Summary
Luis Guzmanhas done just about it all.
He’s been in everything fromBoogie NightstoWednesday, but he’s never done anything quite likeStory Ave.
The film previously premiered back atSXSWand is now getting an expanding release in theaters.
Image via Kino Lorber
There’s such a grace that you bring to the role.
What was it that you first thought of when you were building this character?
LUIS GUZMAN: Very good question.
Image via Kino Lorber
You know, coming in I understood some things.
I understood loss and the grief.
I’ve lived some of this situation that you see in this movie.
Image via Kino Lorber
For me, it pretty much all worked out.
Was this process kind of drawing from that for you, from that past work?
But I went through my own stuff right there in that moment, you know?
I’ve seen this before.
If you don’t use it, well, there’s consequences to that.
In this young man’s case, the consequence was that I befriended him.
You gonna buy a house?
And he gives me an opportunity.
I’m not looking for redemption, you know?
Where it’s almost a second chance in some ways.
With that kind of emotion, how do you find that balance?
How do you kind of find that?
Man, you know, Ive lived this.
I’ve lived this with growing up as a kid in my family.
you’re able to’t make this up.
This is not that life.
This is not, like, Okay, so I’m gonna act like a drunk.
I know what it is to be a drunk, you know?
I lived it with my dad, and like I said, my friends and stuff.
He was tormented by the loss of his son.
That’s really, for me, what I loved about the script.
I’m speechless right now.
Yeah, I think there are sometimes things that are kind of hard to define.
What were the conversations you were having with Asante Blackk about some of those last scenes, in particular?
You know, it’s interesting because we didn’t talk about stuff.
He said you just talked about just everyday stuff, too.
Yeah, we just talked about everyday stuff.
you’ve got the option to’t go over and over and over it.
You just understand it for what it is.
I understood it for what it is because, like I said, I lived it.
Listen, I took this heart, and I just put it out there.
I can’t think about how a drunk acts, I’veseenit.
So you go through it, and you know what?
Sometimes, you have to stop for a moment because it is rather painful.
It is rather painful.
You saw how people acted out in your life, and here you are doing it.
Not that you’re mimicking it, but youre kind of paraphrasing that whole emotion that you understood.
And you know, that was so poignant to me.
That was so true that that’s what I use.
My life is my reference, man.
It’s like you’ve got the option to’t always make things up.
But I also discovered a lot about myself, a lot about Kadir, Asantes character.
All those elements come into play in this story.
Story Aveis now showing in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
