The formula sounds familiar: Inner-city kids with various problems are introduced to a positive and persistent role model, one who, after breaking through their tough exteriors with the power of ballroom dance, changes their outlook--and lives--for the better, forever. But what started out as a run-of-the-mill foray into the genre of mentor movies ended up being much more than that to the cast and crew, several of them said in a recent roundtable interview with reporters.The cast and the director of “Take the Lead” are unanimous in expressing their admiration for Pierre Dulaine, a man distinguishable by his charm, decorum, and magnetic personality. Not only are they impressed by Dulaine himself—especially his efforts to introduce dance to elementary students of New York’s public schools--but they were also taken by his reluctance to demand or accept anything in exchange for his hard work and dedication.
Antonio Banderas, who plays Dulaine in the film, says he found this selflessness refreshing.
“Knowing somebody... capable of doing things without expecting anything in return; it’s called altruism, and I think that’s something people don’t do nowadays. Everybody expects something in return,” Banderas says.
Banderas, whose distinctive Spanish accent is thicker than Dulaine’s French inflection, says Dulaine also exemplifies the importance of doing something good, no matter what the outcome or influence of your actions.
“He’s not going to change the world, obviously," Banderas says. "And probably, he’s not going to change dramatically the system in schools. But he’ll just add... more ideas.”
Banderas took on the film with this, and his role as a father, in mind. He opened up about why, even after having done family films in the past, this movie is especially important to him.
“I think it’s interesting for them [my kids] to watch this movie. Especially for them, because they are not kids in public school. I have to recognize that," Banderas says, referring to his 9-year-old daughter and 16-year-old stepdaughter. "They go to very expensive schools, but they have to recognize all those realities--which is something that I was actually very aware from the beginning of my relationship with Melanie [Griffith], because I never had kids before."
It's not the first time Banderas has tried to show his children the broader world outside their sheltered lives. He and Griffith, he says, traveled a lot with them while filming "Evita" in 1996.
