Elizabeth De Razzo – The 33

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) After “Eastbound & Down,” I got my first film The 33. It has a great cast! After that, I got a series called “Idiotsitter.” It started as a webseries with Jillian Bell, who is from “Workaholics.” She hired me to do the webseries and now the series got picked up, which premieres January 2016. I just finished filming that in May and then I went to The Greasy Strangler, which is produced by Elijah Wood. I went on to Frat Pack, which stars Beverly D’Angelo, Kevin Farley, Danny Trejo and Hana Mae Lee. Right now, I’m taking a bit of a break.

Q) With The 33, talk about premise and about your role as Suzanne.

A) The 33 on based on the thirty-three Chilean miners who were trapped in one of the mines when it caved in 2010. They survived sixty-nine days under all the rubble. It was a huge story and the whole world was watching. So, it’s a movie about hope, perseverance and not giving up on them; the families above not giving up on them and the miners being able to make it out of that hole alive. I play Suzanne Valenzuela, the girlfriend of Yonni Barrios, who is one of the miners who is trapped in the cave-in. The real story behind her is that Yonni’s wife found out about her through the news coverage. The actual true story though is he was with her for five years before the accident. You kind of get to see a little bit of the true story and I get to work with Oscar Nunez.

Q) What was it about the film that made you want to be a part of it?

A) Once I heard about the project I thought, “Oh my gosh! This is going to be so cool!” At first, they weren’t going to audition me, but I told them the film would be so great and I really wanted to be in it. I had watched the story unravel on television and knew that I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to put myself on tape, but I was in Santa Monica so it would take me a while to be able to be able to get home. My new agent helped me and he ended up telling me that I got a straight offer for it.

Q) What was it like working with costar Oscar Nunez?

A) He’s great! He made me break a few times on camera. I come from working with Danny McBride and Steve Little, who would say silly things all the time and I wouldn’t break. Oscar got me to break. I was like, “Damn it! This never happens!” We were walking away from camera, but you could see my body move when I was acting. It turned out really good though because there are actually some really funny moments in the film, even though you think there wouldn’t. That was one of the things the director (Patricia Riggen) wanted to do though. She wanted to keep the people who were above ground a little bit lighter. There are still moments where there is desperation on our end. She was trying to keep it light. So, there are a few funny moments down there. There is just so much devastation that happens that she wanted to balance it out a bit. We have an amazing cast with Antonio Banderas and I have to give it up to Lou Diamond Phillips, who gave one of my favorite performances in the film.

Q) How did you develop the romantic chemistry with Oscar?

A) The funny thing is that in film or television, it just works. Sometimes you don’t meet the person until it is your first day on set. So, literally, the first thing that I shot with Oscar was him coming from being underground. I had to jump into his arms, kiss him and have this range of emotion. That was the first time I ever met him. I hadn’t even met him prior to that. I was there for about a week before this and I hadn’t even see him at the set chairs, where we normally sit. It was pretty much that we were thrown in together and it just worked.

Q) This is quite a change for you since we’ve seen you in quite a bit of comedic roles. Was that a conscious decision to make that change?

A) “Eastbound & Down” actually had a lot of emotional moments for my character and other characters. It was more of a dark comedy. Originally, my intention when I started out pursuing acting I wanted to do drama because I love drama. I grew up watching these dramatic shows. They were my favorite thing to watch. I was obsessed with “The X-Files,” “West Wing” and “Judging Amy.” So, my first guest starring role was on “Cold Case.” That was what I always had envisioned myself doing, stuff like that. So, when “Eastbound” came along it was honestly something unexpected. I was terrified of going to that audition because I had never done anything comedic and had no improv background. It was absolutely terrifying and I was thirty minutes late to it because I didn’t want to do it, but I made myself go. I did it and it worked.

Q) What was your most memorable moment from filming The 33?

A) There was one moment which was broadcast from real life. There was one moment when Don Francisco, a really big personality from the Latin community, got the note from the miners that said they were okay. He raises it up and there are a bunch of us (the actors) that are scattered in the front with about three hundred extras. People erupted in joy and so many emotions. We were all crying. This was one of the scenes that we shot for the film – I’ll never forget because the extras gave us so much. They fully committed to this because we shot it where it originally happened and a lot of them knew these miners or people who were there who would go to the camp area to go into the port to pray and do whatever they could. It was really true emotions. A lot of them were sobbing uncontrollably. I was truly touched to be a part of that moment. It was so beautiful.

Q) What do you hope fans take away from seeing the movie?

A) The power of the human spirit…To know that these men have faced the unthinkable and survived…They were reunited with their families and are now able to tell their stories. It’s the perseverance and the mental strength it must have taken to not completely just break apart. You see some of them struggle, but it is just that they were able to keep it together enough to be rescued. They never stopped trying and their families kept the stories going. If it weren’t for their families, these men would have died. They brought it to the world’s attention. I really hope that people take that with them – that hope.

Q) What would you like us to be sure we share with fans about the film?

A) It’s an emotional rollercoaster. I can’t wait for people to see it. I’ve had a really great response so far. Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster and to truly be touched.