School talent show launches career of latest heart throb
by Brian Abrams,Reporter

   Taking on a wide range of characters, 31-year old actor Guillermo Diaz has played a transvestite (Stonewall), a Cuban revolutionary (Fidel) and, of course, the celebrated stoner Scarface (Half Baked).

   Diaz pursued his gift to entertain after a high school talent show.

   "I was 17 or 18. We did a thing on the Beastie Boys. I was a dork before that show, and I think that had a lot to do with me wanting to be an actor," he said.

   "After that, people started being nice to me and wanting to hang out with me. We did such a good job in the show, and people were really shocked that I was this nerd that people picked on. I didn't get beat up; I just got picked on. I was really skinny," he said.

   At 18, Diaz enrolled in Baruch, a New York business school. There he started performing on stage and doing student films.

   In 1994, Diaz got his big break, debuting in the urban drama Fresh.

   Since then, Diaz has starred in more than 20 films and has had made multiple appearances in television series.

   Most recently Diaz performs in five episodes on Comedy Central's hysterical Chappelle's Show and plans to return for more.

   "He [Dave Chappelle] is really good people. He deserves everything he gets now. The show's doing really well," Diaz said.

   In the past five years, a large following has manifested over the weed-crazy comedy Half Baked, a wacky story of three potheads who turn to dealing in a respectable attempt to bail their fourth friend out of jail for inadvertently killing a horse.

   Playing the hyperactive Scarface, Diaz reminisces on some of the more uproarious moments on the set.

   "There were a couple of times on the set that we'd switch the fake weed in the bong and put the real stuff in. They got this strain of herbs that smelled just like marijuana, but it wasn't real weed," he said.

   "So we were like Ôif we put the real stuff in, nobody will ever know because it smells the same.' It was great," he said.

   Diaz would not mind a second Half Baked movie.

   "These guys have been wanting to write a sequel, but the studio's not too keen on it. Even if it went straight to video, I think it would do well. It has an audience," he said.

    Diaz remains proud to be a part of Half Baked and does not believe his career has been threatened by any typecast.

   "Whenever it comes on Comedy Central, I'll watch it. It's the weed comedy movie for this generation. Hopefully, it will stand the test of time, and they'll keep playing it on TNT or wherever."

   Currently, Diaz is working on three films in three distinctly different roles.

   In Infamous, scheduled for a June release, he plays an amateur boxer's childhood friend.

   For Max and Grace, Diaz portrays an insane asylum patient with paranoid schizophrenia, and in Wasabi Tuna, Diaz shares the screen with co-star Anna Nicole Smith.

   "I love doing it all. I tend to get more comedy stuff-cause I'm a bit goofy-but I love doing drama, and I've been able to play a bunch of different characters," he said.

   Diaz is also very grateful for playing so many diverse characters.

   "In the beginning of my career, I always played the drug dealer and the thug, but then after Party Girl and Stonewall, I started being cast in all these different roles. I was just happy that people took a chance, so I've been lucky in that respect."