EDGAR RAMIREZ (CYRANO FERNANDEZ)

Edgar Ramirez takes the lead in Alberto Arvelo's CYRANO FERNANDEZ, the story of Cyrano de Bergerac translated to the rough and tumble slums of Caracas, Venezuela.

Describe Cyrano...The man, the hero and the poet. As a man, Cyrano represents a common thread found in every man who thinks the grass is always greener on the other side. As he plainly says it in the film, "there is great distance between what we are and what we want to be." A hero on the other end requires passion, conviction... only exceptional people are heroes and heroines. Cyrano unites these "olympian" characteristics as he defends justice for the less fortunate. Every hard shell has a soft side and the soft side of Cyrano is clearly his poetry, inspired by the love he feels for a woman that ignores she«s being loved. People will agree with me when I say that Cyrano Fernandez is one of the most beautiful love stories ever.

What part of playing Cyrano did you enjoy most, Robin hood leader of justice or the man in love with Roxana? I have to admit that when I first read the script I was captivated with the polarizing personalities of Cyrano, a balancing act between two extreme emotions that required a true adrenaline rush.

To your question on which of the two roles I enjoyed most, I have to admit it was the man in love with Roxana because it constituted a first time challenge. Without downplaying the part of "leader of justice", I was more familiar with playing scenes in the action genre. The trick, however, was to successfully turn the switch on and off between the two, making each one as important as the other.

What was your experience working in a real life slum? Did you do any research to prepare yourself for this environment? Personifying a romantic slum thug required true understanding of a sub-world that was unknown to me. Considering that one is a product of ones environment, that meant living, breathing, adapting and absorbing an array of particular "codes" of Caribbean sociological and physical behaviors mandatory to the credibility of the role.

I did prepare myself thoroughly for the role. Beyond literary research I actually lived with a family in the slum for almost a month to understand their true grit and to acquire the hot-blooded gestures, language and corporal behavior that corresponds to the slum environment.

How would you define your work experience in Venezuela and in Hollywood? First of all, I consider myself a Venezuelan actor in principle, who lives in Venezuela, but whose career has extended to Hollywood. Putting it in marketing terms, I'm a Venezuelan brand with a line extension to Hollywood. Thanks to this "line extension", my career is becoming more and more well rounded to the point of not falling into the stereotypical trap of "Ramirez the Latin actor", but more like "Ramirez the crossover actor."

The work experience in every project I've done, be it in Venezuela or Hollywood, has been authentic, but all have been rewarding in the sense of nourishing me personally and professionally.

According to the film, Cyrano murdered 25 people, isn't it ironic that he is considered a man of peace? As ironic as it may sound, in the film the means justifies the end. Cyrano is a character that fights and murders for a justifiable cause, which makes him true to Cyrano de Bergerac, man capable of killing for the sake of peace. That contradiction makes Cyrano a real person in his environment: admired by people, a hero, and community person that everyone in the slum perfectly understands because he "speaks their language."

As an actor, what were your efforts to "merge" into Cyrano? What is difficult to let go once you finished working? As I said before, the groundwork was absolutely necessary to become the Cyrano you will see in the movie. Absorbing the role took a lot of emotional and physical effort mainly because of the "oppositeness" in convictions between my persona and his; nonetheless, the love story in Cyrano Fernandez allowed me to comfortably connect with violent side of this man.

Just to put it in perspective, many of the scenes were so emotionally intense that my request to the director was to shoot them at the end. I just needed the breathing space to take Cyrano to emotional levels I have never taken a character before.