JOHN LEGUIZAMO and YUL VAZQUEZ

Q: Was The Take a hard film to work on?

JOHN LEGUIZAMO: It was one of the hardest films I’ve made in my entire life. But it was fun. I knew from reading the script, I loved it; I loved the theme of it. You could be a hero, anybody could be a hero. Any average Joe. And I knew that the film was going to be difficult and this guy had brain trauma injuries, but I didn’t realize all the other difficulties. The first day of shooting, there was a shoot out on the set. A hoodie from the neighborhood wanted some food from Kraft services and the Kraft guy wouldn’t give it to him, which he should have, because you’re in somebody’s neighborhood. So, the guy slapped him, the kid choked the guy, then the guy pulled out a gun. Then the next day, hair and make-up wouldn’t come back because they thought the neighborhood was dangerous and Rosie had to do her own hair. Then the first AD quit. Then the second first AD quit.  But it was good for the movie, because it made us bond together and it was us against them. It brought all this tension and this intensity that you feel on camera.

Q: Did you have to do a lot of training for your chase scene there?

JL: I should have quit smoking. That was kind of painful actually. I was relentless. I was like running for weeks, like I ran a triathlon. It was too much.

Q: Did you have any difficulty in acting for this role?

JL: I think the difficult part of it was the brain trauma part of it. Luckily, I went in to this Philadelphia hospital and I spent some time with brain-trauma injury people who had also been shot in the front lobe like my character was. I met a guy who had recently been shot and had been there for a year and a half in physical therapy. I just had to find out what it takes to recoup. They have to get their motor skills back, their speech. But the thing is, you may look like the same guy and sound like the same guy, but you’re not the same guy. You’re a different human being.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in showing the development, and the changes in that character?

JL: It’s hard because people really don’t know about brain trauma. So, I picked the elements that the film put in for my character…you can’t really monitor your rage; you can’t really monitor your sexuality. You see a hot chick, you’re going to say whatever, you have no bumpers. You can’t make long term planning. You can’t plan an evening, like I’m going to go to the post office, then I’m going to go to the bank, and the bank closes at 3, so…You can’t do those kind of math problems. So, I was trying to do all that stuff and I was hoping people would get it.

Q: Was one of the reasons in taking the role was that you were a lead character in the film? Because you do an awful lot of other films where you’re not always the lead. This is really a great showcase for you.

JL: I guess that’s part of it. I guess that was one of the elements that made me choose it.

Q: You really go through all the emotions and sometimes, when you play a supporting part, you don’t get a chance to show all your colors.

JL: You can’t really give the character the full arc, the emotional arc in smaller screen time. You can be wilder and crazier, but you don’t have that emotional arc as much. Yeah, it was a great chance to do that, but more than anything I just loved the story. Maybe I’m just a weird guy and paranoid, but I would always feel like I’m doing everything right and following the book. And all of a sudden, I’d be blamed for something. I’d be accused and then I’d have to fight the system and no one’s going to be there for me. I don’t know maybe I’m just paranoid that way. So this movie was like, “Yeah, I know how that feels.”

Q: You expect that in your personal life?

JL: I expect that all the time!

Q: Did you guys find it ironic to be two New Yorkers playing Latino characters?

YUL VAZQUEZ: Well, no, everyone knows the best actors come from New York City. I think Brad wanted to get the best ones he can. And they happened to be New Yorkers …It’s an East Coast cast in a big way.

Q: John and Yul, you’ve worked together before?

JL (to Yul): That was great too! Working with you, working with Rosie before, we’ve got a relationship before you go on screen and you just feel good. You can’t manufacture that friendship. And how that set the movie up in the beginning, how you and I are tight. Just because we know each other, we can goof off, and so you know what’s really funny.

YV: Brad really let it go. He allowed that to happen. He stepped out of the way and said, “You guys just run with this thing.” So, we just started riffing all this stuff. And then, that’s just like Felix’s whole life before he gets shot. He was a regular guy. He was funny. He had a sense of humor and camaraderie.

Q: I want to know what the process was in making the film. Did you practice, did you improvise? How did it all work out? The shooting schedule must have been real tight.

JL: It was a tight schedule. It was a low budget movie. Everybody was doing it for love, not for cash.

Q: Did you get together before you started to shoot? How did Brad work with you guys?

