CraveOnline: Were you used to the cold weather?
CraveOnline: So you were okay with 20 below?
Luis Guzman: No. Let me tell you something. 0 degrees in Vermont is warmer than 10 degrees in Chicago. The wind brought moisture. The moisture is really the killer. When you add in the wind, yeah. But in Vermont it's a dry kind of cold. Any time you live anywhere near water in the springtime, there's nothing that will stop the penetration of the cold.
CraveOnline: How did you stay warm?
Luis Guzman: Let me tell you, the trailer? The plumbing froze in the trailer. I had like a little tin garbage can in there with some charcoal. In fact we'd have to walk around all day holding it.
CraveOnline: How hard was it to shoot exteriors going from house to house?
Luis Guzman: I just kept counting the days. "14 more days to go." No, I tell you what. People in Humbolt Park where we shot, they were so inviting to us and they would cook up chicken stews or have coffee for us. We were actually drinking coquito and stuff like that. Somehow, I'm the guy that ended up in between takes, because I had those shoes on, those two tone shoes you saw which are not thermal shoes by any means. But they gave me these thermal boots and it was so funny because it was like Made in Australia. It doesn't snow in Australia.
Luis Guzman: [I told the director], "Alfred, I'm not going to say that. This doesn't make sense to me. No, I wouldn't say that."
CraveOnline: Has Hollywood changed its image of you, now as more of a big softie family man?
Luis Guzman: That's not true. [Laughs] I guess I've generated so much respect from the industry. I've grown up in this industry. I've shown my range and I just experimented with so many different things. I've been really fortunate too that so many different roles have opened up for me. I just fit right in and I go for it. Also, because I grew up on the lower east side. I grew up on the lower east side when the lower east side was a hellhole. I grew up on the lower east side when it was like the drug capital, the drug open market of the world. I grew up on the lower east side when we had the highest per capita of HIV cases when HIV first came out. I grew up on the lower east side when it looked like a bomb had hit it, like it was like some city in Germany that was bombed and stuff. So when you grow up in that kind of environment, you grow up with all these characters. So I knew what it was to be a badass because I used to hang out with the badasses. I knew what it was to hang out with someone who was trying to save their neighborhood. I grew up with people who were the poets of the neighborhood. So I tell you, my life and everything that I do in my work is just a total reflection of my life. That's why I guess I have so much range. When I did Carlito's Way and I'm being interviewed by this lady, she said, "So, how did you come up with the role of Pachanga?" I said, "You don't come up with it. You go to Manny's Social Club at four o'clock in the morning and you go to the back by the pool table and you see all the wannabe Pachangas right in there." So I draw from that stuff. I don't know what my point was but I think I had a point.
CraveOnline: Who did you draw on for this lovable screw up cousin?
Luis Guzman: You know, man, a lot of it was so simple. It's like my personality. I go to Puerto Rico and I hang out with my cousins and my nieces and they're all in their '20s and they all want to hang out with me, but in reality, I want to go hang out with them and work the music and stuff like that and where can we go? Here's this like 48-year-old cousin hanging out with his 21, 22-year-old nephews and nieces. I come back and my brother and my father are looking at me like, "Hmm, what's wrong with you? You're not slowing down like us?" No, man. I must say, I just love life, man. I love being a good soul and being around people. To me, it's pretty simple that way.
CraveOnline: Did Freddie Rodriguez hold his producer credit over you?
Luis Guzman: I used to go, "Freddie, can you put on your acting hat for a second?" And then later on, "Freddie, producer's hat. We have a problem. Freddie, how do we unclog the bathroom pipe?" No, honestly, for me, I just didn't think about that. Even though Freddie was always telling me, "Hey, if there's anything I can do for you, anything you need, just say it." I said, "No, man, I'm just happy to be here and let's go and have fun and let's play."
CraveOnline: What as the biggest challenge of the film?
Luis Guzman: Stopping from getting drunk, drinking coquito. "Gimme another one. Take 26, yeaaaahhh."
CraveOnline: And it was real food too, right?
Luis Guzman: We insisted on that, man. If it's not the real thing, I'm not doing the scene.
CraveOnline: When did you feel you were starting to get roles not just for Latinos?
Luis Guzman: I guess the beginning of that moment for me pretty much started when we shot Q&A. Even though I was playing this Puerto Rican detective and stuff like that, I think that was the beginning of it. Then I went back and did Carlito's Way and played this badass. I just think it opened up then for me really when I did Boogie Nights. That went in a whole totally different direction. I was the guy that wanted to be in a porn and then couldn't perform to it. And then I get a call from Soderbergh and I do a movie like The Limey that I play a badass but I had a heart and I didn't want to go back to that life. I'm drawn into a situation and then I found myself doing something like The Count of Monte Cristo and I said oh, wow. Then doing something like in Anger Management where I'm playing this really flamboyant guy. I guess also I have to give a lot of credit to a lot of material that I've gotten and what I've done with that material, because if somebody told me, "You want to play a badass tomorrow?" It's all based on material. I'm thankful that I do have that range and you know what, man? I love drama, I love comedy. My approach to things is just totally a reflection on my own life, the different people that I've come across and crossed my paths. But I think it really began switching up for me right after Boogie Nights.
CraveOnline: What is the essence of this movie, the universal appeal beyond Latin families?
Luis Guzman: I just gotta say, man, you said it pretty much. It's this universal family. I think for me, the message of this movie for me is you always go back to that one thing that's most important to you, and that is your family. No matter whether you can sit at the table for 10 minutes without getting into an argument, it's still the family. Pretty much that's the essence of it and I'm really proud that I was not doing this movie just to focus in on Latin audiences because then I think it would defeat the purpose of the story. I did this because it's like you know what? Anybody in this universe will relate to this. Everybody will see a little part of them, a little part of their family. Everybody will say, "Oh my God, I've got a cousin just like that." My brother brought home his aborigine girlfriend and who is she going to fit into this Greek family? Or what have you. You know what I'm saying? So it just could apply to just about anything so I'm really proud of that.
Luis Guzman: I got Yes Man, that's coming out with Jim Carrey. I have Fighting with Terrence Howard and Channing Tatum. That comes out, that was directed by Dito Montiel who did A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Taking of Pelham 123 and Old Dogs with Travolta and Robin Williams. He's Not That Into You and whatever else [they] call me in for. Right now, as far as other stuff that I'll be doing, it's all hanging in the balance as far as what happens with the union and the studio.
