I remember a couple of years back when "Grindhouse" was just starting its marketing campaign. The very first trailer was basically the fake "Machete" trailer. I thought it looked amazing and was horribly disappointed a few weeks later when I learned that "Machete" was indeed just one of the fake trailers that would play in between the two features ("Death Proof" and "Planet Terror").
But apparently I wasn't the only one. Soon there were calls from the fans to make an actual movie out of "
Machete". And now here we are... with a full length feature film opening this week!
Director Robert Rodriguez has pulled together quite an interesting ensemble for the flick, and I thought it would be fun to run down some of the faces you'll see on the screen, where you've seen them before and what you might see them in again soon!
Danny (for obvious reasons) is one of the most recognizable character actors in the business today. He's one of those guys that when he pops up on screen you instantly recognize him... but may not actually know his name.
Danny was just in the new "Predators" film which Rodriguez also produced. As a matter of fact, Danny has worked on projects with Rodriguez in no less than 11 feature films which include "Machete", "Planet Terror", "Predators", "Spy Kids 1, 2 and 3", "From Dusk Till Dawn 1, 2 and 3", "Desperado", "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" and a few other things as well.
How busy is this guy? Let's put it this way... right now he has no less than TWENTY films in either production or development. You're going to keep seeing his face for a while.
From the late 80's to the mid 90's you would have to put Steven Seagal's name up there with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the biggest action stars around. He ripped off a string of 5 straight action hits ("Above The Law", "Hard To Kill", "Out For Justice", "Marked For Death" and "Under Siege") before slowing descending into relative obscurity (there were actually a lot of people who thought he should have been in "The Expendables", which would have made sense).
One of the things that set Seagal apart from the other action heroes is that he is actually a real life bad ass. Steven Seagal was teaching Aikido in Japan (the first foreigner to have his own dojo) as a 7th degree black belt before moving back to the US where he continued instructing until one of his students, a Hollywood agent, got him the leading role in "Above The Law". The rest is history.
Seagal stays active in Aikido, as he was just one of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's instructors for his most recent title defense.
Seagal is currently working on a new television series called "Southern Justice". If "Machete" is a hit could it spark a Seagal Hollywood comeback?
Jessica Alba got her real start in television staring in the 1995-1997 television show "Flipper" and then later as the lead in the higher profile James Cameron brainchild show "Dark Angel" from 2000-2002 in which she played a genetically enhanced super solider.
She was already recognized as one of the hottest Hollywood sex symbols before even making her first legit feature film appearance which came in 2003's "Honey" and later Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City" which only cemented that reputation.
Alba went on to do the coveted role of Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman) in the 2 "Fantastic Four" feature films. Alba then made a string of films that were both critical and financial disappointments ranging from ok to disastrous. Films like "Into The Blue", "Awake", "Good Luck Chuck" and "The Love Guru" put her career into a bit of a stall.
Now she's back, and after "Machete" is done, you can look forward to seeing her in the upcoming third installment of the "Meet The Parents" franchise ("Little Fockers") and a fourth installment of the "Spy Kids" franchise.
As a 12 year old girl, Lindsay Lohan had her first leading role(s) in a Hollywood movie in a remake of "The Parent Trap" in which she played the two roles of identical twins. 5 years later she because a bona fide movie star with her hit film "Freaky Friday" (also a remake) in which she appeared opposite Jamie Lee Curtis.
The bomb "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" followed, but it didn't slow her down as the hit "Mean Girls" came next and is considered her best film to date.
We don't need to go into all the tabloid scandal stuff because you all know it and see it on the news just about every single day, but suffice it to say "Machete" comes at an interesting time in her life and career not too much unlike that of Alba and Seagal. Could a "Machete" hit signal the return of Lindsay Lohan? Time will tell and you'll be the judge.
ROBERT DE NIRO (Senator McLaughlin)
If this was Sesame Street and we were playing the "one of these things is not like the other" game, then Robert De Niro would probably be the person you'd pick out of this cast. Where as most of the ensemble are famous from another age or at interesting points in their careers, Robert De Niro is a timeless and quintessential movie star and one of the greatest of all time. But when you think about it, adding someone like him to this mix just makes this ensemble cast all the more interesting!
Despite the fact that De Niro is now 67 years old, the legendary actor shows no signs of slowing down. After "Little Fockers" (which he will be appearing in along with his "Machete" co-Star Jessica Alba) De Niro has about 17 other projects in different stages of development.
In his time Robert De Niro has done it all... but in "Machete" we might see him slashed to death with a machete by an angry mexican vigilante for the very first time. Hollywood history in the making folks!
The story of Michelle Rodriguez is the type of thing you'd make a movie about. She came across an open casting call and attended her very first audition for a little indie film called "Girlfight". She got the part and got a lot of attention from the film industry for it... the film itself ended up taking the top prize as the Sundance Film Festival that year.
You'd never stop to think about it... but Michelle Rodriguez is now one of the top box office actresses of all time. How? "Avatar", that's how. With the film now topping $2.7 billion dollars world wide, that's the equivalent of having 27 $100 million dollar hit films. It's staggering.
Rodriguez is no stranger to popular franchises having appeared in 2 of the "Fast and the Furious" films (she was even dating Vin for a while) and had a role on the insanely popular television show "Lost" (her death on the show stands out to me as probably the most shocking and surprising event the show ever had).
DON JOHNSON (Lt. Stillman)
He was one of the biggest and most recognizable television stars of the 1980's and single handedly made it cool for a while for guys to wear pink shirts and white cotton pants (how many men can do that?) by playing Miami cop Detective James Crockett on the hit show "Miami Vice".
Despite the massive pop cultural phenomenon that was "Miami Vice", Johnson wasn't able to transition into a "big" film career having only a couple of films do modestly well.
Johnson returned to the small screen with his show "Nash Bridges" which also featured Cheech Marin as his co-star from 1996-2001.
No matter what he does for the rest of his career, Cheech Marin will also be Cheech of Cheech and Chong.
Marin brings a couple of interesting connections to "Machete". As mentioned above, Marin appeared for 5 years on the show "Nash Bridges" with Don Johnson and had a small recurring role on "Lost" which also featured Michelle Rodriguez... small world isn't it?
Marin has also worked with Danny Trejo and Robert Rodriguez on a ton of films in the past including the "Spy Kids" franchise, "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Once Upon A Time in Mexico", "Desperado" and others.
So there are just a few of the faces that you'll see reflected in the mighty blade of Machete when it hits AMC Theatres everywhere this week. I don't know how good the film is (since like most of you I haven't had the chance to see it yet), but you gotta admit this is one of the most interesting ensemble casts you've ever seen. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!
