Character actor Luis Guzman is probably best known for his collaborations with director Steven Soderberg on Out of Sight, Traffic, and The Limey, as well as his work with director Paul Thomas Anderson on Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love, but the iconic actor has also appeared in such popular films as Carlito’s Way, Yes Man, Arthur, and The Taking of Pelham 123. The talented Puerto Rican born actor, who now resides in Vermont, was most recently seen starring on the HBO series How to Make it in America but now returns to the big screen with his latest film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which opens in theaters on February 10^th in 3D.

The film serves as a sequel to ‘2008s Journey to the Center of the Earth but only features actor Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) from the original film reprising his role as Sean Anderson. The new cast includes the addition of Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five) as Sean’s new stepfather Hank Parsons. When Sean finds a clue that was sent to him by his long lost grandfather (Michael Caine) explaining that the islands in the novels Treasure Island, Gulliver’s Travels, and Mysterious Island are all the same body of land, Sean begins to believe that the island really exists and that his Grandfather is stranded there. Wanting to prove to Sean that it doesn’t exist, and grow closer to his stepson, Hank agrees to travel with Sean to Palau to find the lost island and save his grandfather. Along with a partially incompetent tour guide named Gabato (Guzman) and his daughter Kailani, played by Vanessa Hudgens (Sucker Punch), Sean and Hank embark on finding the island and rescuing Sean’s grandfather. But what they find on the island … maybe stranger than they ever could have imagined.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with actor Luis Guzman on the phone while he was in Hawaii promoting Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Guzman discussed the new movie, his character, the film’s special effects, working with director Brad Peyton (Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore), Dwayne Johnson’s improvisational skills, acting opposite screen legend Michael Caine, and his next film Last Stand, which will mark actor and former-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fist starring film role in almost a decade.