Shyamalan’s Next Surprise

John Leguizamo eager to see what’s Happening in his new film

By Dan Hudak

M. Night Shyamalan reviews a scene on the set of The Happening with Mark Wahlberg and John Leguizamo.

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening is under such tight wraps that journalists were not allowed to see the film before conducting interviews. That alone is unusual. Even more curious is the fact that star John Leguizamo (Ice Age) is promoting the film, though he hasn’t seen it either. That’s secretive on an Indiana Jones level.

“They kept saying they were going to screen it for me, but it kept getting canceled,” Leguizamo said during an interview at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach.

One understands the concern. Given how quickly Internet rumors spread, and the crafty nature of Shyamalan’s (The Sixth Sense) plots, it makes sense for the story to be kept on the down low. This way, the element of surprise can still be a, you know, surprise when the film opens June 13.

This much we do know: Leguizamo plays Julian, a math teacher and friend of Mark Wahlberg’s Elliot, who is a science teacher at the same Philadelphia high school. When strange things start “happening,” they hit the road with Elliot’s wife (Zooey Deschanel) and Julian’s daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) to escape the deadly phenomenon.

Just as he does with his audiences, Shyamalan threw Leguizamo for a twist when they first discussed the movie. “I get a call from M. Night saying, ‘I wrote this script, and when I wrote this character, I thought of you,’” said Leguizamo, who was a calculus tutor in college. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is great,’ but then he says, ‘Now I want you to audition.’ So I was like, ‘Oh, okay — you thought of me, but now I have to prove that you thought of me for the right reasons,’ so I had to audition for him.”

A videophone audition later, Leguizamo got the part.

“I wanted a heroic, poignant performance tinged with some comedic moments that would fit alongside Mark, and that’s why I cast John,” Shyamalan said, adding that Leguizamo’s audition was “terrific.”

“I don’t know if it’s something specific that I can systematize, but I know it has to hit me,” Leguizamo said when asked what he looks for in a script. “When I’ve picked a character that I thought I liked but didn’t really feel, I can tell because when I get there I have to work hard to try to connect with it. But when I feel passionate, it’s like doing nothing; I show up and it just comes out of me.”

Leguizamo has worked with noted directors Brian De Palma (Carlito’s Way), Spike Lee (Summer of Sam) and Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge), but he considers Shyamalan “the kindest, gentlest” director he’s ever encountered.

“He watches his actors so that he always knows if you’re being honest, if you’re on your game or not,” Leguizamo said. “But one thing they all have in common is a lot of rehearsal and experimentation before you get there. They also all have an infinite patience and tirelessness to get something right. Baz would do 27 takes, De Palma 30, to get something right, and I love that because it’s not settling — you just do it until you break down your own barriers and gimmicks. And they’re all completely different, too. Baz is theatrical. Spike is kind of urban and raw. And Night is much more subtle and calculated.”

Subtle and calculated? Sounds like vintage Shyamalan. Now, if only Leguizamo could see the movie.