Diego Luna (previously interviewed here by Joey for Andor) is known for the wide variety of roles he’s able to take on thanks to his unique talent. In La Máquina, the versatile performer takes on the role of Andy, the charismatic manager who wants to see the titular boxer played by Gael García Bernal at the top of the industry. Unfortunately for Andy, that proves to be a very difficult task.
Awards Radar had the opportunity to interview the talented actor, who talked about his portrayal of Andy while providing new insight on how he built the character and what was so fascinating about the role. Andy is one of the main characters in La Máquina, which allowed Luna to be reunited with his long-time friend, Gael García Bernal. Here are some highlights with the interview with Diego Luna:
NOTE: This interview was translated from Spanish.
Awards Radar: Diego, how do you feel with the accomplishment La Máquina turned out to be?
Diego Luna: I’m very happy with what’s happening with La Máquina. I like watching people celebrating it. I love how our job keeps us as a part of this celebration. This time period is special because it celebrates the diversity of voices that are telling stories, and it makes you feel like you’re a part of a community. That’s really beautiful.
I’m thankful for the crew and the La Máquina family. It’s been a wonderful journey, with a lot of work and plenty of risks. Above all, it feels like we’re a family and there’s a feeling of belonging. We’re a community that has been together for decades.
AR: What was your relationship with boxing before La Máquina?
DL: Before La Máquina, I had been a fan of boxing since I was child. The stories of boxing are very interesting. I followed the career of Julio César Chávez a lot. He was a wonderful boxer. I would say he’s Mexico’s best boxer, but that’s up for debate. Mexico has delivered great figures in boxing. But I grew up watching him (Chávez).
Many years later, I got to approach him and agree to make a documentary with him. He gave me the opportunity, he invited me to his house. I made a documentary about him, his relationship with his son and the final years of his career. He was very generous with me. We established a very beautiful friendship. I got to know his universe. I got to know the stories he was a part of. He’s a generational talent in the history of boxing. He crossed borders during a time when he could make the United States, Mexico and South America pay attention to him.
Anyways, being able to make that documentary was very important to me in order to talk about where I came from. It also allowed to talk about how boxing could help us understand our country better. Boxing is crucial to understanding our country. In conclusion, boxing is very important. And I also must say that, the times I’ve had contact with the boxing community, I’ve found a very beautiful, empathic, grateful and generous group. Knowing that community has also been very nice.
AR: What fascinated you the most about this project? The story of a boxer trying to get his confidence back? Or the organized crime story your character is involved in?
DL: In a way, the story of my character and those people isn’t clearly defined. They’re some sort of Greek gods who are somehow pulling the strings and defining the destiny of those in the ring. But I’d say that the fascinating story is the one of two men who have to have to go beyond one moment and close a specific chapter of their lives. They also have to be brave enough to mature.
In that sense, boxing narratives are very unfair. They prepare you to achieve certain things. And when you’re ready, your body starts to fail and you’re not there. Nobody teaches you to let go. Nobody is with you during that process. And this story is about what happens when you understand boxing better than anything, but your body doesn’t respond.
What happens to Andy, which is also very important, is how he’s clinging to a certain image and power. He’s clinging to being part of an elite group of people and he has to let it go. And it’s hard to let go. It’s hard to grow old.
AR: What did you do to get into Andy’s headspace? Was he based on anyone you know?
DL: Yes, I know a lot of people (like Andy). I tried not to be focused on a single story. But to me, Andy is important to talk about what we’re doing as a society. The importance we’re giving to superficial matters. This constant level of unhappiness with how we look. What we’re doing to out bodies. The feeling that social media brought us, where we have to be streaming 24 hours a day. We have to be constantly exposed to a camera.
I lived in that world where things happened to us and then we decided to share one or two. Now we’re sharing our lives before things happen to us. And when things do happen to us, they have to be available for everyone to see. And I think that has brought distortion and confusion. Andy is definitely a victim of that. He’s lost control. He doesn’t notice what he’s doing to his body and how he’s hurting himself.
I know a lot of people who aren’t capable of realizing what they’re doing to themselves. When they look in the mirror, they don’t see what everyone else sees. That’s one of the things this character has. It was very important to me to talk about that, because I encounter it in my life very often. It’s alarming.
AR: As a performer, what was important for to stand out in the contrasting moments when Andy is having fun and when he’s being threatened by criminals?
DL: Andy us exactly a character of extremes. He doesn’t know how to reach a middle ground. That’s why I talk a lot about the distortion he lives in. He lives through everything with a lot of intensity. He’s a man who clearly doesn’t know how to live life calmly and keep his distance. He makes a lot of mistakes. He’s used to everything working out for him. And when that isn’t the case, he suffers a lot.
He’s a very lonely guy. He hasn’t learned how to deal with the absence of his father, so he has a toxic relationship with his mother. He lives his life through somebody else. That must be hard. He would like to be the center of attention. He would like to be the boxer, but he’s not.
AR: Was the sequence at Plaza de Toros México filmed on location?
