Before They Were “That Guys”: Luis Guzman in “McBain”

Since we just recorded a Shouts From the Back Row podcast on our favourite character actors, a.k.a. “That Guys”, “Before They Were Stars” will temporarily be changing its name to “Before They Were ‘That Guys'” this week, in order to showcase how some of our most prominent character actors started their careers. For my last entry of the week, it’s only appropriate that I feature an actor who was selected by our own T.K. as his personal favourite “That Guy” on our podcast, and also earned a spot on my personal “That Guys” list: Luis Guzman. Not too long ago, I did a feature on a real-life action film titled McBain, which starred Christopher Walken and was released not too long after Rainier Wolfcastle made “McBain” a household name. Unfortunately, there were some legal issues between the makers of McBain and The Simpsons, but I think we’ll all agree that it’s the Simpsons version which has stood the test of time. Anyway, the film featured a brief appearance by Luis Guzman in an early role as drug dealer who faces the wrath by McBain and his crew. Sadly, Guzman’s character is not named Mendoza and he does not fall out of a skyscraper onto a fuel truck, but one of his henchman does take a pretty nasty fall out of a window onto a parked car.