Luis Guzmán on Starring in Gareth Evans’ Havoc With Tom Hardy

ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to actor Luis Guzmán about starring in the new action movie Havoc. Guzmán discussed working with Tom Hardy and Gareth Evans on the film, what inspired his performance, and more.

“After a drug deal gone wrong, a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son, while unravelling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city,” the logline for Havoc reads.

Havoc will be released on Netflix on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Brandon Schreur: Luis, I want to start by asking you how it was that you got involved with this project. How did your casting come about, and, when you read the script for the first time for Havoc, what stood out to you the most and made you want to be part of this project?

Luis Guzmán: Well, number one, it was Gareth Evans. He’s an incredible action director, and he has a great reputation. I’ve seen his films. I read the script and I thought it was a great role for me to do. I enjoyed that role. And it was an action movie, full-blown. You know, the opportunity to work with someone like Tom Hardy, also. It just pretty much had the right formula for me to want to be a part of it.

Totally. I’m such a fan of your previous work, too, and I love the way you can do all these different genres. You’ve made me laugh out loud in We’re The Millers, I’m a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan so I’ve loved all the stuff you’ve done with him, and then you’re in these serious dramas like Narcos. You’ve done action movies before — I think The Last Stand with Arnold Schwarzenegger is a hugely underrated movie — but what’s it like being able to step into the action genre again like this? Do you enjoy it? Are we going to see more of this side of you in the future?

You know, look, I love stepping into it because it’s entertaining, you know? I mean, Havoc, in itself, is like a throwback kind of movie to an era of these types of action movies. Again, I give a lot of credit to Gareth Evans. He just knows how to shoot this stuff, make it flow, and keep that adrenaline rush going. It’s like, oh my god, watching this movie is like having ten cups of espresso. You know what I mean? Because at the end you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to have a heart attack. Oh my god.’ So, I like that. I like that. It’s different. 

You ever have a conversation with someone and this person just won’t stop talking, and you’re just waiting for them to catch their breath so you can [jump in]? That’s what this movie is like. It moves and it moves. It’s like, ‘Oh my god, when can I say something, here?’ It just keeps going.

Listen, this film, number one, I give credit to the people that directed all the action scenes. Some of these scenes have to be rehearsed for like two or three weeks before they’re even shot. Some of the scenes took a few weeks to shoot because of all the stuff that was going on. I’m really proud to say that nobody got hurt in the making of this movie. You have all these things going on, explosions, this and that, and that and this. They were really safe about it. Everybody was able to do their art, act, convey the messages, and do all the action and stuff like that.

Totally. That’s what I wanted to ask you about next, too — there are so many action scenes in this movie, like you said, but there’s the one that takes place in the nightclub about halfway through the movie. You come in toward the end of the scene, but you’re still part of it for a long time because that scene goes on for almost 10 minutes. There’s so much happening, and you’re there right when things are heating up. What was your experience filming that part of Havoc? Have you ever done anything that intense before, and what were the biggest challenges that came with being part of such an elaborate action scene where 20 things are happening all at once?

You have to shoot all of that in segments. So, you really have to be ready for that emotional moment when your segment comes up. They chop it up and then edit it to make it all look like one flow. You come in — I’m coming in because I’m looking for my girl there, you know, and trying to keep her out of trouble. All this stuff starts breaking loose and I go, ‘You know what, I guess we have to commit to what’s going on, here, and let’s try to make it out of here. Whatever it takes.’ That’s the attitude.

It’s so cool to watch. Everything that happens in this movie had me at the edge of my seat. You mentioned Gareth Evans, and I wanted to ask you about him. He’s so good at this kind of thing; he did The Raid movies, which are just non-stop action scene after action scene. I’m curious what your experience with him was like. Is he pretty hands-on when it comes to directing, or, since you’ve been around for so long and have done a lot of movies like this, do you come to set and get to do your thing?

Pretty much, he let me do my thing. Because it’s trust, right? But, also, I understood that character inside and out, you know what I’m saying? I’ve mentioned before, my life is my reference. I used to hang out with a guy like that. He was kind of sketchy. But he also looked out for people. That was my approach. He pretty much trusted me and what I was doing, and it worked. You saw it in the movie. The scene that I had with Tom Hardy, it was very organic. It was beautiful. It was a nice element to the whole story.

Yeah, that’s what I wanted to ask you about next, too. That scene, it’s so intense and the two of you can bring such an intense personality to the camera when you’re doing something like that. What’s it like, first of all, having Tom Hardy as a scene partner? And is it always that intense in the moment, when you’re filming it? Or when the cameras go off, can you relax and chill out for a little bit?

You know, when you shoot scenes like that, to me it’s all about the organics of it. I don’t really think about it — I allow for whatever is going to happen to flow naturally or organically. I think Tom had the same approach to that. It worked. After a couple of takes, I kind of turned, walked away from it, and stepped off it. I don’t hold onto it. It’s like turning off a switch, for me, anyway. And when I come back, I just turn that switch back on and go, ‘Okay, let’s go.’ 

I don’t think I ever do the same thing twice. I always find something different. But it’s not because I’m thinking about it, that’s just how it flows out of me.

Sure, that makes sense. And your character in this movie, Raul, is so interesting. I feel like the writing gives us the perfect amount — we kind of get to know him, but there’s also so much more that could be explored about him. He’s had a whole life before all this happened. When you are trying to get into character, do you write a whole backstory in your head before you start filming, or do you just jump in?

I had a reference. It was somebody that I grew up with. He kind of had a junkyard, back in the day in the neighborhood. He was kind of sketchy. But he was, like, super cool. He also looked out for people. Knowing that, those are the elements that I brought. Do I trust him? Yeah, I trust him. Not all the way. But he’ll lend me 20 bucks. I just better pay it back. And he’ll say, ‘Nah, don’t worry about it.’ I’ll say, ‘No no no, for real. Oh, are you sure?’ It’s not like you owe him anything. He just looks out for you. But he still has this element that he can be harmful, dangerous, or whatever you want to label it. That, again, was my reference to the Raul character.

Thanks to Luis Guzmán for discussing Havoc.