Gabriel

It’s easy to miss the confidence of Billy Wilder or Frank Capra whenever some brave soul tries to make a comedy that takes America’s temperature by straddling cynicism and optimism. Those Hollywood masters could handily juggle the sweet, sour and satirical and, in Wilder’s case, even leave you believing in a happy ending.

With his writing-directing feature debut, “Good Fortune,” however, Aziz Ansari, who stars alongside Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves (as an angel named Gabriel), swings big, hoping to capture that jokey truth-telling vibe about the State of Things. His subject is a fertile one too: the gig economy fostering our crushing inequity, but also the desperation of the have-nots and how oblivious the wealthy are about those who made them rich. So let’s stick it to the billionaires! Let Keanu help the downtrodden!

Ansari’s high-low morality tale, set in our fair (and unfair) Los Angeles, is a friendly melding of celestially tinged stories (“Heaven Can Wait,” “Wings of Desire”) and body-swap comedies (“Trading Places”). But as agreeable as it is, it can’t square its jabs with its sentimentality. It’s got heart, kind eyes, a wry smile and some funny lines, but no teeth when you really need things bitten into, chewed up and spit out.

Ansari plays Arj, living a serious disconnection between his professional identity — wannabe Hollywood film editor — and how he actually exists: task-gigging for scraps and living in his car. When a garage-reorganizing job for Jeff (Rogen), a Bel-Air venture capitalist, turns into an assistant position, Arj feels secure enough to use the company card for a fancy dinner with occasional colleague and romantic interest Elena (an underused Keke Palmer). Jeff clocks the charge the next day, though (a realistic detail about the rich watching every penny), and immediately fires Arj.

All along, Arj’s sad situation has touched Reeves’ long-haired, khaki-suited angel, whose life-saving purview (he specializes in jostling distracted drivers) is low in the hierarchy overseen by boss guardian Martha (Sandra Oh). Gabriel wants a big healing job to show Arj, with a little role-reversal magic, that being Jeff isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Except, of course, it is. (David Mamet’s line “Everybody needs money — that’s why they call it money” comes to mind.) The newly luxe-and-loving-it Arj shows no signs of wanting to switch back (which is apparently his call to make in the rules of this scenario), leaving out-of-his-depth Gabriel in the position of convincing a sudden billionaire why he should go back to being poor.

Which is where “Good Fortune,” for all its grasp of how Depression-era screwball comedies made the filthy rich mockable, struggles to match its issue-driven humor with its fix-it heart. While it’s funny to watch Rogen’s freshly desperate character suffer food-delivery humiliation, buying the script’s changes of heart — and the film’s naïve idea of where everyone should be at the end — is another matter. That’s why screwball comedies didn’t try to upend capitalism, just have some clever fun with it and let a simple love story stick the landing. Ansari’s ambition is admirable but he’s better at diagnoses than solutions.

His gold-touch move is giving the hilariously deadpan Reeves one of his best roles in years: a goofy meme brought to disarming life and the movie’s beating heart. Doing good can be hard work; understanding humans is harder. Plus, Reeves makes eating a burger for the first time a sublimely funny reaffirmation that sometimes, indeed, it is a wonderful life.

For those who know of the spectacle that is Juan Gabriel there is no explanation necessary, for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.

A new Netflix docuseries attempts to capture the magic of the frequently bedazzled genre- and gender-defying showmanship of “El Divo de Juárez,” who died at 66 of natural causes in 2016, while also investigating the internality of the man behind Gabriel — Alberto Aguilera Valadez.

Juan Gabriel was known for his epic stage performances, where he was often accompanied by an orchestra, dancers and dozens of mariachis dressed in tight jackets and sombreros, while belting out such hits as “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” “El Noa Noa” and “Amor Eterno.”

His colorful outfits and flamboyant dance moves drew speculation about his sexuality, but he famously preferred to remain coy on the issue and to this day remains a queer icon throughout the Latin American world.

“Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” which premieres Oct. 30, utilizes a goldmine of hundreds of thousands of personal and never-before-seen voice recordings, photos and videos of one of Mexico’s most revered singer-songwriters, giving audiences a holistic look at the pain, joy, contradictions, artistry and genius that informed Gabriel’s worldview and perception of himself.

The project is director María José Cuevas’ second production with the streaming giant — her 2023 documentary feature “The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders” recounted the story of famous Mexican serial killer Juana Barraza, who was sentenced to 759 years in prison for killing 16 elderly women and the suspected killing of dozens more.

Cuevas’ implementation of the juxtaposed duality of Juan Gabriel and Alberto Aguilera Valadez was inspired by his insistence that the two entities were distinct yet symbiotic, as was shown in a 2014 filmed self-interview the singer conducted.

“In order to understand the greatness of Juan Gabriel, I had to know Alberto. He always played with that duality,” she said. “From a very young age he would say in interviews that he invented Juan Gabriel to shield Alberto, he invented an idol in order to protect his private identity.”

In an interview with The Times, Cuevas spoke about her personal connection to the famed singer, the overwhelming archives she had access to and the ways in which Juan Gabriel united and continues to unite people to this day.

This interview was translated and edited for length.

What was your relationship to Juan Gabriel before taking on the task of directing this documentary?

I remember clearly turning on the TV [when I was young] and seeing video clips of Juan Gabriel with his red sweater and white jeans. I later had the opportunity to go to his first performance at the Palacios de Bellas Artes in 1990 with my parents. One is accustomed to going to Bellas Artes for opera, ballet, classical music and the concert began with that formal tone, but there reached a moment where audience members couldn’t keep up the facade of elegance and everyone let their hair down.

For me that moment was incredibly revelatory, I finally noticed that he was a whirlwind in every sense of the word. I didn’t realize at the time that I was present at a such an important cultural milestone. When I watched it in retrospect, from all the camera angles we were privy to for this documentary, I got goosebumps and I wish I could go back to being 18 years old and experience it with the intensity that I have for his music now.

I think that Juan Gabriel always transports us to something personal, but also to something collective. In Mexico, Juan Gabriel’s death was a very collective experience. You would go out into the street and you would hear his music in cars, the corner store, coming out of neighbors’ houses.

How did you gain access to the vast collection of archived materials that are present in the documentary?

That’s really the treasure of the project. Juan Gabriel’s story has already been told, but what makes this project unique is that it’s a story told by [the recordings and photos] he left behind. One of the first things he did after reaching success wasn’t just to buy his mom a house, but also to buy himself a Super 8 camera. From then on he picked up the habit of recording his everyday activities as Alberto Aguilera and later on he always had a camera following around as Juan Gabriel.

From our first meetings with Netflix, I figured we should ask Gabriel’s family if they had anything to share with us. I thought maybe it would be a photo album that was laying around, maybe a box of memorabilia or a few cassettes. So it was to our great surprises when they sent us over a photo of a warehouse with shelves full of every different kind of film. It was crazy. And that’s when I remembered that Juan Gabriel’s close friend and actor Isela Vega was helping him catalog all of his videography.

I never imagined that within those videos that we’d find the public persona of Juan Gabriel and the private persona of Alberto Aguilera. Another elucidating moment was that Juan Gabriel reached a moment where he became conscious of the level of his celebrity and that it wasn’t a coincidence that he recorded most of his life. And there reached a moment where I realized he saved all these recordings so that one day people could revisit all his saved materials and they could reconstruct his personal story through what he left behind.

There’s a moment in the documentary where we’re at one of his concerts and there are men of all orientations in the crowd that are asking JuanGa to marry them. That seemed particularly powerful to me because in that moment the veil of machismo seemed to fall.

