‘Violent Night’ Villain John Leguizamo Still Annoyed Over ‘Die Hard 2’ Demotion
The Christmas action movie Violent Night turned Santa Claus (David Harbour) into an action hero. When a villain named Scrooge (John Leguizamo) takes a family hostage, Santa is the only one who can save the day. It’s not Leguizamo’s first villain role. He was the guy who shot Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry and one of Col. Stuart (William Sadler)’s henchmen in Die Hard 2, but leading the bad guys made up for a 32-year-old slight.
Leguizamo spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Feb. 9 about Violent Night. We’ll have more with Leguizamo about some of his other memorable roles, but first here’s how Violent Night made up for Die Hard 2. Violent Night is available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD now.
‘Die Hard 2’ demoted John Leguizamo
Now, Leguizamo was in good company in Die Hard 2. Robert Patrick was another Stuart henchman before he played the T-1000 in Terminator 2. John Amos fought Bruce Willis on the wing of an airplane. But, Leguizamo was supposed to be closer to Stuart.
“When I auditioned for Die Hard 2, I was a good auditioner,” Leguizamo said. “I auditioned on video in New York and I got Terrorist #1. They brought us to L.A., they made us stand next to each other and they realized that I was the shortest, skinniest of the bunch and they demoted me to Terrorist #7. So yeah. So this is definitely a promotion.”
John Leguizamo brought his action experience to ‘Violent Night’
Between Die Hard 2 and Violent Night, Leguizamo has had other action packed roles on both sides of the line. He was the villain Clown/Violator in Spawn, a heroic commando in Executive Decision, a Capulet gangster in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, and lots more.
“Violent Night took me to the next level,” Leguizamo said. “I’ve done a lot of fighting and action, you’re right, but this was [producer] David Leitch who [co-]directed and created John Wick 1. And [director] Tommy Wirkola who knows no boundaries. I had to go there a month early. I trained hard with Jojo Eusebio, one of the great stunt coordinators and they were patient, nurturing, forgiving of me.”
John Leguizamo sacrificed to bring ‘Violent Night’ to life
Leguizamo said he needed to train to face off against Harbour, who bulked up to nearly 300 lbs. for the role. Scrooge’s wardrobe also made fight scenes challenging, but at least it looked cool.
“My costume was a little harder actually because the boots and that coat was really big and heavy,” Leguizamo said. “I had to try to make sure it didn’t trip me up.”
Violent Night also filmed in real snow in Winnipeg, Canada. So outdoor night scenes weren’t easy.
“It was the coldest snowiest winter they’ve had in Winnipeg, Canada,” Leguizamo said. “We were there January, February and March, the coldest days of the planet. And we shot it exteriors. It hurt. The cold that’s coming out of our mouth is not CGI. That tense look we have when we’re outdoors, that’s pain.”
