This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Eila Mell: This is Tonatiuh and you're listening to Behind The Awards.

[0:30] Bruce Gotlieb: We're in the middle of this theater season.

[0:33] Eila Mell: We are.

[0:34] Bruce Gotlieb: We're kind of in a little resting period right now.

[0:36] Eila Mell: People are taking a breather because there's a lot of new stuff coming.

[0:40] Bruce Gotlieb: So what I want to know is what you're excited about that's coming.

[0:44] Eila Mell: So here's my thing. I'm excited about a couple of things. But the thing that I'm probably the most excited about, one is new and one has already been around.

[0:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, tell me.

[0:58] Eila Mell: The Titanic coming back for another sale excites me to no end. It's so fun and so funny and I love how clever the writing is. And it's just, to me, it's one of those lightning in a bottle type of moments. It's one of my favorite things is people who are just so good at what they do. That's how that feels.

[1:26] Bruce Gotlieb: And the thing that I'm excited about that is new and I don't really know what's going to be is probably The Lost Boys.

[1:32] Eila Mell: That is exciting. How about yourself?

[1:34] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, number one for me is Dog Day Afternoon. I'm so excited. I love this movie. I actually ran into the playwright who said he's still writing it, Stephen Adly-Girgis. He's still writing Dog Day Afternoon. So, you know, I want to see his take on it and how he adapts it.

[1:55] Eila Mell: It seems very adaptable for a play because it really primarily takes place in one location.

[2:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. So, you know, I love that gritty 70s New York. I think that's so much fun based on a true story. So, you know, there's so many things that are exciting about it. Least of all the cast, which is Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

[2:21] Eila Mell: Did I say his name right?

[2:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[2:24] Eila Mell: So, that's very exciting. I am also looking forward to Lost Boys.

[2:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, and the other thing that's also exciting to me, which I know we've talked about too, I think is Proof also with Don Cheadle.

[2:36] Eila Mell: I love him.

[2:38] Bruce Gotlieb: He's so good.

[2:39] Eila Mell: And Taraji.

[2:40] Bruce Gotlieb: And Taraji and Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

[2:43] Eila Mell: Yes.

[2:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Directed by our love Debbie Allen.

[2:47] Eila Mell: That's right.

[2:48] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, it's such a good season coming up. And especially for plays too.

[2:53] Eila Mell: Right. We've been saying this season really has been, you know, plays and there's just, the drama on stage is alive and well this season.

[3:03] Bruce Gotlieb: I know. There's been a lot of drama with some of the musicals like Queen of Versailles. But, you know, hopefully that's behind us. That's some 2025. Let's move forward and, you know, look forward to, I love a great play. I mean, I think that that is just so exciting. Of course I love musicals too. But I don't know. There's something about just an electric performance in a play, right? When you get that from someone.

[3:24] Eila Mell: Oh, yeah. In a way that maybe you can't do in a musical just because of the way musicals are written most of the time.

[3:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[3:33] Eila Mell: And what do you think about John Lithgow coming back to Broadway in Giants?

[3:39] Bruce Gotlieb: It was really successful over in London and it won the Olivier.

[3:44] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[3:46] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, I'm excited to see what that's going to be. We know that it doesn't always work out, that what they love in London doesn't always do so well here. Thinking about you, Tammy Faye.

[3:56] Eila Mell: Right.

[3:57] Bruce Gotlieb: But it could be another Mincemeat.

[3:59] Eila Mell: It could be.

[4:00] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. And I think they know Roald Dahl better than they know Tammy Faye.

[4:03] Eila Mell: Well, that's true too. So I think this will be better than that for sure.

[4:09] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. And I think it's because it's an author who is, I don't want to say like in a fantasy world, but there is some fantasy to his writing.

[4:19] Eila Mell: Right.

[4:20] Bruce Gotlieb: That seems to lend itself theatrically. And I don't know anything about him personally. I just know the writing.

[4:27] Eila Mell: Right. Just his work. So that's, you know, that's interesting too because it's sort of, you know, a name that you've always known, but a new person.

