Theatres everywhere are playing the film Armoured starring Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno and Amaury Nolasco. On a recent visit to Miami I was able to snag an interview with the rising star. You may not have heard his name a lot, but rest assured you have seen him on the big screen in the likes of Transformers, Street Kings, Max Payne, 2 Fast 2 Furious and many more. He was recentely in the television drama Prison Break. And, you are likely to see a lot more of Amaury (pronounced Amoré) in the near future as he will be playing opposite Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary.
How did you get the role in Armoured and can you tell our readers what the movie is about?
Amaury: I was in the middle of shooting Prison Break in the third season and I got a call to read this script. I read it and fell in love with it. Everyone knows me from my role on Prison Break and I wanted to do something completely different. My role on Prison Break is a guy who is loyal, nice guy who is passionate about his wife. With this I get to do something dark and completely different. This guy, his name is Palmer, who was hanging on the wrong side of the law for many years. He was in gangs, in prison, all kinds of crimes committed. Then he gets rehabilitated and finds God. Now he is a man of God and religion and has beefed up his moral values. Now he is in a situation where 42 million dollars has come around and there is this opportunity. He is not making much of a living as a security guard for this armored car company. If the plan works out everything will be great and no one has to get killed. What happens is next is not good. And I am not going to give you any more because that would give away the whole movie.
What was it like working with Director Nimrod Antal?
Amaury: Working with Nimród Antal was great. I have seen other movies by him and saw he has an ability to grab suspense very quickly and keep you on the edge and that is what this movie does. You cannot anticipate what is going to happen in the next scene. It really keeps you on the edge. That is one of the things I love about Nimród and I would work with him in a heartbeat any time. He is young, passionate and very hungry for the project. He is an actor’s director and gives you the green light to explore and run with your character.
What was it like on the set working with Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne and Jean Reno?
Amaury: Working with some of the other actors was like going back to school. Guys like Reno, Dillon and Fishburne are guys I grew up watching and admiring as actors so for me it was a dream come true and it was like going to school. I had a scholarship in tennis and I always played my best matches with players who were better than me and with more experience. I had to always bring my A-game with me and it was just awesome. We had great fun on set with them too, somehow the chairs always ended up in a circle around and we just shoot the shit. I asked all these guys what their favourite movies were and they came up with the most obscure movies I have ever heard of.
Were there any funny things that were going on during the filming?
Amaury: We did not play jokes on each other because they are older and have a different sense of humor than I do and because of that you did not want to piss them off. They were not pulling pranks on any one else either so you respect that. There were no divas, everyone kept everyone in check. These guys are big award winners and they treated us young guys just like everyone else and that is what professionalism is all about.
You had to have some fun on the set. Did you get to drive the armoured car?
Amaury: I did not get to drive the armored car. I was the bitch in the back.
You have played in a lot of film genre’s. Which did you like the best?
Amaury: I cannot pick between drama, comedy or action as my favorites right now. I have done each and I enjoyed all of them. I think I could do one for a while and then I would want to do another. I admire Tom Hanks for his ability to jump from one to the other. I would love to emulate that ability. I would love to do a romantic comedy some day. I would also love to do a drama character piece and I am a freak for action movies. I was so blessed to have met and worked with Bernie Mac. He for the longest time was infamous for not being known and then Kings of Comedy catapulted him and he taught me a lot about keeping yourself grounded.
I understand that you will be in an upcoming movie in 2010. Can you tell me a little about it?
Amaury: The Rum Diary with Johnny Depp is a movie about a book by Hunter Thompson. It takes place in the 1960’s in Puerto Rico, I got to go home and shoot there it was beautiful. It is about a character played by Johnny who is a journalist who goes to Puerto Rico to get away from what he was going through. He gets a job at this newspaper and gets involved in this love triangle and the whole world of
battery, drugs and alcohol and also this social political movement that is going on. That is where I come in as I play the son of a very affluent business man in Puerto Rico. We are trying to lure Johnny into writing for some clearly illegal business that we want to do. I play a very mischievous silver spoon kid.