Danny Trejo as “Bravo” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Opening in theaters, digital and On Demand beginning October 11th is the new horror-comedy ‘Seven Cemeteries‘, which was directed by John Gulager (‘Piranha 3DD’).
The film stars legendary actor Danny Trejo (‘Machete’, ‘Heat’, ‘Con Air’), as well as Sal Lopez (‘Full Metal Jacket’), Samantha Gonzalez (‘Station 19’), Efren Ramirez (‘Napoleon Dynamite’), Vincent M. Ward (‘The Walking Dead’), Lew Temple (‘Unstoppable’), Richard Esteras (‘The Bear’), Emma Ramos (‘New Amsterdam’), Sol Rodriguez (‘Star Trek: Picard’), and Maria Canals-Barrera (‘Wizards of Waverly Place’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Danny Trejo about his work on ‘Seven Cemeteries’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his character, the zombie genre, working with his son and the rest of the cast, and collaborating with director John Gulager, as well as a look back at his work on ‘Heat’ and ‘Machete’, if he would appear in possible upcoming sequels for either of those films, his popular Taco and Donut restaurants and the longevity of his incredible career.
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Danny Trejo as “Bravo” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the idea of playing Santana Bravo?
Danny Trejo: It’s great. It’s going to be a great movie. It’s funny and there’s horror in it, but it’s always a laugh somewhere. First, I first read it, and I laughed. To me, it was funny, and I loved the characters. Lew (Temple), he’s beautiful in this. He’s good at whatever he does, but the whole cast gelled so well, and when I read it, it’s like, “Yeah, this is going to be fun.” Samantha (Ashley), she was great. So, we went from there. It was just cool.
MF: Did you recognize right away that Santana Bravo would be a great Danny Trejo character?
DT: I just knew that that was like a culmination of about five of my movies, and I thought, “Yeah, it’s going to be good.” We had fun with it. I had a lot of fun with Bravo and all these guys I know. We went up through the ranks and it was so much fun. So much fun to play with these guys. I love this movie. It’s one of the movies I’m proud of. I think people will walk away laughing because it’s a horror movie with comedy in it. It’s just enough comedy to be funny. But there’s some scary parts in it.
(L to R) Richard Esteras as “Quasimodo,” Emma Ramos as “Dolores,” Danny Trejo as “Bravo,” Lew Temple as “Tommy” and Vincent M. Ward as “Eugene” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
MF: Would it be fair to say that ‘Seven Cemeteries’ is a zombie version of ‘Seven Samurai’?
DT: Yeah, or ‘The Magnificent Seven’, and it was John, the director, who is unbelievable. He had my son, Gilbert as the second unit director. It was amazing because my son plays me as a younger me, and it’s so funny, because that big tattoo that I got on my chest, they put it on him. He goes like this (looking at the fake tattoo), “You are an idiot.”
MF: Can you talk about working with director John Gulager?
DT: He was great. I like him because he’s got a sense of humor. I like him because he can take it. Most directors can be funny, but if you laugh at them, suddenly, your part gets less. But we had so much fun. It was funny, we were in Oklahoma or something. I forget where we were. There’s this spider in a web and it’s like breathing. I said, “Hey, you want me to play next to that?” He goes (in a sarcastic voice), “You want me to play next to that?” I just had to laugh. “Shut up, man. Do we have a spider wrangler?” But we had a lot of fun on this film.
(L to R) Director Michael Mann, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on the set of 1995’s ‘Heat’. Photo: Warner Bros.
MF: Speaking of directors, what was it like working with Michael Mann, as well as Robert De Niro and the rest of the cast of 1995’s groundbreaking ‘Heat’?
DT: I think that movie, I think that pushed my stock way up quite a bit because every time those guys would get interviewed, they talked good about me. There was one scene that I just cracked everybody up because De Niro was asking them whether they wanted to be in this robbery. Val (Kilmer) had a speech and Tom Sizemore had a speech, and then he looks at me and he goes, “Are you in?” And I said, “Yeah, Hell yeah.” So, they all laughed. They realized I had just stolen that whole scene by saying nothing. That was just an improvisation.
MF: Mann has written a sequel novel, which also acts as a prequel to the original film and has talked about adapting it into a movie. Is that something you would be interested in appearing in, and how would that work since your character died in the first movie?
