What was Joaquin like to work with?

Well when Joaquin commits, he commits. He’s amazing. Honestly, he’s my favourite. He pushed me and challenged me in ways that I wouldn’t have been ready for before. But he’s my dream co-star. If every other movie was with him and James I’d be a happy girl.

I really mean that, too, because they really took care of me and as goofy as he seems, Joaquin really commits on the day and you are there and you’d better hang with him or else you’re going down. It’s always about the work and that’s what I liked about working with him, everything is about the work. And we just never derailed from that.

And how was it working with James Gray?

He’s actually very sweet. I knew he was a big action director and I was thinking I was going to meet this big old macho man. And it was like Uh-oh. But he is very softly spoken, very sweet. He was very eager to make a good independent film, as I was. Because I’ve just finished The Cleaner and I’ve been bitten by the drama bug (laughs).

How did you first start acting?

It was first year of college, I was young and I wanted to go into maybe like art history, I was like ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ and then I met a manager and he said ‘why don’t you get some head shots and I’ll send you up for commercials’ because you know, I live in LA so it was all right there.

And I thought I would make some quick money over the summer but I never got a commercial and I was at auditions all the time, I was like ‘this is terrible.’ but he did end up sending me up for a film. I was like ‘but I’ve never done a film’ and he said ‘look, just go along and see what happens.’ and it was Children of the Corn 5. Need I say more? No, OK. Number five!

It was a terrible B level thriller horror movie and I went up for it and I ended up getting it which was so crazy and I did it and I ended up being really awful, but I got bitten by the bug and I was like OK, I found something I want to pursue and that challenges me’ so I quit school and started acting. So it happened like that.

But it wasn’t something that happened overnight and I always say if I wrote an autobiography right now it would be called kicking and Screaming’ because I feel like I was kicking and screaming the whole way, but still doing the hard work though, that was the interesting part, I’m not sure why I make it so hard for myself.

You’re the face of Revlon..

Yes I am and I enjoy it because it is such a great company to be a part of. I just went to the 14th Revlon Run Walk, we do research for women’s cancer, breast and ovarian, and that makes me feel really great, because it’s not just about cosmetics, there’s some substance to it.

Is it fair to say that you’re not out and about at every party and premier? You don’t seem to court publicity..

I don’t think of myself as a celebrity, I think of myself as an actress, which is why I don’t need to go to the parties. If I go to a party I always go to one that means something to me or that is business. Like my own premier or supporting a friend. I don’t go down Roberts Boulevard (a very popular street in Beverley Hills).

Usually if you open up any tabloid magazine you’ll see all those girls walking down Roberts Boulevard and you can buy those things anywhere else, but the paparazzi hangs out there and so you gets all these girls in LA wanting to have their picture taken and be in magazines.

But I stay away from those areas and that’s why you don’t see me out dining with my boyfriend. Because that’s ridiculous that there are paparazzi hiding in the bushes taking photos of you.

So I don’t ask for it and I don’t stumble out of clubs at 4 o’clock in the morning. I get properly drunk at my own home (laughter).

Do you feel that there are enough good roles for Latin American actresses?

There’s something like 40 million Latin people in America and when you see films we are not fairly represented and that’s frustrating.

Yes, there are gardeners and maids but there are also bankers and college graduates and professors. So it’s all about representation and I don’t think we’re there quite yet but it is getting a little better.

And I’m OK with playing a gardener or a maid because that’s is accurate in a lot of places. But I also want to play the banker and the college graduate and the professor. So it’s about fair representation and I don’t think we’re there at all.

How do you stay in shape?

I work out five days a week and sometimes six or maybe I do a little hiking at the weekends. But I work out so that I can be healthy and so that I can eat everything that I want. I just had a plate of French fries. So I’m constantly bargaining with myself and saying, ‘Right you had a plate of French Fries, so you’ll be adding 30 minutes to the treadmill!’ Also I love dessert and I’m not giving that up!

We Own The Night is released 14th December

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