DL: Yes, yes, yes! We filmed at Plaza México at night, and it was beautiful and thrilling. Plaza México is the only bullring in the world that is shaped like an ice cream cone. People are always facing each other, and it makes it very powerful for concerts and boxing fights. We knew it had to be there. It was very expensive, we had to do it all in one night. But we got it, and it looks amazing!
(Laughs) The one who suffered through it was Gael. It was very cold, and he had to wear the boxing shorts. The cold was terrible, even if you were just boxing. But yes, we filmed on location at Plaza México and other arenas. But the most special one was Plaza de Toros México.
AR: I can imagine the cold of Plaza México being unforgiving with the boxing shorts
DL: Yes! It was at night, we shot at 4 A.M. and during the winter! Poor Gael.
AR: How did it feel to bring these iconic places from Mexico City to a global audience?
DL: That’s what makes me very proud of this series. In every way, it’s a tribute to the place we belong to. And it’s also a tribute to the talent of Mexico City. That fact that we were allowed to tell a story that is being seen all over the world brings a very pleasant feeling. It’s being celebrated in different countries. People are watching with subtitles and that’s okay! We appreciate that.
AR: Where did Andy’s accent come from. Was it hard for you to get used to it?
DL: Yes, it was difficult. And I got to have fun with it because Gael does a very specific job. And Gael is from (Guadalajara). I based it on him, but my character (Andy) is playing a character himself. If you look at the very first scene from La Máquina, it’s evident that Andy is like a Russian doll.
He wakes up at home, gets a milkshake and has a makeup routine. He has a toupée. He dresses in a specific way and injects substances onto his face. He’s a guy who wears a character. When you see him, he’s a character within a character, played by an actor, who is me. You get to have fun with that. I wanted Andy to feel like a norteño. He wants to sound like a tough businessman. Suddenly, specially with his mom, you get to see his vulnerability. The accent goes back to what he experienced during his childhood. He had that range.
AR: Andy is a very physical role. Was it difficult for you to constantly be carrying things and moving around when portraying him?
DL: Yes, because his movements are very unique and he’s a guy who physically represented a challenge for me. It was very to fun to play with once I was in costume. I stayed in character the whole day. And I’m not that kind of actor, that’s not what I meant. I walk in, I play, and when that’s over, I’m very happy to return to my regular self. There’s a distance between me and the characters. Not when I’m filming scenes. You’re living through them.
But also, it’s not hard for me to get out of character. But I liked to stay in character here. It was important in order not to lose him. I couldn’t let go of him. I was just on set bullying everyone around me. Andy is not polite. He’s politically incorrect. He’s very adorable, but ignorant. And he gets pretty heated up about everything. In that sense, he’s excited all the time.
He does everything three times bigger. It’s very uncomfortable to have him around. It must be fun for the crew for a bit, but after some time, they must’ve been grateful to go home.
AR: Well, I’m very happy to be interviewing Diego Luna and not Andy!
DL: Exactly! You couldn’t stand Andy! He would be schooling you about everything! He would’ve criticized your blazer, your hair! He would’ve asked why your headphones aren’t wireless. He is a very disgusting guy (laughs), but adorable and lonely and insecure.
AR: This was a very improvised interview, okay? I’m out of town, I would’ve gotten a haircut if I had known I was getting to talk to you today (laughs)
DL: (laughs) I would’ve had a heart attack if I had found out like that! We are where we are, as you can see (points towards the hotel room around him). We are where this interview caught us. Thank you.
AR: Thank you. I think that you have a very wide range as an artist. What would happen if Cassian Andor met Andy Pérez?
DL: Andy and Cassian are water and oil. Cassian would get away from him, or he’d get a droid to get rid of Andy. Andy wants to be the center of attention in every room he walks in. He wants the entire world to know that he’s standing there and has something to offer. Cassian is the exact opposite. Cassian wants to go by unnoticed. But they have something in common, now that I think about it. Specially with the Cassian from Season 1. Both men are negotiators. Both characters sell something that isn’t owned by them.
AR: Do you stay in touch with the Rogue One cast? Have they said anything about La Máquina?
DL: They’ve texted me, yes. I haven’t talked to Donnie (Yen) in years. We used to text a lot back in the day, but we lost contact. Felicity has sent us a couple of nice texts. And if I ever run into someone (from Rogue One), we start up a conversation. I can’t say much because, I’ve met with some of them more than with others. I’ll leave it at that.
But the cast and crew of Rogue One is a team I lived something very powerful with. A movie that was very difficult to make while attempting to be different. It was hard, but I think the movie achieved it. We formed very intense and deep relationships. But there are some people from that cast who I’ve had continued to see (since the release of Rogue One).
AR: Andor is about to return and I hope you get all of the awards for that. But what’s next for you, as an artist?
DL: I want to go back to making films. I was just in Kiss of the Spider Woman and I liked the scope and scale of it. What I’ve done on television represents the same amount of work I’ve done for films. I always give it my best, series are long movies. But telling a story in two hours is something I do miss. I’ll do a bit of everything. I also miss the stage.
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