Spanish accented

It’s been a high-profile 2005 for Emmy-winning, Tony-nominated actor John Leguizamo. It started with his portrayal of a besieged inmate in the “Assault on Precinct 13” remake, continued with “The Honeymooners” and George Romero’s zombie picture “Land of the Dead,” and includes the suspense flick “The Alibi” later in the year.

But nestled among these is a foreign-language film of which he is especially proud: the Ecuadorean thriller “Cronicas,” which features the Bogota, Colombia-born actor’s first performance in Spanish.

Leguizamo, who turns 41 this month, stars as Manolo, a hotshot tabloid TV reporter who enters into a queasy contract with a source (Damian Alcazar) to get closer to the real story behind a serial killer terrorizing the countryside. To hear this multitalented New York-raised performer tell it, the experience was enlightening, grueling and reinvigorating.

Did you hang out with any tabloid journalists for research?

I went to Ecuador a month in advance and went [around] with this reporter. I would go to the morgue at 6 a.m., and then I’d see the first autopsies. Then the next of kin would come in and identify the body. Every time the parents would start to weep, I would lose it. I’d start crying and have to leave the room. You have to get a tough skin. My career is so the opposite of shutting down and blocking. It’s much more getting in touch with everybody’s pain.

The movie exposes one of the thornier sides of journalism.

It’s an indictment of all media. The fight for truth is really important, and I think criticism is good for everybody. It’s good for actors, directors, artists, presidents, governments.

Did you make the connection between Manolo’s exploitative practices and how you turn family members and friends into the characters of your autobiographical stage shows?

Truthfully, I am doing that, exploiting them for my own benefit. Don’t worry, there’s family retribution. I’ve been ostracized, disowned. I didn’t get away scot-free.

Were you expecting a challenge or a walk in the park?

[Laughs] I thought it was gonna be easy, and obviously I’m a fool, ‘cause it was so hard. I was dealing with great Latin actors. Damian Alcazar is the Pacino of Latin America and Mexico. Leonor Watling is a great freaking actress, and their looseness and freedom in Spanish I don’t have. It was days and hours of work. They got me tutors. I felt like a child. Sometimes the accents would confuse me a bit. Everything started to sound like gibberish. I would have moments where I’d go “Stop. I need people to talk to me in English right now.”

Do you see yourself diving into these waters again?

Yeah, I liked it. I’m a masochist. [Laughs] I guess it’s the romantic side of me, going back to my roots. I’m so Latino-centric, to keep doing it would be such a purist thing. There was the Italian neo-realism of the ‘50s, the French New Wave of the ‘60s, American cinema in the ‘70s, and now I feel there’s a Nuevo Latino Wave. I have to find the right role that’s not too demanding, not too verbal, you know? They have to be quieter dudes.

What did you think of Ecuador?

Ecuador’s incredible. You’ve got jungles, banana trees, wildlife with monkeys, Galapagos turtles, and the people are so warm. You really sit for hours and talk about life and philosophy. People there work to live, not like Americans, who live to work.

Speaking of working, is doing a television series still a goal?

Yeah. TV is better than movies usually now. They take bigger risks. And the other thing is, there’s so much runaway business, it’s hard to have a family. I can’t be going to Africa for five months. I don’t want to be an absent father figure. Everything is going to Eastern Europe, South Africa. It’s just too far.

Ten years ago you were part of a high-profile boycott bemoaning the absence of Latino actors in film and television. What’s the view like today?

This is our time, man. It’s changing, exploding. You’ve got Rosario Dawson blasting through the lead in big Hollywood films, Eva Mendes busting out in “Hitch,” Eva Longoria on TV, Walter Salles directing an American film, it’s incredible. It’s a very different landscape.

What’s your next one-man show going to cover?

I want it to be my masterpiece. Jon Stewart has been my idol, and I want to see if I can be a little more political, which I’ve never really touched upon. And it’s going to be about my career.

Shall we assume your showbiz colleagues will then join your family in shunning you?

Exactly. Now I’m going to be blacklisted from Hollywood. That’s going to be the title. “Blacklisted.”

-- Robert Abele