Anghus Houvouras chats with Dead Again in Tombstone star Danny Trejo…
There was a time when the over the top action movie could find a place in theater. Where pulpy, high-excess cinema could work their way into movie theaters with some degree of regularity. At some point around the third Transporter movie fun action movies became passe and the genre was completely rebuilt. B-movies now require A-list actors which is why the action movie has turned into more high-polish fare like the John Wick series and Atomic Blonde.
This thought was bouncing around my brain as I watched Roel Reine’s Dead Again in Tombstone. A fun, crazy schlock-filled follow-up to Dead in Tombstone. Star Danny Trejo has been a fixture of so many B-movies. His Machete movies with Robert Rodriguez have been some of the few high points for theatrically released B-Movies this decade.
By this point, everyone knows Danny Trejo. The chiseled features, the tattoos, the handlebar moustache. He might be the most recognizable pulp movie star of the last three decades and one of the faces you’d find on the B-movie Mount Rushmore. He’s also one of the hardest working actors in show business. I was fortunate enough to spend some time talking to Trejo about Dead Again in Tombstone, his life outside of the movie business and his thoughts on the absence of action films in the cinema.
Anghus Houvouras: I think if Desperado had come out today it wouldn’t have gotten a theatrical release. Do you think there’s still room for the action movie in Hollywood?
Danny Trejo: Hollywood has killed itself. Hollywood doesn’t want to show the action genre anymore. They’re like ‘lets do Pink Swan or Yellow Butterfly’. Come on, I want some action. I want some fun.
AH: I think Dead Again in Tombstone was a lot of fun. What made you want to come back to this story and character?
DT: First off, Roel Reine. He’s a great, great director and I love working with him. I like working with directors that take the movie seriously but don’t take themselves too seriously. He gets the best out of you. And I’ve always loved Westerns. I love how Reine works; he does these massive, beautiful scenes. John Ford used to use those big wide scenes in Utah. Renee uses the same kind of landscape.
AH: What was the most fun part of the production?
DT: I got to ride a Buffalo. That was kind of cool. Alex Karras rode a Brahma Bull in Blazing Saddles years ago. When Reine said ‘You’re gonna ride a Buffalo Danny’ I said ‘Did Stallone ever do it?’ he said ‘No’. I said ‘Have any of the superheroes done it?’ He said ‘no’. So I said ‘I’m on it’.
AH: You’ve played so many roles. Is there any type of film or movie role you haven’t done yet? Any kind of role you still want to play?
DT: I kind of put acting in the movie business like any other job. Like a plumber or a painter. I’ll paint any house. The movie has to be good. If I don’t like the script I don’t do it.
AH: What do you like to do when you’re not working?
DT: If I’m not working on a movie I’m probably fixing up my cars. This Sunday after I do the opening game of the Los Angeles Rams I’m going to Washington D.C. to do a panel on what’s going on with The Dreamer kids and immigration.
AH: What do you plan to share on the panel?
DT: Here’s the point. We’re sending kids out of the United States that are paying taxes, going to school and doing good. Yet, the Federal Government won’t deport the inmates that are here illegally in prison when there’s time’s up. Because they get paid for the illegal immigrants that are in prison. You mean ‘We’ll keep these guys because we’re making money on them.’ That’s tragic.
AH: Will there be another entry into the ‘Dead in Tombstone’ series?
DT: Im hoping for ‘Dead Again AND AGAIN in Tombstone’.
AH: My suggestion for the third entry is ‘Still Dead in Tombstone After All These Years’.
DT: ‘Welcome Back to Dead Again in Tombstone!’
AH: Danny, thanks so much for taking the time.
DT: God bless!
Dead Again In Tombstone is now available on DVD and Blu-ray™ from Universal Pictures (UK)
Anghus Houvouras
Originally published September 17, 2017. Updated April 17, 2018.
