Tackling the Story of Héctor Lavoe: Anthony felt it was extremely important to get the story right. “You know, I think you’d have to start with how sensitive I am to the artist. Artistry in general. You know, me being a salsero, or me being well known, being successful as a salsero, him being one of the forefathers, and his life being nutshelled was just annoying to me,” explained Anthony. “And what I mean by that is he accomplished so much and at the end of his life, you ask anybody about Héctor, ‘Oh that’s the guy who jumped right?’ ‘That’s the guy who was a drug addict.’ I’m like, ‘He’s a lot more than that. He’s a man who struggled with many, many demons.’
I felt a huge sense of responsibility because I have a full understanding of the truth and what’s perception when you’re famous, and all that stuff. I know that he gave – not that he gave his life for his art, but that’s the one thing that never wavered. That’s the one thing that never, never lacked, was his art. Everything else in his life was up in the air, but I felt a sense of responsibility. Besides being a fan and him being one of our icons and a fascinating story to tell, just that sense of responsibility is what I tapped into.”
The Preparation Process: Anthony described it as pretty intense. “I interviewed a lot of his colleagues, a lot of his musicians, business partners, his family, and nobody had anything bad to say about Héctor. That was amazing to me. I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Like not even the promoters who lost money when he would show up four hours late. I’m like, ‘Does anybody have anything bad to say about Héctor?’ Puchi on the other hand, I couldn’t find somebody who would say anything nice about her. You know what I’m saying? That’s really when it hit me. How the most likeable, charismatic artist can end up with someone who, you know, ‘What was that about?’ I just find it fascinating all the way around.”
Asked to share his opinion on their relationship, Anthony replied, “I honestly think that he afforded her a certain lifestyle, you know? That’s why she put up with a lot. She made herself indisposable in many, many ways. She was the one who was, ‘I will save you from those bad people.’ It’s like, ‘Okay.’ You know what I’m saying? I just thought it was very, very interesting. Very interesting. I’m touching on something that I haven’t in all these interviews and as you listen to your thoughts you learn things. And I think that was a big, big part of it. Now that I actually heard it come out my mouth it’s like I finally said it and it makes more sense to me now than ever. I was raised with characters like that.”
Jennifer Lopez as Puchi: Lopez co-stars as Lavoe’s wife and Anthony can’t envision anyone else in that role. “I mean what Jennifer brought to the part is everything another actress couldn’t. I could not see any other actress getting into, just embracing it the way Jennifer embraced it, study it the way Jennifer studied it. She absolutely absorbed Puchi. Just hour after hour, day after day, just the tapes – because we had 11 hours of Puchi tapes that she left behind. It was like her final interview and it was 11 hours. And Jen would just… She just got it, she understood it. She needed to tell the story.
There are 20 layers to how Jennifer approached this part that I don’t think anyone else would have been sensitive to. That’s why I think she deserves all the respect from the world. She went places that she never went as an actress. I would just go to the set and just marvel at where she was coming from. Because one thing is the…you try reading it. Try it. You know what I’m saying? Being so completely convincing in the moment is just a marvel to watch. She was a marvel to watch. And I’m not saying that because she’s my wife.”
Working Opposite Jennifer Lopez: Anthony says their antagonistic screaming scenes were actually fun to film. “Because that’s not our lifestyle,” explained Anthony. “That’s not how we live. It’s like, ‘All right, well, they’re putting us in front of each other and we’re going to beat the s**t out of each other a little. Let’s have fun.’ But though they were intense and we went to some ugly places, you could help that when you step off, across the room I see Jennifer and I’m like, ‘That was crazy.’ It’s just so far removed from what our reality is. There’s nothing attached to it. And that’s when you really realize how dysfunctional this relationship was.”
On the Key to Hector Lavoe’s Self-Destruction: “Hector had his music, man, and Hector was an artist and according to Puchi and his family he would curl up on her lap and cry because he hated his voice. Now if you imagine that being a reality, what people are saying you’re the best at and what you’re revered for, you actually despise and you don’t see it. You don’t get it. You feel like a fraud. There was pain. It was a sign of the times. I could throw a rock into a crowd of people who were musicians in the sixties and seventies and hit someone’s who’s used all that stuff. It was a sign of the times and he struggled with so much, with being a public figure.
I think that Puchi says – when she says, ‘Guys like Hector didn’t go to AA. They didn’t go to therapy.’ It wasn’t as acceptable as it is today to talk about what you’re going through. He had demons. Boy, he had demons. He had enablers; he had fame. Again, she said it again, ‘Everything you need for a good man to break down.’”
