Veteran indie-actor, Guillermo Díaz, has been in some of our favorite flicks with wide-ranging roles from Scarface in Half Baked to La Miranda in Stonewall. But none have grabbed our attention like the eponymous Mexican gangster, Guillermo García Gómez, in Showtime's dark drug-comedy, Weeds. Guillermo took some time to talk with me this morning about filming in New York City, violent drug cartels and how awesome Matthew Modine is. Enjoy.
UGO: So I'm gonna start this off a little weird. I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Guiellrmo Diaz: Oh, no way...
UGO: Yeah, right on Greenpoint Avenue. And I think you know where I'm going with this - there are film crews on my block all the time. And it was last Tuesday or Wednesday, and I walked out my front door, and you were staring right at me. Was that you?
GD: Yeah, that was my trailer. We were shooting a film there, "A Couple of Dicks." That's so funny. I remember there was some people there, and I said "hi" to some of them.
UGO: No, I was just on my way to the subway. And I walked out my front door, and you were putting on a chain, I think.
GD: That is so funny.
UGO: So, tell me about shooting "A Couple of Dicks," there.
GD: It's with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. It's a Kevin Smith comedy.
UGO: And what's your character?
GD: I play this guy, Po-Boy, he's the leader of this hardcore gang who is obsessed with baseball, and he steals Bruce Willis' Andy Pafko (card), which is one of the first baseball cards made. It's worth a lot of money. So throughout the movie, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan are these two cops and they're trying to get the baseball card from me. It's a really funny script.
UGO: Are you doing a lot of filming in New York? Is it all shot here?
GD: Yeah, it's all in New York. That's why I'm out here actually.
UGO: You're in the city now?
GD: I'm actually off in New Jersey today. I don't know where the next location we'll be shooting is. Most of it is going to be in Brooklyn. We're shooting some at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.
UGO: Yeah, we get film crews on that block all the time. Sometimes I can steal bagels from the craft service truck on my way to work in the morning. So, Weeds started on Monday, I'm a big fan. And I've seen the season premiere, and I know we haven't seen Guillermo yet.
GD: Yeah, I'm in the second episode, so you'll see me next week.
UGO: What has filming this season been like so far?
GD: It's been great. It's pretty intense. All the
emotions are very heightened. You know, Nancy's pregnant. And my character
knows that she ratted on me.
UGO: Right, you guys had a falling out last season. Guillermo got pissed.
GD: Yeah, she wasn't taking to well to the fact that I was trafficking young girls for prostitution. She didn't like that.
UGO: So, do you think Guillermo and Nancy could ever be friends again? What can we expect?
GD: I think there's always going to be a sort of connection and understanding between them. I think in a weird way Guillermo is a little bit impressed that she had the balls to turn me into the Feds. So that kind of excites him a little bit, in a crazy way.
I have no idea where the writers are going to go with my story line, but I hope at some point we sort of make up and become friends again.
UGO: It seems like everyone around Nancy falls in love with her. Do you think Guillermo is kind of into her?
GD: Yeah, he's definitely into her. When he found out she was sleeping with Esteban, I think my character was kind of jealous. I think now they're kind of passed that. There's a real connection, and he actually likes her. And usually whoever on the show Nancy sleeps with, ends up getting killed...
UGO: That's a good point. So, a lot of the violence in Mexico from the drug cartels is getting major press lately. Does Jenji Kohan (the series creator) write these storylines on purpose, ripped from the headlines? Or is it just a natural coincidence?
GD: I think a little bit was taken from what was really happening in the world. But like with the end of Season 3, when I burn down the town - there were all those fires around LA, like right after that episode aired. That was all just a complete coincidence, and people thought that they had written that episode because all that stuff was happening.
But even with the tunnel, they actually found a tunnel. There was an actual tunnel somewhere into Tijuana. I'm sure they took some of that information and wrote it into the show. And it's great, there always something crazy and f*$#ed up going on.
UGO: Right, as weird as the show is, it's almost grounded in these things that are actually happening.
GD: Absolutely. I could totally see the mayor of Tijuana sleeping with this chick and being a drug lord.
UGO: Totally.
GD: I'm not saying he is...
UGO: Now there have been some great guest-stars over the season, like Matthew Modine and Mary-Kate Olsen. And this season we have Jennifer-Jason Leigh and Alanis Morissette. Have you got a chance to work with them?
GD: Fortunately or unfortunately, most of my scenes are with Mary-Louis Parker, which is amazing. Except for some stuff with Elizabeth Perkins. But I hear it's going great. I'm a huge fan of both of them.
And I actually just saw Vision Quest last night. And Matthew Modine was the sh*t! Remember him back in Vision Quest?
UGO: Hell yeah.
GD: He was awesome!
UGO: I'm looking at some upcoming projects you've
got. Tell me about Mercy.
GD: It's an NBC/Universal hospital drama, and we shot the pilot a few months ago, and we just found out we got picked up. So, I'll be moving back to the east coast in September. We're shooting the show in New Jersey. I play a gay nurse on the show, named Angel. So it's a complete stretch from what I'm playing on Weeds. Which is great, and what I love about acting. If I just kept playing the hard-ass bad guy, it wouldn't be too much fun. It's fun, and will be airing in January.
UGO: Finally, you've got to tell about Zombie Grandma, it's the best title I've ever heard.
GD: It's a half-hour animated show about these two stoner best friends who just get high all day and all this crazy stuff happens to them. It's kind of in the vein of Beavis & Butthead. In the pilot we end up killing our grandmother by mistake. And we freak out, we're all stoned, and we have to put her back together. And one of us is all into witchcraft, and we recite this spell and she comes back from the dead.
We just shot the pilot and we're waiting to hear about where it's going to go. A lot of people have interest, but we don't know for sure. It's definitely unique.
UGO: I'll definitely keep an eye out. Guillermo, thanks for taking the time today, and enjoy your day off.
GD: Thank you, so much.
Check out vintage Guillermo in Weeds Season 4 - out on DVD and Blu-ray now.