Yeah, I think an important part of making this portrait of Juan Gabriel was understanding the context of Mexico in the ‘80s. It was very conservative, very machista and then all of a sudden this guy drops in with all this talent and charisma and he says, “Here I come, get out of the way because I’m gonna conquer everyone.” And that wasn’t so simple at that time. He showed his greatness at any and every stage he was put on. He was able to win over people in every social class in a very elitist Mexico. He won over everyone from the most macho man to women.

Even greater than the achievement that was his performance at Bellas Artes were his performances in palenques when he was young. Palenques being these circular stages where you can’t hide because you’re standing right in the middle of everything. And he would take the stage late at night when everyone was already drunk and they were audiences that were, in general, very machista.

Suddenly a very young Juan Gabriel would appear to perform rancheras. I always say he was a provocateur, but also a seducer because of his ability to win over a crowd. There were audiences that would yell derogatory things at him and that’s when he’d really play with the audience.

It feels almost impossible not to be moved by the music as you watch your documentary.

He’s really magnificent. I remember throughout the whole process of making the doc and I was watching the intimate home videos of Alberto Aguilera and it really reminded me that Juan Gabriel was a human like everyone else [not just this grand entertainer]. I’d put any concert of his and I was bowing at the altar of a star. It’s amazing what a powerful character he was up on that stage.

And how have you seen JuanGa’s legacy represent something very specific in the U.S.?

For Latinos in the U.S. he’s such an important figure because his work pulls people back to their roots. One of his greatest accomplishments as a performer was when he filled the Rose Bowl in 1993. In that moment he showed his influence and strength within the Latino world. He’s absolutely one of the key figures in Latin music.

Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist, Elijah Wynder also scored a goal and the Galaxy beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Saturday night.

Pec put away a shot from nearly the penalty spot to give the Galaxy (6-18-9) a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute.

Dallas (10-12-11) is eighth in the Western Conference with 41 points, three behind seventh-place Portland. Salt Lake and Colorado are tied with 40 points.

Logan Farrington was shown a straight red card in the 16th minute and Dallas played a man down the rest of the way.

Wynder slipped behind the defense and ran onto a long ball ahead played by Pec and then scored on a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off goalkeeper Michael Collodi, who had charged off his line, to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.

Anderson Julio put away a first-touch finish — off a cross played by Samuel Sarver — from the center of the area to make it 1-1 in the 52nd.

The Galaxy had 67% possession and outshot Dallas 13-9.

Martinelli has been a key player for Arteta during his time as Arsenal manager but the winger’s drop in form meant he had become the topic of fan debate about his place in the team.

The Brazil international was aware of that talk and his confidence suffered.

He scored 10 goals in all competitions last season, with a memorable strike coming in their quarter-final second-leg win at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Arteta has always trusted Martinelli in big games and the manager was delighted for the 24-year-old to play such a big part in this Arsenal win.

“He fully deserves it,” said Arteta. “I adore Gabi. His attitude, his commitment, his positivity, what he is willing to do for the team.

“We certainly value all of the quality he has and brings to the team – I am so happy he has decided the game for us in the two actions.”

The Arsenal players ran to celebrate with Martinelli after his goal, with Riccardo Calafiori pointing at the player’s name on the back of his shirt in front of the supporters.

“That’s the spirit,” added Arteta. “That’s why I really enjoy every single day working with them and being part of this team.

“The way they look after each other is genuine. They really want the best for each other and they recognise someone that works every single day in the manner that Gabi does. You can go through struggles or through moments, and recognising that and having that capacity to connect with him, I think it will mean a lot to him.”

“I was sure that Gabi was going to react like that. You raise the level to Gabi and he was going to do that.

“They are the moments that hopefully are going to give him the confidence again to go, as he is an outstanding player.”

TORONTO — In introducing the Saturday night TIFF world premiere of “Good Fortune,” his feature debut as a writer-director, comedian Aziz Ansari told the audience the three words that are scary in Hollywood right now: original theatrical comedy. But the one word that is never scary is Keanu.

Speaking from the stage of the festival’s Roy Thomson Hall, Ansari recalled that his star Keanu Reeves broke his kneecap early in production.

