Mike's First Movie

Mike was about 12 when he won his first role in his first theatrical film in his first-ever audition. He only had three scenes in Diplomatic Immunity, but he was charged up about getting to fire away with a machine gun at a slew of police officers. Yes, that's right-nice-guy Mike, 18 started out his film career playing someone on the wrong side of the law.

Mike, on the other hand, wasn't quite so tough when it came to the actual filming. "I was really pretty nervous," he says of his first day, which is no wonder-any first-time actor might find being on a movie set pretty daunting. It helped that his brother, Pablo, was there to keep him company. "My brother went with me," Mike tells us. "He helped me a lot."

As Mike got settled, he found out one strange thing about movies: They're usually filmed totally out of sequence. For example, the script called for Mike's character to be killed in a violent death wasn't the last scene Mike filmed. In fact, "That was my first thing," Mike recalls.

Mike was asked if he had to wear the exploding fake blood packs that actors in shooting scenes routinely wear. Mike said that wasn't necessary, because he was far away from the camera and it was dark. So when Mike was shot in the movie, he simply groaned and flopped onto the ground. Without the special effects, his scene looks a bit like a kid playing cops and robbers.

But then, Mike notes, "they came up on a close-up, and the crew covered fake blood on me," which gave the whole thing a bit more realism.

Aside from this dramatic moment, the role didn't give Mike a chance to really show off his acting skills, since the character doesn't speak a single word. But Mike's brief moments on screen are well-performed and pretty memorable, too. In fact, Mike's first movie scene ever features Arturo scanning a trashy nude magazine.

Not a lot of actors can say they've done that on screen.

And Mike recognizes the role for what it was-the beginning to a blossoming career. He sums up his time on Diplomatic Immunity as a great learning experience. "I got a taste of what the business was like," he says. "It was a start".