Fans of the classic soap opera Santa Barbara won't want to miss the new Michael Bay film Ambulance, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II alongside multi-soap veteran A Martinez (ex-Cruz Castillo, Santa Barbara; ex-Eduardo Hernandez, Days of our Lives; ex-Dr. Ramon Montgomery, The Bold and the Beautiful, ex-Roy DiLucca, General Hospital; ex-Ray Montez, One Life to Live).
In a new interview with Movie Web to promote the film's release in US cinemas on April 8, Martinez opens up about his experience working with renowned director Bay, famous for movies such as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers franchise.
"The first thing about Michael that you get is the joy and the energy. He puts the camera on his own shoulder," the actor shares. "When he was directing me on my first day, he was talking to me with one eye looking through the lens, so you have that sense of being directly connected to the vision of the [movie]. His enthusiasm and his quickness and his fluidity are singular."
Martinez says that Bay's directing style for the film -- which follows two robbers who steal an ambulance after their heist goes awry -- reminded him of his 1984 to 1992 stint as Santa Barbara's Cruz.
"I had a director back in the day, a man named Michael Gliona, who was similar to [Bay] in that he would compose scenes based on a certain kinetic sense. He wanted things to have a flow to them, like a dance-like quality... and [Bay] is pretty much just like that," Martinez shares. "A lot of the times, he'd just say, 'Okay, the camera is going to come and find you, and as it finds you, I'd like something in counterpoint to happen,' and that was really easy to do. I trace it back to my own [Santa Barbara] roots."
As for working with Gyllenhaal, the actor says, "His instincts are phenomenal, and his motor is phenomenal. He gave me one particularly clear thought [about a scene] that lifted the whole thing for me. I have to give him credit for that. His idea sort of put another layer on it that [the scene] really benefited from."
In closing, Martinez says fans won't be disappointed if they go to see Ambulance in theaters.
"It's just astonishingly kinetic, and you just feel like you're having your breath taken away," he says of watching the film on the big screen. "It's an exquisite experience, and it finds a way to get into your heart, too."
Check out the teaser trailer for Ambulance below and don't forget to let us know your thoughts in our Comments section!
What do you think about A Martinez' comments comparing Michael Bay to Santa Barbara director Michael Gliona? Will you be going to the cinema to watch Ambulance? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
