Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS. Actor Jay Hernandez stars in the movie THE LONG GAME, directed by Julio Quintana. In this interview, Jay talks about what attracted him to this project, his character and about the message of the film. THE LONG GAME, inspired by the book “Mustang Miracle” written by Humberto G. Garcia, follows the true story of five young Mexican American caddies in 1955 who created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas brush country. Despite outdated and inferior equipment and no professional instruction to begin with, they would go on to compete against wealthy, all-white teams and win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship. Alongside Hernandez, THE LONG GAME stars Dennis Quaid and comedy legend Cheech Marin, who returns to the green for a charming, heartfelt performance for the first time since Tin Cup. Newcomers Julian Works and Paulina Chavez give marquee performances opposite Jaina Lee Ortiz, Brett Cullen, and the hilarious and lovable Oscar Nuñez. In addition to directing, Quintana also wrote the script alongside Paco Farías and Jennifer Stetson; produced by Javier Chapa, Ben Howard, Dennis Quaid, Marla Quintana and Laura Quaid executive produced by Jay Hernandez, Phillip Braun, Christian Sosa, Simon Wise, Colleen Barshop and Vincent Cordero.
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00:00 The fact that it was a true story, the fact that it was a positive story, uplifting about
00:05 sort of, you know, these underdogs who had dreams of doing something bigger.
00:12 And I think that's a good message, you know, particularly now, because I just feel like
00:18 there's kind of so much negativity out there.
00:21 And people respond to these kinds of stories.
00:25 And if done right, if executed properly, it just pays off.
00:30 And you kind of never know as you're going through it what the final product is going
00:35 to be.
00:37 But at the end of the day, we made a movie that we can all be proud of.
00:41 And I think people are going to really love.
00:44 Well, there were a lot of things, but, you know, just kind of reflecting on it now, it
00:48 was really it was lovely to have Dennis be a part of the film, because I essentially
00:55 when I was starting my career, I did a movie with Dennis called The Rookie.
00:59 And he was my coach.
01:02 And I was one of the young kids he was trying to inspire.
01:05 And you know, 22 years later, or whatever it is, he was my assistant coach.
01:09 And we were trying to inspire another generation of young boys, you know.
01:14 So it was this like full circle moment that I got to have and plays really well in the
01:21 film.
01:22 You know, me and Dennis, I think, you know, that sort of dynamic works and was a lot of
01:27 fun, a lot of fun to play.
01:28 I think there's some really great performances in the film.
01:32 So I think it's about, you know, for me, from sort of a creative standpoint, and somebody
01:39 who's making projects and developing things.
01:43 It just reminds me of how important it is to give other people opportunities and, you
01:49 know, not that let Hollywood fully dictate, you know, what's going to happen out there
01:53 in terms of the types of films that Hollywood is making, because we as a collective need
01:57 to make more of them.
02:00 So that's kind of where I'm standing at this point.
02:02 I love Haley.
02:03 He's I think he's I think he's hilarious.
02:06 I don't know if everyone gets his sort of comedic sense because he's kind of dry.
02:13 But he'll throw like a little aside and it'll be kind of a masterful, you know, almost sardonic
02:22 comment and he just kind of whispers it.
02:26 And most people don't even acknowledge it.
02:29 But it cracks me up.
02:30 I think he's a funny dude.
02:31 I think he's super talented.
02:32 I think he what he did with a very small budget was pretty amazing.
02:37 So I'm excited to see what he does next.
02:40 You know, the movie has I say it reminds me because it has this nostalgic element to it.
02:47 It reminds me of like the crackle of a record player.
02:50 It's just of a different era.
02:52 And you get that sense in terms of the cinematography and the soundtrack and the score.
02:58 And it's just it really you get a it puts you in a place.
03:03 And to be able to pull that off with a limited amount of money is not easy to do.
03:09 I had no idea about the story.
03:12 And the thing is, is there's a thousand others about Mexican-Americans, Latin-Americans and
03:18 their exceptionalism, whether it's, you know, civil rights or moments like this or heroism
03:25 and in the military that don't get told, you know, we're just kind of forgotten about erased
03:31 from the history books.
03:33 And we have to remind other people that we're there.
03:36 We're part of the American experience.
03:38 And, you know, find a way to get those stories told.
03:45 I think the message is just perseverance.
03:47 You know, it's a message of hope and and positivity.
03:51 I think it also reminds everybody that, like I said, this is you know, the country is so
03:57 divided and you kind of have to remind everybody that we're a nation of immigrants and our
04:04 stories are, you know, it's not it's not unique.
04:10 You know, everybody who thinks that immigrants are a cause of this, that and the other are
04:15 trying to demonize people or whatever, whatever the case may be.
04:18 I just feel like, you know, every you know, I think of it like this.
04:23 I mean, everyone's trying to do their best.
04:25 And so have a little have a little empathy.
04:28 I think there's room in the conversation.
04:32 today, you know, period. I think there's just more room for empathy and positivity.