Eiza González: “It is important to know how to say no in Hollywood”

The Mexican actress establishes herself in the action film genre with the film “Ambulance” with Jake Gyllenhaal

Eiza González has conquered Hollywood in record time to become one of the most in-demand and box office Latin actresses in the mecca of cinema, where she has learned that sometimes the most powerful thing is knowing how to say “no”.

“When you reach a certain point in your career, it is very important to say no to certain characters that are reinforcing a stereotype,” says the Mexican actress in an interview with Efe during the promotion of her latest premiere, “Ambulance” , which recently reached the cinemas. González returns to the action genre, which he already dominated in films like “Baby Driver” (2017) and “Hobbs & Shaw” (2019), with a heist thriller directed by Michael Bay , known for blockbusters on the level of “Armageddon” ( 1998) or the “Transformers” saga.

In the new film, the actress plays a Los Angeles paramedic who, while trying to save the life of a police officer in an ambulance, is taken hostage by two robbers who are trying to flee in the same vehicle after robbing a bank. “I feel proud to have grown up in Mexico, surrounded by women who are dedicated to doing different jobs and careers,” explains González. “And if you analyze it, the role feels organic because in Los Angeles there are many Latinos and many women who do this type of work,” she adds.

Although she herself recognizes that it is not always easy to prosper in a world as complicated as Hollywood without giving up certain principles. “When you’re starting out you have to do things that are not aligned with your values.” “You have to pay for certain things for others,” she says.

“IN MEXICO WE GREW UP WITH 90’S ACTION MOVIES”
In “Ambulance”, González has followed the instructions of Bay, a director who remains true to his style of giving the viewer no respite with fast-paced action, chases and explosions, this time aboard an ambulance recklessly driven by Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II .

We spent 37 days shooting inside an ambulance and I rented one to prepare the character, I already understand it as if it were my home,” jokes the actress. The filmmaker has highlighted that almost everything that appears on the screen is real, there are hardly any special effects or simulations and that it was more difficult to shoot inside the ambulance that was traveling through Los Angeles at full speed than to choreograph the chases. Gonzalez confirms:

“Between the actors, the cameraman, the lighting, the audio… We were ten people in a very small space. Your stomach couldn’t even sound, you could hear everything”. About being a regular in action roles, the actress remembers that in Mexico she grew up with action movies because “in the 90s they were the ones that came from the United States.” “Not like art cinema, which now reaches all parts of the world,” she says.

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Soon the international public will know other facets of the Mexican, who already demonstrated her comedic skills in “I Care a Lot” (2020). González will be part of “Extrapolations” , an Apple TV+ series about the climate crisis and whose cast will be led by Meryl Streep and Kit Harington . She will also play the legendary Mexican actress María Félix (1914-2002) , known as “La Doña”, in a biographical film directed by Matthew Heineman.

They are very different projects,” he advances. I feel proud to be able to represent characters that change the game for Latin women and allow us to see ourselves in a different way.”