It's not easy to direct in another language, especially comedy.
— Eugenio Derbez
Executives in Hollywood are missing a lot because they don't want to watch other cultures.
I love breaking stereotypes.
To try to crack into Hollywood, it's a dream come true.
Drama is more universal. We all cry about the same stuff. But comedy is very specific: It depends on where you were born, how old you are, your social-economic status. It's very complicated to make people laugh.
The first time I came here to the U.S. to start a career, it was in 2002 or 2003. Since then, it's been so, so hard.
I wanted to be a dramatic actor. I never realized I was funny until I was 20-something.
I have way more freedom in Los Angeles and in the U.S. But it's funny because when I have a meeting with producers or people from the industry, we go to a restaurant to meet someone, and nobody knows me. But all of the sudden, the entire kitchen comes out, and they start taking pictures with me, or at valet parking.
'Instructions Not Included' is proving that there is a huge Latin market that needs a special project. They love seeing their own people; they want to see themselves onscreen. In my case, I know them pretty well. I know what they laugh at. I think it's going to open a lot of doors, this movie.
There are two worlds here in the U.S., especially here in Los Angeles. All the Latinos have watched my shows for 30 years, but Americans haven't seen them. So I am living in this world where I am a huge star for part of the population and a nobody to the other part.
I would always direct my own stuff in Mexico.
I'm just trying the American dream. To work here in the U.S., you have to commit and be here. For many years, it was back and forth, back and forth, and it didn't work. But I'm always open to working in Spanish.
I've learned that when I'm directing, I hate when people are always questioning everything and trying to give me directions.
I think I'm ready to bring my style to a comedic movie as a director.
I probably have a hidden issue, because before 'La Misma Luna' in 2007, I hated working with kids. But after that, I learned so much about how to handle a kid that I liked it. And then came 'Instructions Not Included,' and it was like, 'OK, now I think I've got it.' Life just kept bringing me projects with kids.
I've wanted to come to the U.S. since I was 8 years old. Every single year, my mom and I watched the Oscars. I always told her, 'I want to do that when I grow up. I want to tell stories; I want to be an actor and director.'
My mom was a soap opera queen in Mexico and Latin America. I started acting because of her.
When I started coming to the U.S., they were offering me only the typical stereotypical roles: the druggard, the criminal, the gang member, or in the best-case scenario, the gardener or the cook. I was fed up with all these roles that were always the same. And I promised I would try to change the image of Latinos in Hollywood.
When I walk down the street, even here in the U.S., they are always saying my catchphrases of my characters, and they shout at me with my catchphrases.
Yes, everyone thought I was crazy when I moved to the U.S. after having had a very successful career in Mexico. It was like Adam Sandler turning his back on Hollywood and going to China to start all over.
This country was founded by immigrants... I don't see Mr. Trump looking like an Apache, so all of us, we are immigrants.
I've learned that you never have to think about how to make money. You need only to focus on what you think is going to be a good movie or what's a movie I'd like to watch as the audience.
In Mexico and Latin America, everything is big: Bigger emotions, bigger reactions. Here in the U.S., everything is more natural, more grounded and down to earth.
Instead of being with my family, I was spending a lot of time trying to start all over again, from zero, in another country. I couldn't take it anymore, so I went back to Mexico and said, 'I'm gonna do my own stuff.' So, I did my movie that I was trying to do for many, many years, called 'Instructions Not Included.'
If you're always waiting for a producer to hire you... your chances are really, really small. I've been knocking on doors and asking for a job for many years, and my career really changed when I decided to create my own material.
Who doesn't want to have a yacht? But I would prefer to invest my money in something else. But I love them. I just wouldn't buy one unless I had a lot, a lot of money.
Goldie Hawn was my movie-star crush when I was young.
Pantelion and Televisa can reach my core fan base better than anyone, and with the distribution expertise and brand recognition of Lionsgate, I know we can build on the crossover audience that we began to reach with 'Instructions.'
