[Si] TV

After forgetting a line in a high school play a young Yancey Arias ran outside embarrassed to ask God for help. He then saw a shooting star. Thinking that was too cheesy to count, he asked God again. And a second shooting star flew by. The rest is history. Best known for his role as Miguel Cadena on NBC’s drama Kingpin, this boricua/colombiano thespian is up for any role. On the heels of his summer blockbuster release Live Free or Die Hard, Arias sat with [Sí] Entertainment to discuss Bruce Willis, Cuba and winning a free surgery. We told you he was lucky.

[Sí] Entertainment: How did you end up in Live Free or Die Hard?

Yancey Arias: It was very exciting. From the get go I was asked to come in for another role, for one of the FBI agents. But there was an older gentleman who I think it matched better, but then they loved my work so much from our meeting they actually went and wrote a part for me. So, after being a huge fan of Bruce Willis and the previous Die Hard films, I was like, “sure I’ll do it!”

[Sí] Ent.: How was it working with Bruce Willis?

YA: Bruce was awesome; he was a lot of fun. I can’t say he is a prankster but he definitely has a great sense of humor. He is a little more reserved, kind of like a silent MTV Punked kind of thing. He’s got zingers. There was one incident when we were improving in the middle of a scene and my character Agent Johnson said something funny, I laughed and Bruce said “What are you high?” And I lost it; it was just the timing of it. (laughs) Once I start laughing, it’s hard for me to stop and Bruce saw that and ran with it. Every time I had to say my line, he’d throw something in there, till my laughter was uncontrollable. Finally the director had to step in.

[Sí] Ent.: What are you working on next?

YA: Currently I am prepping for a film called Fire Bay, which is really challenging material. I play a Cuban exile in 1961 who went to Cuba to try to take back Cuba from Castro. That’s an action/war film. What I love so much about it is the heart behind it all, the pain and betrayal of the guys who went in there from both sides, from Castro and from JFK. I start shooting August 7th.

[Sí] Ent.: What led you to start your charity, Lives to Save?

YA: I was in New Orleans shooting the FX series Thief pilot. The week before we moved the whole company to New Orleans, Katrina hit. I was giving money to some organizations but wasn’t really seeing any results. So after I got word we were going to set up in Shreveport and go back to production, I called my agent and asked him to set up a foundation for me. That first year I managed to pool together $4,000 and research and find a family to give it to. It was such a profound experience. So now we are doing a poker tournament to help raise money.

[Sí] Ent.: Do you participate in other fundraisers?

YA: Yes, I played in a poker fundraiser for another organization recently and won a free lasik [eye] surgery. No more contacts for me, it’s amazing. Those things have some pretty cool prizes.