JL: We tried to rehearse before, but it’s difficult with people’s schedules in a low budget movie. Luckily, I knew them all, I knew Rosie. You could just cut to the chase. We could be ourselves on set and our friends could be our friends.

YV: It was tight. I got there and went to work, then started. But gosh, it got a little nutty for me toward the end because the last week of The Take I was flying out and starting another job. So, that was crazy. But we just worked it out. You know, like John said, everybody who showed up to do this movie was there because they really want to be in this film. Not for any other reason. You cannot really ask for more than that.

Q: Did you like playing a character in this kind of a crime  genre? It is kind of a chance to fit in a tradition.

JL: In a way. Yeah, it’s part of a genre, but at the same time what I thought was interesting was how I was following the victim and a sort-of character driven aspect of it instead of just going full-out police drama. But you actually see how this guy deteriorates and it starts to affect his family. That’s what I loved about it. That’s what makes an independent film. It pays more attention to character development than the plot.

Q: Do you guys have a favorite scene from the film?

YV: My favorite scene I can think of now is the hospital scene I have with John and Rosie. And John was lying there. That’s the scene!

JL: That was spectacular.

YV: Something happened there and it was wild.

JL: You came in and were operating on so many levels. You could see all the elements playing. I thought that was so brilliant.

Q:  How about for you, John? What scene was your favorite?

JL: I think it was the sex scene with Rosie. I’ve never been that raw or intimate on film. That was wild. I know Rosie in so many new ways no one can know her.

Q: That must have been weird. You’ve known Rosie for a long time?

JL: It was almost in a biblical sense, you know what I mean? We’re not porn actors. There’s a big difference there. There’s a big difference between an actor and a porn actor. You’re there for different reasons. So, you have to protect her and protect yourself.

Q: It must have been an incredible challenge to do that part; it was really an intense scene.

JL: Very intense, very embarrassing and humiliating, but it was important for the character. It was important to show that that happens to all these guys, that’s what happens with brain-trauma injury.

Q: John, you have done everything now. Action movies, thrillers, comedy, drama, even musicals. What do you look for in a role? What gets you excited about taking on a new role?

JL: Well, I try to pick stuff that really excites me. That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last few years. Instead of trying to make a lot of money, or try to blow up, now I try to pick things that I have a deep connection to somehow.

Q: You and Yul both are both seasoned actors who have been working for a long time. What’s it like when you work with a first time director? Is it different from working with an established director?

YV: They’re all good. A good director is a good director. I think that’s what the difference is.

JL: There was a certain calm to Brad too that was unusual for a first timer, even in the face of absolute madness that he was dealing with. But you can sense when a guy knows what he is doing. A lot of great directors will tell you that the best thing they can do is to step out of the way. A lot of first timers don’t know that. A lot of first timers have a lot of panic, a lot of fear, or are too much in love with their own ideas. You can’t fall in love. And that even happens to great directors. They’re in love with their own ideas and can’t direct. A great director is a great director, and has to be in the right place, frame of mind, to allow creativity to flow everywhere.

Q: You’ve been there as a first time guy? Did you give him any pointers? Any feedback?

JL: I just supported Brad because I felt this guy has his eye on the prize, man! He had it, man. It wasn’t that we were just getting by; we were still being mad creative, more than in any other film in along time.

YV: He was always positive. He always had a smile on his face and kept going. I was like, “God Almighty!”

JL: That’s why I’m going to the theater this Friday! I’m going to be there! I’m going to be at the theaters. I’m going to watch people. I going to see, I’m going to shake hands, I love this movie! I’m going to be there supporting.

Q: John, you have six movies in production. You’re just busy all the time. How do you manage all of that?

JL: I just did this picture two years ago. One I finished yesterday. They’re all coming out this year. That’s what’s weird. Every single movie I’ve done in the past two years are all coming out this year. It’s a little hectic. Not the way I would have planned it.

Q: Thank you.

JL: Thanks!

DIRECTOR BRAD FORMAN:

Q: Talk about achieving the film’s look. It has a very distinct look. Where did that come from?

BRAD FURMAN: I think definitely it was influenced very much by taking the films from the 70’s, like a William Friedkin/French Connection kind of movie. How can I be inspired by a look like this? And how can I make it current today? So that when the kids of today, the youth of today or the people look at it they feel like it has the elements with the reflective style of that era, but also an updated version of that, so to speak.

