WEBVTT - Sal Lopez (Pedro) 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:05.560 We as human beings have the capability to be sacred 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:11.240 individuals who can elevate ourselves to to do angelic things, 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:15.800 to do kindness beyond you know what is we can imagine. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:20.320 But we're also capable of brutality that we can we 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:25.480 can't even imagine. Welcome to more than a movie American Me, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.560 a podcast that digs into the history and mystery of 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.440 American Me, a film directed by and starring Edward James 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.680 almost that had a huge impact on Latino cinema and culture. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.760 I'm your host, Alex Fumeto, and I'll be diving into 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.519 the behind the scenes controversy every episode. I'm gonna try 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.400 to peel back a layer of the story by trying 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.080 to go deeper into the intentions and motives behind the 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:51.760 film and the backlash thirty years later. On today's episode, 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.320 we're talking about actor Sal Lopez, who plays Montoya's father 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.960 Pedro in the film. Sal Lopez always fantasized about becoming 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.720 an actor, even before he knew what it meant. He'd 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.160 eventually go on to star in movies like Full Metal 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.440 Jacket and Selena and TV shows like Barry, Queen of 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:12.319 the South, The Shield, An NYPD Blue and for the gamers, 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.720 you've heard his voice in Grand Theft, Auto and Red Dead, Redemption. 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.679 But amongst Latinos in Hollywood, he's also well known as 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.600 a founding member of Latino Theater Company, which developed the 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.280 careers of many big screen talents like actress Lupe and 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:30.080 Divedo's of Selena and playwrights Rivera Who This of Motorcycle 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.280 Diaries and In The Heights, respectively. It's where our episode 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.120 two guests, Raphael Augustine got his first professional experience that 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.480 led him to meet and eventually work with Edward James Almost. 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.680 It's definitely a big reason Sal Lopez ended up playing 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.600 Montoya Santana's father in American Me. That crew of regulars 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.720 that the Puppets mentioned in their episode that surrounded Edward 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.040 James almost, Sal was one of them. I was raised 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.360 here in Los Angeles SS centrally, uh, you know, in 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.440 the Florence area, and I never really uh, I mean, 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:05.320 I fantasized about acting. I loved going to the movies, 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.040 I mean, I just loved it. He loved going to 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.800 the movies, spending like fifty cents on a ticket, a 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:15.080 quarter for five candy bars and basically just dream. He 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.760 saw all kinds of movies with his family, especially Spanish 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.679 language ones, but he was most inspired by the epics. 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.160 And I must have been like eight years old and 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.239 we went to go see Jason and the Argonauts. They 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.720 had me at the Jason and the Argonauts. Like we've 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.280 heard from Jacob Vargas and pretty much everybody else on 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.640 this podcast, a career in Hollywood wasn't an obvious choice 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.920 for Salopez either, even for a kid who grew up 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:41.280 in l A. His mom was a homemaker and his 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.880 father was a shipping clerk at a furniture store, both 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.119 immigrants from Mexico and also like Jacob Vargas, Sal's way 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.400 into entertainment started with dance, in his case by Lefloudico 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.840 or Mexican folk dance. Eventually, some of his dance friends, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.400 including a girl he liked, encouraged him to come audition 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.480 for this play that was about Chicano's. Like him, sal 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.280 had no idea about acting. I had no idea. You know. 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.000 I saw people you're going over their lines in the 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.760 in the parking lot, and uh, and I said to 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.919 my wife and girlfriend, then a friend friend, I said, 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:18.840 look at that. Look at those guys talking to themselves 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.880 in the parking lot, and she says, that's nothing. There's 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.200 girls in the bathroom and they're crying. But they were 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.359 going over their scenes, you know. But what did I know? 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.079 But this play was written in a kind of Chicano 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.520 slang that Sal had grown up with. I didn't have 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.600 to pretend, you know, I knew what it was, and 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:37.640 so I did it. And the director said, oh, you'll 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.960 learn the play was called zoot Suit. I'm guessing you 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.880 guys are seeing a pattern here. Edward James almost first 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.640 leading role zoot Suit. Danny de la Pass and Daniel 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.880 Vierrel both decided to pursue acting because they saw zoot Suit, 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.680 probably this very production actually, and now Sal's career as 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.320 an actor is starting with zoot Suit. Why does that matter? 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.360 Because that play is about the same things as American 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.760 means about. Essentially, an American mean doesn't exist without it. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.320 Sal's even in a scene at the beginning of the 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.480 movie that takes place during the zoot Suit rights, you 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.240 got a problem being on the streets. Where are your colors? 