I like local, independent print media. I cherish the days when I would go to a newsstand to pick from a variety of ‘zines on cheap newsprint, and read my heart out while eating a speedo burrito and skipping MTH65. Now, papers like Oregon Cycling, Northwest Comic News, Jam, The Stranger, Nickel Ads… almost all have been absorbed by or made obsolete by the internet.
One of about three local rags that have stood the test of time… it’s about as old as I am… is The Skanner. I follow the Skanner on Facebook and one of their reporters posted a request for fan questions to veteran actor Luis Guzman for an interview that day.
I was enjoying somewhat of a day off and during an extended walk with the dog I started brainstorming some questions. The ones I came up with were half serious and half hilarious (if only to me). As I brainstormed, I started posting my questions as comments to the original post. I brainstorm out loud.
I am a fan of Luis Guzman. Maybe not him as much as the movies that he’s in. It’s a sure thing that if Luis Guzman is in a movie then I’ll like it (except for the Disney abortion he’s currently promoting). Carlito’s Way, Traffic, Boogie Nights… movies I can and do watch over and over again.
The chance to ask a celebrity questions (even indirectly) is an irresistable opportunity for me. My only celebrity media encounters were in 1990 (I asked Bo Jackson whether he liked baseball or football better and was ridiculed by everyone for this. It still burns) and in 2000 (Chuck D. stood me up for a phone call that would have been the best researched interview he would have ever encountered. At least from a white guy). I’m out of the game… but I could get a taste of it again via this interview.
I wasn’t sure if the questions I posted would be asked. I mean they’re kind of goofy, but were absolutely questions I would ask if he were standing in front of me. Except the one about the series “Luis.” It was the first series canceled during the fall 2003 season and no one is really looking for it to be released on DVD. Except for Luis Guzman.
Here’s my questions because everything else, I feel, is irrelevant. And that, my friends, is probably why I don’t write for anyone anymore. Some people bathe in Calgon, I bathe in literary arrogance.
(Original Article posted HERE)
HS: And John wants to know: After John Leguizamo shot you in the subway, did you live for a little while so that you had a chance to feel bad/naive for betraying Al Pacino… or was it an instant death?
LG: You know what. I didn’t feel bad. I did feel bad that John shot me. But it’s like that saying: What goes around comes around.
HS: John also asks: Did you ever lose a role to Danny Trejo and, if so, how insane did that make you?
LG: If I ever lost a role to Dan Trejo, I think it’s a blessing. I have nothing but warm thoughts about Danny Trejo. He is a great guy. And if I was ever up for a role and he got it then I’m happy for him.
HS: Would you consider Boogie Nights to be a gangster film, based on the genre’s criteria?
LG: Boogie Nights, a gangster film? No! It may have had some elements to it. But a gangster film—maybe a gangster of love film.
HS: John asks: Will the “Luis” series be released on DVD and, if so, can we expect it to include any unaired episodes?
LG: I don’t know. They will have to call 20th Century Fox because that’s where I shot it. It would be nice if they did release it because it was a lot of fun to make.
HS: And another from John: When Catherine Zeta-Jones brought lemonade out to him and Don Cheadle in “Traffic,” was it really lemonade, or a prop liquid?
LG: It was really lemonade. I insisted upon it. I was very insistent that she make it for us. And I insisted that they send it to the lab – in case it was a bad slurpee. We teach children don’t take things from strangers. We should teach adults that too.
Indeed. Fortunately for me, he takes questions from strangers. But not The Stranger, because that went out of print in the early 2000s.
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