Raoul Trujillo dishes on typecasting, Apocalypto and shamanism.
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Santa Fe native Raoul Trujillo is a dancer, choreographer and actor, perhaps best known for his role as head baddy, Zero Wolf, in Mel Gibson's
Apocalypto
. Several films in which Trujillo has taken part will be screened at the Festival, including the all-Santa Fe production,
The Lives of Angels
as well as
The End
, a short he produced with several other New Mexico filmmakers. He also will host, along with Ali MacGraw, the Milagro Awards ceremony.
SFR: I'm curious, as you hail from an ethnic background that's partially indigenous, how it's been for you having been in Apocalypto, a movie that was so controversial in terms of its historical accuracy and its portrayal of the Maya.
RT:
Well I think the controversy was more about who [Mel Gibson] is as a human being as opposed to who he is as a filmmaker. He ranted and raved one night in a drunken state and created bad publicity for the movie. Sometimes people want to say bad publicity is good publicity, but I think it hurt the film. And I am part Jewish so I had even more reason to get upset [laughs]. But in terms of the controversy over the content, it was a fictional movie set in an exotic locale and, basically, it didn't have anything to do with history other than how it looks. Mel never once said, 'This is how the Mayans were and this is what went on.' He wanted an adventure movie.
Apocalypto
is a human story set in a Mayan culture.
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But wasn't Apocalypto so controversial because such effort was made toward historical realism with the language and so on?
But when you're telling a fictional story you can do whatever you want. Imagine if everyone was attacked for making movies with, 'Oh that wasn't accurate.' At best you're able to create a metaphorical study of a period in time, based on the period of time you're living in and based on your own sensitivities to the world, the environment and what not. And he did bring attention to Mayans; he let people hear a language that most people probably thought didn't exist anymore. So on that level I think he's a socio-political artist; he brings forth the information in a fictional way and doesn't intend for it to be taken as truth. I was clear from the very beginning that I was playing a totally fictional character.
How is it, working as a brown-skin man in Hollywood, with the typecasting?
Yeah, it's true. I just had these meetings the last couple of days in Hollywood and I was asking, 'Why can't I just be treated as an actor and play all kinds of roles rather than always having to be a drug lord or, you know, Chief Passing Wind?' But there are people willing to push the envelope and, as an actor, that's all I try to do. That's why, over the last two months, I've taken part in five short films and played five totally different characters. You have to just work at it and constantly push everybody's buttons to see you in a different light.
What are your thoughts on the studio immigration to New Mexico?
It's great to see the film industry here and all my friends being able to work as editors, first ADs or whatever else. I hope to capitalize on it as well.
Anything you're particularly excited to see at the Festival?
I've heard really good things about
Miss Navajo
, which is a documentary about a Navajo beauty pageant. If you can imagine-one of the pageant tasks is the butchering of sheep. It's meant to be a real documentary, but the absurdity of the beauty pageant juxtaposed against Native culture-I've heard it's really funny.
Tell me about the films you're involved with that will be shown at the Festival.
I'm really proud of
The End
, the short that's going to be shown at the Festival. It's a post-apocalyptic story where, 50 years in the future, new tribes are formed and they are forced to become hunter-gatherers again. They are up against capitalism at its worst and this evil queen.
How does the mental process of preparing for a role change your perspective on the world?
It allows you to see that we're all human. None of us are perfect. None of us are always making the right choices. Sometimes we just make choices because of belief systems that are skewed, or prove later on to be skewed. But, ultimately, we are humans and in that human condition is the capability to be great or not.
You have had a longtime interest in shamanism. Is there a connection for you between that interest and performing?
Shamans help heal the rifts in existence. I have been exposed to it enough to have become a better communicator as to what this journey is all about. And that's the responsibility of an artist. It's not to make a shitload of money. It's to affect change in yourself and, through yourself, in the people around you. But you have to purge, you have to exorcise demons, you have to take off masks and you have to rid yourself of the voices that don't fuel authenticity and compassion. And that means you have to stop running away from pain and just jump in. From that point of view, shamanism has always served me well as an artist and as an actor.