[4:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Sure. So that's exciting. And I don't like going in with nothing.

[4:38] Eila Mell: I do.

[4:39] Bruce Gotlieb: I do.

[4:40] Eila Mell: Well, one of the things that I'm excited about, I probably won't get to see it unless it comes here, though, is Dracula directed by our guest, Kip Williams, starring Cynthia Erivo.

[4:49] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, Cynthia. What can't she do?

[4:51] Eila Mell: I know. Boy, she's having a great couple of years. Good for her. I mean, if anything is an indicator, I would assume it's going to come here after.

[5:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. Hopefully it'll follow that same model of Picture of Dorian Gray.

[5:08] Eila Mell: Right. And another darling that Off-Broadway transferring over to Broadway is the Jellicle Ball.

[5:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. That's coming as well.

[5:18] Eila Mell: Yeah, I'm excited about that. I want to see, I mean, Andre De Shields is worth the price of admission.

[5:23] Bruce Gotlieb: For sure. You know, I don't love cats, but I think reimagined in this way, I could love it.

[5:29] Eila Mell: Well, and I do also wonder, you know, it's going to the Broadhurst. So that's just your, depending on what they're going to do with the space, you know, just in time, isn't going anywhere. Otherwise, I think the circle in the square was, yeah, really seemed like the perfect place for it to go.

[5:45] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. But, you know, we'll see.

[5:49] Eila Mell: Yeah. I don't, who knows what they have planned? What's up there? Cat sleeves.

[5:54] Bruce Gotlieb: All right. Bug is coming, but that's, that's already playing.

[5:57] Eila Mell: So I guess we can't.

[5:59] Bruce Gotlieb: It's already playing. And you saw it already, didn't you?

[6:02] Eila Mell: I saw it already.

[6:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, but we're not going to talk about it yet because I'm going next.

[6:06] Eila Mell: This week?

[6:07] Bruce Gotlieb: In a couple of weeks.

[6:08] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[6:09] Bruce Gotlieb: So we'll talk about that soon.

[6:11] Eila Mell: Yes. We'll break down. We'll do an in-depth dive into it.

[6:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. I mean, Carrie Coon. How can you go wrong?

[6:18] Eila Mell: That's what I'm thinking. Carrie Coon. She's a special one.

[6:22] Bruce Gotlieb: So Kiss of the Spider Woman is a beloved movie and a beloved play musical. And now it's a movie musical starring our guest, Tonatiuh.

[6:31] Eila Mell: So let's bring him out and hear all about it.

[6:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Let's do it.

[6:38] Eila Mell: Well, Bruce, I'm so excited because we have a very special guest today. This is someone I really wanted to talk to. He is, I say, the star of the movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman. Let's welcome Tonatiuh to our show.

[6:53] Tonatiuh: Hi.

[6:54] Eila Mell: Hi. Thank you for having me.

[6:56] Tonatiuh: Oh, my gosh. We are thrilled to have you.

[6:59] Eila Mell: It's our pleasure. Thank you so much for making the time.

[7:01] Tonatiuh: No, no, anytime.

[7:04] Eila Mell: Well, we've managed to do the impossible and you've stolen a movie from Jennifer Lopez, who is fantastic in this movie. But Bruce and I think that this is your movie. You're so good in this.

[7:14] Tonatiuh: Oh, that's right. Walking out of the theater.

[7:18] Eila Mell: No, I guess let me before I say this, but had you known or been familiar with the movie or the story before your audition?

[7:26] Tonatiuh: Yes, I had. I was most familiar with the play adaptation. I know there's so many adaptations, right? But I was familiar with the play adaptation the most. And then once I got the green light for the film, I went back and read the book, watched the Babenco film. And then I managed to find a copy of the 1993 Chita Rivera performance.

[7:51] Eila Mell: Wow.

[7:52] Tonatiuh: Library in New York. And so I asked, I got to witness that.

[7:55] Eila Mell: Yeah. Wow. She's so special.

