From The Sopranos to socking it out

>> Actor Santiago Douglas gets into character in Girlfight

by MATTHEW HAYS

Sitting down to discuss his role in Girlfight, the teen boxing melodrama, actor Santiago Douglas admits he's not really the fighting kind. "I definitely go the extra mile when I take on a character," says the 25-year-old actor, pondering his part during the Toronto International Film Festival. "You really see the physical side of boxing, the effects it has. It's very, very violent, and I'm not down with that. Not a cute environment--definitely."

Douglas stars opposite Michelle Rodriguez in Girlfight, the indie which took top honours at Sundance and was immediately snapped up by Columbia Tri-Star. Rodriguez plays an alienated high-school student who's too prone to getting into fist fights at school, while finding little or no solace in her home life (she doesn't get along with her widower dad and is haunted by memories of her mother, who committed suicide years ago).

Rodriguez does find passion in the boxing ring where, unbeknownst to pop, she's off learning how to battle with her fists. She soon finds she's sparring with Douglas in the ring--and falling in love with him out of it.

Out of the Mob and into the ring
One can certainly see why director/writer Karyn Kusama, who was inspired to make the film by her own boxing experience, would cast Douglas as the love interest. Handsome and charismatic, he'd already proven himself in the first season of The Sopranos as the psycho Mob soldier Christopher. Douglas says he was as surprised as anyone when he learned he'd landed his Girlfight role. "I had been working on The Sopranos when the first casting happened, so I couldn't be there. But my photo came up again when they hadn't settled on someone. I met with the director, and she said, 'Can you lose 20 pounds? Can you learn how to be a boxer and get whacked around for three months?' Of course, being an unemployed actor, I was like, 'I can fly a plane, I can ride a horse, I can be a bullet, anything I need to make a living.'

"I met with Michelle and it was clear she was perfect for the lead role. I went for a final callback, and the other two guys were boxers already. I thought they wouldn't want me at all. But they wanted an experienced actor because it was Michelle's first movie and they wanted someone with a bit more experience."

A psycho diet
Douglas was not overweight when preparation for filming began, so he reports that losing 20 pounds was no easy task, mentally or physically. "I basically had to starve myself, at first. It was a really emotional experience. If I'd lost about two more pounds, I really would have been in trouble. Then I went on a psychological diet, which involves ordering a full meal and then only eating half of it. After a while, your stomach shrinks and then you see food on your plate that you don't want."

Girlfight is getting a lot of press for its gender play, having a young woman featured as a victorious boxer, but Douglas is also happy that Latinos take centre stage in the film. He's the official spokesman for the Premiere Weekend Club, a group which works to promote greater big-screen representation of Latino characters. "I try to turn down roles that show Latinos in a negative image," he says. "Latinos from 14-25 are the biggest market in terms of American moviegoing. They're earning $1.5-billion a year from us--all they can do by making images we can relate to is to make more money. Hopefully, films like Girlfight will help to change things."

Douglas's favourite audition story involves his TV gig on The Sopranos. "I was really excited when I was called in for my first reading. I had heard of the show, but never seen it. I thought it was a show about singers or something. I went in and sat down with the cast. I remember looking around and thinking, 'Good God, these guys look like they're with the Mob or something.' Then we read and I was like, 'Oh shit, that's what this show's about!'" :

Girlfight opens Friday, Sept. 29