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Sitting down across from Blake Huntington and Lito Rodriguez, stars of the new Kit Wrangler blockbuster Iberian Dreams, is somewhat daunting. Huntington, star of such well-known films as The Salem Society, Under the Streetlights, and Before There Was Us, is a given. A household name and well known sex-symbol, rumours are already circling that Iberian Dreams might be just what it takes to break his Best Actor drought at the Academy Awards. Rodriguez is more of a mystery. Having mostly starred previously in Mexican telenovelas and action films, there were doubts raised about his ability to carry such a major role in a film that is sure to be an Academy darling. Despite my nerves however, I am reassured that I have prepared myself beautifully to soft launch this interview with a nice easy lead in comment about one of my favourite scenes from the movie.
“Congratulations to you both on the film! I have to tell you, I sobbed my little heart out through the whole thing. It was absolutely beautiful. And that kiss on the beach after Jordi has left the monastery to chase after Pablo! I think it might be my favourite scene in the whole movie, it’s so moving. The level of emotion was simply breathtaking.”
I thought this would be a safe topic to start the interview with. A genuine sentiment, a nod to their spectacular performances, a little buttering up of their actors’ egos, and as a bonus a neat swerve around bringing up any of the very, very steamy sex scenes in the film. Of course, because I am cursed to suffer eternally, I can tell immediately from their reactions that this was a mistake.
“Ah - thank you,” Rodriguez smiles nervously. “That is very kind of you to say.”
Rodriguez looks slightly abashed as he replies, somewhat apologetic. To be fair he is doing a better job at hiding it than Huntington is his reaction, but I suspect that’s because Huntington is not trying to hide his reaction at all. His gentle smile is a touch wry, somewhat sardonic, and perhaps just a teeny bit frustrated.
“It is a very moving scene, you’re right. A lot of feeling there. Sadly I can’t take credit for it. It wasn’t me acting in that scene.”
My gasp of shock is perhaps not the most professional I’ve ever been. It is genuine though, inasmuch as my natural predisposition for a touch of the dramatic can be considered genuine.
“What? But - that’s the kiss everyone is talking about! How could that not have been you?”
Huntington’s smile shades a bit further to the sardonic end of the scale, and Rodriguez winces through his nervous smile. This interview is crashing and burning faster than I could have imagined. I can practically feel my journalistic dreams and all the money spent putting me through college flushing down the drain. My mother will be pleased, at least. She loves getting to say ‘I told you so’.
Rodriguez takes pity on me and explains. Maybe he can see the total panic on my face, maybe he has had to explain this a million times already. Maybe both. Who’s to say. I, personally, am trying very hard not to think about it.
“Kit at first was not sure whether he wanted to include the kiss or not. He was worried it might take away from the pain of Jordi’s car accident, later on. And then when he decided to keep it we had a run of bad weather so we couldn’t do it then, but by the time we were able to reshoot Blake was already back in LA in meetings he couldn’t miss so production was struggling to work out how to get it done. I knew my friend Will was free, and not too far away in Paris at the time, and we were running on a limited timeframe so I proposed we reshoot with him as a stand-in and fix it in post production. Kit was not very enthusiastic about the idea, I think he planned to make the whole production team remain on set for another week until Blake would be free to fly back to reshoot. But in the end he decided the kiss with Will was good enough.”
“What he means by good enough is that Kit rang me immediately after they shot and left me a voicemail telling me to not even bother trying to clear time for the reshoot,” Huntington interjects. “He said a few other things, but that was the main part. I didn’t get to see the scene myself until the premier but I can see why he made the decision to leave it.”
I’m flabbergasted. Shocked. I could never have dreamed that such a beautiful kiss scene had such a story behind it.
“Wow. That’s crazy. He must be a very good friend.”
“Yes,” Rodriguez smiles. “He is.”
I’m not at all sure I should be asking my next question, considering how badly I’ve put my foot in it so far in this interview. But I’m dying to know.
“Can I ask why your partner Hernando didn’t step in? That kiss at São Paulo pride was definitely not lacking in emotion.”
Hernando Fuentes is Rodriguez’s long time partner and self-proclaimed (by Rodriguez) ‘love of his life’. An art professor at the National University of Corto Maltese, Fuentes was propelled into the public eye last year thanks to some leaked photos of him and Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s subsequent speech at the São Paulo pride parade - and the kiss shared between him and Fuentes on the main stage - went viral shortly after.
“Hernando would have been incredible in that scene. He runs lines with me for all my movies, and he always sees the true art in every script. His interpretations have always given my characters real depth and meaning. He makes every performance I do better. But he had started a new semester at work, and could not leave Mexico City just for this. And we needed someone who was tall enough to stand in for Blake.”
At this last sentence, Rodriguez’s eyes suddenly dart away to look at nothing behind me. Suddenly, baffingly, he seems nervous again, distracted.
“So your friend Will was the perfect solution. That must have been a relief - I know I’m sure glad it all worked out! He did a great job, is he an actor too? I can’t imagine a performance that good could have come from just any old friend.”
Rodriguez is no longer looking behind me, but it looks like it takes some effort. I have to strongly resist the urge to check over my shoulder to see what is so distracting back there.
“No, he’s not an actor. He is a policeman, a good one, and a very good friend of mine.”
“Oh wow, a cop! You must have known him for a long time to be so comfortable on screen together. Did you know him before you met Hernando?”
“No, I met him roughly two years after I met Hernando.”
I am trying desperately not to ask the obvious question here, so I divert to a slightly gentler question instead.
“Is he single?”
Rodriguez smiles at me and I sense that this marks the end of this line of query.
“No. He was in Paris with his girlfriend Riley, who is a DJ. She performed a series of shows at a club there, as a favour to a friend. They are very much in love.”
Okay then. Luckily, the interview progresses much more smoothly from there.