Yahoo News Blue Beetle reveals first look at Harvey Guillén role: 'The character was complex'
At the risk of hijacking the tagline of a certain blockbuster franchise, Blue Beetle is about family. That's what attracted Harvey Guillén, the spectacled funny guy from What We Do in the Shadows, to the popcorn flick about a teen superhero powered by ancient alien tech.
"When I read the script, it was the first time that I felt that I could get through a whole movie and feel seen," Guillén explains to EW of his unexpected emotional response. "The verbiage that's being used in the household, it is very driven by family and heart at the forefront of everything, which is very Latino culture."
EW has the exclusive first look at the actor as Dr. Sanchez, a character who works for Susan Sarandon's nefarious Victoria Kord, but he's really talking about the Reyes family. Xolo Maridueña stars as Jaime Reyes, a recent college grad living with his fam in Palmera City. By happenstance, he comes into contact with the Scarab, an ancient piece of alien tech that chooses Jaime to be its next host, granting him an advanced suit of armor with unpredictable abilities.
Warner Bros. Pictures Harvey Guillén in 'Blue Beetle'
Jaime's family — including Belissa Escobedo as his sister, Damían Alcázar as his father, Elpidia Carrillo as his mother, Adriana Barraza as his nana, and George Lopez as his uncle — are all active parts of his hero journey. "I just read that script and I was like, 'Wait, I grew up watching or listening to this.' 'That's exactly what my mom would say [or] my tía,'" Guillén explains. "Everything has been thought out, while still telling the traditional story of this incredible DC superhero that is coming to theaters for the first time, the first Mexican superhero that we've had in a DC film."
Sarandon's Kord, this mysterious businesswoman, is hellbent on getting her hands on the Scarab, which shoves Guillén's Dr. Sanchez into the fray. One new image reveals Sanchez making his own hero stance with Maridueña's Jaime locked inside a cell.
Warner Bros. Pictures Xolo Maridueña and Harvey Guillén in 'Blue Beetle'
"The character was complex," the actor notes of his role. "You're loyal to the profession and the job that you have, and you're loyal to being a good person, and you have to make a choice. Sometimes we don't make the choices. We're human. And when given a choice, we might make the wrong one."
As Sanchez will no doubt learn, you don't get between family — especially the Reyes bunch.
Blue Beetle is in theaters Aug. 18.
—With reporting from Patrick Gomez
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