Nick Robinson shot by Magdalena Wosinska for HERO 11: Shift Zero

LA-based actor Nick Robinson heads up our new series sharing the film recommendations of actors featured in Issue 11.

Robinson ditched Seattle for the Hollywood move two years ago, a step that has been followed by a series of gigs including a role in the forthcoming Jurassic World blockbuster. It’s been a slow adjustment process for Robinson: “LA’s a fucked up city and you learn to love it because of that.” There’s also a sense that his new lifestyle has left him with a fresh appreciation for the kind of “pure life-force” that pumps through his pick here, Y Tu Mamá También.

After all, as a coming of age story it does draw quite a few parallels with Robinson’s role in last year’s Kings of Summer. Just replace a forest hideout in suburban Ohio with pot-spiked sexual encounters in rural Mexico…

Nick Robinson on Y Tu Mamá También 

“I first watched Y Tu Mamá También about a week ago and it’s been floating around in my head ever since,” says Nick. “When I first watched it I was in a pretty bad mood and had been for a couple weeks. The beginning in particular totally turned that around for me. It was an escape. The enthusiasm these two boys, Tenoch and Julio, have for everything they do is contagious.

They live surrounded by death and it makes them appreciate life. But its like they don’t even realise they are doing it. It made me want friendship like that. They are living completely in the moment, damn the consequences, and manage to find humor in just about everything. They’re the ultimate homies.”

“Alfonso Caurón is a special guy because he not only directed this film but also wrote the screenplay, and that makes him special. The screenplay is amazing and it makes me think that has the most kickass relationship with his brother who also co-wrote it. More recently, he directed/wrote/edited Gravity which is also badass.

There’s a scene towards the end of the film where Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa are having a drink in a roadside, outdoor, hole-in-the-wall bar in a coastal village in Mexico. The jukebox is in the background and there are old ranch hands in the corner. There’s a very pure life-force in the scene. You can feel the love between the characters. Luisa goes to the jukebox and starts playing this very beautiful slightly melancholic song and starts dancing directly towards camera. Great scene. It was also this scene that I realised I had a fat crush on Luisa. After this scene shit gets weird.
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