Tonatiuh on ‘Carry-On’ and Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details on the plot of “Carry-On,” now streaming on Netflix.

Tonatiuh wasn’t happy sitting on the sidelines watching a stunt person perform his fight scenes with Taron Egerton in the hit Netflix thriller “Carry-On.”

In one sequence, the two are going at each other while tumbling down a luggage conveyer belt. “They originally hired a person to do my stunts because they don’t know me. They were just following protocol,” Tonatiuh tells me over Zoom a few days before “Carry-On” premiered on Netflix. “They did one take and I saw that Taron was doing it. I had this face when the director looked at me and was like, ‘You want to do this, don’t you?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I learned the choreography for a reason. Throw me in there.’ It was a blast.”

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by T.J. Fixman, “Carry-On” follows Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent who has being blackmailed on Christmas Eve by a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman), coercing him to allow a carry-on loaded with chemical weapons onto a plane. Sofia Carson plays Ethan’s pregnant wife-to-be and Tonatiuh is a passenger who is also being blackmailed to take part in the plot after Bateman’s character kidnaps his husband.

According to Netflix, “Carry-On” was seen 97 million times in the first 10 days after its release after premiering on the streamer on Dec. 13.

Next up for Tonatiuh is “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” director Bill Condon’s feature adaptation of the Tony winning Broadway musical. Tonatiuh stars as Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser sentenced to prison in 1981 for allegedly corrupting a minor. Diego Luna plays his Marxist cellmate Valentin Arregui Paz while Jennifer Lopez portrays the titular role, a fantasy woman named Aurora created by Luis.

“Kiss of the Spider Woman’s” music is by John Kander and Fred Ebb, based on the novel by Manuel Puig and the book of the musical by Terrence McNally. It will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next year.

This Q&A with Tonatiuh was edited for length and clarity.

“Carry-On” is so much fun. It’s so ridiculous.

You loved it?

I’m kind of obsessed with it. I love that there’s this gay couple in it. When you said, “My husband,” I gasped because we’re made to believe that gay people don’t do action like that.

Oh no baby, we kick ass. Queer people have been throwing stones since 1969 and even before. There was a queer militia in Greece. So listen, we’re fighters.

How was this movie pitched to you?

My team brought the audition materials like all the other times and I, weirdly enough, was on my way to the airport to catch a flight. I recorded the audition at 6 a.m. I sent it off and I remember calling people and saying, “Was that even good? I don’t even know.” I went with my gut instinct and just followed the emotional story. And then it was booked and we jumped over on a plane to New Orleans.

Did you get hurt at all in the fight sequences?

Not particularly. I already had a little bit of an L4-L5 sensitivity. But with my dance training and then also I’ve taken Capoeira and a couple of other martial arts. And I’m a practicing yogi. So it wasn’t too bad.

What is it like going head-to-head, face-to-face, fist-to-fist with Taron? Are you guys laughing in between takes?

Taron is so funny because he is so on. So when it turns off for a second, he just needs to catch his breath. But with me, I get so emotionally charged that I have to diffuse it with laughter. So we just ended up just cracking jokes left and right. At one point we’re just sitting there at the conveyor belt twisted up in each other’s arms. I just look at him and I’m like, “Come here often?” And we were also in New Orleans. It was just wonderful to just be in New Orleans and to get to experience the city and the culture there. I experienced my first tornado. So that was crazy.

What happened?

It was two miles away from our hotel. We were on set and we had a weather warning, so they let us know beforehand, “Hey, we’re going to be watching out.” And then once they made the call and they said, “Hey, no, we’re sending everybody home.” And I’m from California, so I’m used to earthquakes. Earthquakes, I can handle. Fires, fine. I can understand a fire. So then we get to the hotel, all the natives seem fine. They’re completely unfazed. People drove in from work and then the buzzer starts going off and I’m like, “Oh, this is serious.” And I look at my phone, it’s like, “Oh, it’s two miles away.”

That’s close.

You could see it. If we stepped outside, you could see it. I was like, “Oh, man.” I went down to the hotel lobby and I was just chilling, relaxing because they said, “Get away from the windows.” And this woman next to me, she’s in her eighties wearing a Santa outfit, pink hair, very cute. And she’s like, “Can I get a vodka soda to-go?” And I looked at her and I was like, “Ma’am, I don’t want to be in your business, but there’s a tornado outside. I don’t think you should go outside.” And she said, “Honey, I survived Katrina. You think I’m scared of some little tornado?” Walked out. I was like, “Oh, well.”

