Idol Magazine Jose Zuniga

NEW MOON

With the impending Twilight mania which is sure to break loose on the release of New Moon on DVD tomorrow, we thought we’d heighten the hysteria with a few exclusive interviews with some of the cast.

In true IDOL style, we chat with the guys about how they came to be where they are now, how Twilight has affected their career and their journey from past to the future. It’s easy to look at these actors as buying into the empire of a franchise which is the saga, but once you hear their stories and struggle to where they are now, not only is it inspiring but you gain a new found respect for the actors who have been dubbed an ‘overnight success’, and learn that actually, their story is far from that.

Enjoy.

JOSE ZUNIGA

IDOL: We actually have quite a funny story of how we’re here today…

Jose: I was on an overnight flight coming here for the first time from LA, walking to my seat and Jessica said, uh can I talk to you for a second, I immediately said, sure, I did not hesitate to stop. So I had Rebecca and Jessica standing opposite me and they said we know you were in a movie we have an interest in talking to you, you guys hypnotised me, I swear to God, I dunno how! So that’s our story, we chatted a bit and it was effortless, I think some people fell asleep, I mean who knows…

IDOL: Yeah we kind of got sent to our seat by the air hostess, I was told to sit down for about half an hour.

Jose: When you came to talk to me I was about to fall asleep.

IDOL: I’m really sorry about that!

Jose: But I wanted to talk to you guys so it worked out perfect, so here we are!

IDOL: So of course, we all know you played Mr Molina in the first Twilight film, are you in New Moon?

Jose: Not in New Moon, but in one of the subsequent ones, they’re very secretive about scripts, so we also find out at the last minute.

IDOL: Are you jealous that you didn’t get to be a vampire?

Jose: (Laughs) That’s a very good question, wow. No.

IDOL: So you’re not into blood sucking?

Jose: Well, no, but I did feel like you know what I could have been a very good vampire

IDOL: You probably could’ve been a good Volturi

Jose: I could! But I had a good time playing Mr. Molina. I knew the city we were doing it in well, and I just got into this character from my heart and it was fun, it was really fun.

IDOL: What’s your take on that, the Twilight phenomenon?

Jose: I entered this whole thing with no awareness of the stories or the fan base, and I’ve been made aware of it by many many people. You know women of all different ages love this saga, so I get accosted by people telling me what should have happened or what was good about it. It’s pretty amazing.

It’s interesting, it’s a reflection of young women and the sort of mystery of like love and sex, that’s kind of obvious, but on another level it’s sort of telling us about our times a little bit. It’s very honest, and even though it’s a fantasy, it sort of presents a very almost truthful story of a young woman coming to grips with herself and love and I think people really relate to that and girls really relate to her. Kristen really made it work, she’s very genuine, beautiful in a very natural way and Rob’s very handsome. I’ll be quick because I’m a guy, but he’s just amazing to work with.

IDOL: Did you feel that were you able to adapt from the book, or did you take a lot of what you thought you should be playing in the role?

Jose: You know, because my whole contact with the saga started with the director, Catherine, I sort of immediately took to her and stayed away from the books, and her guide was simple just to be myself with it and I thought the best thing I could do with it was simply to come from a place of honesty and get to know the people I work with, rather than try to lean on the books. As my name was changed the true fans were wondering why that was happening, in a way it’s good though because it introduces a different culture to the fans, and the country is a lot more inter-raced than one would realise, you wouldn’t really know that from the initial readings of the book.

It was a cool move, it was just great to be part of it, but that I think was a key element that I didn’t want to bang over the head either, I just handled it naturally. So I stayed away from the books and I went around and I just came into the role, just slid into it from my heart.

IDOL: Have you actually read the books since filming?

Jose: No I haven’t read the books, but it doesn’t matter because everyone tells me the entire plot, everyone.

IDOL: So you’ve been acting for a long time now, how many years have you been in the business?

Jose: Well I actually started to act at around 89, 90. I wasn’t an actor I was trying to figure out what to do in the middle of law school, and the actual reality of that was so scary that I decide to become an actor, so it makes no sense. So I went to a place in New York called Lee Straussberg which I found in the paper, and funnily enough a lot of cool actors were in my class with me, a bunch of people that were really really cool. And I got a great agent right away, well in like 7 months right away, and then I kind of went around in a few plays and then I got a movie for Disney called Alive, and since then, that was 92, I’ve worked pretty steadily since then.

IDOL: We’ve noticed, there’s a very long list

Jose: Well, it’s a hard thing to get in to, you don’t know where you’ll fit or what kind of luck will strike, and I’ve just sort of grown up with it, so now I am who I am and I play a lot of different roles within a certain sense of just being attracted to things. I didn’t want to be obvious, because a lot of Latin guys and ethnic actors definitely get a little bit of a road block so I just tried to accept who I am, and bring that to roles.

IDOL: You’ve done a lot of films or programmes that are thrillers or crime investigation types, how did that come about?

Jose: I think that’s a TV thing when TV picks up on a quality that you have, that you might not necessarily know you have, but then you learn to cultivate. In that respect there’s a certain questioning of authority or likeness that they like me for, and I’m not like that at all-I can’t believe it! But I now feel very comfortable when those roles come up, they can be very probing, it’s very bizarre. Because really, I just want to be this chatty guy, I want to talk about food, and you know, crazy things.

IDOL: Spanish restaurants…

Jose: Yes, in London! I’m obsessed with London, I love it. I like the vibe of Notting Hill thing, but I’ve got to discover more, wander round. The food, the people. I love hearing accents of people of my colour who live here.

Anyway, back to the subject! It’s very interesting, I get to play a lot of different sides but yeah the cop thing is very prominent for me.

IDOL: So do directors actually approach you with those roles rather than you going to audition for them?

Jose: Yes, in some films, like little films. But in big films, I don’t know if it’s luck, what is it if they see you in one thing that’s big, and they kind of put you in a category of that. And you get 2 or 3 of those and they become worthwhile to do. Over time, there’s so many movies that if you’ve done 2 or 3 in a row with the same character it doesn’t even matter too much, it just becomes part of what you’ve done. You can change it up, like Twilight is a total break from all those things, that was one of the reasons I was happy to do it, because it was such a different side of me, and a movie of this scale, it’s good that I’m a quiet presence in the film I don’t have to carry it or anything. I can just keep changing, so it’s a good message to put out there. It’s interesting to see how it will affect me. It’s hard to tell, but movies have a way of changing your life slightly, but it’s slow, things have to infiltrate people’s heads, everything has to manoeuvre.

By the way, the guy that’s really me is a movie called Wonderland. If you ever see it, that’s really who I am.

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xoxo
Carrie