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:17.840 Where are you? Who knows of Edward James almost even 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.960 becomes as obsessed with doing Latino themed work if he 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.720 hadn't started his career with such an overtly political and 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.400 rassa oriented piece like zoot Suit. So anyway, sal continues 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:30.640 doing plays and movies and hanging out in the Chicano 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.080 theater scene, becoming something of a fixture. He does this 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:36.320 movie version of zoot Suit, which leads to a bunch 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.640 of guest spots on legendary TV shows like Different Strokes, Chips, 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.960 Hill Street Blues five. He co founds the Latino Theater Company. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.680 In eight seven, he's casting Full Metal Jacket. So by 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.920 the time casting began for American Me sells on everybody's list. 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.479 But career wise, things have begun slowing down for him. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.760 I actually auditioned for Taylor Hackford's film First Blood and 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.040 Blood out right right, and uh, I audition for for 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.640 one of the main roles, and I didn't get it, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:08.400 and then they offered me a smaller role. And uh, 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.440 you know, at the time, actually I really needed the job. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.840 Actually I was, I was, you know, and it had 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.000 been a dry spell and I really needed the job, 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.760 and but I just didn't. I didn't, you know, I 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.040 felt like, wow, you know, they're gonna offered me this 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.640 instead of, you know, one of these more substant I 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:29.440 really felt like anyway you're saying, Hollywood at the time 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.080 was not just there wasn't an abundance of roles for 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:38.680 Latino actors at the time. That's shocking. Times they're changing. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.640 I think they are, I really do. But uh so, anyway, 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.080 you know, as Destiny would have and I did turn 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:51.040 that down, and and then Eddies his screenplay, they had 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.719 a table read and they invited me to be part 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.320 of that, and uh that was that was how I 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.359 got got involved with that. It was it was a 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.080 great experience on that the whole casting thing for me 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.440 because I was going to play his father, and you know, 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.600 I was a young man back then, a very young 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.000 and I thought, well, how how are we going to 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.119 do this? So they because I feel like Edward James 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:16.479 almost has looked forty five since he was fifteen years 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:20.320 that you're right, You're right in the movie where it's 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.400 like him and his little brother, and I'm like, that's 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.000 your son, right, like that's you And he's not that 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:29.680 old in the movie. You know, he just has that gravitas. 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.000 That's true, true, true, But they brought in an older 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.760 actors to play you know, his dad as an older 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.919 as an older and they we had the screen tests 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.240 and it was really Uh, it was interesting because we 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.240 all screen tested at the same time, the older actors 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.800 and me as a young man. Then they put some 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:55.719 you know, superficial makeup and uh and after the auditions, Uh, 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:57.839 they said, now we're just gonna have Sell do it 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:59.840 and we're gonna put makeup on him. And that's how 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.400 how it ended up happening to me and makes sense 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.000 in the movie. Like I never once stopped in the 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:06.839 movie and said, this is weird. The guys too young 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.120 to because the point is he's not born yet, right, 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.520 and that's a critical kind of like twist. Oh yeah, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.880 in the beginning of the beginning of the movie. Right. Um, 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.760 so there's like, uh, you're you know, you fit that. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.160 I feel like it's easier to age you up than 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:27.120 have someone Look, it wasn't that easy, No, it wasn't. 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.080 What did you have to do? Well? First, so how 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.080 old were you? Oh gosh, I must have been in 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.400 my early early thirties, I think when I did it. Yeah, 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.360 and uh, they well, Kindias who's an you know, Oscar 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.840 nominated makeup artist. He was he was the head makeup guy, 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.400 and uh, we did the first time we put on 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:52.800 the makeup, it took fifteen hours in the chair. In 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.400 the chair, yeah, fifteen hours. They did a whole cast 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.560 of my head and my face and the whole thing. 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:01.920 So any way, the first time they applied it, because 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.840 you know, all the press prosthetics, it it took a 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.600 long long time. I mean, it always takes time, you know, 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.680 but this was I can't believe they used the prosthetics. 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.680 That's like so involved. Well they had to because you know, 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.600 I really needed to age. And what happened was because 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:20.040 they put on so much makeup the first time, we 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.520 couldn't do close ups on me. It was just the 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:26.240 prosthetics just looked too artificial. And then we had to 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.880 um taper it down and make it look more natural, 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.599 and we finally got it right after a few times 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.959 and it was less time, you know. But the table 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.360 read was really great because most of the actors that 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.080 were in the film were in the table read, and 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.000 Eddie was was really passionate about the project, and it 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:50.280 was I just, you know, I just admire him so 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:52.760 much because he had a vision and he was able 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.240 to just create that vision that he wanted and really 0:08:56.280 --> 0:09:00.360 take the reins and be a leader and take this on. 