|
 WHAT
MADE YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTOR? |
 |
 That
is one of the first thoughts that I had in my mind, that I wanted to be
a performer. I truly do not believe that any branch of the family had
before any kind of this artistic desire, but I certainly knew this from
the very beginning, since I was a little kid. It was really interesting
how the process evolved into conquering my dream. Eventually I was able
to fulfill this dream at a very early age because I did my first film
“Maria” when I was 15 years of age, and right on the set in the month of
November still filming I turned 16 . “Maria” was a very well-known film
based on a classic romantic novel of the 1800’s and I had the pleasure
of playing opposite Tyrone Powers’ daughter Taryn Power, and it was a
humongous success. It is in the Cinematic in Paris and Moscow, it turned
out to be a classic film, so it was really interesting to think about
something when you are very, very young and focus your power and energy
into conquering this. From that moment on, I just continued performing,
and the singing and producing, and now I’m an artist, I’m painting too,
I’ve been able to expand in different areas of art. |
|
|
|
THAT
IS VERY SIMILAR TO LYNDA’S EARLY EXPERIENCE AS A SINGER. ANY THOUGHTS
ON THAT? |
|
|
|
You
have a point there. After meeting Lynda, I know that we have a lot of
things in common, not only the things that you mention, but the fact
that she is a phenomenal person. I have been hosting her while she has
been here in Puerto Rico. I know that she loved her stay here and she
wants to come back, and she left a lot of wonderful friends and people
that cared for her because she is such a wonderful, energetic and
positive individual. She left a wonderful impression here in Puerto
Rico. |
|
|
|
DO
YOU HAVE A FAVORITE ROLE IN THE MANY FILMS AND TV SHOWS YOU HAVE BEEN
IN? |
|
|
|
I
have several favorite ones, definitely the one I played opposite Joanne
Woodward in “Street of Los Angeles” as Ramond (Gallo) Zamorra left an
important mark in the rest of my life and career, because getting to
know Joanne as a person really taught me a lot of how people should
behave, how people should be, how humble people should be, with the
craft and then she was kind enough to invite me over to spend sometime
with them in Westport in Connecticut and I had the pleasure of meeting
Paul and her children. It was like a fulfilling experience, not only
artistically wise but as a human being, they taught me so much. Just by
being close to the family you learn how to deal with life in a nicer and
positive way. It was really phenomenal. I recall also playing George
Mellis in “Master of Game” written by Sidney Sheldon, it was a great,
great character. It was power, the duality of this role, because during
the daytime he was a charmer, a wall street individual, really respected
and loved by people, but at night he turned into a psychopath that would
kill, it was kind of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. So it was a very
powerful character that I remember a lot about. I also remember
“Stalingrad” which was the first American-Russian co-production in
history. It was produced by Warner Brothers and Quincy Jones was the
executive producer, but mainly I remember the role because it brought me
over to Russia during the first moments that glasnost and perestroika
were happening. This enormous power on the planet was going through a
crucial change, economically wise, socially wise, so to be there at that
specific time in history, playing such an important role, playing the
only Hispanic actor, it just meant a lot to me. But in reality I can
mention every one of the characters because you fall in love with each
one of them and you learn from each one of them that really leave a mark
in your life and your experience. I love all the characters. |
|
|
|
WHAT
MADE YOU WANY TO BECOME A PRODUCER ON THIS FILM AND STILL ACT IN IT? WHY
DID THE STORY INTRIGUE YOU? |
|
|
|
Well,
the reason that I wanted to become an associate producer on this film
(SLAYER) was that that I own 53,000 square feet of soundstages here in
Puerto Rico, and because of this I was able to meet the people from IDT
and Kevin VanHook who wrote and directed the story. I just fell in love
with the people and the whole idea. I loved the story, I thought it was
very interesting to present a new version of vampirism, not the usual
black cape and fangs story, but a contemporary story about this topic
where they were speaking not only about the traditional vampire, but
talking about how we, as human beings as a race, have provoked the
mutation of species. That we’re pushing them away from their natural
habitat, and in order for them to survive, they need to become vampires,
so to me that whole idea I really liked that innovative approach to such
a known topic. That is why I wanted to become a producer on the film,
and then when I knew who was coming to perform and I knew that they were
dealing with Lynda, and there was a possibility that she could come over
and play one of the parts, and I knew that she was the only non-vampire
female in the film, I said, let me read the script. When I read it, I
said, “well, there’s another non-vampire role, the guide, which is the
only male non-vampire, and while it is a small role, I said that I would
like to play that , and they said OK, so Lynda will play the only
non-female vampire and you’ll play the only non-male vampire.” Not only
that, but I always want to keep my craft alive, and I like to play
little roles, because I don’t think of them as little roles, every piece
is important in a production, technically-wise, actor-wise, so I always
like to participate one way or the other. |
|
|
|
THAT’S
A FASCINATING WAY OF LOOKING AT YOUR PROFESSION. |
|
|
|
Well,
for me being an actor through all my life, it’s been a phenomenal
experience, and as I’ve said before, each one of the roles truly allow
you to learn from them, the fact that you can live, the fact that you
