15 Minutes of Fame

5 of 40

Hello, and welcome to the fifth edition of 40B40. Today I bring you an essay about the time I was in a Mexican film next to Diego Luna way before Andor. Spoiler alert, I didn’t become an actor. I have rolled out the red carpet for your reading enjoyment, so don’t forget to subscribe! Peace!

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Audition

I did some acting in college, and one of the producers I had worked with told me there was a casting for a movie looking for a “tall, fat, fair-skinned man” and that I should send over my information to see if they would consider casting me. I figured the worst thing that could happen was them saying no, so I sent my headshot and resume and waited.

I got a call back for a casting in a hotel in downtown Monterrey with the film’s casting director. I did a screen test, and a few minutes later, I was done. I was told they would contact me either way. That was a polite way of saying, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” I had no film experience, so I didn’t get my hopes too high. But a month later, I got a phone call saying they would like me to fly to Mexico City for a call back with the screenwriter and film director.

The screenwriter was Guillermo Arriaga. He wrote the screenplays for “Amores Perros” (2000), “21 Grams” (2003), and “Babel” (2006). He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Babel.

The director was Jorge Hernández Aldana. Guillermo and Jorge met at a film festival in Caracas, Venezuela, where a short directed by Jorge competed. Then, together, they started working on the screenplay of Guillermo’s novel “El Búfalo de la Noche” (The Night Buffalo).

Guillermo had a bad experience when someone else adapted his work for film, so he decided to produce it independently. Diego Luna was his co-producer and would also play the lead role in the movie.

No pressure.

I landed in Mexico City on a Friday morning, checked into my hotel, and did some sightseeing since my appointment wasn’t until 7:00 pm. This was my first time in Mexico City. It’s a monster; imagine New York City with traffic and pollution twice as bad as Los Angeles, but you can get tacos at almost any time of day. I took the subway to get to where the audition was. I was reviewing my lines and ensuring I wouldn’t miss my stop. The casting was in a house that had been turned into an office in one of the fancier neighborhoods of the city. When I got there, I got introduced to Jorge and Guillermo; there was also a cameraman in charge of filming my audition, the casting director, and Jorge and Guillermo’s wives.

The audition was about two and a half hours long. Guillermo was doing the scene with me throughout the whole thing. After each go, Jorge and Guillermo would huddle, then I would get some notes like, “In this next one, whatever you do, don’t forgive him,” and then Guillermo would start improvising to see where I’d take the scene. It was difficult because even though I enjoy improv, my default would always be to go for comedy, and this was not the place to do that. Ultimately, they told me it was between me and two other guys and that they would keep me in the loop. I thanked everybody for their time, went to my hotel, and the next day I was flying back to Monterrey.

A month and a half later, I got a phone call from an unknown number, and I got a gut feeling that I should answer it; it was Jorge and Guillermo asking if I would like to be in the movie. That’s how I got to play Jacinto Anaya in “El Búfalo de la Noche.”

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Filming

“El Búfalo de la Noche” is the story of a young schizophrenic man, Gregorio, who commits suicide, affecting the lives of his girlfriend Tania and best friend Manuel, who were involved in a secret relationship, betraying Gregorio’s trust and inevitably becoming affected by guilt.

In an interview, Guillermo mentioned that the movie was about taking risks. Diego was playing an unlikeable character. Jorge was directing his first feature film. And a good number of cast members were doing film for the first time, Gabriel González (Gregorio), Liz Gallardo (Tania), Irene Azuela (Margarita), Camila Sodi (Rebeca), and yours truly fell in that category.

I flew to Mexico City in January 2006 to do a table reading and meet with Jorge and Diego to discuss our two scenes. Diego was down to earth; I remember talking about his soap opera days as a child actor. He was in “El Abuelo y Yo,” which I used to watch with my grandma. We chatted about the struggles of being chubby when we were kids, and I think that put me at ease. For this role, he was at his skinniest. I was not.

that double chin tho

I was in my last semester of college and could swing all the traveling back and forth to Mexico City. I flew a couple of times again in March to film my scenes, getting there on Friday for wardrobe tests, hair and makeup, rehearsals, and shooting. The whole crew was terrific.

I had to join a union to be hired, which was interesting. A representative from the union would be on location whenever I was in town and would make sure I would get reimbursed if I had to stay longer than the time the call sheet said.

One time having dinner with some crew members, they introduced me to Omar. They told me he was the guy working on the score for the film. I had no idea it was Omar Rodriguez López from the progressive rock band, The Mars Volta. I had no idea the level of rockstar the guy was.

And with that, it was a wrap for me.

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Waiting

I graduated college in May and started working in July 2006. I had college loans to pay, so I got to work. In the meantime, the film was in post-production for what felt like an eternity.

I did some Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) in Mexico City in November of 2006, where I got to hang out with Gabriel and Camila for a day while we were waiting for our turn to re-record our lines.

“El Búfalo de la Noche” opened the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007. Then Fox picked up the distribution of the film. Then a whole lot of nothing.

In July, my older sister was severely injured in a bus crash. As a result, my parents and younger sister temporarily reallocated to a hotel in San Luis Potosi, where my sister was admitted to a local hospital. Don’t worry; she’s okay; I’ll tell you this story in the future.

The film finally came out in August, about a month after my sister’s accident. I go to the red carpet event with a few friends who let me crash at their places when I would go to Mexico City. It felt like an escape from what was happening back home. A few days later, Guillermo, Jorge, Gabriel, and Liz came to Monterrey, and I joined them for a media tour and another red-carpet event where my whole family, minus my parents, supported me. Finally, something I had been talking about for two years was there for them to see.

The movie didn’t do great on its first weekend. I think it was like 6th place. The reviews weren’t favorable either. The Hollywood Reporter said, “There’s an abundance of sex and very little joy to be found in “The Night Buffalo,” a pretentious mess that seems interminable even at 97 minutes.” Ouch.

Part of me thought I would be “discovered” and some agent would offer me their services, but that didn’t happen. So, I put my engineering brain to use and realized that, given the situation, grinding at my current job, paying student loans, and ensuring I was there for my family would be the best choice. 

It was nice to be in the spotlight, but I’m glad I didn’t chase the limelight; I like where I am right now. I don’t regret being part of this film; it was a phenomenal experience and a better anecdote. Plus, now I’m one degree of separation from Chewbacca.

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Before you go

I have some questions for you.

1. Have you watched “El Búfalo de la Noche”?

2. Have you had your 15 minutes of fame? Elaborate.

3. What would you say is the difference between “famous” and “internet famous”?

4. If you could be a character from any movie for a day. Who would you be and why?

5. Is there any point in going to the movies if you don’t get popcorn?