FREDDY RODRIGUEZ says there's NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS
"People always want to hug me," says Freddy Rodriguez about fan encounters. And it's easy to see why, with his easy going, but serious about business approach. Something that always seem to come through in his characterization of Rico, for example, during six seasons of the HBO hit series, Six Feet Under. In addition to his portrayal of an Iraq war veteran coming home to deal with family drama (and some laughs) in this December's Nothing Like the Holidays, Rodriguez makes his debut as a Producer, something he's been wanting to do since the early 1990s. A fellow Chicagoan, he's actually known State Street Pictures' Bob Teitel and George Tillman (Soul Food) since that time and had been talking about putting a film together for awhile.
It was when Rodriguez was shooting Harsh Times with Christian Bale, that Teitel visited on set and offered to make it happen. "So for 3 years, we threw around ideas, had rights to books, we tried everything. Bob had the idea to do a holiday, American family film build around a Latin family in Chicago. I thought it was a good idea and said yes."
Freddy liked the idea of framing the story around a Latin family because he can't recall any such film being done in a commercial way. He got really excited and "hit the ground running", assembling a formidable cast including the venerable Alfred Molina. In fact, Freddy says he worked really, really hard to get Alfred…"I was praying to God I would get him." Molina is British, of Italian and Spanish origins, and so not entirely familiar with the Puerto Rican American setting of the film. Freddy went through some channels, Salma Hayek, for example, in order to find out if Molina would be approachable for the role. According to her experiences from Frida, he was confirmed as a great guy and Freddy worked on securing him.
Freddy loved working with the entire cast, creating a seamless family unit with John Leguizamo, Elizabeth Pena, Melonie Diaz and Luis Guzman. Even Debra Messing, as the designated outsider, fit right in. Rodriguez calls her "fearless" and willing to jump in and do anything. "She is so willing to learn, willing to do whatever it takes to make it work." About the notorious dance number in the middle of the film when she and John Leguizamo cut loose, he says she and "Legs" just improvised the whole thing in 3 minutes.
Rodriguez says it takes awhile to gain enough power in the industry so that people will trust you with millions of dollars, and he's happy to be there. He loved being the creative producer, putting the cast together, developing the script and says he had found himself doing it on other projects without even knowing that's what a producer does.
Next up for Rodriguez: he's producing another film called Julito Marana which he describes as combination of City of God (the Brazilian film about favela life) and Carlito's Way. He says it's the first time a full length feature will be shot in the Puerto Rican ghetto community known as "La Perla. "It's a very dangerous place, but the people are excited about having us there." Rodriguez will play the lead, with a Venezuelan director, Pablo Ponche directing.
As for his recent appearance on ABC's Ugly Betty, he had a great time as Geo, one of Betty's love interests and hasn't ruled out returning. He called it a nice break from a string of intense portrayals including the above-referenced Harsh Times and Six Feet Under.
As for shooting in Chicago during the coldest winter on record, Rodriguez says although he grew up there and now splits his time between that city and Los Angeles, even he thought it was tough. But then again, deep dish pizza as a wrap present isn't so bad.
