INTRO Reynaldo Herrera, Jr.
PHOTO Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

Whether comedic or tragic, John Leguizamo’s acting roles have always remained dramatic and genuine. Just as it seems like the illumination of Hollywood’s bright lights and mega-dollars may control him, Leguizamo hones his craft by deciding to step into groundbreaking and award-winning theater productions, most notably his one man comedy show Mambo Mouth, which effectively brought him into the mainstream entertainment arena. Perhaps his biggest achievement is the way in which he manages to make fun of common stereotypes about Latinos, simultaneously acknowledging them and then dismantling them. Most may recognize John as the loud and cocky “Bennie Blanco from the Bronx” in Brian de Palma’s Carlito’s Way, but Leguizamo’s understated brilliance is as powerful as the advice he gives to us, “I would say find something you love to do man, whatever the f–k it is, just find something you love to do and stick to that.”

You come from a comedy background. What does it take for a comedian to become a successful actor and why do we see so many comedians strike out while others become huge stars.
The comedy thing is very competitive. Comedians are basically given one shot, and if they fail then they’re shot down—unless they can figure out a way to reinvent themselves. That’s always the trick. Can you reinvent yourself, and who’s going to give you the opportunity? But the good comedians get themselves lots of opportunities. They create opportunities for themselves and they mix it up. You see Jim Carrey doing dramas. You see Billy Crystal doing animation and a Broadway show now. You just see them switching it up and mixing it up all over the place. And that’s what I’ve always done.

In your role in The Honeymooners, you starred in a loosely based remake of the classic show. Does it prove Hollywood has come a long way when a show like that can be redone with a minority cast?
It’s definitely a sign of the times. I mean the movies that are making big money right now are black movies and Latin movies. Definitely African Americans have had a very successful track record with films—even more so when compared to Latinos.

Would you say these are good times for John Leguizamo and Latino actors in general?
It’s a great time. All my friends who are Latin actors are working all the time now. That didn’t use to be the case. They’re doing all kinds of different things and get offered all kinds of different roles in movies. You have Rosario Dawson…You got Eva Mendes…

Do you consider the improved opportunities a fairly recent change or has it been pretty gradual?
It’s been pretty gradual, but it really took off with the last census when they realized we are huge moviegoers, even more so than Afro-Americans. We go to see movies three or four times. So they’ve been trying to reach the Latino market, get at it, find some way to talk to it. There were a lot of flops, which was part of the problem. But those scripts were bad anyway. I mean some of the stuff was terrible. Who’d want to see that? I wouldn’t want to say which movies, because I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.

Is it harder to maintain that fire and hunger once you reach a high level of financial and critical success?
Some of it gets hard, definitely. Doing stand up or doing the theater stuff, that gets really tough to motivate yourself for. The movies are pretty easy. Movies are so much easier. There’s a great script, you get motivated. It’s a great director. They’re going to pay you crazy money. Boom! I mean what’s there not to be motivated about?

Do you think it’s important for Latinos to be portrayed positively in films?
I think there has to be a broad spectrum. I think we do need more positive roles, but the negative ones aren’t that bad. I mean white people can play junkies. Pacino can play a gangster. Whites can play all that stuff and no one complains. If a Latin person does it, then it’s negative. I think what’s important is the writer and the director. If they are Latin, that’s who’s going to keep the stories authentic, original, new, and fresh. They have the power to really create a quality product that appeals to the Latin market.

One of the things that Latinos respect about you is that you don’t downplay your Latino heritage. You’re not shy about your background or worry that it might lead to your being pigeonholed.
Yeah, I’m not like that. I’m so proud of my heritage, and I consider it such a richness. There’s so much history and culture. I’m just so proud of it. I don’t need to feel successful by playing white roles. That doesn’t make me feel any better. Every time I get a role I always make sure that they change it to give it a Latin name or a Latin spin. That’s what I always want to do and that’s what I always go back to. I just find there’s so much to create and dig into, from Aztec times, Incan times, and Mayan times, to the conquistadors. We were here…you know we owned most of America until the 1850’s— half of it anyway until they kicked Mexico out. There’s a huge history of our culture in this country and in our own countries. I take huge pride in that and I celebrate it every chance I get.