[7:58] Tonatiuh: Yeah. And leaving the theater. I just, I remember being like, wow. I mean, yeah. JLo's, you know, doing her JLo thing and she looks gorgeous. The costumes and all of that, that really amplify that. But I just remember being really taken with your performance and just like, this is a star in the making type of moment for you.

[8:21] Tonatiuh: Yeah. It was really special. I mean, I remember when I first got the script, I immediately felt a spiritual connection to Molina. And as an artist, it was really fascinating, the ability to get to play two different characters in two different time periods with two different styles of acting. And so the little cinephile in me was just like, oh, thank God I get to like sink my teeth into something really meaty. It was a bit of a wild ride. I'm pretty confident I was the absolute last person that they saw.

[8:49] Eila Mell: Oh, wow.

[8:50] Tonatiuh: Oh, wow. Pretty confident because it was December 20th when the email got into my inbox. And at that point, you know, it's like four days from Christmas. So nobody isn't nobody's working.

[9:01] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[9:02] Tonatiuh: And immediately after they were, they called me the moment offices open and I got flown out to New York. I did it about Fosse and a tango number. And bada bing, bada boom. It was just like, it felt like it was like, you know, you're it. And Bill and the team ended up passing. They wanted to keep hunting because Bill wanted someone in their forties. He kept envisioning someone in their forties to hold that like deep weight of longing and sorrow. And when I shaved my face, I look, you know, much younger. But I remember lighting a candle and I was like, man, if this comes back to me, it's going to, I will give it my all. And lo and behold, the next morning after I did that, I got an email from Bill.

He CC'd no one else. And it just said, "Tony, I've been having second, third and fourth thoughts about you. Can you come in and read with Diego Luna? Zoom. And you can also tell me to fuck off. Love." And I kid you not. It just was like, it just felt so spiritual. But, and I went to straight to work. I ended up losing 45 pounds in 50 days, which is crowd. I know I stopped eating. It wasn't as epic. I wish.

[10:15] Eila Mell: Yeah, I really do wish.

[10:18] Tonatiuh: It was a combination of fasting and then also eliminating all protein from my diet because I needed my muscles to atrophy. But I just wanted to ensure I knew that like in some parts of the world, or even in some parts of this country, Molina may be one of the only gender queer individuals they may ever meet.

[10:40] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[10:41] Tonatiuh: And I wanted to really also like straddle that line between masculinity and femininity to show that it doesn't matter. And that whole exists. And I also wanted them to, to be befriended by them and to get to witness their dreams and their heart and their sense of humor. Because I think oftentimes people who have phobias is just a fear of the unknown. And so I wanted to welcome them with open arms to see how vibrant and beautiful this community is.

[11:10] Eila Mell: Well, this version of the story, you know, I'm most familiar with the original movie that will, you know, William Hurt.

[11:17] Tonatiuh: Yeah.

[11:18] Eila Mell: Yeah. That, that version. This version, but it's much more your story because we see you outside, we see your home at the end. And your character says at one point, I feel like a woman, right? Something like that.

[11:29] Tonatiuh: Yeah. They think they say women are like, so incredible that I want to be one.

[11:36] Eila Mell: Right. So it's different. It hits different too. Now then in the eighties, when William Hurt did it for sure, you know, so what does it mean to you to be able to represent that in this time?

[11:46] Tonatiuh: You know, it's really special. I think that our, I really am a big believer on Kismet, right? Like things happen for a reason when they need to happen. And this story has been told now, like expanding about 50 or five decades. And so at the time when William did it, you know, you guys are friends now. But when they did it in the eighties, people forget, but it was amidst the AIDS epidemic.

[12:16] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[12:17] Tonatiuh: Yeah. And he really brought the whole production, but like his portrayal of it at the height of his career really brought back dignity to the community that was essentially under attack both in the government and like outside of it. But when we look at it now, like, I think there was a big rise of transphobia and gender queer pushback in 2024. But as we were rolling this out, our film became even more relevant and not just for those, not just for that community, but against the Latino phobia that has been on the rise as well. And so when we cast like three Latin actors in this, and when we also were centering Molina's voice and story and quite literally ending our film with her name is Molina, right? It felt to me as a human, so empowering to be able to, you know,

[13:13] Eila Mell: Welcome back to Behind the Awards. Today, we have a very special guest, Tonatiuh, who is starring in the highly anticipated film "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

[13:28] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right! Tonatiuh, it's great to have you here. Your journey to this role has been quite remarkable. Can you tell us a bit about your audition process?