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.880 You know, it was it was pretty major. He never 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:07.880 directed before, not that I know of, no, no, but yeah, 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.600 and he was great. He was great as as because 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:12.880 you know, he was an actor, so so it was 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.520 I remember his favorite phrase was just throw it away, 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.280 Just throw it away. I mean it was very it 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.800 isn't an exceptionally naturally acted film. There's just I mean, 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.440 you know, like some of the I was almost like 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.600 our art did he just find real people? You know 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.560 at certain times, but then when you look at the credits, 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.160 you're like, no, these are actors who are just they're 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.320 just killing it. You know. There were a few young 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.880 who were not, but you know they were right. They 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.480 were right for the parts. So it worked. Do you 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.320 remember your first day on on set? I do remember, No, No, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:48.040 I do remember the first day on set. That was 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:50.079 the first day on set. Was the fifteen hour thing, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.120 right right right, that was and it took all day 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.440 and then we shot that night and it's the first 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.440 time that Eddie sees his dad once he's out of 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.160 the joint, you know, And that was the first thing 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.920 we shot. The scene Cells talking about is one where 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.880 Santana SE's is a strange father pedro outside of a 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:10.920 wedding party on the street. There's a lot of weighted silences. 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:17.079 Then Santana asks mL sant got home a couple of 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:20.959 hours ago. I don't know if it bothers you. Almost 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:25.920 day coming up, we'll hear more about sales experiences on 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.800 set with Edward James almost and his reaction when he 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:34.200 heard about the murders. Welcome back to More Than a Movie. 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.640 I'm Alex Fumeto and we're talking to actor Sal Lopez. 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:39.840 Sal's about to tell us what it was like to 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.400 just be a regular kid from l A who's suddenly 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.720 acting in movies. But they tell you. One of the 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:47.880 things that was really cool that happened to me was 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.680 that was on the you know, Universal Lot, and I'm 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.680 walking on you know, the Universal Lot, and of course 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.040 I had been there, you know, for the Universal Studios tour, 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.440 and suddenly this one of the tour busses come by, 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.000 you know, to or whatever, and it's full of tourists 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.000 and I'm like, wow, I'm in the lot and look 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.360 at these people. And then somebody in the tour bus 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:12.960 goes hey, sal like hey, and it was someone I 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.560 knew they were on the tour. You know, I love it. 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.840 I was so cool. It was like, what are you 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.080 doing here? I said, I'm doing a movie here, So yeah, 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.800 that was amazing. It's something that doesn't really happen to 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.040 a lot of actors in Hollywood, being recognized not because 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.320 you're famous or somebody saw you on TV, but because 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.720 you're just a dude for the neighborhood. We forget sometimes 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.440 that l A is an industry town. What Pittsburgh was 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.800 for steel, or Miami was for well cocaine, Los Angeles 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.480 is for entertainment. The only difference is that regular working 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.080 class people from those cities get jobs working for the 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.560 town mill or at a bank laundering money for Pablo Escobar, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.079 as the case may be. But in l A, if 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.440 you're a regular working class Latino kid, you're not just 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.480 knocking on the doors of Universal Studio asking for a gig. 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.240 That creates this really unique situation where the actors involved 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.959 in American Men have a lived experience of life on 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.840 the streets of l A, including gangs that you wouldn't 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.960 get with many other kinds of movies. Here's sal again. Absolutely. 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.040 I mean I grew up in south central l A. 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.439 So I was. I mean, it's that was nothing foreign 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:18.600 to me. It was it was something that I that 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.600 I saw that I can't say I was in a 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:26.079 gang personally, but people very close to me were. And uh, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:30.240 so I knew that life. And you know it's complicated, 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:35.120 right because these things go back many, many years, and 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:40.720 it's a culture. So I mean it's also something that's 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.360 you know, it's a cancer in our community. It's something 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.280 that you know, it's an issue, right that we have 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.400 to deal with and that we that is in our 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.160 community like it is in many other communities. Is that 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.319 something that you knew I've heard, We've heard from several 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:59.640 people we interviewed, Uh, the Danny's, the Puppets, Yeah, and 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.760 uh and you know they were talking to us, as 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.880 was Antonette Levine and some other folks about you know, 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.640 it's just like from day one, Edward James almost was 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:11.559 like on a mission. And it wasn't just to make 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.800 a great movie. It was absolutely it was to spread 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.760 a message, absolutely, And was that evident to you? It 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.840 was certainly evident when I walked out of that screening. 