In the movie The
Terminal the Mexican actor lands with a good foot in Hollywood.
In a conversation he tells about the experience in the hands of Steven
Spielberg.
He is 24 years old and half
his life has been spent in front the cameras of television, cinema or on the
theater stage. The rest of the world discovered him later, leading
together with his friend Gael García Bernal, the sexy road movie Y tu mamá
también
by director Alfonso Cuarón. The success of the film opened the doors
of Hollywood for the Mexican trio. Although García Bernal has not
succumbed to the temptation yet, Cuarón, for example, directed Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkabán, and Luna has just finished taking part in a
success with his role in the new production by Steven Spielberg, The Terminal.
In the film, the Aztec actor is an employee of the New York airport with a
secret passion and a certain inclination to break the rules. The charming
and disheveled Luna, whose last credits include Frida, spoke with us
about how it has been to learn English and how a cold beer sometimes is better
than a limousine.
How did the movie script
come to you?
Diego: “In the usual way.
The only difference is that it was Steven Spielberg. And the first time
they send you a Spielberg script, of course that is something very special.
The day I went to the audition, after a day of work for another production here
in Los Angeles, I felt terrible because I had not had time to learn the
dialogue. I felt like an idiot.”
But you obtained the
roll...
Diego: “At first I thought
I had lost the opportunity. I got very depressed by that. Three weeks
later the call came to me saying that I’d got the roll and I remember I was
jumping for like half an hour. It was very important for me, I had the
chance to meet one of the film directors who I admire most.”
Did it not make you nervous
to meet Spielberg?
Diego: “The truth is I am
glad the first meeting with him was a conversation by phone. In the moment
I became so nervous that I began to eat up the hair, for this time it had
length.”
What surprised you most
working with him?
Diego: “How we improvise.
One day he said to me, ‘Do you like football (soccer)?’ Then, suddenly we
were playing soccer in the middle of the terminal and that turned into a scene
in the film.”
What did you learn from
this experience?
Diego: “I know that many
people have said it before, but the fact is that Spielberg is like a child when
he is doing a movie. Just by observing him you realize how much he enjoys
the process, and how is he the happiest boy that can exist when he is filming.”
The set of The Terminal
was enormous… a reconstruction of an airport. How was it to walk along it
the first time?
Diego: “Yes! (laughs).
When I came to what I believed was the set where we were going to film, I
started saying, ‘Wow, that is enormous!, It is amazing!’ It was then when
they clarified to me that this was not the principal set. And it was
really incredible when I saw it. Everything was working: escalators,
elevators, everything was working perfectly. The shops, for example, were
real and open. That made it much simpler for the actors, not having to imagine
things. After half an hour in the terminal you forgot it was a stage.”
You came to Hollywood after
being employed in low budget movies. Is the experience very different to
take part in mammoth productions like The Terminal?
Diego: “Yes it is very
different. I still think that a film does not become better because
spacious trailers are to your disposition or because a meal is superior.
The only thing that really matters is the story that you are telling and all the
interest you put in this story. In Mexico, sometimes, you have to wait up
to two and three years to make a film, so finally when it is filmed what you
feel is passion for what you are doing and you are not thinking what you are
going to eat for lunch or if you will be able to enjoy some moment of a
massage.”
Anyway, it must be very
agreeable to have a limousine pick you up…
Diego: “It’s funny because
I was talking to my father on the phone after the premiere of The Terminal
and I was saying to him exactly that all this was a little strange for me.
You know, to be a part of this mammoth production, to have this enormous
limousine, but in the end even you go home by your own account and you have to
get up the next day at seven o'clock in the morning to give interviews.
Even if the limousine was ten times bigger, I would have still to get up at
seven o'clock... I am not complaining, but sometimes the only thing you
really need is a nice beer and a hammock in front of the beach, and that is
better than any other thing.”
They knew you in Mexico
long ago. The rest of the world knew of you through Y Tu Mamá también.
This type of recognition, what does it mean to you?
Diego: “Sometimes it is
strange. Like this interview, for example. Why is it important to
people what I have to say? But to come here and to work with Steven
Spielberg… My life is grand! Besides The Terminal, I have
just finished a film called Criminal, where I had the chance to share with Maggie Gyllenhaal and John C.
Reilly, what was a tremendous experience. Suddenly, also, I can achieve
some things that happen in my country, and that is really incredible. That
is to say, actors in Mexico have to wait and wait, and do terrible television to
be able to pay the rent at the end of month, until a project comes to them that
is worth while. So if you happen to have the freedom of doing your own
movies, that is wonderful.”
How do people in Mexico
feel with your success? Are they happy for you?
Diego: “They treat me very
well when I am there. But it is funny because they know everything about
me and it is different. You know, you come here and people say to you:
‘Oh! You did And Your Mother Too!’ In Mexico they know the whole history.
Like, for example, that I have done movies that have had not a bit of success.”
Up to now, do you feel
limited in Hollywood with the perception that, perhaps, you can only play a
Latin?
Diego: “Well, I think that
this might also be a limitation for North American actors. They can’t play
a Latin. If I come to the point that I can be employed with my accent and
to try to be a North American or a Brit, I know my opportunities are going to be
much better. But I am not going to feel unhappy for who I am because that
also is very hard. English is not my mother tongue and it is not very easy
to do it.”
But your English is very
fluid. Have you taken classes?
Diego: “Each time I promote
a movie it improves because they are like six hours of intensive lessons.
You have to communicate what you are really thinking.”
And how do you feel in Los
Angeles? Do you live here now?
Diego: “No, I live in
Mexico. It’s only a three hour flight, that is very easy to come and I
don’t see myself sitting here hoping that work will come. I don’t like the
idea that this place is all about the movies. Imagine that nobody offers
you a role for a year and you still see others here working and leading cars
through streets called Avenue of the Stars? That only reminds to you that
you have no work. Besides, my friends are in Mexico and my father lives
there. So my home is still on the other side of the border.”
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