Diego Luna (Y Tu Mamá También
has wooed audiences twice this year (Dirty Dancing: Havana
Nights, The Terminal) with his innocent, good boy image. In Criminal, now playing in limited release, Luna will get a chance
to use his charm for a deceptive duality as he plays a con artist
looking to learn the ropes from a professional. Luna co-stars with
John C. Reilly (The Hours) and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the
Warner Independent Pictures project. Below, Luna talks about this
cleverly deceptive film that will have you guessing at every corner.
Q: What was it like
working with a first-time director like Gregory Jacobs after working
with Kevin Costner (Open Range) and Steven Spielberg (The Terminal)?
DIEGO: I think he is lying
to us because I don’t feel like he was a first time director at all.
He seems to have much more experience than some directors that I
have worked with in Mexico, and he’s worked with some amazing
people, some amazing directors, great actors, and some great
cinematographers. So he knows a lot about movies.
Q: What do you like about
first-time directors?
DIEGO: I love the energy of
first time directors. You can tell it’s everything for them in that
moment. And you can tell that they do it the right way, especially
someone who works a lot in movies and then gets the chance like
Gregory did. You can tell that he was waiting for a long time.
Q: How did Gregory
describe the project to you when you first met him?
DIEGO: I was shooting [Dirty
Dancing: Havana Nights] in Puerto Rico. I was talking to him
about difficult for me that movie was, how different that movie was
from everything I had done before. It was a big movie, too big for
me. I talked to him, and instead of trying to impress me to say yes
to the movie he was very sincere and honest and simple. He had the
script he wrote and how much he wanted me to be in it. He was clear.
I don’t know, I’ve had so many directors who they are telling you
how much they know movies and how many movies they’ve seen. You
realize that it’s not about watching movies, it’s about how to tell
stories. It’s a big difference. You can be a big fan of movies but
not be a good director. Greg was clear and he didn’t try to impress
me at all. That felt right to me.
Q: What did you like about
the character?
DIEGO: I liked the idea of not
playing a cliché of a Mexican-American. What’s interesting about
this Mexican is that he looks like a nice guy. In movies normally
Mexicans look like very bad guys, they’re dangerous guys. And
there’s normally something to do with drugs. This character was
exactly the opposite – first he was a human being and then he was a
Mexican. In fact he was very helpful because he could speak Spanish
and in LA to speak Spanish is a very useful thing.
Q: Have you ever been conned?
DIEGO: (Laughs) Every time I go
to junkets, I feel like I’ve been conned. You step into the room –
today I’m surprised, because you look like nice people, but maybe
you’re going to con me now. Every time you step in, you say “I’m not
going to talk about my personal life, I’m not going to tell them if
I have a girlfriend, I’m not-“ and suddenly at the end you realize
that you told them everything, without even knowing how.
Q: Do you feel like
there's a connection between con artists and actors?
DIEGO: I have been preparing
for this role for my whole life, because basically con guys spend
their whole life pretending to be someone else, telling stories that
are not true. That’s what I do for a living, it’s just that I tell
people beforehand that I am going to charge them and they pay
tickets. If I do a good performance, maybe I get an award. Maybe
they go to jail if they do an amazing performance. But basically
it’s the story of two actors living in LA.
Q: How was working with
John C. Reilly?
DIEGO: I do want to say that
he is one of the actors that I admire the most, and that he has
integrity. Every time he chooses a role he believes in the story and
he believes that he is right for the story and he believes that he
can bring something to the story. He’s such a good actor and he has
done so many stuff; theater, musicals, movies, everything. He sings,
he has a blues band, he’s a fantastic guy and has amazing stories.
He works so hard. Every moment he is thinking, what would make the
scene better? That’s incredible because as an actor you need that.
Acting is about sharing. If someone is about sharing he knows that
you will be there, and you will be good if he needs you to be good.
It’s teamwork.
Q: You've starred opposite
a number of interesting female actresses. Is there anyone else you'd
like to kiss on screen?
DIEGO: Kiss? A lot! Yeah. In
fact most of them are not really good actresses, but I still want to
kiss them. (Laughs)
Q: Was Y Tu Mamá También
been your best acting experience so far?
DIEGO: It was the most important
for me in many different ways because it opened a lot of confidence
in myself as an actor. I started to travel with my work, I realized
that promotion was important. The other movies I did in Mexico
before Y Tu Mamá También, they got released in Mexico and
just my family would go to see them and then when the movie traveled
someone from the government would travel with it and you would stay
home. With Y Tu Mamá También I traveled, I got an agent,
things started to happen then I start to get scripts from Spain and
from the States and it started to open many doors. But at the same
time, Criminal is just as important as Y Tu Mamá También
because I am very proud of everything. I watch the movie and I
think it was a great move to do it. And it was the first time I feel
comfortable in English onscreen.
Source:
http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0409131
