On August 8th, we sat down with the director of the new Hulu film “Miguel Wants to Fight,” Oz Rodriguez, to get an inside look at the filming process.
Q: So, first to start, I just wanted to ask, In what ways do you think that this film is different from other coming-of-age films?
A: Well, there’s a bunch of Latino people in it. That’s one way. You’ll get to see that a lot. I think that’s one way, just a really diverse cast. I think a lot of coming-of-age movies deal with sort of like love, relationships, losing your virginity, and this a different approach to a coming of age and the importance of friendship and for boys and what it means to be boys and if you have to fight or not.
Q: Yeah, I can’t say my praises enough. I’m Latina, so I think watching it I think I was able to pick up on the smaller things. A lot of it was very nostalgic. So yeah, I’d say that’s a big difference that it’s a lot of Latino people and people of color in general. So I wanted to know, what was the thought process like for the film, like what did you pull inspiration from?
A: So, because of his action movie, Love. I pulled a lot of inspiration from action movies. So, it was a great excuse to watch all my favorites, and for myself, I’ve never done anything like those action scenes in the movie or those stunts. So, I dove in head first and tried to learn how to do that. So, I talked to a lot of stunt performers, and action directors, and fight coordinators, just to get it right because we didn’t have a lot of time to shoot the movie or money. So we had to go in kinda, knowing what we wanted to do. So that was the main thing I dove into. I felt comfortable with the comedy of it all, especially once we found the cast, once we casted them. It was sort of a relief because I felt like, these guys can really bring it. So yeah, I really wanted to get the action scenes right because it was new territory for me.
Q: And speaking about the people that you worked with. What was it like working with everyone on set? Do you have any fun memories you can share with us?
A: It was amazing, like this movie, you know these actors have to look like they’ve been friends all their life and obviously there’s a lot of jokes that they have to land. But they also, there’s an extra commitment. You know Tyler, who plays Miguel, had to train for two months on these action scenes, and everybody sort of committed to the action part and the stunts. So, I can’t thank them enough because that is hard. That means you like, you know, on the weekends, he’s like throwing kicks and stretching and having to work on being the best Bruce Lee he can be.
Q: What are you hoping viewers get from viewing this film?
A: Well I think for any kind of young person, but especially Latino boys, to hopefully see themselves reflected on the screen. Actually, first and foremost is to be entertained and have fun and a good time and tell a friend to go watch it on HULU. But I think if kids can relate to the character and just, in the end, take away that A, it’s ok to be yourself, especially if that person is someone who doesn’t want to get into a fight and just how special it is to be surrounded with a good group of friends who will stand up for you if you want to fight or not want to fight.
Q: How did you come across the project, and what made you want to go ahead with the project?
A: I met Shea before, randomly, and yeah, I just got the script, and that day I said yes to it. Because I connected to it, I’ve never been in a fight, and I love action movies. So, just on that, I basically said yes, but then like reading it, and obviously, it was really funny, but also just seeing the connection and the humanity of these kids and the relationship with his dad. It’s such a special different version of the Latino dad that wants his kids to just be himself and not get into a fight and appreciates him for being his nerdy self. That was really special, so that was a big part of why I said yes.
Q: One last question, did you run into any setbacks on set, and how did you work around them and adapt to them?
A: Yes. Setbacks are just like, especially in low-budget, it’s just something that’s a part of filmmaking. I’m happy I’ve had my SNL experience. That is just chaos every weekend. So yeah, so, for example, the last scene of the movie where they reunite with that kind of local bully. We had two days to shoot that, but it soon became one and a half days because we got a tornado warning. So we had to leave set. So that meant we had to sort of approach the scene in a different way and figure out how to shoot it a little more efficiently and a little faster. It was gonna be a bigger scene, a bigger fight, but I think like sometimes those things end up helping it. Now it’s just what it needs to be. So yeah, we also shot during the pandemic, so a lot of people were going down with COVID left and right. So yeah, every day was a challenge for sure.
Stream “Miguel Wants to Fight” on Hulu on August 16th!