You grow up Latin in this country and you're a third class citizen from the word go, and so you have to deal with everything around you from that point of view and trying to feel entitled. John Leguizamo More Quotes by John Leguizamo More Quotes From John Leguizamo Some kids are fine, but often I don't like what I see in child actors. My kids are young and they are already showing an interest, so I have to try to discourage them, squash that in them. John Leguizamo squash kids children I keep my kids out of the whole business entirely. Allegra and Lucas are five and six and I'm not interested in them doing any acting at all. I don't want my kids in show business. I keep them as far away from my work as possible. John Leguizamo acting want kids You have the hilarity and the great production. These films are distinctive because they are not just topical, they tell good stories and they let scenes play out physically. Apart from the dialogue, the characters also have a non-verbal existence, for example with Scrat. John Leguizamo example play character We see them [animals] as the Ice Age is ending and we know that actually in the long run, they're not going to make it. And there's something beautiful about that, beautifully sad. The way the characters are woven together in the film adds to the emotion because they need each other. The message is that it doesn't matter what species you are, you can still love each other and that is a fantastic message. John Leguizamo running beautiful character I walked around my apartment with food in my mouth asking myself: "How do I come up with this voice?" Then I found the voice. I called the director and said on the phone: "Guess who you're talking to Chris? Sid, that's right Sid!" And that's how I came up with the voice. That's a true story. John Leguizamo phones voice talking Yes it did really. It was very exciting to find that my energy could be directed into something more useful and positive. I was starting to get panicked. I was thinking 'what am I going to do with my life?' I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Then I became crazily obsessed with acting. I suddenly had a work ethic and then everything changed completely for the better because I knew what I wanted to do with my life. John Leguizamo work-ethic acting thinking In Moulin Rouge I could not change the name of Toulouse-Lautrec obviously to Toulouse-Lautrec- Martinez. But in ER I did that, my name is Dr Victor Clemente, so sometimes it is possible. John Leguizamo drs names sometimes Acting is kind of a calling for me so I'm just happy to be there and do great work. John Leguizamo acting kind calling I've been hurt so many times I don't have the balls for it anymore. John Leguizamo ive-been-hurt balls hurt You can't really walk anywhere. Where are you going to go? Everything closes at a certain hour and it's a highway with bars on it; that's what it is. John Leguizamo hours bars certain I love cartoons. So when they came to me to make Ice Age and this sequel, I was so happy. John Leguizamo ice cartoon age That's the happiest I am, when I'm doing great work. John Leguizamo great-work I think as you mature as an actor things open up to you in a lot of ways, especially if you do work on yourself. John Leguizamo up-to-you actors thinking The difficulty of being a Latin kid, a Latin man in this country [U.S]. John Leguizamo latin country kids Tennessee Williams, one of my favorite playwrights, [lived] down there. You always heard about the Keys and how amazing they are and, well, it's like a highway with some bars on it. John Leguizamo bars tennessee keys I was always writing. I was writing in high school because it was a really competitive school for class clowns; I used to have to write all of my snaps and my disses the night before and then act like I was making it up the next day. John Leguizamo writing night school My mom [comes] to see my shows because she's so proud, but I'm talking about losing my virginity, my ex-wife and our sexual problems, and she's sitting in the front row smiling. I just go, "Mom, you can't sit in the front row, you can't smile. You have to go way in the back and dress in black. If I see you it's like you're breaking in when I'm having sex with my wife. It's just wrong." John Leguizamo mom talking sex So many people, my friends and family, were all saying, "You're so funny. Why don't you become a comedian or an actor?" But it wasn't a reality at the time, it wasn't a road that Latin people were accepted in. John Leguizamo latin reality people I did an HBO movie called Undefeated that I directed. It was too hard. John Leguizamo undefeated hard hbo The beautiful thing about acting is that you can go your whole life if you stay current and you stay fresh. John Leguizamo currents acting beautiful
