Luis Guzmán

“12 Angry Men, directed by one of my mentors, Sidney Lumet. It's incredible. The editing, the performances, woo, to die for.”

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I didn't have to go too far for this one. You ready? Boom. Cooley High. It's like a little bit of like my old school kind of flavor. Chicago, 1964. It wasn't shot in 1964, just so you know, don't be confused, but catches that era. Cooley High. Okay, moving on, moving on, moving on.”

“Dr. Strangelove. Stanley Kubrick, okay? The first time I heard about Stanley Kubrick, I want to tell you, people, was a movie called Spartacus. Can you believe that Stanley Kubrick came in four weeks before shooting that movie and he shot that movie? And he didn't want any credit for it, and it was one of the most amazing movies. But this movie right here, Peter Sellers, wow, George C. Scott, what, you know, James Earl Jones. I mean, all these guys when they were they were young, they were coming into their prime. But this is a great movie. Gave me something to think about.”

“The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, with someone who I highly look up to in my industry, Edward James Olmos. First time I saw Edward James Olmos was on the stage here at the Winter Garden Theatre. I was a teenager. He was in the play called Zoot Suit, and Pachuco, his character, that became kind of like my spiritual guide. Great movie, a must-watch. I don't think it got all the recognition that it should have gotten, but I'm giving it the recognition by Luis Guzmán. Edward James Olmos, thank you for this. Love you, Papa.”

“Dreams come true, they can happen to you. Punch-Drunk Love. Let me tell you, Paul Thomas Anderson, thank you, thank you, thank you, brother, for putting me in some of the most genuine, beautiful movies that you have done. The thing about Punch-Drunk Love, it was the first time that I met Adam Sandler. I was like, what, Adam Sandler doing a Paul Thomas Anderson movie? Yep. After five minutes, you forget that it's Adam Sandler because you get into this guy Barry and his like six sisters and you just feel for him. Showed up every day, kept doing take after take after take after take after take. Made it happen. We became not friends, we became brothers. You know, I even I even shot a scene with his dog, Meatball. But what a great movie, what great performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman, thank you, brother. Thank you for your gift.”

“My favorite all-time film, I'm going to tell you, On the Waterfront. So I got to find it, I gotta find it, give me a second. Wow. Let me tell you something. When I was a kid growing up, every Sunday afternoon they used to show The Million Dollar Movie on Channel 9, and I would be in my room and my dad would be in the living room, and I would hear that theme song come on, cuz I knew like Million Dollar Movies was like the best of the best, the cream of the crop. And the first time I saw this movie, oh my God, I'm almost going to cry. First time I saw this movie, I was a kid and I watched the performance that Marlon Brando gave. Listen, overall cast in this movie was incredible, you know, the story, the directing, but man, Marlon Brando, oh man, this is beyond a must-see, okay? You got to run an IV and just hook this movie. This is unreal. But many, many years ago, I'm on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, Saturday morning around 11:00. Me and my buddy Izzy were walking down the street, just talking. This guy comes out of this children's hair cutting place, and my buddy goes, "Yo, that's Marlon Brando." "Get out of here, Marlon Brando." "Bro, that was Marlon Brando." And I went up to him and I said, "Please forgive me, I'm not, I don't want to disturb you, I just wanted to tell you thank you, thank you for what you do." That's it. And as I start to walk away, he said, "Young man, excuse me." And I come back and I go, "Yes?" And he goes, he points at me, "And you do very fine work." He said that to me. Come on, man. On the Waterfront, people.”