by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Diego Tinoco plays the lone good guy in the flinty little thriller, Bad Hombres. Felix (Tinoco) is an undocumented immigrant who just arrived in the United States from Ecuador. He tries to find work with his cousin, Oscar (Steve Louis Villegas), but when Oscar gets a roofing gig, Felix ends up meeting Donnie (Luke Hemsworth) who hires him and Alfonso (Hemky Madera) to do a job in the desert. But in the desert things quickly go sideways—guns are drawn, bullets are fired, and Felix is shot in the leg. At this point, Bad Hombres escalates and becomes a very intense thriller—especially after Felix discovers a large stash of money.

Tinoco spends much of this screen time bleeding and in pain, but he refuses to go to a hospital for fear of deportation. His decision may cost him his life as bodies keep piling up.  Tinoco’s performance is largely internal, but he uses his expressions and body language convey the unspoken fear Felix experiences as an innocent caught up in a very bad situation with very bad hombres.

In a recent interview, the up-and-coming actor, who appeared in the TV series On My Block, and in the film Knights of the Zodiac, spoke with MovieJawn about making Bad Hombres.

You are arguably the nicest character in Bad Hombres. Are you really a decent guy or do you have some badass qualities?

[Laughs] I’d like to say I’m a pretty nice guy, sure. I’m obviously an actor, so I’m attracted to portraying all sorts of different characters and complexities on screen. Maybe it’s a bad habit, but I like to pick characters that get into a little bit of trouble.

What is the appeal of making a B-movie like Bad Hombres?

I was on a hit Netflix series for 4 years and did my first studio film after that with Sean Bean and Famke Janssen [Knights of the Zodiac]. I heard an interview with Mark Wahlberg, who said, “You’ve gotta do one for them, and you gotta do one for you, and in between the major projects, you gotta do some indies. That’s where an actor grows and truly are able to go on a journey of who they are artistically.” And it’s been a journey and such an adventure. It was a real learning experience.

Early in the film Oscar tells Felix that the work (of a day laborer) is not hard, it is getting the work that is hard. You have made a handful of features and shorts and appeared in a few TV series. Can you talk about the difficulties of getting work as a Latino actor?

As a kid, I was bullied for being the Latino wannabe actor. Now that I am on the big screen, I am going to keep that label. I am that Latino on the big screen, and I am always going to rock that with pride. I love my roots and I’m all for inclusivity.

Going back to the question, is it hard to get work as a Latin actor? It’s hard to get work as an actor of color. It’s a very tough industry. The artist who puts in the most work, and shows up for themselves, emotionally, mentally, and physically, that’s the actor who is going to have increased odds. Every day I am working on myself, my mind, and craft and guess that is why I am busy. I also run my own online acting studio to teach these principles to aspiring actors.

Latinos are the largest moviegoers, but there are too few Latino executives in power, which makes it difficult to showcase Latino films and talent. What observations do you have about this?

It is a hard industry. I think the doors are being open now. Maybe not as much as we want. So, what are we going to do now we have a foot in the door? I have met a lot of executives, writers, producers, and actors who are creating opportunities. I have three projects I’m developing. That is an adventure in itself. I come from two immigrant parents. I saw how hard my dad worked. My dad fell off a two-story roof when he was my age. It’s hard work that I’m doing, but I’m not breaking my back. It’s more a mental battle.

You spend most of the film bleeding and in pain. You also have blood spewed on you. Can you talk about the experience of this? It’s all fake, but it looks real, and it must be uncomfortable.

100%! I knew that I was going to be shot, and I don’t remember where exactly the wound was placed. I didn’t know I would have to stay like that through the whole movie. I placed the wound as high as possible on my leg. I don’t regret it, because it looks badass on screen, but it was cold. They were putting fake blood on me, and it was like 20 degrees in New Mexico. I was really shivering out there. Not because of loss of blood, but because it was really freaking cold. But I really enjoyed it. I felt I really worked for that performance.  

Your performance here relies more on silence and reaction. Can you talk about playing that?

The language barrier contributes to that. It is a story of and immigrant coming to the U.S. not knowing English. Originally, the script was in broken English, but it didn’t make sense that two people coming from the South were speaking in broken English. I said to John [Stalberg, Jr, the director] that my character should speak only in Spanish when he is interacting with Alfonso. That played a major role in his silence. Someone who does not know English will stay silent and observant. I enjoyed that. What it made me realize is acting is not just saying words but internalizing the imaginary circumstances. I wish there were more parts of silence for me to explore that. In the scene where the car crashes, I was doing a lot with my eyes and face, and John said, “Tone it down. Don’t be so big. I want to portray real life here.”

There are a few scenes that require some physicality from you. You fall in one scene, you are trapped in a car trunk, and you participate in what may be the slowest chase scene ever where you are crawling away from a guy who is crawling behind you wanting to kill Felix. Did you do your own stunts?

I did a lot of my stunts. I ended up hurting my shoulder in a scene that didn’t make it into the film. I was running away when Alfonso attacks two characters, and I did a baseball slide, and my shoulder went up and I slid on it, and my shoulder popped out of place. I grew up skateboarding, but I felt that [pain] in the morning. I had to smack it back in place.

Ouch! Felix is an undocumented immigrant. What observations do you have about films like this and Latino representation? So many filmmakers play with this topic and the fear of immigrants. I remember Gael Garcia Bernal in Desierto, for example.

It happens every single day. My father came from Mexico and was an immigrant and my mother came from Ecuador. His experience coming in this country was hard. Even seeing Desierto, he said, “You see some scary shit”—and Hollywood makes movies like that. Every story needs to be told. Hopefully, I serve the story with justice with a good performance. Down the line, I want to change the narrative for my culture and my people. Who is to say I can’t play the Mexican Great Gatsby? I’m working my way up.  

Alfonso and Felix talk about the “cost” of a job. What was the cost for making Bad Hombres? It certainly showcases you well, but it could also pigeonhole you as an actor.

As far as being afraid of being pigeonholed. My first role was a troubled teen in streets of L.A. [in On my Block]. I did the iconic anime adaptation playing Phoenix Knight [in Knights of the Zodiac], and I did R#J, a remake of Romeo and Juliet, that may not see daylight. My roles have been arguably pretty wide. This is the first role I have ever done in all Spanish. There’s a battle being Latin in the States. If you don’t speak Spanish, you’re not really Latino, but you are. I wanted this film to ground me. I am an actor, and I can speak English or Spanish. I can grow out my full beard. I can be silent. This character brought a lot of things I have not portrayed in other movies. I am working my way up. I’m only 26. Every day I am working towards that Gatsby role.