[13:56] Tonatiuh: Thank you for having me! The audition process was intense. I went through several rounds, and it felt like a whirlwind. I had to showcase not just my acting skills but also my dancing abilities, which was a big part of the character Molina.

[14:16] Eila Mell: And you worked with the incredible Sergio Trujillo for the choreography, right?

[14:44] Tonatiuh: Yes, Sergio pushed me to my limits. He really helped me find the rhythm and movement that Molina needed. It was challenging but so rewarding to see it all come together.

[15:12] Bruce Gotlieb: It sounds like a fantastic experience. What was it like working under the direction of Bill Condon?

[15:40] Tonatiuh: Bill is a visionary. He has such a unique way of bringing stories to life. He created an environment where we could explore our characters deeply, and I felt supported throughout the entire process.

[16:08] Eila Mell: That's wonderful to hear. And you had the chance to work alongside Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna. What was that like?

[16:28] Tonatiuh: It was surreal! Jennifer is not only an incredible talent but also a warm and generous person. She shared so much advice with me, and I truly appreciated her friendship during the filming.

[16:56] Bruce Gotlieb: That's amazing. It must have been a dream come true to be part of such a star-studded cast.

[17:08] Tonatiuh: Absolutely! Every day on set felt like a gift. We all bonded over the shared passion for the project, and it made the experience even more special.

[17:20] Eila Mell: Speaking of special, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. How was that experience for you?

[17:40] Tonatiuh: The premiere was exhilarating! Seeing the film with an audience for the first time was nerve-wracking but also incredibly rewarding. The reactions were overwhelming, and I felt so proud of what we created.

[18:08] Bruce Gotlieb: You’ve received such positive feedback for your performance. How does that feel?

[18:28] Tonatiuh: It’s humbling. I put my heart and soul into this role, and to have that recognized means the world to me. I’m just grateful for the opportunity.

[18:48] Eila Mell: You’ve also been involved in other projects recently, like "American Love Story." Can you tell us a bit about that?

[19:08] Tonatiuh: Yes! I'm currently in production for "American Love Story," where I portray Narciso Rodriguez. It’s a fascinating role, and I’m excited to dive into that character as well.

[19:36] Bruce Gotlieb: It sounds like you have a lot on your plate! What else are you looking forward to in the theater world?

[20:04] Eila Mell: We’ve been discussing some upcoming shows, like "Titanique" and "Dog Day Afternoon." Is there anything in particular you’re excited about?

[20:32] Tonatiuh: I’m really looking forward to "Proof" starring Don Cheadle. It’s such a powerful story, and I can’t wait to see how it’s brought to life on stage.

[21:00] Bruce Gotlieb: That’s definitely one to watch!

[21:28] Eila Mell: And "Joe Turner’s Come and Gone" with Taraji P. Henson is another one that has us buzzing.

[21:56] Tonatiuh: Yes, I’ve heard great things about that production. Taraji is such a talented actress, and I’m sure she’ll bring something special to the role.

[22:24] Bruce Gotlieb: It’s an exciting time for theater!

[22:52] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us today, Tonatiuh. It’s been a pleasure hearing about your journey and your experiences.

[23:20] Tonatiuh: Thank you for having me! I really enjoyed our conversation.

[23:48] Bruce Gotlieb: We can’t wait to see what you do next!

[24:16] Eila Mell: And to our listeners, be sure to check out "Kiss of the Spider Woman" when it premieres.

[24:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Until next time, keep celebrating excellence in theater, film, and TV!

[25:12] Eila Mell: Bye everyone!

[25:40] Tonatiuh: Bye!

[26:00] Bruce Gotlieb: Bye!

