Álex González

Álex González

Álex González portrayed Janos Quested/Riptide in X-Men: First Class.

Significant roles

• Ufo in Paso adelante (2004)
• Nacho in Motivos personales (2005)
• Andrés in Una rosa de Francia (2006)
• Mario in Cuenta atrás (2007-2008)
• Raúl Sierra in Lex (2008)
• Antón Portela in La señora (2009-2010)

Quotes

• "I did an audition in London, and few days later I had an interview with Matthew Vaughn. Although my character is not one of the protagonists, I spent the whole time in the movie locations, that is four months in London, three weeks in Georgia and a couple of months in LA."
• "We are not going to see Riptide's background in the movie, nevertheless it was very useful for me as an actor. Regarding His Powers, Almost everything like he does in the comic, Basically he can control the wind."
• "A big part of the powers was made with visual effects, but also with traditional ones. For example, when I create the tornado, you will see myself spinning very fast on some sort of table machine (which is very dizzy)."
• "Not really. As in the comic, he is a villain and belongs to the Marauders."
• "It’s very exciting. For every actor who is starting his career, it’s very different to get a film like this one, but for Spanish actors, it’s a bit more difficult, especially for Spanish actors with my level of English!"
• "I have to be honest, I haven’t read a lot of the comics, but of course I watched all the movies a few times. I’m a very big X-MEN fan."
• "My character is Riptide. Riptide is not very popular as a villain, but in the beginning he started working with Mr. Sinister. In the movie he doesn’t have any relationship with Mr. Sinister, so it’s not like in the comic book. He’s working with Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon. Basically, he can control the wind – he can throw gusts with his hand. But when he’s very angry, he can create a tornado around him. It’s fun, but it’s a little bit difficult to create in real life. I have to put myself on a spinning trailer, which spins very fast. So the first fifteen minutes it’s funny, but after that it’s a bit dangerous for other people. They need to carry umbrellas, because I feel like I’m about to throw up at any second! It’s very easy to get sick."
• "He’s Mexican. His name is Janos Quested. Fortunately, at whatever moment when he was creating the character, that X-MEN writer decided he was Mexican. Fortunate for me, because I’m here!"
• "Yes, he’s very dangerous. But, you know, he comes across very respectably and he’s very polite. For me, he’s just like a tornado. When you see a tornado from afar, it’s calm. The only thing that you can see is a kind of tube. But inside, up close, it’s very dangerous. Inside of Riptide everything is very fast and very angry. He looks like he’s under control, but in the moment that Mr. Shaw gives me the sign, I just blow it, because I’m looking forward to doing that and to showing everybody. He’s a bit egocentric and in the moment when he’s a tornado, he’s enjoying it all the time. We all feel a little bit of pain for our gift. These guys, right now they feel a little bit embarrassed to be mutants. But I really think everyone can recognise something in this movie, because at some point in all of our lives we’ve felt a little bit estranged. Then you discover yourself, and it’s nice."
• "Yes, because in Spain all the characters I’ve had a chance to play have been good – maybe for my face, because people tell me my face looks like a good boy’s. I’m not so sure, but directors seem to think that! It’s really nice to play a bad guy and it’s a challenge to me. It’s a great chance to be something different."
• "Absolutely, not only for the fact I’m doing the X-MEN, which is very rich as an experience for me, but because I’m living in London and improving my English. Even though in Spain I did several films, I have the feeling like I’m doing my first film again. And my first interview right now. I have the feeling that everything is starting again as an actor for me, because everything is different. There are 500 people in the crew. Everything is very different, everything’s very big. Everything’s in English, which is a big detail for me! I feel very fortunate to be here. Everyone in Spain told me, “Wow, you’re doing X-MEN, your career is going to change,” but I don’t think like that. I hope so, but I don’t want to think about the result. I just want to think about the process, because the process is very fun. And maybe the story of me doing this movie is the story I’m going to tell my grandsons, and I’m going say, “Your grandfather, 50 years ago he was in X-MEN in Hollywood,” or maybe not. But I don’t want to think about it. All I want to do is live the moment – here, now. It’s really nice."
• "Yes, we go next Friday. It’s going to be funny, because every one of us is going to have our own little bit on the beach. It’s 15 pages of the script, so it’s a big scene, but it’s going to be fun."