‘Peppermint’ Actor Randy Gonzalez Story of Success is the Best Revenge

Here’s my twist on why you should check out the ‘Peppermint’ movie. “How’d you get those scars?” “Oh, you know, just fighting Jennifer Garner.”

by Christina Jeter

August 30, 2018

Peppermint is a revenge story that follows Riley North (Jennifer Garner), who awakens from a coma after surviving a brutal attack that kills her husband and daughter. When the system shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself from citizen to urban guerrilla, as she goes after her enemies, one being Curly (Randy Gonzalez), a hitman.

Channeling frustration into motivation, the young widow spends years in hiding, honing her mind, body, and spirit to become an unstoppable force. Eluding the underworld, the police, and the FBI, Riley embarks on a deadly quest to deliver her own personal brand of punishment.

What was it like to work with Jennifer Garner?

She’s a total badass and a sweetheart at the same time. I had a fight scene with her and she was awesome at picking up fight choreography. She did a lot of action related scenes in her show Alias, so fight scenes are second nature to her now.

Did you do your own stunts in the film?

I did! I had no stunt double on this project, so that is all me on the film. I actually have some scars from working on this project. Should make for some good conversation starters. “How’d you get those scars?” “Oh, you know just fighting Jennifer Garner.”

I prepared by watching lots of footage of the fight scene that the fight coordinator and stunt coordinator had recorded, so I could start learning the moves on my own. Then I was able to get a few rehearsals with Jennifer and her stunt double Shauna Duggins in before we shot the fight scene.

You recently shot “The Tax Collector”. Were you excited to work with David Ayer and Shia Lebeouf?

Yeah, I was very excited! I have been a fan of David Ayer for a long time. He wrote “Training Day” which is one of my all-time favorite films. He is great at taking dark gritty dialogue and making it sound real. I have been watching Shia’s work since “Even Stevens” and “Holes”, so it has been cool to see him grow as an actor. He is extremely talented and it was a great experience being on that set.

How did you get into acting?

I used to play in a punk/hardcore band. We were signed to a record label and touring and the singer and myself one day started talking about how cool it would be to get into acting. One day, we decided to sign up for an acting class to give it a shot we both fell in love with it and haven’t looked back since. I’m grateful to say we are both working actors now.

What other projects do you have coming up?

I will be on a new series called “David Makes Man” on OWN created by Tarrell Alvin McCraney, who won an Oscar for writing on the film “Moonlight”. Michael B. Jordan is also an Executive Producer on it. So some extremely talented individuals are involved with this project. I’m grateful to be a part of it and I know it will be some good quality television.

Check out Mr. Gonzalez in the ‘Peppermint’ trailer, the film is set to be released in theatres on September 7, 2018.

Gonzalez grew up in Miami, FL and his first passion was for music. Gonzalez is best known for his role as ‘Manny’ in the Netflix series “Bloodline”. Additional acting credits include: “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”, “Transparent”, “Bosch”, “The Walking Dead” and “Graceland”. In 2019, Gonzalez will next be seen in David Ayer’s film “The Tax Collector” alongside Shia Lebeouf. Gonzalez is also currently shooting and will recur in the OWN series “David Makes Man”, which is set to premiere next year.

He started his entertainment career as a guitarist for a punk/hardcore band and loved creating music. While on tour, the singer of the band, always talked about getting into acting and convinced him to take a random acting class that they had found on Craigslist. Gonzalez fell in love right away with the art and knew that was his new path. Along the way, he also discovered his love for screenwriting. Beyond entertainment, Gonzalez enjoys working out, supporting the charities the Young Storytellers and 826LS, and is a huge “Simpsons” fan.

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