Q: One thing that I think is interesting about the film is its timing. We have a lot of different films that are taking the test of authority figures, and testing their judgment and how do you feel about certain authority figures.

BF: I will say that Boyle Heights where we shot the movie--I was told by everyone that you can't shoot in Boyle Heights. It’s the most dangerous place in the country. Its more dangerous than any ghetto you’ve ever been to. That made me want to shoot there more. I thought there was an opportunity to educate the kids in the community, and allow them to really see directly that there are opportunities beyond what they are seeing in their community. I also thought the community really embraced us and I think that is also in some way a part of the film. What I thought what was interesting is to extract out of it, all the big Hollywood glossy stuff and ground the film in a more realistic reality. And then in applying it to the end, I really wanted to find a way to have there be a payoff.  You really are, as a filmmaker, as good as the people you collaborate with. That is crucial.

Q: This type of action thriller movie can be very challenging, and especially for newer filmmakers. How did you pick the project? What do you look for in your decision making in projects? What attracts you to a film?

BF: First and foremost, it was crucial for me to come out of the gate with a movie that has heart and strong characters and a strong story. That was very, very crucial. I just think it’s lacking in cinema today and it’s something I feel is crucial, and hopefully what I feel cinema goes back to. I really also felt that when you’re making independent films for under a million dollars, which is what this was, it was very important to me, stylistically as to what I was saying and the action of the film to have a film that was really able to make a statement. I remember seeing Joe Carnahan’s Narc, and that opening scene with the drugs and the running. It was riveting to me. John Singleton was a mentor to me. He has a screening room, and it was just he and I in the theater, and his reel-to-reel cut out. I looked at him and said this will either be the worst movie I’ve seen or it’s going to be the greatest movie I have ever seen. The thing for me was finding a way stylistically to really embrace making the film be all-exciting and on the edge. So, I thought The Take had the story, the characters, but it also had the thriller element and crime element wrapped all together.

Q: You’re pretty well versed in film. I’ve heard you mention William Friedkin and John Singleton as influences. Who do you look at as a director, both stylistically and on the more substance level, that influences your filmmaking?

BF: It might sound a little cliché, Sidney Lumet. I have recently been looking at Serpico again. Serpico is fascinating because the first 40 minutes of the movie established the character; and you wonder why movies like that are classics today and other movies are coming out in cinema today, they make box office busts, and no one ever talk about them again. The one challenge I think we were faced with was to try to make you really care about the character. I’m from Philadelphia. Rocky is the kind of movie that everyone sees as a boxing movie, but it’s not. It’s about this guy, a down and out guy who is trying to find his way. It’s a love story; it’s a character drama. I think if you look at these Scorsese films, again, they’re all about the character. And I felt this had that.

Q: How did you come across the script?

BF: Honestly, I played pinball last night until one in the morning at this bar and something happened in the pinball machine and I hit something and literally six pinballs came out. I'm bouncing like seven balls around, and I have to tell you it’s the perfect analogy of a young filmmaker in this country today. I have absolutely been having my ass kicked like those pinballs left and right for years now to get to this place to make my first film. And I found a gentleman who played in the NFL for 10 years. His name is Mathew Hatchett. And Matthew played for the Vikings and all these great teams, and he wanted to make a movie and he believed that I was a filmmaker worthy of investing in.

Q: When did John Leguizamo come aboard and was he always involved in the project?

BF:  John, interestingly enough, was always my first choice. In my head and in my heart.

The role was built for Leguizamo.

Q: What are you doing next? Why aren’t you moving back to NY for the next one?

BF: Every movie I’ve written has been a New York story. Although my mother and I co-wrote a Philadelphia movie that Hilary Swank is attached to, that is a biopic of my mother, being one of the first female litigators in Philadelphia.

Q: What are you going to direct next?

BF: Long story short, we’ll see if it’s either this film from Philadelphia or one of these NY stories that I’ve written. It really is a juggling game in finding out which ball is going to float. I also have a film of mine …that I know they’re pushing really hard, so we’ll see which goes first.  Actually, something I’ve been incredibly excited about is something  that I think people will excited about, which is-- Leguizamo wrote a movie called Thuggly which is the first time I think in his screenwriting that he has been able to capture the essence of this Broadway show. If the money comes through, I guess, we’ll be working together again.

Q: Is telling a distinctively American story important to you?