EXCLUSIVE! The Beautiful Ana de la Reguera Talks A Couple Of Dicks
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By Dave Gonzales on
July 13, 2009
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You haven't seen the staggering beauty that is Ana de la Reguera since she portrayed Sister Encarnación in the 2006 Jack Black comedy Nacho Libre. Simultaneously that year she was appointed one of the faces of Cover Girl, along with American celebrities like Rihanna and Drew Barrymore. If you're a frequent watcher of HBO OLE, either state-side or in Mexico, you might recognize her from last spring's Capadocia.
Reguera is currently on set for Kevin Smith's A Couple Of Dicks, a Blacklist screenplay that stars Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan as two cops whose adventures include locating a stolen baseball card, rescuing a woman named Gabriela, and dealing with gangsters and their laundered money.
We got to talk to Ana de la Reguera, who plays the aforementioned Gabriela, the only female lead in a cast packed with recognizable names like Sean William Scott (Role Models), Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl), Guillermo Díaz (Weeds) and Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl).
The last time American audiences got to see you was in 'Nacho Libre'. What have you been doing since then?
Reguera: After 'Nacho' I went to Argentina and I did Sultanes del Sur, 'Sultans of the South'. Then I did another film with John Leguizamo. It's called 'Paraiso Travel'. It's going to actually be released here in a month in New York and Los Angeles. It's a great film. It's been at all the festivals and has won a lot of prizes. That's a very, very nice film. Then I did a show for HBO Latin America called 'Capadocia'. That show is kind of like all women. It's at a women's prison. That show did great and now we're doing a second season. It won a lot of awards. I did that. I did Shakespeare. I did theater back in Mexico, too. I've done a lot. I did another movie called 'Backyard' with Jimmy Smits. Then I'm doing 'A Couple of Dicks'. So I've been going back and forth. I did a pilot for ABC called 'Empire State' with David Norse and Michael Nouri.
So you've been really busy.
Reguera: Yeah. I have been really busy.
How did you get involved with 'A Couple of Dicks'?
Reguera: Well, I went to the audition and I got the part. It was one of the auditions that you go to and then a week later they told me that I got the part. It was great. I was really surprised. I never thought that I was going to get it.
Had you been a fan of Kevin Smith films before auditioning?
Reguera: Yeah, I was. It's funny because I love all the comedies, all these '80's comedies. I think that's why I liked 'Nacho Libre'. I know American humor because I grew up watching all those films. I grew up watching Kevin Smith. My sister, she's a director in Mexico. She's studied to be a movie director and so she was a big influence on me. She loved Kevin Smith and so I knew who he was. When I went for the audition I knew what kind of director he was. He's great. I really like him. I really enjoyed going to the set and talking to him a little bit. I felt like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I'm working with this guy that I really like.'
He says that you do a very good impersonation of the newspaper boy from 'Better Off Dead'.
Reguera: He did? Yeah. Like I said, I grew up watching all those films and 'Better Off Dead' was one of my favorite ones. In one of the scenes Bruce [Willis] suggested that I should improv what happened to me. Originally, in the script I wasn't saying anything and that was actually my first scene in the movie. So, Bruce and Kevin talked a little bit and they said, 'Well, you should say everything that happens to you in Spanish.' So I said, 'You know what, I've been in a trunk all day. They killed my sister and I was crying.' I was like, 'I was in a trunk for two days, two days.' So then when we cut I said, 'Two dollars! Two dollars! Give me my two dollars.' I don't know why, but the way that I said it reminded me of the movie. Kevin was laughing. He said, 'I can't believe that you're Mexican and you know that.' I said, 'Yeah, I grew up watching all those films and I love them.'
You guys are shooting in New York right now?
Reguera: Yeah. I'm in New York right now which I'm really enjoying. I lived here when I was sixteen. I was an exchange student here in uptown New York and now I'm back here. It's summer and I don't have to work every single day so I'm enjoying the city and the shoot and it's been perfect. It's been amazing going to the set and being with all those great guys and being the only girl. It's so great [laughs].
In the film, your character's name is Gabriela. Can you tell me about her?
Reguera: They're trying to find a baseball card. Some guy says, 'Well, I'll give your baseball card but you have to give me a car that I'm looking for, a Mercedes.' So I think they find the car and they find me inside of the trunk of the car and that's how my story starts. They have no idea who I am. I don't speak any English. I'm in deep trouble and they don't know what's going on with me. I guess I'm in trouble because this huge band of bad guys are following me. That's my character pretty much. I was a mistress of a very important bad guy in Mexico and that's why these guys are following me and that's how I get them in trouble.
Are you allowed to say if the bad guy is Guillermo Diaz?
Reguera: No, actually it's not. We never see that guy. I just talk about that. He's another character. I can't tell you too much of the story of course which is why I'm trying to explain it but not really reveal everything.
Do you and Guillermo get to spend some time together onscreen?
Reguera: Yes, we have. We haven't done any scenes yet. I think we're going to do them in a week. I have a lot of scenes with him.
Do you get to kiss Bruce Willis would be the big question, I suppose?
Reguera: [laughs] No, I don't. In the story he doesn't like me much. It's more Tracy [Morgan] is interested in me than Bruce. He has other issues in the movie. But they rescue me and they're with me all the time. I'm with them all the time. But no, he's not that interested.
Is there a lot of improv on the set?
Reguera: We do, we do. Bruce actually improvises more than Tracy or any of them. He likes to try different things. He likes to say what he thinks and says, 'Why don't we do this or that?' He's always worried about doing the best and trying to find the funniest thing in the scene. So we're always trying different things. Tracy is just naturally funny and just looking at him is funny. He's just funny. But they have a very different style and I think that's working very well.
There are so many fantastic people in this movie. What's the atmosphere on set, more familial or businesslike?
Reguera: Well, I think it's both of them. I think we're having fun but they're very professional. They're trying to do a very good film. I was just talking a little about that with Tracy. He had to do an emotional scene and he said, 'How do you do that –' because I've done a lot of drama. I think that doing comedy is so hard. You have to be so real. He has to be very focused and for me it's really hard. So they also have to be very concentrated all the time and be serious about it. So it's both of them. Everyone wants the story to work. All of us want the story to be a hit. But also everyone is chill and we all have fun and it's nice.
A Couple of Dicks is still shooting now in the New York Area. The best place to get up-to-date snippets at this time is on Kevin Smith's Twitter account.
You can find more information on, and pictures of, Ana at her official website AnaDeLaReguera.net.
You can follow me on Twitter - @Da7e - or, alternatively, you can join the "People Who Hate Dave Gonzales" Facebook Group.
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Tags: Cop Out, Text Interview |
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