[26:25] Tonatiuh: I think it's easy to assume that Miss Jennifer Lopez is going to be attached to it. But I have this rule that I follow and I've been following it ever since someone explained it to me that they did it as well. I don't ever look at who's attached. I don't care. I just don't. I really want to focus on who I get to play, what the impact of the story is going to be, whether or not I like the story. You know, I think everything else is just icing on the cake. So once they said, you know, you got it. I was like, OK, wait, who's who exactly? I mean, obviously, Diego was going to be there because Diego got like I did the table read with him. Right. But then I started looking at the names and I was like, Oh, Tobias and a musical with Bill.

Oh, and it's OK. And Colleen. And so I looked at myself. I was like, I'm getting recruited to the Olympics. That's right. It doesn't get bigger. It does. No, not really. Like, there's just a lot of streetball of a set. I made an appearance like, I mean, I don't know. It's pretty big. And you're the central character. That's amazing. It was. It really was. And I think I've been training for this my entire life. Yeah. And I don't think it could have happened, you know, any time sooner. I think if I was much younger, I would have cracked under the pressure. I think if I was, you know, even if it was a year earlier, I wasn't hungry enough yet. But the strikes really changed me. The strikes in Hollywood were really hard.

And I think people, you know, they happen quickly. But man, it was one of those things where I was like, bro, this town wants to eat you alive. And if you get the chance to get in there and get in the ring, babe, you're going to you have to go for the knockout.

[28:12] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Well, that's good that it worked out.

[28:14] Tonatiuh: Yeah, it did then. Yeah. And I've been so grateful. And the reviews were really glorious and wonderful. And it's been a really wonderful ride to go and meet so many incredible people this year. I got to go to a couple of different countries for the first time at some film festivals. I got to meet Lucy Liu, which is great. Yeah. Coleman Domingo called me, which was also like, oh, OK. Yeah. You know, and so it feels like one of those like like a Cinderella story a little bit.

[28:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, absolutely. Hundred percent. And just wait, because once it starts streaming, so many more people are going to see it.

[28:50] Tonatiuh: Oh, God. The one thing that I don't love about this whole process is like I enjoy hiding behind characters. I enjoy not being known. Right. And although I love our fans, I think they're amazing and they've been nothing but sweet, sweet angels. A part of me was like one of that one time I was in the restroom and at the urinal, someone goes, hey, I take a picture and I was like, oh, can I zip up first? Yeah, really? Right. What second? You know, you get that meteoric, like all of a sudden from one minute to the next, it's like everything explodes. It's like Notting Hill when Julia Roberts opens up the door of that apartment. All the flashbulbs are outside and it's just that must be what it feels like.

It feels it has its moments right now. It currently feels like Hannah Montana. OK, it feels like Hannah Montana when I put the wig on and I got a nice tux. Yeah, that's good. And I'm walking the carpet. Then all of a sudden it's like, oh, my God. Hey, how are you? Right. Fortunately, I look distinct enough from Molina where it takes people like a like two seconds.

[29:59] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. No. And in that time I run. No, I'm just kidding. But you know where some cities are worse than others. New York, baby. New York. They recognize me.

[30:12] Tonatiuh: Yeah. That's a theater town. That's right. Like and it's such a precious IP and with like Cheetah and. Yeah. So that in New York, I'm like one famous in L.A. I'm not I'm not your waiter, I promise.

[30:26] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, everyone's famous in L.A. everywhere you go to the mall and you see 100 people you recognize.

[30:31] Tonatiuh: Can I tell you, though, I got so starstruck the last time I was in New York.

[30:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Who'd you say?

[30:37] Tonatiuh: OK, so I was at I think was it's the musical back when it was open. It was like their opening night. And I got an invitation, which I was so grateful for. And, you know, I'm doing an interview and people are like talking. And they people start losing their mind. I was like, well, I bet it's like, you know, Kylie or one of the Jenners or something. Right. And then I turn around and it was Tony Kushner and I started losing my mind. I was like, that is correct. We should absolutely be losing our minds over Tony Kushner. Do you know how many questions I have to ask you? What a great town that people care about Tony Kushner in that way, because nowhere else in the world probably he would go. I think we'll be like, oh, nice scarf. He wrote some movies.

