[Si] TV

We don't know whether this will come off as complementary or not, but in person, Ana Claudia Talancón is exactly as you'd expect her to be after watching her movies. On screen and off, she's all Latina. Most American movie fans got their first glimpse of Talancón in 2002 opposite heavyweight Gaél Garcia Bernal in El Crimen de Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro), a disturbing film about the politics and abuses of the church in a small Mexican town. She also held her own in last year's critically acclaimed Fast Food Nation; mixing it up with Wilmer Valderrama and Oscar nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace). 

Tomorrow, Talancón will appear in the highly anticipated movie adaptation of legendary Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez's masterpiece, Love in the Time of Cholera. Playing Olimpia Zuleta, Talancón will heat up theatres in scenes with legendary Spanish actor Javier Bardem. And later in the year she'll take her place alongside Laurence Fishburne in the Celia Fox-directed thriller Days of Wrath. In the film, Talancón plays a reporter who finds herself in the middle of a conflict between rival gangs and the police. We met the beautiful Ms. Talancón on the set of Days of Wrath and got deep.

Rego: What about Days of Wrath attracted you?
Ana Claudia Talancón:  I wanted to do a role that gives hope to a world full of violence, and that's what this role does.  And of course I wanted to work with the actors and the director involved. Just to do something different.  Plus it allowed me to work on my accent.

Rego: As an actress, do you look for roles that you can relate to through real life experience?  Or do you try to find characters that come from completely different worlds than you?
Ana: It goes both ways. Sometimes I think I can do a role because there's something in my life that I can draw on.  Other times I'm attracted to a project because it's new and so different from anything I've ever experienced. The adventure and the challenge of it all is very attractive.

Rego: Did you have any preconceived notions about living and working in the United States that proved to be wrong? Or maybe others that proved to be right?
Ana: I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't thinking about any of that when I came here. I came here with a film already in hand. I didn't come here having to look for work.  It all happened fast and I was just trying to catch up with my life.  So I think that helped me because I was completely open-minded. I don't buy into stereotypes of any group because they are usually wrong.

Rego: The movie deals with a very controversial subject. What do you hope people will take from it?
Ana: I really like the message that [writer] Mitchell Kapner brings to the film. Regardless of where you were brought up or how you were brought up, or your color, you can choose who you are everyday. You don't have to follow others and you can choose how you want to get along with people. I hope people [realize] that we are all very alike and we should not separate the way we do.

Rego: You got to meet a living legend, novelist Gabriel García Márquez, for the movie based on his novel Love in the Time of Cholera.  How was that experience?
Ana: I first met Marquez when the Mexican Consulate had a dinner for him, his wife, the producers, and the actors that were working on the project. I sat next to him and he has such a nice vibe. I asked him for an autograph and he told me he only gives autographs in books. So I was so sorry that I didn't have one and about 15 days later he sent me a book with a personal message. He's amazing and I really love the book. It's such a romantic story, in every way.