Interview: Efren Ramirez on Playing a Shakespearean Zombie in Seven Cemeteries

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Seven Cemeteries star Efren Ramirez about the horror comedy movie. Ramirez discussed what drew him to the film, working with Danny Trejo, and more. Quiver Distribution will release the film in theaters, on digital, and on demand on October 11, 2024.

“A recent parolee (Danny Trejo) gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman’s ranch from a ruthless drug lord,” says the synopsis for Seven Cemeteries.

Tyler Treese: Efren, congrats on Seven Cemeteries. Your character, Miguel, is described as useless, but you can stop a bullet. I like his attitude. He is seeing the bright side of death. There’s no pain, no expectations. What really captured your eye about this character?

Efren Ramirez: I think it’s his funny way of looking at life even after he’s gone. Sometimes, even people, in general, being alive sometimes can feel dead inside because they feel like they haven’t achieved something or something has broken their hearts to the point where there’s a sense of stagnation. In this case, with Miguel, he wasn’t ready to die. Somehow he’s been cheated. In one of the scenes, it’s revealed who killed him and how he died, but there was a little glimpse to that, and in the script, if I remember.

I’m enamored by Shakespeare and the characters that Shakespeare has created. So, Miguel kind of reminded me of Romeo and Hamlet, where he is very ambitious but driven by love. In this case it’s my love for the bruja, my love for my wife, the witch. Because she’s just as strong and as ambitious as their love is. I thought like, hey, this is truly as funny as it seems. As much of a horror film as this is and a comedy, it is also a love story of people just trying to get back to something that they missed out on.

Since you are all zombified the entire film, how was that makeup process for you?

I think that my first day on the set was very surprising because you sit down on that chair and you’re thinking, all right, you are gonna go for half an hour of makeup. I think after three hours, you kind of go, “All right, what do I look like?” And then when they put on these contact lenses, boy did I look dead.

There were moments when we were shooting at night, and it was so difficult to walk because I couldn’t see. I wear glasses, so it was even worse for me. I’m literally the clumsy zombie. You see these zombies who are really, really skillful at their lazy walk looking for brains. In my case, I’m just tripping over everything.

You couldn’t ask for a better scene partner in Seven Cemeteries than Danny Trejo. How was the experience of getting to act alongside him in these scenes?

Well, I enjoyed working with Danny Trejo because it is like you kind of get a taste when you’re working with comedic actors or character actors, natural actors, and personality actors. Danny, he’s a personality actor. Something about Danny is very pulling, he has this sense of attraction, whether it’s his big heart, his wisdom, or his hope for a better day. He’s constantly grateful for so many things in life, and it shines through and through. For me to be able to work with him, it’s such a wonderful opportunity. I’m grateful.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of my favorite films. I got to see the tour in Pittsburgh earlier this year that you and Jon Heder did. What’s been most rewarding about just seeing the fan response after 20 years and that it is still so beloved? People were all dressed up during the show. It is very fun to see.

You work in a film, and you hope that it’s gonna resonate somehow with the audience. For me, I have the opportunity over and over again to be able to play interesting characters that have some kind of curiosity to the depths of life. So whether it’s Seven Cemeteries, Napoleon Dynamite, or Employee of the Month, each character has a resonance to the search for a higher self.

Pedro, for instance, because he leads life with hope, he finds that he’s not only alone struggling in life, but you know what, there are other people who are struggling too. That’s what he has in common with Napoleon. In that friendship that they have, they kind of help each other’s dreams come true. People connect to that. Then they realize that you know what? Life is hard, but it’s harder when you’re doing it alone. In this case, with Napoleon, something great happens with each and every single character. Like in Seven Cemeteries here, you will see that, I think, in the third act, if I can remember, something great happens at the very end with each and every character.