“I found out he broke his kneecap and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Ansari continued, Reeves himself standing onstage just a few feet away. “It was like, ‘Oh, my God, what is Keanu going to say? Is he going to need some time off? Is he going to drop out of the movie?’”

“And you know what Keanu said?” Ansari added. “Nothing. He just kept showing up to work and never complained, not once,” Ansari said. “He worked through what surely must have been excruciating pain and delivered a hilarious, touching performance, and he is the soul of this movie.”

The film opens with Reeves standing atop L.A.’s iconic Griffith Observatory with a small pair of angel wings on his back. Reeves, in a change of pace from his recent action work in the “John Wick” movies, plays Gabriel, a low-level angel given the task of stopping people from texting and driving. That is until he sees Arj (Ansari), who is struggling to make ends meet while working both at a big-box hardware store and as a food delivery driver.

Hoping to show him the grass isn’t always greener, Gabriel switches Arj’s life with that of Jeff (Seth Rogen), an ultrarich tech investor whose days seem to largely consist of going back and forth between his sauna and his cold plunge.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Arj much prefers Jeff’s life to his own and is reluctant to switch back. The situation becomes more complicated for Gabriel as he loses his job as an angel and must learn the tribulations and joys of being human, while still trying to fix the problem with Arj and Jeff.

For all the film’s gentle humor and quietly humanist spirit, “Good Fortune” is also rife with a palpable anger at the income inequality that motivates its story, the reality that robots are replacing the work of humans and that the excesses of the few seem predicated on the deprivation of many.

Aziz Ansari, left, and Keanu Reeves in the movie “Good Fortune.”

(Eddy Chen / Lionsgate)

The day after the film’s premiere, 42-year-old Ansari is upbeat and dapper in a gray plaid coat, black turtleneck and black slacks as he sat down for an interview in Toronto to discuss the movie and all that led up to it. After the end of his Emmy-winning series “Master of None” in 2021, Ansari had begun shooting a feature called “Being Mortal” that was shut down in 2022 a few weeks into production over allegations of misconduct by its star Bill Murray. Then production of “Good Fortune,” Ansari’s pivot away from “Being Mortal,” was delayed by the Hollywood labor strikes of 2023. Seemingly at long last, Ansari’s debut opens Oct. 17.

When “Being Mortal” got shut down, did you feel like, “Am I ever going to get to make a movie?”

I didn’t feel that way. Steven Spielberg has this story of — what’s the movie he did? “1941.” That didn’t do well and he was like, just immediately throw yourself in another thing. And I really thought about that, and that’s what I did. I just immediately went into “Good Fortune.” I mean, I had a couple of days where I was like,“Oh, no” and it was also so shocking. I think your mind doesn’t process it because it’s not really sinking in that this is what’s really happening. It probably still a piece of me [in which] it hasn’t really sunk in. It was definitely disappointing, but part of me is like, this is what needed to happen. This is the movie that should be out first.

“Being Mortal,” it’s funny, but it’s heavy. The Atul Gawande book, it’s about end-of-life issues. So it’s like, “Oh, OK. It’s another heavy drama thing.” People may have just gotten pissed, like, “What’s this guy doing?” So “Good Fortune” is definitely, to me, if you like those first two seasons of “Master of None,” I feel like what you’d hope I’d do is kind of evolve that style into a feature film and raise the level of it by having Seth and Keanu and Keke [Palmer] and Sandra [Oh], and as a feature film rather than a show.

As sweet and funny as the movie is, there also is a real righteous anger behind it. Where does that come from?

I think I got it from when I was interviewing all these people about the subject matter in the film, when I was doing research to write the Arj character. That attitude seeps in there.

“It was definitely disappointing, but part of me is like, this is what needed to happen,” Ansari says of “Being Mortal,” his first attempt at directing a feature, one that ran into production troubles with its star, Bill Murray,

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

During the opening credits of the movie, you say the line “The American Dream is dead.”

