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Eiza González stars alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the must see action thriller Ambulance, which hits theaters April 8th. The Mexican actress and singer plays EMT Cam Thompson, who gets caught in the middle of a hijacking when Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateen II), desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills, asks for help from his adoptive brother Danny (Gyllenhaal). HOLA! USA had the opportunity to talk to González, who opened up about how the role held a special place in her heart in terms of Latina representation in Hollywood, working with Michael Bay, singing, and more.
It must have been awesome working with Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and it looks like you all had such a great connection. Do you have a favorite onset memory that, you know, you’ll never forget?
I mean, the whole process was just really unique, you know, there were moments that Yahya was driving and Jake was losing his mind and I was just dying laughing in the back and we have to be serious. And obviously, we’re all crammed in the back of this ambulance. And Michael was like operating the camera and then our other cameraman was our DP Roberto, so there’s like seven people in the back of that ambulance and we’re on top of each other. And you know, it felt like an experimental movie, but only that your student partners were like Jake Gyllenhaal and it was like very much a student film. It felt that way. So every day was a new challenge and I think it’s both exhilarating and nerve-wracking, but it was really, I felt very empowered by this whole process.
Yeah. And I know a lot of Latinas, especially Mexican women, like myself, are inspired by you and are excited to see someone that looks like them on screen. Does this project hold a special place for you when it comes to the way you’re representing Latinas in Hollywood?
It really does. It really does. You know, even every little thing matters. I think it’s important. And it was really powerful for me cuz I am so conditioned by society, and especially the business and just the way that the world is, you know, you open a script and you start reading and then you’re like waiting for the moment that you find like the love interest or through the male gaze. And even when we have standalone female characters, we always feel the need to sort of connecting them emotionally to give some gravitas and make people feel for them. And what I found really interesting about this character-specific is like what it really offered. The three of those characters offered real emotional vulnerability. And we don’t really talk about it much, but the hardest thing for an individual is the loss of self, even before the loss of love, and we’re meeting three people that are like lost within themselves. And that creates such empathy with the audience. And I felt like it is really powerful that we’re seeing a female Mexican woman in a character like this because we rarely get to play roles like this. We rarely do unless there is some like excuse or reason for it. And I don’t get to play roles like this quite often. So I was really honored, very grateful, hoping that even though it’s a small dent into the world, I hope that it forces people. And this conversation is really talked about when the movie comes out so it forces the industry to write better roles for us.
Definitely. And I think it’s amazing that you stood your ground with Michael Bay when it came to your character and you might have already mentioned it, but what was it about Cam that made you want to so passionately protect her?
You know things get blown out of context. And I think, you know, we never really fight. We are just two, both very spicy people. So it seems like we’re fighting, but we’re just like having a casual conversation about what we want and you know, it’s not like I had to fight him on some concept of like, ‘yeah, I don’t think what you’re doing.’ It was just more about me being vocal. Like ‘this is crucial in the scene’ or ‘this moment is crucial to make sure that she’s not a cartoon or a one layered person. How do we bring this?’ So it was more of creative conversations than anything, but it really is, you know, when you’re playing a real person, people that have really been glaringly obviously, the saviors of the whole society, more than ever in the last three years, you really have to do them justice and honor them and do it right. And so a part of that is allowing the information that they gave me to bring it into the role and really bring that to the screen and not let the Hollywood version sort of pierce through, and make it as grounded as possible.
So we know you’re a talented actress, but you’re also an amazing singer. Are we gonna hear your voice anytime soon again?
I don’t know. I have a love-hate relationship with music, you know, it’s, it’s hard, you know, I’m really tough on my vocals. Like I have vocal fry, you can tell. And so I really take a toll on my chords and I don’t live accordingly in a way that I have to in order to be a real singer consistently, but I love it when I can do it on work. And you know, I’ve done it quite a couple of times and I absolutely wanna do a musical and, and do more stuff with my voice. It’s such a beauty, it’s a gorgeous thing to do. And honestly, it’s my first love. So it’s like a really complicated situation with me, but yes, I think you will. I hope that you do.