Words: Dante Ross photos: Nick Meyer
Luis Guzmán has always been one of my favorite actors. Whether it’s playing Pachanga in Carlito’s Way, his roles in Boogie Nights, Traffic or Out of Sight, I’ve always loved the range and way he steals damn near every scene he’s ever in. The fact he’s a Boricua, looks like a crazed wolf man and is a proud Lower East Sider only increases my love for his work and his persona. His story is one of success, hard work and dedication, as Luis has appeared in over 40 films, working with people such as Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, Julianne Moore, Brian De Palma and Al Pacino. Currently starring in the new HBO series, John from Cincinnati, I caught up with Luis and rapped with him about life, his craft, being a dad and what’s it’s like to be Hispanic in Hollywood. To say I was impressed is an understatement. Luis was as cool as anyone could possibly be and interviewing him was truly an honor.
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Puerto Rico. From 1960 to 1969, I lived in the West Village on Hudson and 10th Street. This is when the West Village was still really a neighborhood. It was a great place to be raised. I moved to the Lower East Side in 1969, to Maseric Towers of Avenue D, when that meant something serious.
What’s it like being Puerto Rican in Hollywood and not being J.Lo?
Man, for me it’s awesome. People give me my props, my respect. I’ve been really fortunate. I carved my own niche in the business. Not to take anything away from J.Lo, she got a better ass than me, but you know, man, I’m just really lucky. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I still pinch myself everyday and say, Is this for real?
How did you become an actor?
It was an accident. I was a social worker at [Lower East Side’s] Henry Street Settlement. One day I went looking for a few of my absent kids and I was walking around the hood and I ran into Miguel Piñero on 6th and [Avenue] C when the hood was hot, hot—you know what hot, hot was like back then. He was writing for Miami Vice at the time and he said he had a part for me on the show. I got a part on the first episode of Miami Vice thanks to Mikey. Here’s the clincher, all I wanted out of is was a little dough so I could buy a old car so I could go to Orchard Beach in the summer. If it was the first and last thing I ever did, it woulda been good with me.
You were also in Miguel Piñero’s Short Eyes, right?
Yeah, I was an extra. Mikey came around the way and asked me and some of the fellas to be extras. We got 65 bucks a day and I loved it. Mikey liked putting people from around the way on, he was good like that. I was doing community theatre, street theatre stuff, it was a hobby. I was being a social worker, I worked at the Youth Employment Service helping kids get jobs and improve their self-esteem. Who would have thought I would be doing this all these years later?
What was it like working on Carlito’s Way? ’Cause your performance, to me, was your breakout role.
Before I did Carlito’s Way, I had worked with some heavyweights, like Nick Nolte and Sidney Lumet, but working with Pacino was incredible. This was the guy who played Michael Corleone, Scarface, [Sonny in] Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico—to me, he was bigger than life. To this day, it’s the role that still gets me recognized. People come up to me on the street and call me Pachanga all the time. It was a great story, we had a great cast and it was a great time.
What was it like working with Brian De Palma?
He didn’t talk much. He left the acting up to the actors. It made me explore the character internally. It was an interesting approach and it helped me develop as an actor. From what I hear, he still doesn’t talk much.
How was working with Steven Soderbergh as opposed to Brian De Palma?
Once again, Steve isn’t overbearing with his actors. He is a very visual guy, he often is the DP [Director of Photography] on his own movies. He also allows his cast to explore the roles on their own, which pushes you to motivate yourself. Working with Steven is always a pleasure. He has given me some of my best work and I thank him for that eternally.
It seems as if certain directors really like casting you repeatedly, Steven Soderbergh and Paul Thomas Anderson both use you consistently. What’s it like working with Paul Thomas Anderson?
He is so young to be so talented, it’s mind-boggling. He sent me the script for Boogie Nights and I had the script for a whole year before I read it it, you know how things pile up. I read it in one evening, it was one of the best written scripts I had ever read. We started talking on the phone, I asked him how old he was and he told me 24, which made me think he must have been 21 when he started the script for Boogie Nights. I couldn’t believe someone so young could write that good.
What was it like making Traffic?
Making that movie was incredible. Working with Don Cheadle was amazing. He is one of the best actors I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Working with George Clooney was also great. He’s as real as they come in this business. He’s a good guy, a friend and a great actor—a great guy to have on the set. He’s a real jokester, always pulling pranks and keeping it lively.
Does anybody else stick out in your mind as being great actors?
I’ve worked with so many super-talents. John Turturro is an amazing actor. Adam Sandler is really underrated and a great guy—very New York. I worked with Jack Nicholson on Anger Management. That was serious and he’s a great guy.
How was making Salton Sea with Val Kilmer? I dug the movie, it was very dark, not too many people saw it.
It was interesting. You know, whether comedy, drama, tragedy, whatever it is, comes down to the material. I have no preference, I just enjoy good material and the honor to contribute and interpret good material. You know Dante, when I act, I bring part of me to everything I do. I reference all the people I grew up with on the Lower East Side. When I played Pachanga, that was all the hustlers I knew who hung out in the social clubs, real street cats. When I did Traffic, I referenced all the cops I had encountered in my life. I constantly reference my personal experiences and bring them all with me in some shape or form when I’m acting. I did the same for my role in Salton Sea.
Okay, you live in Vermont on a ranch, a far cry from the Lower East Side, you have five kids, four who are adopted. What’s it like being Luis Guzmán in suburban Vermont?
It’s a trip. You know, the quality of life is great for my kids. I have horses, I have land, a big old house. I don’t have to worry about them and their safety, about what’s going on in the streets. At the same time, I expose my kids to the NYC all the time. I have my apartment in the city still. We always come to New York and I take my kids, especially my oldest with me, when I’m working whenever I can. I want him to experience the whole world. [If] I can help expose them to all the things I deal with in my life and career, give them a leg up and understand that you can be anything you want in life, then I succeeded in being the parent I want to be. In reference to living in Vermont, being a person of color up here is a trip. People tend to recognize me, so I don’t deal with too much negative stuff racially. If I wasn’t in the movies, I’m sure it would be a little different but that stuff exists subtly everywhere, even in NYC…[laughs]
John from Cincinnati is a weird show, I dig it though. What’s it like working on it?
David Milch, the director, is one of the most unique directors I have ever worked with. The show isn’t an easy read. We don’t get a full script, we just get our scenes, which makes it really interesting and challenging. It keeps me on my toes, which makes me a better actor, and I always want to improve my craft. The cast is great, the director David is a really creative guy. I’m a Boricua from Maseric Towers on the Lower East Side and I’m working with people I’m in awe of on a constant basis, I have financial security and the ability to pick and choose material that I want to work with, so I have to say doing John from Cincinnati is another learning and challenging role and experience. Hopefully that part of acting will never end for me, it’s what makes me love acting.