But that’s a frustration a lot of people like that guy Arj feel.

But then, you are a very successful entertainer —

Oh, yeah. Me and Seth are Jeff, no question.

How do you reconcile that? Are you concerned some people might dismiss the movie out of hand for that simple reason?

If you’re writing, you have to be able to write outside your own experience — for someone who’s like Arj, who doesn’t have the platform to tell these stories. When I did “Master of None,” we did an episode called “New York, I Love You.” And there was a segment about taxi drivers, a segment about a doorman and a segment about a woman who’s deaf. And doing that episode taught me a process of interviewing people and figuring out how to get these stories right when they’re not your experience. We did an episode in Season 3 about a woman going through IVF. I’d never done that or anything, and it had never been a part of my life. But I talked to all these people, and from the feedback I got, we got it right. And that’s what I did with this.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but for a movie coming out from a Hollywood studio, Seth gives a speech at the end that is politically radical, about how rich people can’t expect to have so much without others getting angry.

It’s kind of nuts. Some of the stuff that’s in there, I’m like, “Whoa, we really got away with something here.” Some of the stuff that’s in there, and the trailer kind of hides a little bit of that stuff, I think there are people that’d be like, “Oh, s—.”

At the premiere, there was big applause for the line, “F— AI.” Is that your feeling as well?

I’d rather say that I’m pro-human. I’m pro-people.

Keanu Reeves, left, Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari in the movie “Good Fortune.”

(Eddy Chen / Lionsgate)

The movie is very ambitious in combining the character stories and the attention to the notion of income inequality. Was it hard for you in balancing the characters and that theme? Was the work of that more when you were writing it or when you were editing what you’d shot?

It was both. And that’s the difference between a TV show and a movie. You have a different canvas. But it was a tough thing to do. And it was my first time doing it. I remember writing a second one while I was editing, and it was such a great help because you kind of see a few moves ahead. You’re like, “Oh, wait a second, I should get to this faster.” You kind of can see your mistakes a little bit in an earlier stage because you have more experience. This is another reason I really want to get into it again and start working on the next thing because I feel like I learned a lot from it.

That’s the thing that’s so interesting about doing stand-up and doing filmmaking. Stand-up, it’s so easy to “get to the gym,” right? If I really wanted to go to do stand-up tonight, I could do it. I could go find a club in Toronto and jump on a show. But If I wanted to go direct, that’s a big journey to get to the gym. So you have fewer opportunities to kind of get the reps in.

Shooting a movie is in L.A. has become such an economic and political issue for the city. Was that a consideration in making the movie in Los Angeles?

I wanted it to be in L.A., I felt like this movie had to be set in L.A. Jeff’s not going to be living in whatever place that gives you the tax credit. And L.A. really is the perfect backdrop for the story to me. And it was challenging, but you also get the benefit of working with some of the greatest technicians in the world in L.A. And I also just love being a part of the lineage of films that are set in L.A. I watched that documentary, “Los Angeles Plays itself,” and that was so fun to watch that and just see how every movie has its own L.A., whether it’s “Heat” or “Tangerine” or “Chinatown.”

And I feel like “Good Fortune” has its L.A., and it’s exciting to show some of these neighborhoods, to see people responding to seeing Eagle Rock or Los Feliz. Whenever I was writing the movie, I always thought about that taco place in Hollywood — it’s across the street from Jitlada. I always thought about that place. I thought there was something so cinematic, and it was a hard location to clear. And our guy [location manager] Jay Traynor, he made it happen. And finding Jeff’s house was so hard. But it all came together, and I loved showing Koreatown and that Gabriel works at a Korean barbecue restaurant. Just showing all these parts of L.A.

I want to be sure to ask you about working with Keanu. People are really responding to this role. And I’m having a hard time putting my finger on what that is about.

No, I’m feeling this. Even since [the premiere], I’m feeling it. I knew people would like him, but it’s hitting on another level.