Is ”Carry-On” a Christmas movie?

“Carry-On” is definitely a Christmas movie. It’s a Christmas classic. Absolutely. The inspiration for it is “Die Hard,” which is definitely a Christmas movie.

Was this the first time you died on camera?

Oh, I’ve never thought of that. I think it might’ve been my first on-camera death.

Did you warn your mom? Even though it’s acting, you don’t want your mom to see you dying.

I didn’t tell her, but I FaceTimed her with all the hair and makeup and I had and she lost it. I like to prank my mom a little bit.

Now, we have to talk about “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Tell me about getting the call that you got the role.

The process was long and, truthfully, my response when they said, “You’re it,” I said, “Are you joking?” And they said, “No.” And I said, “OK.” And then Bill was like, “Are you happy?” And I was like, “Yeah, I got to go.” And I just hung up because I couldn’t process it. But I’m a Capricorn so I go into work mode immediately and all I can think about are all the things that are going to come up and that I have to do. So for me, it was just like, this deserves my full attention.

Did you have any feeling if you were getting the part? Or was it just sort of like, “I have no idea what’s going to happen”?

When I first got the material, I felt immediately connected. I said, “I know who this is.” I’ve been this. It resonated spiritually. When I went to New York you could feel it in the room. You can’t fake energy. It was very alive and it was very collaborative. But I think that they wanted to be thorough and there were so many different ways of telling the story. I think Molina originally was played by a 40-something year-old. Not William Hurt in the movie, but the character is described in the book as being in their late 30s, early 40s. I don’t look that but I felt so connected. I was ready.

Let’s talk Jennifer Lopez!

Incredible, an icon.

You walk into the room, you know you’re going to be starring in a movie with Jennifer Lopez — what’s going through your mind?

Don’t drop her.

Did you?

No. I spent a month in rehearsal with some incredible dancers, all Broadway legends, every single one of them. All of them were so about the art and about the community and about the work. And they were so generous with their souls to me. I’m not a dancer by trade; I’m an actor by trade. But seeing the world of movement through their eyes and being open to being adjusted and getting those lines and doing honor to the memory of [original Broadway stars] Chita Rivera and Brent Carver and all of those who came before. I’m from L.A. Hollywood I understand. But the commitment to excellence on Broadway and in that community, I didn’t know I had a home away from home and I didn’t know I had family and kindred spirits across the country because I’d never spent time there.

What was it like seeing Jennifer as the Spider Woman?

Amazing. Stunning. She’s breathtaking and transformative in so many different ways. I remember there was a moment where we were rehearsing for the first time, and it was just a table read. She had the first line in it in one of the songs and she starts going full out. I had my iPad and my glasses on thinking it would be a straight table read. I was like, “Oh, if we’re going full out, hold on.” And I just remember Bill watching this and seeing his mind go to work.

You said you didn’t drop Jennifer. What was it like lifting her for the first time?

It was great, but I was so nervous. She smells so good. I don’t know what she puts on, but man, I was like, “Oh, you smell so pretty.”

How did you get over the nerves?

I think there’s a little switch in my brain. There’s me, the human. Human me is nervous – Oh, my God, that’s Jennifer Lopez! But then they call action and she’s Aurora and I’m Molina. Why would Molina be nervous? No reasons so there’s no reason for me to be nervous here. It’s as simple as that.

Jennifer told me that that John Kander was at the studio for some of the recordings.

Can I be honest?

Of course. Please be honest.

First of all, he’s hilarious. Funniest man. He’s so whip smart. The musical theater nerd in me was just like, “Oh, you are… Yep, you’re here.” It was wonderful. And it’s a reinterpretation of the original piece. We took some liberties with the work and he was there and he approved and he liked it. But then I was at the opening night of “Cabaret” on Broadway and he obviously was there and I very shyly went up to him and said, “Oh, hey John, I don’t know if you remember me, Tona.” He just looks at me and said, “You’re joking, right? Of course I remember you.”