-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy and Tony
Award-winning actor you know from movies like
"Moulin Rouge!", "Ice Age," and "Encanto."
He stars in "The Menu," which is in theaters
November 18th. Let's take a look.
-Do you need assistance finding your seat?
-There's a finger right there. -The man is screaming in pain.
-Please. Sit.
[ Man sobbing ]
-Not funny, lady. Jesus Christ.
-It's all part of the menu.
-Oh, my God. -This is real, isn't it?
Can't do it. I can't -- I can't do a hostage --
-Then why don't you go talk to him?
Go talk to him. Because you know him, right?
-I made that up. -Why?
-Because I'm a name-dropping whore. That's why, okay?
-Please welcome back to the show our friend
John Leguizamo, everybody.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back. -Thank you for having me back.
-I was lucky enough to see you on Monday
at the premiere of this movie, which I loved a great deal.
One of our writers here at "Late Night"
was a co-writer on this film. Seth Reiss.
-Seth Reiss.
-You got to meet Seth and work with Seth.
How was your time with him? -A lot of time with him.
Well, he wrote this character for me --
this egotistical actor.
And he knows about egotistical, you know,
because you know Seth himself.
He's kind of egotistical.
-Oh, I thought you were saying he knows egotistical
because he writes for me.
-[ Laughs ] -No.
-Very self-revealing of you.
-You get to be -- You do play an egotistical actor.
Did you base it on anything,
actors that you've worked with over the years?
-You know, it's funny that you should ask that
because I play a washed-up action star.
And I've worked up with a lot of action stars
that are washed-up now.
And there was one in particular that I --
that I like to use, and that's Steven Seagal.
-Oh, yeah. -Yeah.
So that's who I based it on. -That's great.
I kind of want to go watch it a second time now.
-You see that, yeah. The hair. I did the hair kind of like him.
Painted scalp and stuff like that.
-Did you actually -- Did you work with him on a movie?
-Yes, I did. "Executive Decision."
-Okay.
-And I was playing his right-hand man,
and he knocked me out in rehearsals.
-Oh, wow. By accident?
-Oh no, no. On purpose. -Wow!
-Because I was laughing at him, 'cause -- As I tend to do.
I do laugh at people.
I don't take anybody seriously, not myself.
But I was laughing at him,
and he elbowed me so hard in the solar plexus.
Knocked me against the wall.
I hit the wall, and I slid down and --
-Wow! -Yeah.
But he dies in the movie. So I was there the first --
I was the first one there to see him die.
Even though it was fake, I still --
-It's very nice for you to come and watch
while other actors work, yeah.
This is a great film. You obviously are working --
I think the first time you were on the show,
I talked about, you know, I know you from one-man shows.
That was the first time I saw you.
And now you're doing a new one that is actually going to be
a musical one-man show, which I'm --
-It's not a one-man show. I'm sorry.
"Kiss my Aztec" is my new musical.
-Okay, gotcha. "Kiss my Aztec." All right.
-But I can't sing.
-Oh, so that's why you need more man in the show?
-Yeah, exactly.
I need a lot more people in the show because I can't sing.
I mean, I've got a great voice.
I just can't hit a melody or a pitch.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -It's a beautiful voice.
And, yeah, it's coming to Broadway next year, yeah.
It's a real funny take on conquest and genocide.
-Oh, that's good. Well -- [ Laughter ]
-Fodder. Fodder for humor. Yeah.
-If there's any pair of hands
I feel like that might be safe in, it's yours.
-Yeah, yeah, no, I handle it. I handle it.
-You were Bruno in "Encanto." -Yes, yes. Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ] Oh, thank you.
Thank you. -Now, you know,
obviously you've done animated films before.
But to be the sort of -- the title character in the song
that was what everybody was singing for the course of --
-It was a crazy hit. -What was it like?
-Oh, my God. It was incredible.
First, Lin-Manuel calls me up and goes,
"John, I wrote a rap for you."
And I go, "Oh, my God, he wrote a rap!
I'm going to be in a movie!"
Then the poor guy suffered because he had to spend hours
and hours trying to get me into pocket.
Because I cannot sing. So he suffered a lot.
But you know, parents recognize me,
and then they, like, want me to meet their kids and go,
"This is Bruno," and then it never goes well.