Why do you think that is? What is the alchemy of Keanu in that role?

I was thinking about this when I was eating lunch. If you look at the roles he’s done that are comedic, whether it’s in “Bill & Ted” or in “Parenthood,” there’s this innocence, this sweetness and this kindness that’s in there. And then Gabriel, to me, is the progression of that. And it’s also that you have Keanu at 61, where when I first met him, I was like, “Hey, there’s something about you that people are responding to and who you are as a real person that I don’t think I’ve seen onscreen. And I think you can show some of that with Gabriel.”

It also has all of his comedy superpowers just dialed to the max. And we were just having so much fun. It just became playtime. We were coming up with bits all the time: Oh, he’s never used the internet before. Let’s just write a quick scene where he’s using the internet for the first time. What’s he gonna do? He’s gonna look at photos of baby elephants. It became such a fun joke bag. You could just make him do anything. And it was funny, the guy’s never done anything — if he takes a bite of a taco goes, “Wow!” It’s really the funniest character I’ve ever written for.

Esai Morales is on a death-defying mission to make Tom Cruise’s life impossible, yet again, in the latest installment of the “Mission: Impossible” action film franchise. Titled “The Final Reckoning,” the movie was released Friday.

Morales reprises his role as Gabriel, an assassin liaison set on carrying out a dangerous mission for Entity, an artificial intelligence system gone rogue, whose capabilities render it a danger to human society. This role dates back to the first “Mission: Impossible” film in 1996, as a murder Gabriel committed was the impetus for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to join the Impossible Missions Force.

“I have to look at Gabriel as the star of his own movie,” said Morales in a video call. “I play these characters with as much humanity as I can.”

Although for most of the franchise Gabriel is presumably dead, audiences are introduced to Morales’ character in the 2023 summer flick, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.” Besides shouldering responsibility as the main antagonist, which involves risky stunts opposite veteran adventurer Cruise, Morales also made franchise history as the first Latino lead in the action series.

The Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican actor is best known for his role as Bob Morales in the 1987 Chicano film “La Bamba” and as Jesus “Chucho” Sánchez in 1995’s “Mi Familia” — both of which been added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Morales is also known for his roles as Joseph Adama in the “Battlestar Galactica” prequel spin-off of “Caprica,” as well as Camino del Rio in Netflix’s “Ozark” and villain Deathstroke in the DC “Titans” series.

“The thing I love about ‘Mission: Impossible,’ with Gabriel, is that you don’t know he’s Latino,” Morales said. “It doesn’t focus on race. It focuses on the race to get the key!”  

Likewise, the release of the last two “Mission: Impossible” films was a dash to the finish. Directed by Christopher McQuarriel, filming spanned five years with some stops along the way due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the 2023 strikes by members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America. Additional costs due to inflation brought the total budget of the Paramount Pictures movie up to $400 million, making it one of the most expensive films of all time.

Morales considers its release a momentous occasion — and a “graduation” of sorts.

“All those obstacles are like the pressure that creates a diamond out of coal,” he said. “I hope that the audiences feel what I felt and continue to feel when I watch the film.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and shortened.

 How did you prepare physically and mentally for the role in ”Mission: Impossible”?
I was asked if I was physical and I said, “Actually, yeah.” I love playing tennis so my conditioning is really good. During the pandemic, I [would sneak] into the ocean at dusk and I would swim at night for hours at a time. It was kind of scary. Then [I got] to London and met some of the finest stunt people who do fighting, acrobatics, knife fighting, boxing. The thing is to get your reflexes in shape, because sometimes you have to do take after take and you don’t want to gas out.

Mentally it’s a lifetime of preparation. It’s not like I can study the life of Gabriel, so you apply what you can about your own character and characteristics under imaginary circumstances. Some of it comes from the ether… from the ether going after Ethan [laughs]. It’s an instinct and a lifetime of seeing movies, including the “Mission: Impossible” movies. They work hard. One of the most comforting things they instill is [that] “we’re not gonna leave until we get it right.”

