than a kid that's sick or nothing happier than to hear laughter in a room with kids, is great. This movie is that. So many times now, we expect much more than just being entertained. We should just remain simple and go to a movie and be entertained, and walk out with your kids and say that was fun, and go get ice cream and go home.

 
Crave Online: You've talked about retiring in the near future. What if they want to make sequels to Beverly Hills Chihuahua?

 
George Lopez: I will come back from my house in Hawaii for a Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. I'm almost 30 years doing stand-up. I'm going to have a big party next year. I'm doing an HBO special in Chicago. I hope to film it at the United Arena live in front of 15,000 people on HBO. Chicago's been a great town for me when I first started doing stand-up and it'll be 30 years, my 30 year anniversary. So I'm going to have a huge party. So far, I think I'm going to get Ambrosia and REO Speedwagon. I've got a huge party with a lot of bands. I think Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, Ambrosia, and maybe somebody else. I'm not sure yet.

 
Crave Online: When you say retire, do you mean just from stand-up?

 
George Lopez: You know, I was in poor health, and now I'm in good health. I think this business gets you in and doesn't allow you to leave on your own terms. I mean, I'd like to leave while there's still a bit left in the tank and enjoy my life because I don't know if this thing will last 10 years, 20 years, 5 months. So I'd like to be able to enjoy a little bit of life.

 
Crave Online: Are you more comfortable with acting or do you miss the live audience?

 
George Lopez: For not having done it, I enjoyed it, and when you have a good director and producers that are open to it... But I was watching Aladdin with my daughter, and I don't think that there's ever been a performance like Robin Williams in Aladdin. It was brilliant. I mean, those jokes that come flying out of that Genie, that's great. I'm not at that level yet, but I'd like to be able to get to that. A little bit of that. That was fantastic.

 
Crave Online: What does is say that it takes Beverly Hills Chihuahua to show Mexico in a positive light?

 
George Lopez: I think it's great. Mexico and the United States, there's obviously a lot of political issues going on, but it doesn't take away from the fact that Mexico's a beautiful place, and very historical. I mean, Mexicans invented the calendar, how we keep time, which is amazing, because we're always late. I don't know how that happened. Maybe they only had one. But to invent the calendar and then always be waiting... I've spent my whole life waiting on people and I'm like, "Dude, we invented the calendar!" "I got caught up." So it is great. The pyramids, and the history of it. I named my daughter Mayan so that is much needed. The fact that Disney, the validation of a Disney studio movie, and having it come out as romantic and as sweet, and I think all the kids loved the movie. That's all you can ask from a Disney film and when they get behind it, it's big time.