[31:20] Tonatiuh: Yeah, right. But but no, I just like I'm such a I my training was in theater. My, you know, I still am a theater kid. Yeah. And so every time I come back to New York, I have to see as many shows as possible.

[31:36] Bruce Gotlieb: All right. So what was the last show you got to see? Because you were just here.

[31:40] Tonatiuh: Oh, I saw I think it's called Practice over at Playwrights Horizons.

[31:45] Bruce Gotlieb: How was that?

[31:46] Tonatiuh: I really enjoyed it. The ending was the second act was so creative. The first act was really setting up the second act. And the second act really had a good payoff. My friend, Amandla, who I did Spirit of the People, Jeremy O. Harris's sophomore play that's somewhere at Williamstown. She's in it. So I went to go support her the second I landed off the plane. I got to see the one before it. Well, I'm not cussing, but Prince Faggot. Yeah. I mean, that's the name of the play. What a great concept, though. Great. Isn't it? Is it Louis? I think it's the son.

[32:22] Bruce Gotlieb: The younger one.

[32:23] Tonatiuh: Yeah. Yeah. The pose. Right. I just thought. Yeah, I think it was the younger one. I thought that was so fun and creative.

[32:28] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. And then death becomes her.

[32:36] Tonatiuh: Oh, right. A Megan Hilty. I love her. And she was my Glinda.

[32:45] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, OK. Because she was touring with it and she came to the Pantages and that was the first Broadway performance I had ever seen.

[32:51] Tonatiuh: Oh, wow. That's a big deal.

[32:52] Bruce Gotlieb: It was. And my childhood best friend's mom worked at an Albertsons and she raised money for months to take me and her daughters to go and see it. We were in high school and I was like, you know, this nerdy theater kid. And I was so enamored by it. And I remember watching the wizard singing Wonderful. And I thought to myself, man, what a life this person must live. I want that. And they got to now we're here.

[33:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Do you think you will do some theater in New York?

[33:25] Tonatiuh: Yes. I'm currently circling the rights on a play that I will be bringing to Broadway for a debut will likely we won't probably make it this season, but it'll probably be the following season if everything goes according to my evil plan.

[33:34] Bruce Gotlieb: Can you tell us more details or is it too early?

[33:40] Tonatiuh: That's the rights haven't been obtained. It would be like, yeah, we don't want to ruin it. Yeah, no intervention. But all I'll say is it has never had an American revival.

[33:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[33:53] Tonatiuh: And it is the era that it was written. Not that it takes place in but the era that was written is 1970s 1980s.

[34:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, loose there.

[34:02] Tonatiuh: That's all you're gonna do. All my theater nerds. Good luck.

[34:08] Bruce Gotlieb: All right. Not giving us a lot but you know, that's very intriguing. Now will you at least promise to come back when you can announce it?

[34:15] Tonatiuh: Absolutely. And talk about it then? Absolutely. No, I wouldn't. I'm not going to stop shouting it from the rooftops. I'm so excited.

[34:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, excellent. So are you producing it and you're going to be in it as well?

[34:29] Tonatiuh: I'm producing it and the idea that I will be in it as well.

[34:34] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I love that. Listen, big. If Jennifer Lopez taught you nothing, it's you know, how to be a mogul, right?

[34:42] Tonatiuh: I mean, she's got. That's what you got to do, right? You want to be that level?

[34:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, she did it yourself.

[34:50] Tonatiuh: She had this it's so fascinating. You bring her up because this week and she was awarded like a woman in entertainment award and I was listening to her speech and there is something that seems to be a common theme even with Diego Luna and it is you have to build it yourself if you're going to wait for somebody to come knocking on your door you're going to starve.

[35:07] Bruce Gotlieb: No one's looking for anybody.

