Eugenio Derbez started over in Hollywood - Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Eugenio Derbez has arguably earned the title of most successful comedy actor in Latin America. He's starred in dozens of movies, was first on the call sheet for five hit TV shows and has created and written several others. He's the voice of Donkey in the Spanish language Shrek movies.

Eugenio Derbez could not go out in public in Mexico City without getting mobbed because, y'know, that's what it's like to be the most successful comedy actor in Latin America.

Then, in 2013 he wrote, starred in and directed his biggest movie yet: Instructions Not Included. The film opened the door for Eugenio to break through in the U.S. He went on to star in movies like How To Be a Latin Lover in 2017, Overboard in 2018, and the Best Picture winning CODA in 2021. These days you can catch Eugenio in the show Acapulco, which is entering its fourth and final season on Apple TV +.

We chat with Eugenio about the last season of Acapulco. He also talks with us about how he made the jump from being a movie star in Mexico to a movie star here in the United States. Plus, he tells us why he thought it made sense for him to voice donkey in the Spanish language version of Shrek.

00:00 Intro
01:38 Acapulco and writing a show in multiple languages
04:00 Translating a joke to Spanish
05:58 Culturally specific jokes
07:47 Having a working actor as a mother
09:23 Was "actor" what Eugenio wanted to be?
11:50 Was Eugenio a serious person growing up?
12:38 What's different between the comedy in Mexico and the US?
15:28 Acapulco's tone
17:02 Being a star in Latin America and starting over in the states
20:59 Auditioning in pilot season
22:43 Making movies that are in both English and Spanish
24:23 Success in the US vs in Mexico
26:10 The appeal of coming to the US
27:07 Living in Mexico and the US
27:54 What do you miss most about Mexico?
29:00 Immigration in the United States
31:31 Immigration conversation continued
34:14 Outro




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Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture. Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney's, which called it "the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world."