Pop Culturalist Chats with Peppermint’s Randy Gonzalez

Life as an actor can sometimes be strange…just ask Randy Gonzalez. He had moviegoers on the edge of their seats playing one of the villains in Pierre Morel’s Peppermint, starring opposite Jennifer Garner. When his character ultimately met his fate, audiences cheered and applauded; at that moment, Randy knew he had done his character justice. We sat down with this up-and-coming talent to chat about Peppermint and his journey to the industry.

PC: Tell us about Peppermint and your character in the film.
Randy: Peppermint is a revenge-thriller. It’s directed by Pierre Morel who did the first Taken movie, which is an iconic action film. This follows the character of Riley North, played by the amazing Jennifer Garner. My character is a hitman for the Garcia cartel. He’s sent out to do an act against Riley North’s loved ones. The events cause her to seek revenge for those that she lost.

PC: What drew you to this project?
Randy: I’ve always been a fan of action films, dating back from Death Wish to John Wick to Taken. I thought it’d be really cool to be part of something in that realm.

PC: Is the preparation different when you’re playing a villain? How challenging is it to get into your character’s mindset?
Randy: Villains are definitely more difficult for me. They’re so different from who I am in real life. They force me to go to a darker place. For this character, the physical appearance helped me transform into the character internally.

PC: Is there a sense of freedom when you’re playing a villain?
Randy: Yes, definitely! Villains have no remorse for their actions. It always interesting to play a villain. You know you’ve done a good job when the audience is applauding for your demise. If they’re rooting for me to die then I’ve done what I needed to do.

PC: As an actor, do you like to stay in character while you’re on set? What was the dynamic like between you and Jennifer off-set?
Randy: I definitely don’t stay in character all the time while I’m on set. It was amazing working with Jennifer. Unless she was in an intense scene that required her to stay in character in between takes, she’s was such a positive force. You could often find her dancing around set.

PC: The film and its themes are very timely with what we’re facing as a society. Does that add an extra sense of responsibility when you take projects like this?
Randy: This is such an empowering film, and we started it at the height of the #MeToo movement. Hopefully, it’ll call upon Hollywood to create more female-led action films, which we need!

PC: Like you said earlier, you were a huge fan of Pierre before you joined the project. What was it like working with him? Did he share any words of wisdom?
Randy: It was awesome working with him because I was such a fan of his work. For our flashback scenes he did something that I’ve never seen any other director do: he brought out an old school film camera. And I mean old school! He would have to hand-crank it. We would do multiple takes of the same scene so he could capture it on this camera. When you’re watching the flashback scenes, he used this camera! He actually told me that he has used this camera in his older films too.

PC: What was the biggest lesson you learned from being a part of this project?
Randy: I learned how intense a fight scene can be. When you see it in a film it’s only a couple of minutes, but when you’re filming it, it can be a twelve-hour shoot. A lot of time gets put into making sure a fight scene looks the way that it does. There’s a fight sequence in the opening scene; it’s Jennifer and me in a car. It was such a confined space that anytime we wanted to move the camera, we would have to remove a door or a windshield! It takes hours to do that.

PC: The film has been out for a few weeks. Have you seen any reactions to your character? We’re living in a very different time when you can see responses directly on social media.
Randy: Yeah, it’s been cool. I’ll look up the hashtag—#PeppermintMovie—and audiences have really responded to seeing Jennifer kicking ass. People have reached out to me about my character! After the premiere, I was lucky enough to have people come up to me and give me praise.

*Spoiler Alert*
It’s crazy seeing yourself die on screen and seeing people applaud. [laughs] It’s a crazy feeling.

PC: Besides Peppermint, do you have any other upcoming projects that you can chat about at this time?
Randy: Yes! I have a series called David Makes Man on OWN. It’s created by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who was one of the co-writers of Moonlight. I play a math teacher in that. It’s a cool coming-of-age story about a fifteen-year-old kid. That’ll be out some time next year.

PC: Do you remember the moment when you realized you wanted to pursue a career in acting?
Randy: I was an extra on a show called Burn Notice. I went in with a friend. We were both called in to be extras. It was a scene that involved a riot at a prison. We got to have this huge food fight and we were like, “What people get paid to do this? We need to figure out how to make this our living.”

PC: As an actor, do you have a dream role or someone you’d like to work with in the future?
Randy: There are a few people. I’d love to work with Guillermo del Toro. He’s a visionary, and it’d be cool to work in the horror/fantasy realm. I also think any actor will tell you that they’d love to work in a superhero franchise.

PC: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from being a part of this industry?
Randy: It takes a lot of dedication. You have to stick with it. There are going to be a lot of highs but also a lot of lows. We all go through it. You have to be patient.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Randy: American Idol or Jersey Shore

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Randy: The Princess Bride

PC: Favorite book?
Randy: Into the Wild

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Randy: The Motherfucker with the Hat

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Randy: Fall Out Boy

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Randy: Barry

PC: Hidden talent?
Randy: I can do a handstand for a good two minutes.

Make sure to follow Randy on Twitter and Instagram, and catch Peppermint in theaters now!

Photo Credit: Sela Shiloni