The Hopeless Romantic
Diego Luna opens up about his latest project, ‘The Night Buffalo’
22 January 2007

“The Night Buffalo” is an erotic drama starring Diego Luna based on a novel by Guillermo Arriaga. Luna portrays a morally ambiguous young man grappling with a romantic obsession. Between attending screenings, partying and skiing (at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival), the 27-year-old chats about the challenges of performing in a movie that he also produced and the creative process behind making it. Who knew that love scenes could be so exhausting?

You’re no stranger to Sundance at this point in your career. Is it still fun for you?
For a Mexican being in a town surrounded by snow with people who love films and having a chance to show my work, it’s like heaven, man.

We hear you’re hitting the slopes on this trip. Are you a good skier?
I’m pretty bad. I learned a few years ago when I was here with “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” I’ve done it, like, three or four times in my life, so I’m bad. But I enjoy falling, so I have a good time.

The subject matter in “The Night Buffalo” is pretty bleak, and you had to take your character to a dark place. Was it a difficult shoot for you?
It was tough work, physically and mentally. This character is so different from myself. In the beginning, the director [Jorge Hernandez Aldana] and I decided to take it as far as possible from me. He’s a very lonely guy with no friends, and to jump into that universe was very exhausting.

You have sex scenes with several different women in the film. That’s a good type of exhaustion, right?
I have to tell you that it wasn’t at all because when you’re finished you go back home and you’re like, “That was just an illusion — just for a film.” Everyone thinks doing sex scenes is amazing, but I don’t think so, my friend.

Why is sex so prevalent in this movie?
It’s a film about young people who are lost, and it’s through sex that they communicate.

You lost 20 pounds for the role. Why?
We wanted him to be a very skinny guy who could forget about eating for a whole day if the girl he was obsessed with was in the room with him.

This is the second film in which you’ve starred and served as producer. What’s the secret to successfully wearing both hats?
I learned on the last one that once you start shooting, you can’t be the producer. You have to be focused just on your acting, and that’s what I did here.

Source: http://ny.metro.us/metro/entertainment/article/The_hopeless_romantic/6601.html