Illegal Tender movie brings latin flavour to the big screen!
Aug 2nd, 2007 - eurweb.com
Two-time Academy Award-nominated director and accomplished producer John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious, Four Brothers, Hustle & Flow, Boyz N The Hood) teams with writer/director Franc. Reyes to bring Illegal Tender, an ultra-contemporary action crime thriller with a Latin flavour, to the screen. Wanda De Jesús and Rick González star as a mother and son who will stop at nothing to protect one another and those they love from a team of relentless assassins.
Universal Pictures will release Illegal Tender in theatres nationwide on August 24, 2007. Illegal Tender tells the story of Latino college student Wilson Jr. (González) and his courageous mother Millie De Leon (de Jesus) fleeing from the thugs that killed his father (Manny Perez). After years of uncertainty about the true meaning behind their life on the run, Wilson Jr. and his girlfriend, Ana, (Dania Ramirez) find themselves in life-threatening danger. Wilson Jr. returns to Puerto Rico to unveil the dark secrets from his family's past.
Singleton states, "It's exciting for me to bring Illegal Tender to the screen with talented writer and director Franc. Reyes. It is something we have both been anticipating this for several years and it's thrilling to see it come to fruition. Even though Latinos drive the national box office every weekend (up to 18% of the market by some estimates), the studios are not actively making cool commercial films for this huge audience. We have a great director telling a great story with a hot cast, plus plenty of cars, romance, adventure, action and music. Illegal Tender brings a full entertainment experience that Latinos and all young people will love."
Reyes agrees, "It's a thrill having John Singleton produce this film for me. We talked for a couple of years about working together, which happens all the time in this business without it meaning much. But John is a man of his word. More importantly, he understood my desire to make movies with Latinos, to tell stories about Latinos in this country. Latin American films are finally having their day. I feel fortunate to be a part of it."
Reyes credits González as being the inspiration for the film. "One day Rick called me up and said 'People are asking me to do movies with Reggaetón music in them," Reyes recalls. "Why don't you do something? Everyday would call and ask me, 'How far did you get on the script? What's happening in the story?'" He chuckles, "If it wasn't for Rick, this story would not exist."
González describes his character as being initially unprepared to face the challenges that await him. "When you grow up in the inner-city, you have a third eye," explains González, a young actor of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent who grew up in New York. "But Wilson's a guy whose been raised in a privileged suburban neighbourhood, so he's a bit of a mama's boy-he's gotten everything he wants."
Portraying this unlikely hero became a tall, but welcomed order for González, who makes his debut as a leading man in the thriller. "It was tricky trying to balance his rage, vulnerability and fear," explains the actor, who exudes both a soft-spoken, thoughtful demeanour and the vitality of a native New Yorker. González cites his most difficult scene as the one where he is first confronted by the assassins at Wilson's home. After wounding them in a bloody, action-packed skirmish, the killers try to escape in the midst of the pandemonium. Wilson, Jr. is faced with a moral dilemma: whether or not to kill them.
Wilson realizes, the real stakes are the repercussions of letting them live, which may jeopardize the safety of his mother and his beloved younger brother, Randy, played by Antonio Ortiz.
With the dearth of roles in the film industry for Latina actresses, Reyes and Singleton were deluged with auditions from talented and deserving artists who read for the role. But it was the combination of De Jesús' pedigree and her unforgettable audition that sealed it. In the middle of one scene during her audition (in an unscripted and completely spontaneous moment); De Jesús slapped González in the face. Recalls Singleton, "When she slapped him, it was like a gunshot. Frank and I looked at each other and we were like 'Whoa, man!' Rick just took the hit and kept on going. But it pulled something out of him as they continued the scene. You really felt they were this estranged mother and son pair, and we knew Wanda had the part."
"I've loved Wanda for years," says Reyes, "and when I bumped into her a few years ago, I said to her, 'we’re gonna work together one day,' so I was really jazzed that it happened. It's always amazing when I'm sitting in front of people that are brilliant, because I'm a fan first," Reyes continues. "It was wonderful to soak Wanda in and learn from her, because she has been in this business a long time and is incredible."
Singleton agrees: "Wanda is so beautiful and so intense. One of my favourite scenes is when she sees this woman from her past and realizes the killers will pursue her soon thereafter. She communicates this tension with no words, which is so incredible. Her vulnerability and strength both show. I hope this picture does a lot for Wanda and that people discover her in a whole new way."
