This week comes to select theaters MAN FROM RENO, a movie celebrated at the latest editions of the Los Angeles Film Festival and The Independent Spirit Awards. The story centers on a Japanese mystery writer and a Mexican-American sheriff that meet in San Francisco while both investigate a series of bizarre incidents surrounding an enigmatic man.

I recently had the pleasure of seating down with one of the most respected Latino actors in Hollywood, Pepe Serna, who portrays lawman Paul Del Moral. In our exclusive interview he expressed his deep satisfaction with his character and the film as a whole, his third collaboration with writer-director Dave Boyle.

Serna, who famously played ‘Angel’ in the Brian De Palma classic, also shared his reaction about the confirmed SCARFACE remake.

A stranger in the increasingly strange city of San Francisco, Japanese crime novelist Aki (Ayako Fujitani – Tokyo!) is unsure of precisely what role she has to play in a real-life murder mystery involving ambiguous MacGuffins and amorphous identities. Unfolding in lonely places such as bookshops and hotel bars, Dave Boyle’s (Surrogate Valentine, White On Rice, Big Dreams Little Tokyo) moody thriller uncovers exhilarating new takes on genre conventions. Consequently, it’s an alluring l’homme fatal who supplies Aki with the breadcrumb trail of clues that entices her into a labyrinthine plot of sinister dealings. In turn, the aging sheriff (veteran character actor Pepe Serna – Scarface, The Black Dahlia, The Jerk, fantastic in a rare leading role), who should rightfully be riding to her rescue, proves to be equally out of his depth. The game is afoot, the chase is exhilarating and the stakes are perilously high in this inspired neo-noir.