When was the last time you shed a happy tear while watching a movie? Enter Radical, an inspiring new film based on the true story detailed in a gripping Wired Magazine article by Joshua Davis, published back in 2013. Eugenio Derbez, recognizable from the Best Picture-winning film CODA, stars in the new feature that will make you laugh, cry, cheer, and more. Movies about family and children can really strike a nerve in our hearts, and Radical is a can’t-miss in this subgenre. Taking place in a tense Mexican border town, Derbez plays Sergio, a teacher who just started at the local primary school and ready to show his students the bright stars they truly are, despite pushback from his fellow instructors and the conventions of society.

We recently caught up with Derbez to learn more about his latest hit film, which is more dramatic than his usual undertakings.

Playing the Teacher of the ‘Next Steve Jobs’

Neglect, corruption, and violence plague the town Sergio teaches in, but Radical shows that this inspiring central character will stop at nothing to make his students realize their potential. It’s a role Derbez was born to play, since he is able to weave laughs into an otherwise darker story. Achieving your childhood dreams is easier said than done in Sergio’s community, but we remain hopeful and gripped from the film’s start to finish. “As an audience, I love watching movies that are based on true stories,” Derbez told MovieWeb. He continued:

“And then, when the journalist who wrote the original article in Wired magazine approached us to see if we were interested in doing a movie, I remember that I was in Mexico City watching the news. And they were talking about Paloma, this girl from a small-town public school who was considered the next Steve Jobs in the U.S. And I wanted to know more about this story, but they didn’t say more. And then, when Joshua Davis, the journalist, approached us to tell the story, I was immediately in.”

Derbez went on to detail the other important reasons why we wanted to help tell this story. “I feel that all over the news worldwide, especially in the U.S., they’re constantly playing all this news about narcos, crime, violence, all the bad things that happened in Mexico. And I was like, ‘I know that happens. But we’re more than that.’ And this is a chance for me to show the world not just the face of the criminals, but the face of someone like [my character] Sergio. I’m always making the joke that I feel that this is the first Mexican superhero movie. We have a real one in the bone and flesh. So I wanted to tell the story to change the narrative.”

Related: The Best Movies About Teachers, Ranked

And indeed, Sergio’s teaching certainly does change the narrative in more ways than one, even down to the little hopeful things he tells his students in their day-to-day. One scene that will make your heart melt is when a young pupil named Nico (Danilo Guardiola) makes a humorous outburst in the classroom — and instead of Sergio pulling him aside and punishing him, Sergio tells the class clown, “Don’t ever change.” It’s a shocking turn of events that will leave you hopeful for the future of education.

“I was the funny guy in the classroom,” Derbez told us. “I was the clown in the classroom, and always, the teachers were lecturing me. They were making reports because I was playing or being funny. And I didn’t know back then, but I was preparing myself for my career, being a comedian. But I didn’t know back then. And they were always lecturing me.” He added:

“And when I was doing that scene, I told Chris [the director], ‘Why not change the line?’ Because I would have loved a teacher telling me that. I would have loved someone telling me, ‘Don’t change because you’re a funny guy, it is worth it. It’s not a bad thing.’ For me, [I was always told] it’s not good being funny. It’s bad. So that’s why I asked Chris to change the line because I thought it was it could be powerful for someone out there.”

Related: Exclusive: Old Dads Producer Monica Levinson on Working with Director-Star Bill Burr

‘If They See You, They’re Gonna Start Laughing’
Apple

Fans of Derbez will remember that he also played a teacher in CODA. In both Radical and CODA, Derbez’s characters have comedic undertones amid projects that can certainly be deemed heavy dramatic films. “I always wanted to be a dramatic actor. My mom was the queen of telenovelas in Mexico, so I grew up watching her crying and doing drama, and she was amazing at that. And I always wanted to be a dramatic actor, always. But for some reason, I ended up doing comedy, and then I realized I was good at it.”

And then once you do something well, they put you in a box, and I wasn’t able to do anything else, at least in my country. It was impossible. I tried many, many times. And they were like, ‘Nah. If they see you, they’re gonna start laughing.’ And they never gave me the opportunity.

So when I moved to the U.S., it was kind of refreshing because it was like starting all over. And they were looking at me in a different way. That’s why they offered me CODA. I would have never had that chance in my country. And then when CODA came out, we thought it was the right moment to bring out Radical because, for my core audience, it was a big shift. And we didn’t want to do it before that. And after CODA, we said, ‘It’s now or never, let’s do it.’ And that’s why it took us like eight years to prepare to finish Radical.”

It’s here now, and Derbez is better than ever. From Participant, Radical hits theaters November 3.

The Radical Fund

In relation to the film, we’d like to tell you about The Radical Fund.

RADICAL FUND

Participant and Hispanics in Philanthropy partnered for the impact campaign tied to the film Radical. The Radical campaign will connect educators and organizations leading the movement to transform education with opportunities to strengthen their work, while elevating cultural conversations around creativity and equity in schools. Together, the partnership launched the “Radical Fund” on HIPGive, Hispanics in Philanthropy’s bilingual digital platform that mobilizes resources for social impact projects throughout the Americas. The “Radical Fund” will support 12 organizations working on closing the achievement gap, retention, graduation, STEAM, leadership development and healing-centered strategies to support Latinx students at home, in school and in the community. The 12 organizations that will receive grants from the Radical Fund are: • Colorado Nonprofit Development Center DBA In Lak’ech Denver Arts (Denver, CO) • Community Connections for Youth (Bronx, NY) • EDUCA, Educational and Cultural Advancement for Latinos, Inc. (Evansville, IN) • Leaders in Training (Las Vegas, NV) • Miami EdTech (Miami, FL) • Piñones Aprende y Emprende Corp (Loiza, Puerto Rico) • Salinas Valley Dream Academy (Salinas, CA) • ScholarshipsA-Z (Tucson, AZ) • SemillasTN (Chattanooga, Tennessee) To support the Radical Fund: www.Radical.movie/getinvolved