González's talent and choice of roles have him poised to arrive as a major leading man in Hollywood. Currently, he may be seen starring in the CW's new series, Reaper. He received critical acclaim for his star-making performance as Timo Cruz in Paramount's Coach Carter, opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Based on a true story, the film stars Jackson as a high school basketball coach, who benches his undefeated team due to their collective poor academic record. González's Cruz is the heart of the film; he portrayed a young man torn between his roots and a burning desire to achieve, both in basketball and in the classroom. In Roll Bounce, a 1970s roller skating coming-of-age comedy from 20th Century Fox, González played the role of Naps, a young Latino who takes part in the annual Roller Jam competition on the more affluent side of the tracks. González also was seen in Steven Spielberg's updated version of the H.G. Wells' classic War of the Worlds, in which he starred opposite Tom Cruise.
In the television realm, González had a recurring role on the David E. Kelly drama Boston Public. Additional television credits include guest turns on CSI Miami, CSI, The Shield, ER, Law & Order: SVU, Touched by an Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, González was trained at New York's High School of the Performing Arts, where he excelled in basketball and baseball. While in the city, he appeared in numerous off-Broadway productions at the Harold Clurman Theatre.
One of the most electrifying and multifaceted actresses working on stage and screen today, De Jesús, a native New Yorker, she galvanizes audiences with her complex and beautifully crafted performances. Her film credits include work in films such as: Blood Work, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. In it, she portrays Graciela Rivers, a woman who hires an ex-FBI profiler to solve a crime involving the death of her sister. She also stars in Joel Schumacher's Flawless, opposite Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman, in which her portrayal of De Niro's sultry dancer girlfriend left audiences spellbound. Other notable feature film work includes Michael Mann's The Insider, with Al Pacino; Charles Burnett's The Glass Shield; John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars; and Laurence Fishburne's Once in the Life.
This year, De Jesús re-teams with writer/director Reyes to co-star opposite Harvey Keitel and John Leguizamo in the upcoming New York-based drama The Ministers.
On the small screen, De Jesús had a lead recurring role as Detective Adell Sevilla, opposite David Caruso, on the critically acclaimed CBS television series drama CSI: Miami. Among her many other small screen accomplishments, De Jesús starred in the Peabody Award-winning PBS Masterpiece Theatre production of Almost A Woman, based on the memoirs of author Esmeralda Santiago. For her work on this program, De Jesús garnered an Imagen Award for Best Actress-Television.
Ramirez made her feature film debut in Spike Lee's critically lauded film The Subway Stories for HBO, which led to roles in two of Lee's other films, 25th Hour and She Hate Me. In the latter, Ramirez played the lead in a complicated love triangle. Her other screen credits include 2005's third instalment of the hit X-Men franchise X-Men: The Last Stand. Other credits include the independent feature Cross Bronx and Fat Albert. She will also be seen in Jessy Terrero's upcoming film Brooklyn to Manhattan.
This fall, Ramirez joins the cast of the popular NBC series Heroes. She has also appeared in the long-running HBO hit drama series The Sopranos.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Ramirez moved to New York when she was a girl. Ramirez was discovered in the proverbial Hollywood Cinderella style-while working retail in New York City.
Another addition to the high caliber casts Reyes and Singleton brought together for Illegal Tender was the opportunity to collaborate with musical pioneer and renowned Latin Hip Hop artist Tego Calderón. Both filmmakers greatly admire him and believe his participation was one this film's highlights.
A native of Puerto Rico, Calderón gained recognition and later achieved stardom in the Latin music world in 2002 with the underground release of a remix collection entitled El Abayarde. The unique and innovative musical art form mixes rhythmic styles from the Caribbean, Latin and American hip-hop with salsa, dance hall, bomba, rumba and the sounds of the blues from the American Deep South. Calderón's collection became an instant hit, selling a record 50,000 copies on the first day of release. His trademark vocal sound has also been heard on the albums of top international hip-hop artists, including Usher and 50 Cent, and he is the first Reggaetón artist to ink a global music deal.
Says Director Reyes, "Aside from Rick, Tego is the only other person I wrote a role for. It was completely modelled with him in mind. I've always thought his music was special, but I needed to get him for this film."
Joining Reyes behind the camera are highly skilled group of filmmakers, including director of photography Frank Byers (Boxing Helena), production designer Keith Brian Burns (Boyz N the Hood), editor Tony Ciccone (The Ministers), composer Heitor Pereira (Madagascar) and costume designer Rahima Yoba. Illegal Tender is executive produced by Dwight Williams (Hustle & Flow) and Preston Holmes (Malcolm X).