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Ryan Guzman fell into acting, but now he’s fighting his way to the top with the help of some extraordinary powers By Ian Spelling
Ryan Guzman is a fighter, not a lover, and the mixed martial artist has taken an unconventional path to stardom.
Ryan Guzman is on the fast track to Hollywood stardom, but that wasn’t always part of his master plan. Originally the handsome 27-year-old — who was born in Abilene, Texas, and raised in Sacramento, California — intended to make his mark on the world as a mixed martial artist.
“The acting kind of happened by chance,” Guzman said, speaking by telephone. “I’d been doing mixed martial arts and trying to make my way through that, when I got an opportunity to do a photo shoot for a friend in LA. And from there I signed with a modelling agency and a commercial agency.
“For me modelling was never what I wanted to do,” he continued. “I really didn’t like that. I stuck with commercials and I did six commercials in six months. A couple of months later, or nine months total being in LA, I booked Step Up Revolution (2012) as the lead.
“So the commercial work inspired me to hop into acting class and start learning acting methods. And, ever since Step Up Revo
lution, it’s been a growing process.” After Step Up, Guzman played the recurring role of Jake on Pretty Little Liars (2013-2014) and appeared in the indie features
Ladies’ Man: A Made Movie (2013), April Rain (2014) and Always Woodstock (2014). Earlier this year he co-starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in The Boy Next Door, a US$4 million thriller that went on to gross more than $50 million (about 1.8 billion baht) at the worldwide box office.
Now there’s Heroes Reborn, NBC’s 13-episode miniseries that will reboot Heroes (2006-2010), a sci-fi/drama which followed the exploits of ordinary people with extraordinary powers. The original show became an instant phenomenon upon its debut. After a stellar first season, however, it lost its way, limping through three more seasons before NBC cancelled it, unexpectedly and without a true conclusion, after Season 4.
Heroes Reborn, which premiered last month, unfolds five years after the events of Heroes. Those people with extraordinary powers, now dubbed Evos, have been revealed to the world. The returning cast members include Jack Coleman as HRG/Noah Bennet, Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman and Cristine Rose as Angela Petrelli. Among the newcomers are Tommy (Robbie Kay), a teen boy who can make things disappear, and Malina (Danika Yarosh), a girl who can control the elements. Erica (Rya Kihlstedt) is the ambitious head of a powerful, mysterious company called Renautas, while Luke (Zachary Levi) and Joanne (Judith Shekoni) are a vengeful couple who blame Evos for the death of their young son.
“The rejuvenation of this series comes in new packaging,” Guzman said, speaking by telephone from the Heroes Reborn set in Toronto. “We’re bringing in new actors to portray new characters, and then you have several characters from the original show. The old series ended five years ago, and we pick up as if five years have passed.
“So it’s the exact same timeline, but we’re giving you a darker scenario with this one,” he said. “It’s more of a dystopian society, and that in itself makes it different and a little more interesting. Greg Grunberg, who’s also back from the old show, said it perfectly in an interview that I read. He said that Heroes Reborn is Heroes on steroids.”
Guzman co-stars in Heroes Reborn as Carlos Gutierrez, an army veteran freshly home from a tour in Afghanistan. Everyone around Gutierrez considers him a heroic figure, but he refuses to buy into the hype. In fact, he’s full of self-doubt and contending with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Carlos is home now and he’s basically going from one war into another one, which is this society where they’re hunting and tagging and bagging these evolved humans, the Evos. He doesn’t know how to take it all in. He’s trying to find where he belongs in this world, in this society.”
So what’s Gutierrez’s power? Guzman went dead silent for a moment. That, apparently, is one of the show’s major secrets.
“What I am able to say is that Carlos inherits some extreme responsibility and opportunity,” Guzman said cautiously, “and he’ll be able to do something that’s never been seen in the
Heroes franchise. “I think Carlos is very relatable,” he said with more assurance. “We all have our own insecurities and judgements about ourselves that hold us back from achieving greatness, and Carlos gets an opportunity to show that, whatever you’re going through, there’s always that opportunity to overcome.”
Guzman did reveal that Gutierrez engages in multiple fights throughout Heroes Reborn. That’s where his decade of MMA prep and tussling paid off.
“The action is crazy and immense and a huge spectacle,” he said, laughing. “But the fighting aspect is actually the easiest part of this for me. I’ve been loving that.”
The actor’s already-impressive year promises to get even better in the near future. In addition to Heroes Reborn, he’ll be seen in
Jem and the Holograms, a big-screen adaptation of the familyfriendly animated series of 1985-1988. Guzman co-stars in the Oct 23 release as Rio, boyfriend of the central character, Jem (Aubrey Peeples), a teenager whose burgeoning musical career is bolstered by a futuristic device that her late father created and left behind for her.
“This particular window of time is a dream scenario for an up-and-coming actor,” Guzman said appreciatively. “People will see different sides of me. Jem and the Holograms offers a young/ lollipop version of me with the character of Rio, and it also gave me the opportunity to sing for the very first time on camera.” Guzman also has completed another film, Everybody Wants
Some, a comedy directed by Richard Linklater. He described it as a cross between Bull Durham (1988) and Animal House (1978).
“I’ve always wanted to do a comedy, and that was another dream come true,” Guzman said.
Much, much more remains on his to-do list — but, he asserted, one prospective project stands above all others.
“I’ve always wanted to do a MMA drama,” Guzman said, “so I’m writing a script myself, which I’ve been working on for about three-and-a-half years now. That’s been my baby and, hopefully, one day I’ll get to act that out on the silver screen.”