While doing the promotional rounds for the 2005 version of "Assault on Precinct 13," I got the chance to ask "AP13" co-star John Leguizamo about his work on the upcoming George A. Romero zombie movie:
JOHN LEGUIZAMO ON "LAND OF THE DEAD:"
The story and his character:
It’s the last of the quadrilogy of "The Dead" movies [from] George Romero, another icon of the ‘70s. I play a zombie killer with Simon Baker. We’re like the working class men against the zombies. It’s apocalyptic. The zombies have taken over and we have to get supplies to the humans. It’s only corporate CEOs who get all the supplies and we work for them, so it’s very political. It’s got a sense of humor to it, too, and action. It’s very operatic. It’s a big, ambitious movie for George Romero and I just hope it rocks.
Asked about choosing supporting roles over leading roles, Leguizamo said he prefers supporting roles. They’re less time consuming and he doesn’t drive himself crazy worrying about them as he does when he’s the lead. Commenting on the type of scripts he receives and the supporting roles he’s offered, Leguizamo said:
"Land of the Dead" – that was an easy one too. That was a great, great written supporting best buddy to the lead [role]. It was great and I just jumped on that as soon as I could.
On the subject of whether Romero's zombies will be running in "Land of the Dead" like they did in the remake of "Dawn of the Dead:
No, no. He’s really against that. He’s offended by that. He’s half Cuban, he’s from the Caribbean – George Romero – so he knows his zombies. Zombies came from the Caribbean, they came from West Africa, and they’re supposed to be the undead coming out of graves. They’ve got rigor mortis, they’re rotting. They can’t run that fast.
On what George Romero's like on the set:
Oh, he’s fun, man. He’s 68 years-old. He’s optimistic, fun, always joking, 6’5”, chain smoking, coffee drinking, and just lighthearted, man. He just wants to play. He’s awesome.
Leguizamo's known for developing backstories for his characters. Did he develop one for his zombie killing character in "Land of the Dead" or was it pretty much just straight from the script:
That was a little more developed, but yeah, I had to create a backstory, too. But a lot was there. I improvised a lot there. I brought a lot more humor to that. He always has a little bit of a sense of humor going on anyway – George. That’s what makes his zombie movies better than anybody else’s. There’s a little political thing going on; there’s a little satire going on. And I just tried to add a little backstory.
On whether "Land of the Dead" wraps up George A. Romero's zombie movies:
Yes. This one closes the chapter on the "Dead." It’s a really ambitious flick, really ambitious. It’s not just a zombie movie. It’s action, it’s political, the characters are really well developed and apocalyptic. There’s really a lot going on. It’s pretty amazing.
