Celebrity John Leguizamo

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John Leguizamo

Birthday:

22 July 1964

Birth Name:

John Alberto Leguizamo

Height:

170 cm

Biography

Marriage is wild. I thought it was this perfect land of happiness and joy. Wrong! After you say you do, you don't for a long time.

I loved working on Carlito's Way (1993) with Brian De Palma - it was so exciting and the first time I really understood what film acting was for me.

[on why he always seems to play supporting roles in movies] Because you get to be free. Not that there's a problem with being the leading man, but the leading roles are always tough. It's hard. It's a really hard thing to do right, to get right, and it's not as fun to be the leading man. Being a supporting actor you have no responsibility. You just go there to play and have a really great time. And you have a really great time. You just go home and you enjoy everybody. When I'm the lead in a movie, you don't sleep, you focus on every aspect of the movie and it's a huge responsibility. And there aren't that many great leading parts, either. There are more, better written supporting parts than there are leading parts.

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I love independent films, it's the only place as an actor you're totally allowed to breathe. You're not following the plot, or the next action beat, or promoting some big dumb movie. Independent film is for actors that love to act. There's more interesting storytelling. It's not about a paycheck, that's for damn sure.

[on improvising in movies] I always improvise, you know. That's my thing. Luckily, I'm a writer, so I always try... If there's great writing, improvising just adds a little bit more to it. Just takes it to another level. 'Cause an actor, believe it or not, really knows his character more than anybody else, even more than the original writer. Even more than the director. At some point, we know that character better than anybody else. Especially if you connect with it, and it's infinite possibilities that can come out of you. And I think the better directors know that they have final cut, and the more they let you go, the more choices they're gonna have in the editing room to create a performance or to change things. I mean, you just give them crazy choices and they can do whatever. A smart director, the more confident ones who have experience, know that in the editing room, it's all theirs. It's not a problem. It's the newer cats who haven't had experience who are sometimes a little too precious about their own words.

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Comics are much smarter than actors. Most comedians come from a hard life, and have to struggle a lot. You have to have a lot of skills. When you can hone all of that, and act, you're going to blow the world away.

I see the new Latin artist as a pioneer, opening up doors for others to follow. And when they don't open, we crowbar our way in.

[on what was it like in the clown suit while filming Spawn (1997)] Like a penis wearing a condom.

John Leguizamo

Fast-talking and feisty-looking John Leguizamo has continued to impress movie audiences with his versatility: he can play sensitive and naive young men, such as Johnny in Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991); cold-blooded killers like Benny Blanco in Carlito's Way (1993); a heroic Army Green Beret, stopping aerial terrorists in Executive Decision (1996); and drag queen Chi-Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995). Arguably, not since ill-fated actor and comedian Freddie Prinze starred in the smash TV series Chico and the Man (1974) has a youthful Latino personality had such a powerful impact on critics and fans alike.Leguizamo was born July 22, 1964, in Bogotá, Colombia, to Luz and Alberto Leguizamo. He was four when his family emigrated to the United States. He was raised in Queens, New York, attended New York University and studied under legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg for only one day before Strasberg passed away. The extroverted Leguizamo started working the comedy club circuit in New York and first appeared in front of the cameras in an episode of Miami Vice (1984). His first film appearance was a small part in Mixed Blood (1984), and he had minor roles in Casualties of War (1989) and Die Hard 2 (1990) before playing a liquor store thief who shoots Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry (1991). His career really started to soar after his first-rate performance in the independent film Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991) as a nervous young teenager from the Bronx out for a night in brightly lit Manhattan with his buddies, facing the career choice of staying in a supermarket or heading off to college and finding out that the girl he loves from afar isn't quite what he thought she was.The year 1991 was also memorable for other reasons, as he hit the stage with his show Mambo Mouth (1991), in which he portrayed seven different Latino characters. The witty and incisive show was a smash hit and won the Obie and Outer Circle Critics Award, and later was filmed for HBO, where it picked up a CableACE Award. He returned to the stage two years later with another satirical production poking fun at Latino stereotypes titled John Leguizamo: Spic-O-Rama (1993). It played in Chicago and New York, and won the Drama Desk Award and four CableACE Awards.In 1995 he created and starred in the short-lived TV series House of Buggin' (1995), an all-Latino-cast comedy variety show featuring hilarious sketches and comedic routines. The show scored two Emmy nominations and received positive reviews from critics, but it was canceled after only one season. The gifted Leguizamo was still keeping busy in films, with key appearances in Super Mario Bros. (1993), Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Spawn (1997). In 1998 he made his Broadway debut in John Leguizamo: Freak (1998), a "demi-semi-quasi-pseudo-autobiographical" one-man show, which was filmed for HBO by Spike Lee.Utilizing his distinctive vocal talents, he next voiced a pesky rat in Doctor Dolittle (1998) before appearing in the dynamic Spike Lee-directed Summer of Sam (1999) as a guilt-ridden womanizer, as the Genie of The Lamp in the exciting Arabian Nights (2000) and as Henri DE Toulouse Lautrec in the visually spectacular Moulin Rouge! (2001). He also voiced Sid in the animated Ice Age (2002), co-starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Collateral Damage (2002) and directed and starred in the boxing film Undefeated (2003). Afterward, Leguizamo starred in the remake of the John Carpenter hit Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and George A. Romero's long-awaited fourth "Dead" film, Land of the Dead (2005). There can be no doubt that the remarkably talented Leguizamo has been a breakthrough performer for the Latino community in mainstream Hollywood, in much the same way that Sidney Poitier crashed through celluloid barriers for African-Americans in the early 1960s. Among his many strengths lies his ability to not take his ethnic background too seriously but also to take pride in his Latino heritage. He has opened many doors for his countrymen. A masterly and accomplished performer, movie audiences await Leguizamo's next exciting performance.