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Prometheus here, back with more 3 FROM HELL news! In my ongoing coverage of Rob Zombie’s THREE FROM HELL, I had the pleasure of chatting with the totally badass, Danny Trejo! Danny has been in so many movies his nickname should be “Credits.” (Seriously, a whopping 386 films on his IMDb!)
Danny’s a great villain in all the movies but he was awesome and even had me laughing over myself at times! You can check out the interview below, and as a bonus, I have an exclusive clip from the film for you!
He’ back as Rondo (Devil’s Rejects) and he’s about to be reintroduced to a certain member of the FireFly Clan! *Warning. Possible Slight Spoiler Ahead*
Danny Trejo: DT
Joshua Scafidi: JS
DT: Josh, Josh, what’s up homie!
JS: Hey Danny, how ya’ doing?
DT: Great man! Where you at Josh?
JS: I’m in Lowell, Mass right now.
DT: Massachusetts, how’s the weather? You guys alright?
JS: Yeah, it’s alright right now. Not cold yet.
DT: Oh ok!
JS: It’s so cool to have a chance to talk with you man. Longtime fan.
DT: Thank you, man! Thank you. I hate to tell you but right now I’m sitting in the sun with a little sunblock cause it’s pretty warm right here. That’s Los Angeles! (Laughter)
JS: A little jealous! Little jealous!
DT: I got a movie coming out, 3 FROM HELL! Rob Zombie, man. It’s the sequel to the movie called Devil’s Rejects. Did ya’ know Danny Trejo was in that! (Laughter) I’m in this one, 3 FROM HELL! You know it’s a Rob Zombie movie, scary and shit!
JS: Yeah, it comes out September 16th, 17th, and 18th.
DT: You got it! And there’s prizes for everybody coming in and out!
JS: Oh, I’m hip. I’m a big fan actually of Devil’s Rejects. That’s one of my all-time favorite movies. What was it like coming back to playing Rondo after so long?
DT: Ya’ know it’s awesome cause this time one of the guys I sent to prison, one of the family is in the prison I get sent to, cause I get into trouble and get sent to prison. There’s a part in there so creepy where we’re staring at each other and he goes, “I remember you!” And I go, “I don’t remember you.” And he goes, “you will!” Oh wow. It’s just, WOAH! You know some shit’s gonna go down!
(AICN exclusive clip below!)
JS: Right, right! That was awesome. I saw the screener so I can review it. I’m going to have my review up in a couple of days before it comes out.
DT: It’s Zombie man, it’s Rob Zombie. He’s awesome.
JS: What’s he like to work with?
DT: You know he’s a dream! He’s one of those guys that, when you got a director who loves what he does and just to do what he loves. Then you got a wife who loves what her husband does and loves what she does. It’s a match made in heaven. You got this family working together its awesome!
JS: Yeah, that’s gotta be cool. What made you agree to come back to doing Rondo?
DT: Well just the fact, first of all, Rob’s my friend and then he says, “you wanna read the script?” I say, “No, I don’t give a shit. I know it’s gonna be good!” (Laughter) You know what I mean? So, then after the rehearsal, read the script and had nightmares. (Laughter.)
JS: Did any funny stories happen on set with you guys? I know you guys are friends.
DT: You know what, it’s like a joke all the time. It’s like yo, do you mind? (Laughter) I love it when Rob will say something like, “let’s not overact.” (Laughter). It’s like, shut up! (Laughter). It’s like I said, he’s a good friend. A joker. And then it was funny cause I was at a concert up in Seattle with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson and Marilyn Manson always wears glitter. So, I hugged him and then I was walking and Sherri Moon, Rob’s wife, saw me and says, “You’ve been in a strip club!” “No! I swear to God I haven’t! I swear to God! I was hugging Marilyn Manson.” And she goes, “Well that would be a lame-ass excuse wouldn’t it?” (Laughter).
JS: (Laughing) So now Danny, are you a horror fan yourself?
DT: Oh yeah, are you kidding? God, man I go all the way back to the Exorcist. (Laughter).
JS: What’s your favorite horror movie monster?