If you could pick any topic or person to make a movie about, what would it be?
There are a lot of interesting historical pieces that I’d like to do. I’d definitely like to do something about the Aztecs. I’d love to do that because I found that civilization to be so ahead of its time. And something with Simon Bolivar, one of the great liberators. If his dream would’ve come true it would have created one of the most powerful nations in the world. He wanted to unify Gran Colombia, which is five countries from South America. And then Cantinflas. We all grew up with him. You watch his movies and the man was funny. He was witty. He was physical. He was slapstick. He did it all, one man. I find his story to be compelling. I think Latin people would dig it, and other people would dig it too—if it’s told correctly.

You mentioned you’re Colombian and Puerto Rican. Did your parents meet in New York?
No. My father was a world traveler. He visited Italy and Germany. He wanted to be a director, so he went to study in Italy, which was the capital of the cinema world back in the fifties and sixties. Then he went to Colombia, where he met my mom. They fell in love and then came to the States.

So you got an acting influence from your dad?
No. It’s strange, but my dad never really talked about it. I found out about his background later in life. He never talked about wanting to be a director or that he went to Italy to study and things didn’t work out so he left. I had no idea that’s what he wanted to do. He kind of hid it, I guess because it was a crushed, broken dreams kind of thing.

How much do you remember about your childhood in Colombia?
I don’t remember much from my early childhood because I left when I was three. But I went back from when I was eight until the age of nine, then again from the age of 14 to 15. I remember when I was back there it was amazing. I mean you grow up in the United States and you just think we’re the First World and ahead of everyone. But then you go everywhere else and you go, God damn! People are so bright, intellectual, and knowledgeable—and much smarter than anybody in America…so much better educated and worldly. More knowledgeable about the world, world literature, world history, politics. I was really impressed by the caliber of intelligence outside of the States.

As someone who’s pretty much a New York Latino do you notice a big difference in Latinos when you come to the West Coast.
A little bit. When I hang out in L.A. with my Chicano friends I almost expect there to be a bigger difference. But when I hang out with them I feel a kinship. Yeah, they’ve got different slang, but the vibe—the basic soul of it—is very similar. And I just feel mad at home when I’m with them. I just feel like, wow this is so cool. I’m in L.A. but I can still feel at home. I used to go to East L.A. a lot and hang out with friends who were in different comedy troupes.

So what’s the most noticeable difference with West Coast Latinos?
It’s mostly the talk. They talk fast, but definitely in New York we talk faster. It’s just the whole East Coast vibe is always a lot quicker because it’s a much more hectic lifestyle. You know what I mean? Chicanos have the slow, cooler thing going. But all Latinos talk faster than white people, that’s for damn sure.

Looking back on your career now is there anything you wish you had done differently?
That’s so hard to say. It’s easy to say, “I should’ve done this. I shouldn’t have turned that down. What was I thinking?” I got a lot of TV shows offered to me a long time ago, but I wasn’t ready to do TV. There were a lot of movies I should’ve passed on, but I thought they were going to be good. You don’t go into a movie saying, “I can’t wait to see how bad this sucks.” You think it’s going to be hot.

Then there’s the stuff you turn down. You think it’s going to suck and it becomes a big hit. Then you’re like, “Jesus Christ!” It’s really hard to tell. I’m pretty happy. My path is my path. Where I’m at right now is cool. I just enjoy whatever comes my way. I pick movies now in a much smarter way. I definitely don’t just look at my character or just the story. I consider the director too. All three things have to click for me to say yes.

Speaking of doing things differently, I read that you got in trouble as a kid for taking over a PA system on a subway. Is that true?
Yup. I was about 16 years old and my friend Indio and I were going to Manhattan. We broke into the conductor’s booth in the middle of the train and grabbed the mic. We started talking, rapping, and goofing around. We were doing like a comedy routine and we got arrested—by the comedy police, I guess you could say. But we got a good 15 to 20 minutes on the mic. And then all of a sudden we were cornered and handcuffed. They took us to the precinct, handcuffed us to a chair, the whole thing.

Is there anyone you’d like to nominate for our Coconut of the Month “award”?
Jeb Bush’s son is kind of coconutty isn’t he? He’s not really admitting that he’s Latin. He’s kind of like…he sounds white, he talks white. He doesn’t include us into all the conversations.

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