1	Books Author Isabel Allende reveals the forces that inspire her, journalist Silvana Paternostro discusses her roots, and we look at some volumes you may want on your bookshelf. read more...
2	Music Señor Flavio Cianciarulo discusses his philosophy on creating Latin alternative music. read more...
3	Film & TV Funnyman Eugenio Derbez stretches beyond his comic roots in La Misma Luna. read more...
4	Calendar Our monthly list of premier events throughout the U.S. read more...

Latin Forum

FILM & TV

the COMIC Chameleon

Being a TV funnyman made Eugenio Derbez famous, but his heartbreaking performance the new film
La Misma Luna will make him a superstar.

I SHOULD be the bad guy,” says Eugenio Derbez of his role as Enrique, an undocumented immigrant, in the film La Misma Luna. He should be, but he isn’t. Instead his is the most complex character in the cast, simultaneously showing cruelty and compassion, humor and soberness in the dramatic Mexican film now in theaters.
La Misma Luna follows the journey of Carlitos, played by young actor Adrian Alonso, as he leaves his native town in Mexico to find his mother, played by Kate del Castillo, who moved to Los Angeles illegally to find work. In his increasingly quest, Carlitos comes upon undocumented day laborer Enrique, who becomes his reluctant friend and eventually, his even more reluctant caretaker.
Derbez, 46, well-known as one of the Spanish-speaking world’s foremost TV comics, delivers a deeply touching and surprising performance, digging deep to mirror the experience of thousands of undocumented laborers in the U.S.
Derbez, who began his acting career as an extra in telenovelas as a child, was devoted to the role from the beginning. When approached with the script, he instantly loved it. The film’s director, Patricia Riggen, had seen Derbez in Latinologues, a play on Broadway poking fun at Hispanic stereotypes, and asked him to do a casting.
“It was great that she didn’t know my previous work as a comedian because she was not influenced by [it],” he says. “In Mexico people think, ‘He is a comedian’ and they never give me the opportunity to do drama.”
The chance to grow as an actor is part of what attracted him to the role of Enrique, and to the film as a whole. Derbez, a Mexico City native who is the son of a telenovela actress, created and starred in such sketch comedy shows as XHDrbz, Vecinos and Al Derecho y Al Derbez, among others. He was also the voice of the donkey in the Spanish version of Shrek and Shrek II. His many projects have cemented his place as a foremost comic, but have left little room for dramatic interpretation.
Derbez admits that in order to add an element of surprise and depth to the role of Enrique, he called on his trademark humor, a challenge considering the story’s sober immigration backdrop.
“It’s not an immigration story told by Americans, it’s made by Mexicans, by Latinos,” says Derbez. “It has a real point of view. We are showing how these people suffer and what they have to go through when they cross the border, but this isn’t the point of the film. In the end it’s not a story about immigration, it’s a love story about a mother and a child, and that’s interesting.”
The dire straits faced by Enrique and thousands of real migrants were foremost concerns for Derbez. When researching the role, he went to Tepeyac, a family center in New York City, to interview day laborers and talk about their experiences.
“I talked to them for a week and took videos of them and asked them to give me their stories,” he says. “It was like a class for me. I learned so much when they talked to me about what they think and why they crossed over. It took great research to create Enrique, and when you see what [immigrants] suffer and what they leave behind to come to America and work, you learn a lot.”
Focusing solely on acting was a luxury for Derbez. On his television shows he is not only actor, but producer, writer and director.
“Comedy demands so much. All the comedy that I have done [required me] to get involved in the script because I had to give it my personal touch,” he says. “When I do drama, I just have to act. It was great for me that after years of making [my series] to just go to the set, feel and act. That was very relaxing.”
For his next project Derbez is directing, acting, adapting and co-producing a version of the Broadway play Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He is also working on a new series for Televisa called La Alegria del Hogar. He describes it as a Desperate Housewives with but with maids as the main characters, because as he puts it, they are the source of all real happiness in the home. Although Derbez would love to pursue more drama, it seems the humorist is never far from his roots.

Top 5 DVD’s

1
Death of a Cyclist (Drama; Not Rated)
A wealthy man and his mistress flee the scene of a fatal hit and run accident in which they kill a cyclist in this 1950s Spanish classic of death, blackmail, guilt, betrayal and infidelity.

2
Comisario en Turno/Se La Llevo el Remington (Drama; Not Rated)
Alfonso, the town judge, is faced with a critical decision when he must rule on the fate of his own son who comes before him as the driver in a hit and run accident.

3
Imitation (Drama; Not Rated)
On a road trip from Mexico to Montreal in search of the husband who abandoned her, Teresa befriends a Canadian who helps her navigate this new land.

4
Innocent Voices (Drama; Rated: R)
Screenwriter Oscar Torres weaves a story of childhood spent in a war zone, based on his own story as an 11-year-old boy growing up in 1980s El Salvador.

5
The Good Night (Comedy; Rated R)
Gary Shaller discovers that the woman of his dreams is literally just that. Penelope Cruz stars as Ana, Gary’s perfect woman, who can only be seen when Gary goes to bed.