00:00 I would like to do it more.
00:02 You know, I have a tour that I have to do this year.
00:05 But you have to.
00:06 [laughter]
00:07 You see?
00:08 I have to.
00:09 He's got the bug.
00:10 We got him.
00:11 We got him!
00:12 [music]
00:13 I mean, I'm just so excited to finally get it out into the world.
00:17 You know, we've been working on it for so long.
00:19 I mean, I've been writing.
00:20 My first draft was in 2018 and I've been slowly working on it, so it's been a long process.
00:25 And for the world to see this type of Latin representation, I'm just really pumped about
00:29 that.
00:30 I'm excited for everyone to see Rene act.
00:31 I remember that, you know, this is my first movie.
00:34 I'm not an actor.
00:35 Yes, you are.
00:36 Like, why are you absent here?
00:37 I mean, I'm in the music industry, but I like to direct.
00:42 And this is how I got to this film, because I'm working with Alex, who is the producer
00:47 of the Alex de Nel Ares, who wrote Birdman.
00:50 So he's writing with me and he invited me to be part of the movie.
00:55 And I read the script and said, "Yeah."
00:58 And anyways, like, they told me that they were going to start like slow, like easier
01:03 for me, you know, because I don't have experience.
01:06 So I started with the little girls and they were amazing.
01:10 And I was so like, "Oh, shit, like, they're good."
01:15 It wasn't a slow start for me.
01:18 And then later on, I started to feel more comfortable.
01:22 And everyone was so nice, you know.
01:24 So it was so easy to feel like, I don't know, like a family, very relaxed.
01:30 You know, I didn't feel the pressure of, "Oh, I'm here."
01:35 And I've been in front of a lot of people performing, so I'm kind of used to that.
01:39 Yeah.
01:40 You also have such good chemistry with the little ones from the beginning.
01:43 Like, immediately they were calling you Papi, even like off screen and everything.
01:47 And it was just, it was beautiful to see that, like, love you had.
01:50 Like, I direct my videos.
01:52 So this time I'm not directing, so I was controlling myself.
01:55 I was like, "Where's the camera?"
01:56 It's, you know.
01:57 But I was not understanding Alexandra from the beginning.
02:03 But you know, there's something that I felt when I was acting that I feel in the concerts
02:14 in certain songs that I feel it like here.
02:17 And I was feeling that all the time while I was shooting.
02:21 So that was great, you know, because it's a feeling that I want to have when I'm performing
02:27 in front of a lot of people.
02:29 Like I have it in, I don't know, three songs out of 20.
02:33 So I have to wait for that song to come.
02:36 So when I was shooting, I was feeling it every, I don't know.
02:41 It's beautiful.
02:42 Like, more often.
02:44 It's always in particular songs, but also the place.
02:48 Like when I perform in Argentina, you're going to cry because the crowd is crazy.
02:54 It's amazing.
02:55 You know, like it depends on where you perform too and the crowd.
02:58 But yes, every, these particular songs give me that feeling that I felt with your script.
03:06 And damn, I'm not tired of the music industry.
03:09 I've been for a long time, but I felt so relaxing.
03:14 I know that this was a different kind of a set and we were kind of like a family.
03:18 You had the family vibe, but I don't know, like I, I'm ready to, to start doing this
03:25 more and yeah, I've been performing for 20 years.
03:29 So I'm kind of like, yeah, let's do this.
03:31 Rene called me and he was like, Hey, I'm going to be a part of this movie.
03:36 I was like, you're acting like I need to see this.
03:40 And I just felt so honored to, to know that I would have the opportunity to work with
03:45 this cast.
03:46 We're all family now.
03:48 We're all, most of us have been friends for some time.
03:52 And more than strategy, I think it's just rare when you get to work with one people
03:58 that you, that you know and admire.
04:01 You're lucky when you get to do that, that you work with people that you've admired for
04:05 some time from afar or up close, but then also in a, in a film where you get to be a
04:12 family that looks maybe similar to your family.
04:16 It's a different feeling and I've had the blessing of being a part of another film.
04:20 My first film was in the Heights and I got to experience that and I've been longing to
04:24 feel that again.
04:25 And so to be able to do that and feel that on the set with your story out is, is a blessing.
04:33 What was so cool was that the crew, the talent, writer, director, producers, financiers, everyone
04:40 is Latin.
04:42 Everyone is bilingual.
04:43 So I would be on set and the sound guy would be setting me up and he's talking Spanish
04:47 to the grip and I'm just like, I've, as you know, as a white passing Puerto Rican person,
04:52 like I don't get to honor that part of my identity very often.
04:55 And so to be able, as you said, to be a part of this team and the fact that we were on
04:59 location I think just made it feel more like summer camp and allowed more intimacy to develop
05:05 because we could, or we would have to go to dinner together after and help each other
05:09 with shit that came up, you know?
05:11 But it was really beautiful.
05:12 I mean, even Lynette, one of our producers, always jokes that like, I just dance at a
05:18 real cake, like, you know, every moment I get to grab Lynette, I'm like, "And we going!"
05:22 And it's like, that's such a special, um, to be able to work with people that understand
05:28 your culture and understand what that's like.
05:30 I loved how bilingual it was, actually.
05:32 I've never had that experience.
05:33 You know, I've been on other sets on smaller things, but the fact that sometimes I didn't
05:36 even know what language I was speaking on and I was talking to like a white American,
05:39 I was like, "I'm sorry."
05:40 I actually got most of that, but it was fine.
05:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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