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:25.000 When I first saw it, I think I was just 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:29.640 in shock. I was just so moved, and so I 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.840 thought it was such a powerful film. I think it's 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.160 he did what he wanted to do. I mean, we're 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:41.439 seducted by the glamour. But at the same time, uh, 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:47.920 you know, the consequences are evident, and and I think 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:54.000 it spoke to to our community strongly and directly, because 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:58.600 in some ways, you know, people people might say, well, 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:02.120 here we go again. You're just exploiting you know, our 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:06.200 our people, and here we are again portraying gang bangers 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:10.079 on the screen, even though the intention was precisely, seemingly 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.240 the opposite, not to glorify, correct. I think, you know, uh, 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.360 I mean look at The Godfather. I mean The Godfather. 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.400 It's a movie that you could say, yeah, it paints 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.400 Italians in a bad light, but but it's really about 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.440 a family, right. It's about immigrants, about a family and 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.800 who who uh, And it also does not shy away 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:37.680 from the consequences of of living that life. The Godfather 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.120 is a good comp for American me in more ways 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:44.080 than one. Some Italian Americans were upset being portrayed as gangsters, 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.680 As sal points out, American me in fact, has a 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.440 few Godfather references in it. There's a scene where an 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:51.880 Italian guy in a hat his gardening, just like Veto 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.760 and his tomatoes. There's a scene where Santana learns to 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.680 drive that's basically the opposite of the scene where Michael 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:06.880 shows Apollonia how to drive. Shure, you never didn't be okay, 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:08.960 why did it do that? It does that because you 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.960 got it, like let the clutch out and and push 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.960 the gas in at the same time. And by all accounts, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.760 members of the Italian Mafia were also not happy with 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.000 the way they were portrayed in the film. Crime Boss 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.040 Joe Colombo, through his political front, the Italian American League, 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.400 very publicly opposed the film until they reached a compromise 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.480 with producers to have the word mafia removed from the 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:34.120 movie altogether. The League succeeded in eliminating the words mafia 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.680 and cosin Nostra from the film, being made from the 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.280 best selling novel The Godfather. Joe Colombo was a famous 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:44.280 fellow who walked into Charlie Bluedoins office and says, we 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:52.520 don't wanna shadow mafia mentioned all, and Charlie good Art 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:57.600 as well, Boy, whatever do you want, you know, I'm 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.360 glad to prove it up. But unlike The Godfather, Edward 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:03.880 James Almost decided to base his film on a real 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:08.080 gang and recognizable figures, even with their names changed, something 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.400 several people warned Almost was a bad idea. The cor 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.280 Ley Owed family was fictional. M it was not. In fact, 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:17.680 they were so real that Almost had to give his 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.280 casting crew and out before asking them to shooting fulsome 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.080 prison or gang territory and boil Heights. So I asked 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.120 Sal whether he ever felt in danger while making the movie. Well, 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.800 I was not in the scenes, and folsome my sure, 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.840 I had nothing. I didn't really had to deal with 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:36.720 that aspect of it. But you were in you were 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.360 in like Ramona Gardens. Yeah, and the places that I 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.760 that that I was involved with, I really didn't uh 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.920 interact with the real life you know, cons and all 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:52.560 that kind of thing. Um and uh you know it's 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.960 it's I didn't. It was not on my radar. Let 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.960 me just put it that way, um. I I I 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:05.240 read the script. In the script for me was what 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.560 he wanted to present and that my job was to 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:14.240 do my part. And I didn't feel ah, you know, 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.879 intimidated or or anything like that. I mean, I was 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.720 focused on doing the work and and uh and and 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.240 making a good film. I um, and I think that 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:33.240 you know, uh everything else. I mean, you know, I 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.840 don't want to speak about Yeah, yeah, I understand, I understand. 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.200 I mean, I get it sounds a professional. He's also 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:45.720 friends with almost and like pretty much everybody else on 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.879 this movie. You didn't want to get into the ugly parts. 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.439 But I mean you can hear the trepidation and tension 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.639 in his answer and probably my response, because sitting in 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.720 a room with him, I could tell this was very 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.040 uncomfortable territory. It also was part of his experience on 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.240 that set, he claims, and I take him at his word. 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.800 After the break, I try to shift gears a little bit. 