DT: I keep bugging him. “Hey, I want to be in that.” If it’s before (the original movie), my son (Gilbert) can do it.
Danny Trejo as Isador “Machete” Cortez in ‘Machete’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
MF: What’s the status of the proposed third ‘Machete’ movie, ‘Machete Kills Again… in Space’?
DT: I want you to post, “Robert Rodriguez, let’s do ‘Machete Kills in Space’. The whole country’s waiting for it.”
MF: So, you are open to returning for another ‘Machete’?
DT: Oh, yeah. You kidding? I love that movie. I’m still in great shape. I still lift weights. I don’t jog as much, but I do a lot of walking.
Danny Trejo as “Bravo” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
MF: You’re also a restaurateur now with Trejo’s Cantina and Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts. Do you enjoy being in the restaurant business?
DT: You know what, we’ve got four restaurants. They’re doing great. We have one Cantina, Trejo’s Cantina in Hollywood, and then we’ve got one in London on Portobello Road. It’s killing it and London doesn’t have real good food. They love Mexican food. Then we’re opening one in Detroit, but we’re going to open that one up like the House of Blues because I have a record label, Trejo Music, and we’re going to have some of my recording artists and everybody else in there.
MF: Did you even imagine when you were younger that you would end up not only a movie star but a restaurateur and an entrepreneur as well?
DT: Yeah, but there was a time when I couldn’t even imagine getting out of prison. 30 years ago, I started in the business in 1985 and it was totally by accident. I ran into this friend of mine named Eddie Bunker, and me and him were in San Quentin together. He remembered that I was the lightweight and welterweight champion there. He said they needed somebody to train one of the actors in this film. It was called ‘Runaway Train’. I said, “What does it pay?” He said, “$320 a day.” I said, “I’ll bet you want this guy beat up.” I thought he wanted me to beat somebody up. I’d have done it for another 50 bucks because they were going to give me 50 bucks for acting like a convict. When they offered me the 50 bucks for acting like a convict, me and Eddie laughed, because we’d been doing that for free forever. You know what I mean? I started training an actor named Eric Roberts how to box for the movie ‘Runaway Train’. The director (Andrei Konchalovsky) saw me, saw that I could deal with Eric, and they kept me on. They gave me a SAG card. If I would’ve known what Andrei Konchalovsky did for me on that set, it changed my whole life. I’m still a drug counselor. I still work for Western Pacific Rehab in Glendale, and we detox heroin addicts, and we’re also in Ventura and Los Angeles. So, when I’m not doing movies, I’m at the detox.
Danny Trejo as “Bravo” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
MF: Do you even know how many movies you’ve appeared in at this point?
DT: They got me at 400 appearances. I don’t know what that means, so I have no idea. I just work. It’s funny. Sometimes I’m watching a movie and I’m like, “Hey, I’m in this,” and I didn’t even know I was in it.
MF: Finally, if you had to pick one movie that you are most proud of, what would it be?
DT: Well, you know what, working with Robert De Niro was one of the high points, and I worked with him on ‘Heat’. Then when we did ‘Machete’, we had asked him if he would (be in it) and he said, “Yes.” When we were doing ‘Heat’, I was always going, “Hey you, number one,” because he was number one on the call sheet, right? Then when he saw me on ‘Machete’, he went, “Hey, you, number one.” So that was one of the high points of my career. Then next, working with Selma Hayek (on ‘Desperado’). When guys tell me, “God, I thought you were taller.” I go, “Well, I was tall enough to kiss Jessica Alba (in ‘Machete’). How’s that?”
What is the plot of ‘Seven Cemeteries’?
A recent parolee (Danny Trejo) gets a Mexican witch (Maria Canals-Barrera) to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman’s (Samantha Gonzalez) ranch from a ruthless drug lord (Sal Lopez).
Who is in the cast of ‘Seven Cemeteries’?
- Danny Trejo as Santana Bravo
- Sal Lopez as Abuelo
- Samantha Gonzalez as Carmela
- Efren Ramirez as Miguel
- Vincent M. Ward as Eugene
- Lew Temple as Tommy Lasorda
- Richard Esteras as Quasimodo
- Emma Ramos as Dolores
- Sol Rodriguez as Guadalupe
- Maria Canals-Barrera as Bruja
Danny Trejo as “Bravo” in the horror/thriller/action film, ‘Seven Cemeteries’, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Other Danny Trejo Movies and TV Shows:
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