[Si] TV

In 2005, after years of perfecting his craft in front of live audiences, releasing three successful CDs, and building a loyal fan base all over the country, Carlos Mencia cracked the big time when Comedy Central gave him his own show, The Mind of Mencia. Now he's set his eyes to the big screen opposite Ben Stiller in the Farrelly brother's film, The Heartbreak Kid, which debuted this fall.

This half-Honduran, half-Mexican comic tackles race, politics, history, religion, sexual preference . . . nothing is off the table when he takes the stage. He manages to seamlessly employ intelligent and almost academic observations side-by-side with good ol' fashioned bathroom jokes without alienating any part of his diverse audience. "Some of the things blacks and Latinos criticize white people for we are guilty of ourselves, and vice versa," he says. "That's funny to me!" We caught up with Ned (his real first name) to examine the mind of Mencia for ourselves and got his take on everything from working with Stiller to Latino stereotypical acting roles.

Rego: What about The Heartbreak Kid made it the right time to make the move into major motion pictures?
Carlos Mencia: You know, it was a very simple decision. Certain things you just can't say no to, and when you're a comedian you just can't say no to the Farrelly Brothers. Just the fact that they are doing a movie and they're interested in me is like, "Oh My God!"  You know? If you look at all the stuff that they've done and, whether they were big box office successes or not, from an artistic standpoint they took chances and made statements with all of them. So when they say "Hey Carlos, we want you to be a part of this and we want you to be not just a regular character, but a cool funky character," it's just something you have to jump on.

Rego: As a Latino actor coming in to play a Latino role written by non-Latinos, do you find that Hollywood still doesn't quite get Latino characters?
CM: You know what it is, everyone has their reality. Every writer has their reality, and as long as their intent is right I don't even worry about that stuff. I try to look at it from the character's standpoint. In this case, the guy is from Mexico and didn't take English in school or anything, but he's smart and savvy and he learned English by hearing everyone at his hotel talk. To me, that was the access to English that he would have.

Rego: You have some great scenes with Ben Stiller.  How was it working with him?
CM: He is unbelievable.  He is such a professional, and a perfectionist, and such a giving actor. Working with him is not working. It feels like it's just a moment in time, and you don't realize you're working until they call "cut!" Then you restart and get immersed in it again. It's so great to act with someone who gives you so much, because then you're just reacting. That's when you have some of the best scenes, when all you're doing is reacting off of each other.

Rego: With so much going on, is it getting harder and harder to pick projects to take on, or is it getting easier now that you've broken through?
CM: It gets more and more difficult because you realize you don't have a lot of opportunities to fail in this business. So it gets more and more difficult. I certainly realize that I don't have much room for missteps, so picking the right project becomes very difficult. I have more choices now, and a little more control over where my career's going now, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. In the end, though, you just have to go with your gut and smile and make the most of your choices. But I'm not complaining. I mean, how fortunate am I? I get to act and make people laugh and entertain people and make them think a little bit. That is my life and I get paid for it. I got nothing to complain about!

See the full article in the next issue of Rego Magazine.