-The kids -- -They don't get it.
-They don't get it. They don't like it.
-They don't like it.
They see this mug and they go, "Oh, no, not so cool.
He's not really Bruno." -Yeah. It is really funny.
They're like, "You know the clean lines,
the clean animation lines of your beloved character?
He's actually a real grown man."
-Yeah. With whiskers. Funny-looking man.
-You have this movie I've been seeing trailers for
with the great David Harbour called --
-Oh, my God. He's so good. -..."Violent Night."
This is coming out. This seems like the kind of Christmas
film that we haven't seen before.
-Oh, hell yeah.
This is an anti-Christmas movie for Christmas.
Like, people who hate Christmas movies, this is your movie.
Because he's a badass.
He drinks. He curses. He punches people out.
He pisses from his reindeer -- flying reindeer.
-Gotcha.
The Santa we've been waiting for.
-Yes. -The Santa For this era.
And I'm going to go on a limb and say David --
a better action movie costar than Steven Seagal?
-Oh, he never hurt me. We had a big fight sequence.
50-punch fight sequence, and he never hurt me.
I love that man. -That's a gentleman.
-Yes, sir.
-You know, in "The Menu," you play an actor
who's about to embark on doing a reality show,
which you're actually doing in real life.
John Leguizamo. What's the show?
It's going to be on MSNBC, right?
-It was a little weird because -- you know,
It's a washed-up movie star
who's using the Food Network to revitalize his career.
Then -- "Wait a minute. I'm working on a Food Network show."
Is my career washed-up?
I mean, I was never an action star,
so I can't be a washed-up action star.
Anyway, yes. Anyway, but this is beautiful, for MSNBC.
It's about Latin culture.
And I go across all of America --
a docuseries, exploring Latin culture.
Chefs, singers, artists, activists, politicians.
-Have you shot it yet? -Yes, we shot six episodes.
-Now, I have to ask you this.
Because I did exactly one episode of one travel show.
-And what happened? -It was the most exhausting --
I think they look so fun. -Oh, my God.
-It's so tiring, right? -Oh, you said it.
My God. It's the most exhausting --
-You're so full all the time.
They make you eat so much. -And you got to keep eating
because sometimes you make mistakes,
so now I gotta eat a whole new what?
That didn't come out right?
I got to eat that whole lechon again? Oh, my God.
And you got to enjoy it.
-All things considered, that's why --
I'm surprised you've already done it,
because I assumed you'd be a full 100 pounds heavier.
-Oh, I was 100 pounds heavier. -You just worked it off?
-Yeah, yeah, I've been fasting
since they shot it, been fasting for six months.
-We talked about, you know,
obviously both a film actor and a stage actor.
In your early days, you loved the idea of going to shows.
Didn't quite have the money to do it. How do --
Explain how you would find your way into Broadway theaters.
-Yeah, well, you know, I was broke, I was ghetto.
I was -- you know, but I loved theater.
But it was unaffordable for a poor guy like myself.
So I would do this thing called "second acting."
Have you ever done that? -No.
-I guess -- Well, now people will know how to do it.
Back then, there was none of that digital-ticket stuff,
and people smoked a lot,
so I would wait for the second act
when all the smokers would come out,
and I would dress up with my best polyester suit,
and I'd bring cigarettes.
I was too young to smoke, but I would smoke anyway.
And I'd grab a playbill that was on the ground.
And you run in. -Ah!
-With all the smokers, and you run in.
And I look down, and then you go to the bathroom,
and you wait for everybody to sit down.
And then you run back out and you sit in the empty seats.
-That's amazing. -And I saw "Elephant Man."
I saw "Waiting for Godot." I never saw the first act.
Which is probably better for "Waiting for Godot."
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, ultimately --
It's still just a lot of waiting.
-Always. Yeah. Existential waiting.
-During the second act of "Waiting for Godot,"
did you turn to other people and go, like,
"Did anything happen in the first act?"
-I was always afraid of talking to people
because they'd turn me in or something.
-Yeah. Well, a very novel idea.
Obviously, it paid off down the line.
And thank you for being here. It's always such a pleasure.
-Thank you for having me, brother.
-"The Menu" is in theaters this Friday.
And "Violent Night" opens December 2nd.
We'll be right back with Zoe Kazan!