In Seven Cemeteries, a recent parolee (Danny Trejo) gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman's ranch from a ruthless drug lord.
The movie also stars Sal Lopez, Samantha Ashley, Efren Ramirez, Vincent M. Ward, Lew Temple, Richard Esteras, and Maria Canals-Barrera, and is every bit as delightfully bonkers as it sounds.
You don't need us to tell you that Trejo is an icon and his many credits include the likes of Con Air, Machete, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Breaking Bad, and Dusk till Dawn. Earlier this week, we had the good fortune to sit down with Danny to discuss his role as Bravo in this action-packed supernatural romp from filmmaker John Gulager.
During our interview, Trejo reflects on his extraordinary career, revealing what brings him back to this genre again and again. And, for this project, he talks us through the unique experience of playing the character and what it was like seeing his son star as a younger version of him.
You can check out the full interview with Danny on Seven Cemeteries in the player below.
It's such a pleasure to speak to an action legend. I had so much fun watching Seven Cemeteries, so what did you enjoy most about leading your own undead posse as Bravo?
Well, I really loved this movie because it was a good fill of action, humour, love, and a good mix. It wasn't just all a love story or a vampire movie. It was the same thing as when we did From Dusk Till Dawn; first, it was a gangster movie but also a vampire story. This is just a rollercoaster of different genres.
We've seen you in some all-time great action movies, but what is it that keeps bringing you back to the genre?
I love any kind of movie, but right now, I love action movies and I love proving that at 80, you can still do them! From there, I just read a script and if I'm having fun with a script, I'll say, 'Yeah, let's do it.' When they gave me the script for this one, it was just like, 'Absolutely.' It was a fun script and a fun movie.
I've seen you in so much but you've racked up nearly 500 credits on IMDb. What does it mean to you to continue exploring your passion for acting and to come on board a film like this and have fun?
You know what, I think the making of new friends, the making of new locations, and it's like a vacation. People say, 'Are you ever going to take a vacation?' I'm on vacation! What are they talking about? I'm playing a vampire. It was funny, I remember doing a film called The Ridiculous 6 with Adam Sandler and it was me and Nick Nolte sitting in the tent they had with air conditioning. The studio had snacks and this guy comes in and says, 'Man, you guys are still working? When are you going to retire?' [Laughs] Nick looks at me and goes, 'Retire from what? We're sitting down, idiot!' I laughed and laughed. 'We're playing cowboys, okay? We're doing what we did when we were six.' He kept throwing this guy...I'm hysterical and it's so true. I'm not mixing cement. [Laughs] I've done that!
This is a fun movie as you said and you get to explore the supernatural. What did you enjoy about that side of things?
It's kind of like, there's definitely something out there, you know what I mean? We've just got to make sure we've made friends with it, whatever it is. This movie is just a fun ride. You're gonna laugh, you're gonna cry, you're gonna be scared, hope for the bad guy...or good guy...but what a minute, he's a zombie! But he's a good guy. So, it's a crazy kind of movie. I just had a lot of fun doing it.
It must have been pretty unique to have co-stars made up on set like zombies. Those must have been some weird days on set...
It was unbelievable. And my son, Gilbert, plays me as younger. That was unbelievable. Then he was second unit director so that was kind of cool. When he was playing me as young, they had to put this huge tattoo on him that I've got, right, and he says to me, 'You were really dumb, dad. Couldn't you have went with a rose?' [Laughs]
Seven Cemeteries will be released in theaters and will be available on Demand and on Digital October 11.