DT: Uh, God. You got so unbelievably many of them. I love like all the vampires. Well actually, Robert Rodriguez started the vampire craze with Dusk to Dawn. You know, and some of the stuff in that is comical but scary as shit!
JS: Yeah, I love that movie.
DT: And it was just like a great movie!
JS: Yeah, it definitely was. When I was a kid, I must’ve watched it a hundred times.
DT: Yeah! (Laughing)
JS: Now you’ve been in, man like a million films. Your face is synonymous with tough guy, but you own a donut and coffee shop (Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts), a taco spot (Trejo’s Tacos) and you own a restaurant (Trejo’s Cantina).
DT: Six, six cantinas. Six Trejo’s Cantinas.
JS: Six of them now!
DT: Yeah.
JS: How did you get into that, Danny?
DT: Uh, well you know. I like good food! And I was doing a movie called “Bad Ass” with Craig (Moss). He directed that and Ash Shah (producer), and I like good food, I won’t eat junk food. If they don’t have something good, I’ll order good food from a good restaurant. I’m picky and he said, “Danny why don’t you open a restaurant?” and I said, “Trejo’s Tacos!” Two movies later and he (Ash Shah) came at me with a business plan. And me being a brilliant businessman, I gave it to my secretary and my agent and said, “here read this.” Women I really trust. And basically, it was a no brainer, you can’t lose so I said let’s do it! And we opened Trejo’s Tacos, and man that just hit and then we opened Trejo’s Cantinas, the same thing. Now we got 8 locations and I gotta say that people keep asking me, what’s your secret? I go, wait a minute. There’s no damn secret, it’s good food!! I mean there isn’t, people don’t come back for bad food! You know what I mean? I think the problem is a lot of celebrities think they can open a restaurant, put their name on it and it’ll be a hit. Yeah! The first night when everybody wants an autograph and a picture. But if the foods not good, they’re not coming back!
JS: Yeah, that’s definitely true.
DT: So, I have my friends go in anonymous and just order food and check on the service and so, my friends go, “you want me to wear a wire?” “No! I just want you to go there order food. I don’t want you to wear a wire! Just go in and order food” (Laughter). I’ve never had a bad report and I’ll tell ya’ that all my staff says, “Dan, please stop sending in your friends ‘cause they look like their gonna rob the place.” Everybody knows when a guy with San Quentin state prison on his neck…
JS: Danny you’re a role model in my eyes, I mean like you said, from doing time in San Quentin to being one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood is quite the accomplishment.
DT: Thank you, thank you. It’s just you know that I gotta blame it on God myself, I don’t really know about anyone else. It’s like I got great people around me and my job is just to serve him. By serving him I keep having, better things keep happening. I’ve dedicated my life to helping other people, and it’s just working out. Karma, whatever it is.
JS: Absolutely. I understand there was an incident the other day and you were involved in helping a kid get free from an accident.
DT: Yeah, yes. A car tipped over, somebody got hit. A kid was stuck in the front seat and I uh, I just happened to crawl in the car, and you know get him out. You know, the real hero is a little girl. Monica Jackson. She reached in, I couldn’t unbuckle the buckle. She reached in with her little hand and was able to get it. My hand was too big. So, then I was able to pull the kid out.
JS: No kidding? Well, you’re the man Danny! Thank you for everything you do. I know you do a lot for charity and you know I’ll be keeping my eye out for your next project. Anything you’re working on right now?
DT: Well, like I said I got that record called Chicano Soul Shop Volume 1, just dropped that. It’s a great, great album. I love it, and I play it all the time. I got a fighter named Seniesa Estrada, she’s an RCVA Champ, she’s fighting in, under the Canelo card and I’m real proud of her.
JS: I’ll make sure that I mention them, give them a shout out. Thank you so much for everything Danny!
DT: Awesome! Thanks, God bless you.
JS: Thank you!
As you can see, Danny was a pleasure to speak with! Make sure you check him out as Rondo in Rob Zombie’s 3 FROM HELL, releasing in select theatres September 16th, 17th and 18th only! Click here for your tickets! Be on the lookout for my interview with the man himself, Rob Zombie! As always comment below and until next time, keep on geekin on, my friends.
Joshua “Prometheus” Scafidi