Cruise is known for his gutsy live-action scenes. What was it like to join him on these scenes?
It’s thrilling. I couldn’t think of anyone else whose hands I’d want to put my well-being in, because look at his track record: He’s still alive and extremely healthy, and he doesn’t take these things lightly. He’s extremely strict about safety. Life is inherently risky. If you’re gonna take other risks, it’s best to take them with people that have survived and thrived for decades doing the same.

There’s a death-defying scene up in the air that was being teased a lot in this press run. What was going through your mind as you were up there?
After the initial prayers and thanking God, the universe and the angels, who and whatever has kept me alive and blessed me with an amazing life so far… You’ve gotta let go and let God, as they say.

What impact has this franchise had on your long-term career?
 It’s a blessing. I got the job during one of the most trying times of my life — and everyone else’s. I hope it’s not all downhill from here. I’m just grateful because I got to work on something at this scale, with these kinds of collaborators.

I am hoping that the work I continue to do leads to meaningful roles and characters that enhance the human condition for having watched it. I wanna do things that make people feel good about being human. Even if I’m the bad guy, somebody’s gotta play the bad guy. Right?

But is Gabriel really the bad guy?
Not in this actor’s eyes. For me, I have to look at Gabriel as the star of his own movie.  Wars are not fought by people who feel they’re gonna lose them.  So I play these characters with as much humanity as I can.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic and Hollywood strikes impact production of this film?
I am on the board of SAG-AFTRA. I did feel the impact of both COVID-19 and the strikes. I mean, it was not easy, it was not fun. It’s still not easy. We still have to deal with new media or new technology, speaking of AI. The production stuck together. When you struggle with adversity, it makes you stronger.

You consider yourself an honorary Chicano, particularly because of your role as Bob Morales in “La Bamba.” What memories come to mind when you think back to that role?
 So many, but the incredible irony or synchronicity or synergy that a role with my [last] name on it would be one of the most remembered. They’d say, ‘That has your name all over it.’ Well, this [role] literally did. When people wanted me to focus more on Ritchie, I wanted to bear witness and lend my pain to the role of Bob [Ritchie Valens’ brother].

I don’t know where my career would be without that film and a few others. When you have the ability to be with the person you are portraying, first of all, it’s an extreme amount of pressure because they’re there and you’re not them. And it’s like you’re gonna pretend to inhabit their being and their life. You don’t wanna mess up. But [Bob and I] were able to bond and have a few beers and really kick back, and I was able to absorb Bob’s biorhythm. I absorbed his Mexicanismo, [the same way] Anthony Quinn portrayed “Zorba the Greek.” [Whenever] he went [into] a Greek restaurant, plates would crash in honor of him and his portrayal … and he is a Mexican Irish actor.

 I think a lot of people forget that you’re Puerto Rican because you play the Mexican role so well.
I’m proud to be Puerto Rican, but I’m so secure in it that I don’t feel like I have to wear my banner on my head. I just want my work to speak for itself. We have to embrace that which has toughened us and has given us character and has given us something a little extra yearn for and live for.

There are many Latinos in sci-fi films. I’m thinking of you in “Caprica.” There’s also Diego Luna and Adria Arjona in “Andor,” Zoe Saldaña in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Pedro Pascal in “The Mandalorian,” Ricardo Montalbán in “Star Trek …” What do you think of space roles introducing Latino actors to new audiences?
 How about to their own audience? We make up 25% of the movie-going audience, at least. It’s a wise decision to include people that in the past were overlooked. We were overlooked. So to put in all the great people is serving your market and representing them. It’s long overdue but extremely welcomed.

Is outer space the gateway to more Latinos in mainstream roles in rom-coms or action?
I would like to see that. I would like to see us play more central characters, people that we can grow to learn, grow to love and feel for, because I think that’s what movies do. They let you inside the heart of your lead characters. And you just can’t help but to love them, you know?