[35:12] Tonatiuh: No one's looking for anybody. And then everybody wants to discover you. Right. You know, you've already done it. I knew that kid.

[35:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, absolutely.

[35:20] Tonatiuh: Yeah. No, that's what you have to do. I mean, it's so fortunate that you at least have a little step up because of this movie. Now, you know, you're in a position where you can do this. But yeah, that that's the best way to do anything.

[35:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. And I think it's fun. You know, then it gives you a little bit of agency to like find something that you're passionate about and find something that's worth your time to to share your story. And I feel so, so, so incredibly blessed to have had, you know, literal or, you know, metaphoric teachers in Bill and Jennifer and Diego. Because, like, especially Bill, Bill has been arguably one of the best friends that I walked away with from this movie.

[36:03] Bruce Gotlieb: That's incredible.

[36:04] Tonatiuh: Yeah. He's a really good man who I'm like, even just checks in or like whenever he's in Los Angeles, like, let's grab a drink. Like, it's very easy. It's been a it's been a pleasure of a lifetime to be able to work on one of his films. And it's great because now maybe perhaps when you get this show, you know, you can give a hand up to someone else who, you know, who you knew and, you know, yeah, I ready.

[36:31] Bruce Gotlieb: But I think that's a that's a that's the ecosystem, right? Like, I love it on again, theater kid through and through, you know, so I was going to say, especially from the heart of a theater person.

[36:42] Tonatiuh: Yeah, that's that's the community that you grow up in. That's why you love it so much.

[36:47] Bruce Gotlieb: That's exactly right. And I think that's one of the reasons why I've kind of become a little disenchanted with Los Angeles is that L.A. or New York has a centralized area where your friends are at. Right. People that you've made art with are in this space every day, Tuesday through Sunday, either watching it or they're performing in it or. And I've been invited a few times to do some small performances. I think I did a fundraiser for the classic stage and I got to meet a bunch of incredible people who they're like, oh, girl, I know that person. I've known them for forever. You know what I mean?

[37:25] Tonatiuh: Right. And it's it's it feels like like a kismet family. L.A.'s a little bit like that. I'm very familiar with like the like the Latino Hollywood, because we've all worked together.

[37:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[37:32] Tonatiuh: There's no centralized spot like there's whatever happened to Samuel French. Right. There should be a there should be a book. Whatever happened to Samuel French?

[37:41] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. There you go.

[37:42] Tonatiuh: But also when you're working in L.A., you're working and then you go to your trailer. It's different. You know, you're more isolated.

[37:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. You're not sure you're in a theater. You're with people.

[37:55] Tonatiuh: Yeah. Right. So your dressing rooms upstairs, downstairs, down the hall, it's you're in a rehearsal hall together. Yeah. You're you're one of your friends is eating sushi while the other one's like screaming something. Right.

[38:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. So it's a very different feel for sure.

[38:14] Tonatiuh: So other than this big project, probably I'm sure it takes up a lot of time. Do you have anything else in the works that you can speak on?

[38:17] Tonatiuh: Yeah, I've got a couple of things. A friend of mine is producing a documentary film called Big Metal Stick, and it's looking at the pole dancing world everywhere from the sex work aspect of it and its origin story all the way to its sports world where it's trying to become a Olympic sport. And so I'm one of the producers. I joined I joined them and I'm one of the producers on that film. I'm also developing a television show, which unfortunately I can't go into too much detail, but I'm currently developing that and pitching and then auditioning like normal, you know, just looking to see whatever other people are creating and jump on board to someone's project. But I enjoy writing. I enjoy singing. I may drop an album. I think it'd be fun. There's a lot of like songs that I've never been allowed to sing. And I'm like, you know what? Yeah. All right. Why not? Why not? Now's the time.

[39:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Strike while the iron is hot. Yum. So, well, we're so excited that you joined us. Thank you so much. This was wonderful.

[39:22] Tonatiuh: Oh, thank you. I really had a wonderful time with y'all.

[39:28] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay. Well, until the next time we will see everyone next time on Behind the Awards.

[39:33] Tonatiuh: Bye-bye.