can become other individuals, the fact that you can teach them how to
walk, because not all the characters walk the same, not all of them look
the same, not all of them have the same physical or corporal
expressions. If you take acting as the realm of giving each of the roles
a different characteristic, a different personality, it’s a really,
really enhancing experience, not only for the actor, but for the human
being. I always like to be in front of the camera, but on the other hand
I’ve been discovering this new passion in my life over the past 6-7
years which is to apply all your knowledge ands everything you’ve
learned through the years. Now you can not only apply it in front of the
camera but behind the camera to make things smoother. It makes you
understand your fellow actors so much better, it makes you understand
your crew members better. It gives you like a broader spectrum
understanding towards the whole production of films, so it’s been really
an evolution that’s taking me into a better understanding of what all
the business is about, and it’s really fascinating. |
|
|
|
SO
BESIDES YOUR ROLE AND LYNDA’S ROLE AS NON-VAMPIRES, WHAT ABOUT THE REST
OF THE CAST? |
|
|
|
Ah,
you know what happens is, is that either they are vampires or eventually
they turn into one, you see, but the story is so interesting that we
shouldn’t say a lot about it, but that’s what really attracted me about
the character, I’m the guide, the guide through the jungle. |
|
|
|
WHAT
IS LYNDA’S CHARACTER LIKE? WE KNOW SHE IS A MILITARY FIGURE. |
|
|
|
Well,
you know Lynda is a powerful woman, not only in real life but in the
film she is a powerful lady, and sensitive and powerful is how I would
define her character (as Colonel Weaver). She is a shine of light that
is needed in the story, and she played it impeccably well as a woman in
the military. I am certain that she was very, very happy with her
performance, too. |
|
|
|
HOW
WAS SHE CHOSEN FOR THE FILM? |
|
|
|
We
didn’t start casting until November, but we always had her in mind. I
think it was a role made for her, but there were certain problems, we
went back and forth because of schedules and compromises. She was just
finishing “Chicago” and at a certain point it seemed that it would be
overlapping and she would have very little time to rest. We were
concerned with her having enough time to recuperate, as producers we
understand the commitment that requires to do stage, the daily grind is
a draining experience, but fortunately God was with us and everything
turned out to be great. She loved the story, she loved the writing, she
loved talking to Kevin VanHook over the phone from London, and towards
the end, approaching the time to start filming, everything seemed to fit
perfectly. You know she had to come over to Puerto Rico, and she did her
first sessions of filming, and she had to go back because she had prior
commitments in Washington DC, then she had to fly back to Puerto Rico to
finish her performance. But that was Ok with us to split the filming, we
said “We Want Lynda Carter”! And we fell in Love with her, who doesn’t,
and we confirm the living icon she is. We are very happy that we were
able to convince her to participate in this film and as a company we are
wishing and hope that this is only one of many that we can do together
with her. |
|
|
|
IS
THE FILM GOING TO BE A TELEVISON MOVIE OR A BIG-SCREEN FILM? |
|
|
|
We
truly at this point do not know, we know we have a wonderful product,
but we do not exactly know what approach we will take, we have all the
doors open, remember, we are not a major studio, we want to see the
product finished but I cannot tell you know what will happen, but I know
it will be good. |
|
|
|
HOW
DID YOU COME TO KNOW LYNDA? |
|
|
|
Well,
I lived in Aspen for 18 years, and in that time I came to know Lynda and
her husband, in fact her son and my son went to the same school together
when Lynda lived in Aspen for a whole year. But I came to know her of
course like the entire planet earth knows Lynda through her renowned
performance in “Wonder Woman”, so from that moment on she was and is the
sweetheart of so many people in the planet. I also got to know about
Lynda towards her support in Hispanic matters, being such a renowned
person who was definitely one of the first ones to proudly, publicly say
that she came from a Hispanic extraction, so that gave me an incredible
respect towards her because of the pride, and because all of the
beautiful Hispanity she was sharing with the world, using the media as a
reflector to let the world know of how beautiful Hispanic traditions and
music and food and people are in general, so I got to know her through
her labor. |
|
|
|
CAN
YOU TELL US ANY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT KNOWING LYNDA? |
|
|
|
First
I’ll tell you a funny story, when Lynda came to the airport in Puerto
Rico it was really wonderful, everyone wanted to meet her, including the
guards, and when she came out of the plane, and we all came forward to
welcome her, including the police, and she gave me this kind of “what is
going on?’ look, and I told her “that they were just here to welcome
you”. Lynda and I also had some quality moments, speaking about
spirituality and about personal growth and development, speaking about
being a hispanic nowadays in America, becoming mainstream, I had the
pleasure also of introducing my wife and my two children to Lynda, and
all of us having quality time together, but I must say that spending
time with Lynda always becomes like a memorable quality time of
experience together, it’s been wonderful, better than before. For her to
share her wonderful being, and for us to be able to absorb such a
wonderful individual was fantastic. |
|
|
|
SENOR
ALLENDE, WE CERTAINLY WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PERSONAL
THOUGHTS ABOUT “SLAYER” AND KNOWING AND ACTING WITH LYNDA. |
|
|
|
Well,
thank you so much for being able to meet you over the phone and tell you
about Lynda and “SLAYER” and myself. |
|
|
 |
|
|
