Demian Bichir has been a major star in Mexico and Spanish speaking markets for decades, but it’s only been recently with “Weeds” and A Better Life that Bichir has come into the American spotlight. He currently costars on the FX series “The Bridge” as Marco Ruiz, a Mexican detective working with an American detective named Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) on a serial killer investigation that crosses both sides of the border. We got to sit with Bichir one on one to discuss his work.
CraveOnline: You’ve had a lot of success in Hollywood since A Better Life, and they have been very specifically roles for Latin-American actors. Even in “The Bridge” it’s very important that it be an American and a Mexican cop. Do you ever go out for neutral roles, or is that still a process?
Demian Bichir: It has to do with many things. I think Anthony Quinn did it beautifully. Anthony Quinn would play Greek, American, Indian, Arab, anything. Sometimes you need to educate Hollywood to show them that your range can be wider than what they think it is. But it takes time I guess. I just plaid Russian in a film with Jude Law and of course, if you’re serious about it then you can create a really convincing character.
Then there’s a lot of work behind it. You have to work with special coaches and this and that and make it real, make it good, make it right. But that’s the same way I do it when I act in Spanish. When I play Bolivian, Colombian, Cuban, Spaniard and now Argentinian in another film I did in Buenos Aires, I can’t play Argentinian speaking Mexican. I was not about only the actual accent. It’s about the culture that plays, the “idionsyncrasia del jugar.” It’s not about just getting in a bullfighter suit. It’s about learning everything about bullfighting that could make you a bullfighter.
Is your working relationship with Diane Kruger anything like the character on the show?
It’s very much alike. I mean, it wasn’t as hard in the beginning as it is for them.
Right, but that’s just drama.
Yeah, exactly. For us, when we met, it was all easy and nice and kind. I think it was a lot harder for Marco and Sonya to get to know each other than for Diane and I. But it’s very similar the way they care for each other, the way they cover each other’s back. Literally we do that on set. We do that every day. We cover each other’s back.
Do you think Marco likes being there to look out for Sonya or would he like to see her take care of herself?
No, I think Marco knows that you have to take care of your partner when you’re a cop. Especially in this situation when she is a woman and Marco feels that she may be a little more vulnerable for many reasons including the Aspergers Syndrome that she has. Then Marco feels more responsible for her safety.
Have you played a lot of police officers before?
Only once I played a police officer that’s not like Marco Ruiz, but could be close to what Marco Ruiz is. That was many years ago, like 15 years ago in Mexico in a TV series and I got a really, really deep, serious training regarding police procedure and all kinds of weapons. Not only the types of weapons, but the use of them. I use that into this character. I made that character lefty for example, and Marco’s not lefty. I remember all that training helped me to create this character, so yes, I’m familiar with the profession of being a cop.
Did you shadow any new police officers to prepare for this role?
No, I have a lot of friends that are cops and captains and commanders from that time, but no. I think Marco’s a very unique character because he is like many good cops in one, many different good cops who are men. You’d be surprised how many Mexican cops go out there every day and risk their lives for peanuts. There are many Marcos. Fortunately there are many Marcos out there who believe that they can represent a difference; which is the same way my character does.
I just love the fact that Marco is so relaxed. It’s like he knows something that we don’t. It’s as if he knew and he has presence that in 70 years we won’t be here. He knows that the worst case scenario is dying. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t mind so that’s why he’s forward.
Has it been interesting to you the way each week a different case has informed the overall story?
I’m fascinated by the way TV works in general because it’s a lot different from cinema, from movies. It represents a challenge. It represents a risk also because we don’t get to know what’s going to happen in the next episode with too much time in advance. Sometimes we find out what we’re going to do on Monday, on Friday. So there’s very little time to miss. I love soccer, I play soccer so for me it was the same way. You’ve got to think fast. When the ball comes to your feet, you better know what to do with it because if you don’t do the right play, then you will lose the ball.
How different is doing American television to doing a Mexican series?
It’s also the way it works with movies. We are all the same and we do it the same way everywhere. The only thing that changes is the budget. When the budget is lower, then that means you probably won’t have a state of the art trailer maybe. But you don’t need that to make a good show. So that’s the only thing. The only big difference is that you have a decent budget, like a healthy budget, then you can take time to shoot. You can take your time. You don’t kill anybody in the process. You can shoot from Monday through Friday and rest two days.
Is Marco a character you can see playing for a long time?
I’m ready for everything. I’m committed to this possibility so if it happens, I’m ready. I’ve never done it before in my life so I don’t know how it would work. The longest period of time that I played the same character was the series that I’m talking about that we did in Mexico. It was a total of a couple of years. So if this goes for more than two years, then I’ll break my own record.
How did Machete Kills turn out?
I haven’t seen it. My publicist, Amy, just saw it and she was very, very happy with it. She sent me a very happy text saying that it was incredible. I saw a little bit of it because we’ve been ADRing it for the PG-13 version for TV and all that, so changing a couple of words here and there. I like what I saw. I like very much what I saw, but best of all I love what I did. I’m talking about the process. I’m talking about being in Austin shooting with Robert Rodriguez. That was a treat. It was one of my happiest times.
Are you going to do the Spanish language dub too?
No, I’m doing the Spanish language version of “The Bridge.” That’s my voice.
So in Mexico, you’re still the voice of Marco Ruiz?
Yes, I’m doing it in Spanish and that’s my voice. My father just told me, “We just saw it! After a couple of weeks we saw the first episode in Spanish!” I said, “Oh, that’s me right there.”
What kind of crazy character did Robert Rodriguez give you in Machete Kills?
Exactly, thank you. It’s really wacko but that’s the genre that he very much is an expert on. It’s fascinating, this fantastic type of crude, gory kind of filmmaking and it’s so much fun to do it. Hopefully we’ll do it again.
