Danny Trejo Is Awesome
Apr 29, 2010 14:35:49 GMT -5
Post by Stu on Apr 29, 2010 14:35:49 GMT -5
www.avclub.com/articles/danny-trejo,40541/
Great interview. Some highlights:
Great interview. Some highlights:
Then this other guy comes over and says, “Hey, you’re Danny Trejo. I saw you win the lightweight and welterweight title up in San Quentin.” And I go, “Yeah. You’re Eddie Bunker.” I had been in prison with him. And he was a writer. We started talking, and he asked, “Are you still boxing?” And I go, “Well, I still train.” And he said, “Do you want a job? We need someone to train one of the actors how to box.” And I said, “I got a job. They’re going to give me 15 bucks for acting like a convict. What’s this pay?” He said, “It pays $320 a day.” So I said, “How bad do you want this guy beat up? Shit, for 320 bucks—” And he goes, “No, you have to be really careful, this actor’s really high-strung. He’s already socked a couple of people.” I said, “For $320, man, give him a stick. I’ll fight Godzilla for 320 bucks.”
You know what? I did a movie with Charles Bronson before that, Death Wish 4. I met him, and one of the guys on the movie, one of the young guys, got shitty with an old character actor named Perry Lopez, who was like 80 years old and had emphysema. He couldn’t even blow out a candle on a cake. He’s been in the movies since like the ’30s. He was trying to set up our little scene, and then all of the sudden, out of the clear blue sky, this guy who thought he was cute says, “Who the fuck nominated you director?” And I laughed; I thought he was joking. This guy’s 80 years old. Perry says, “No, no, I’m trying to set up this little scene so we all won’t be standing here.”
So this punk comes up, he says, “I went to blah blah,” just some, I don’t know what the hell it is, Lee Strasberg or some bullshit training, “and I don’t need no has-been actor to give me direction.” Then I realized this guy wasn’t kidding. I’m thinking, “This guy’s 80. Anybody over 40 is an older person. You better give them some respect.” So I just jacked this punk up and told him, “You know what, bitch? I’ll beat your ass. I nominated him director. Now fuck you. Do whatever he says.” This guy looks at me, almost starts crying, and says, “Hey, I’m trying to stay in character.” I was, “Well, your character’s about to get his ass beat.”
So then I turn around. Charles Bronson is standing right behind me, and he’s watching this. And the last thing you want anybody to see is that you could be violent on a movie set. I look at Charlie, and he saw what I was doing. But he says, “You know, Danny. I like the way you deal with people.”
So this punk comes up, he says, “I went to blah blah,” just some, I don’t know what the hell it is, Lee Strasberg or some bullshit training, “and I don’t need no has-been actor to give me direction.” Then I realized this guy wasn’t kidding. I’m thinking, “This guy’s 80. Anybody over 40 is an older person. You better give them some respect.” So I just jacked this punk up and told him, “You know what, bitch? I’ll beat your ass. I nominated him director. Now fuck you. Do whatever he says.” This guy looks at me, almost starts crying, and says, “Hey, I’m trying to stay in character.” I was, “Well, your character’s about to get his ass beat.”
So then I turn around. Charles Bronson is standing right behind me, and he’s watching this. And the last thing you want anybody to see is that you could be violent on a movie set. I look at Charlie, and he saw what I was doing. But he says, “You know, Danny. I like the way you deal with people.”
I just saw [George Clooney] at the première of Up In The Air. You know what? Actually a good movie. It’s a chick flick, but it’s a good movie. Don’t tell anybody I watched it.
Walker, Texas Ranger. Big Chuck Norris. That’s it, man. “Chuck Norris doesn’t do push-ups, he pushes the world down.” I remember those jokes. Now they’re saying “Chuck Norris dresses up like Danny Trejo on Halloween.”
