Click on each image above for the individual interviews!
I had the pleasure of joining Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez and Michael Pena for a little coffee table chat at the South Beach Ritz Carlton on Monday to discuss their upcoming sci-fi-action-thriller, “Battle: Los Angeles”. It was a wonderful chance to meet some passionate actors and chew the proverbial fat for a few minutes with each.
I found Michelle to be well researched in her character, and dare I say, I could see the geek in her, of course I wouldn’t say that to her face, and I don’t advise you to either. She is the essence of the action chick of our era, charming and lethal, with a wry smile and demeanor that says, hey, I am no thespian, save your “emotional studies” for someone who likes that shit. And while she claims the “geek is the new icon” – for me, SHE is the new icon of sci-fi femmes to watch, earning the Avatar and now Battle: Los Angeles achievements, just to name a few.
Ramon was an actor’s actor, discussing his role and how he prepared for Second Lieutenant Martinez and the challenges he would face physically. He didn’t understand how the military rank structure worked, where a boot Lieutenant (my word) could give orders to a hard-nosed, combat tested veteran of twenty years, like Staff Sergeant Nance (played by Aaron Eckhart). He quickly realized the importance of playing an officer and mentioned it was nice to be able to actually confront and kill the enemy in this film, unlike Transformers where he was constantly running from the robots in disguise.
Michael was the funniest; several times we all busted out laughing, and you can hear it in the audio files, he was just a genuine Chicagoan. It was interesting how he chose the Joe Rincon role, when there were more dynamic, but maybe less dramatic roles available.
You can check out each detailed interview by clicking on the image above, each section is broken down by the actor, and each interview has some audio files, and hell, if you listen to those, it’s almost like you were there with us, shooting the shit and getting to know each of these wonderful personalities.