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.320 I asked Sal about a bunch of Chicanos from East 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:15.960 l A taking over Leazu, the French riviera, Cerdany's Shoes 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:24.040 Canoe Devonvon Welcome back to More Than a Movie. I'm 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:30.840 Alex Fumeto and we're talking to actor Sal Lopez. Con Yeah, 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.280 what was it like? Like what was it like to 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.760 be there? To be there with your fellow It was 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:39.600 pretty magic. Snakes Yeah, it was pretty magical. I mean, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:41.840 you know, here we are on the other side of 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.119 the world, and uh, I remember walking the the you know, 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.159 the gauntlet of reporters, of of you know, of paparazzi 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.760 going up to the to the day of the screen 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:59.840 and uh it's Danny Evelina, myself and Eddie and Bobby 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.399 who was the producer and who had been there before. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.800 I mean he was he was an awardee of the 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:11.560 Palm Dior for for a film several years earlier, a Lambrista. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.520 And so anyway, so we're there and and we start 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:20.360 to I'm assuming, you know, Eddie's Eddie's gonna walk ahead 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:24.320 and you know, and we're gonna walk behind him. But 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:28.840 he didn't do that. He didn't do that. He honored 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:32.320 us all to be arm in arm and walked together. 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:37.119 It was pretty remarkable, you know that he wanted to 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:41.199 share that with us. He I'm still aghast of it, 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.520 but it was and it was the most unbelievable feeling. 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.879 We were walking through this on this red carpet and 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.679 as I said, I mean there's hundreds, literally hundreds of 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:54.240 paparazzi on both sides, and security and everything and it 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:58.280 was an amazing, amazing feeling, and you know, for a 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:03.800 kid from South exactly, and all these people are screaming Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:08.120 you know, Eddie, and the and the sound of the 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.880 flashing cameras because there was cameras back then, right, it's 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:15.560 just like an amazing sound when you're hearing so many 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:20.119 going off at this you know, it's just like you know, 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.720 and the flashes, and it's just pretty amazing. So we 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.080 walked this gauntlet, right, and it felt like a hundred yards, 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.280 but I'm sure it wasn't that long. But finally we 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.600 get to the stairs right before we go in the theater. 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.320 And as we're going up the stairs, they're playing the 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.440 music and it's it's a O Yeko mobile from Santana, 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:44.240 and it's just like something out of a movie itself. 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.439 You know, that moment was something out of a movie. 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.840 And then we turn around, right, we all turn around. 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:54.359 It's almost like slow motion and the music plain you know, 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.480 bump bump, bump, bump, bump, bump bump, and it was 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.879 just it was magical. It was magical. And do you 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.720 remember the reception the film got there? Yeah, I mean 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:11.000 I think you know, uh, I think Eddie should have 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:16.919 won hands down for whatever you know, political political reasons. 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:22.240 I'm sure whatever you know that exists everywhere, but there's 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:24.840 there's no doubt. I mean, look look at the film. 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:27.959 I mean it's it's a it's still holds up, it's 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.400 still seen, it's still respected. It's a should have one, 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:33.320 I would say more so, right, Like that's one of 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.680 the things about American means that it's become like a cult, 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:39.919 classic staple for Yeah. When I talked to you, like 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.199 friends my age and younger here who grew up in 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:44.520 l A, They're like, oh, yeah, they know every character, 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.399 they have every scene. Yeah, one one or what I 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.120 mean to say is he should have won. He should 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:52.200 have won for first time director of course, Yeah, which 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:56.160 was that's what he was nominated for. Anecdote that we 0:21:56.640 --> 0:22:00.840 uh heard um from Danny when we were talking to 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.560 him about Cohn was it. He recalls that as being 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:08.800 the place where he found out about an Oh that's right, Yeah, 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:12.640 we did get that those the news then, Yeah, how 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.359 did that? How did you take that? Well? It was sad, 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:18.879 you know what can it was? It was sad? What 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:22.960 can I tell you? It was alarming. Yeah. Do you 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:26.400 remember how how it came how you came to find 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.359 out there? Yeah, we were sitting in the cinema and 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:37.560 they came in and notified us in the movie. Yeah wow. Yeah. 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:41.200 Did you know Anna well from them? No, just just 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:44.119 just from the film. I didn't really know her, no, 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:50.879 h but you know it was Yeah, it was unfortunate. Yeah, 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:52.439 I mean we we touched on it a little bit. 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.720 But any part of that reaction going, is it gonna 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:58.399 get Is it gonna get weird for me when I 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:03.960 go back? Um? I mean not really. I didn't. I 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:06.440 was not involved in that world, so I didn't think 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.719 my head it would affect me, you know, right, So 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.959 you don't, I take it you don't give much credence 0:23:14.000 --> 0:23:16.640 the idea that the film had anything to do with her. 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:22.000