Mariana Treviño Talks A MAN CALLED OTTO and Tom Hanks

What's going on guys? It's Austin from FlickDirect talking to the lovely Mariana from A Man Called Otto. How are you doing today? Hi Austin, thanks for being here. Thank you more than anything else. So I gotta tell you, you helluva draw against a legend like Tom Hanks. Speaking of which, I heard from a little birdie that you happen to be a Tom Hanks fan.

And if you could go back in time to tell the younger you, hey, you're gonna be with Tom Hanks. How do you think she would have reacted to that? Oh, she would have freaked out, like I did in this present, like a recent past when I knew I had the part. No, I wouldn't have, like, what? It's unimaginable, what? Because it's every actor's dream, really.

I mean, Tom Hanks is loved around the globe. We all grew up with him, we all love, we have all been touched by him and have learned a thing or two about life, really. So he is a legend and an icon for most of us. So it is a big, big honor and I'm very conscious of that. - How was that first day? Not just meeting him in rehearsals, but the first shot that you did with him?

- Well, the first shot, I was nervous because it was a very emotionally charged scene. It was hard. And that was the first day. So I walked in, the sun was going down, we didn't have much light left, and so it was like, everybody was hurrying. And I had to just go in and do it. And I said, "Okay, just do it." You know, actors have to just kind of trust and say, "You've got it in you and you can do it." So this is what I went, I did it, we repeated the scene like six times and then I apologized to Tom because I'm like, "Mr.

Hanks, I'm sorry, we had to repeat." And he was so wonderful, he hugged me and he said, "What are you talking about? "Your first day is to be or not to be and you did great. "What are you talking me here?" And he gave me a hug. So, can you imagine? Wonderful welcome. - God, talk about a great first impression, man. Now, speaking of which, you said that your first scene was a very emotionally charged scene, and given that the film does deal with some pretty heavy stuff, what was something that you and Tom did to keep things light on set?

- Well, just connecting to the sweetness that is happening between the characters, because among all the kind of buffing and huffing here and there and she pushing and he pushing her away and all this kind of dynamic and moving around. There's always a little thread of sweetness that is being built between them. And this little thread that starts building from the very first moment, Tom said this the other day, he's like, "From the very first dialogue." He says, "Oh my God," and she says, "At the same exact time, ay Dios mio." So there's like a first click.

And we just, I think we just, we're very conscious of that small thing threading between them and to connect and never let it go. - And to be fair, this has some pretty great dark comedy in there. Were there a couple lines of dialogue that while filming that they were so freaking funny that you just could not contain your laughter, you actually ruined a take because of it?

- Yeah, it didn't happen in this project. No, no, no, it didn't. It has happened before and it's nightmarish, of course, 'cause you're like, "I ruined that take!" It's horrible for any actor, but in this case, no, no. because the comedy was very subtle. It's a very everyday comedy. It's just comedy that comes out from this clashing of people just trying to connect.

It creates this endearing comedy, and it was much more endearing than really hilarious, just more subtle. - Speaking of, there is a scene where he's teaching you how to drive a car. And now, I've never driven a manual car myself. I've always been automatic. Is it actually that much harder to drive a manual car compared to automatic? - Actually, it's not that much, but you do have to take a couple of classes 'cause, well, you need coordination.

You forget that when you're in the automatic, you're just like, easy, you got it easy. But with this one, you have to coordinate and this, then that. And so that's where the comedy comes from, just trying to make something work that, you know, you're kind of clumsy. And I didn't know how to, I didn't remember how to drive shift stick. When I came, I asked the production to give me a little class before, 'cause I didn't want to actually crash the car with Mr.

Hanks. I'm like, "Please, no." So they did give me a class, and I guess, you know, yeah, it helped. - Now, I didn't know this was based on a book, let alone there was even a remix to it. Did you happen to either read the original book or watch the original one? - We didn't see the movie just because of this. We talked it with Mark, and we said, "No, let's leave the movie for later and do our own thing." But the book of course is a given, because it's the base from where this all starts.

And for me, it's really important to go to that source, if there's a book. And to see what is being captured, what is being transcribed and whatnot, what is being left behind. Because sometimes there's something in the novel that doesn't make it to the script, but that you can use as an actor, and you can, you know, involve in some way. - Well, Mayra, I just gotta tell you, you did a terrific job.

I hope everyone sees it and sees the brilliant job that you did. Guys, go see this film when it comes out. [MUSIC PLAYING] (whooshing) (explosion)