El Muerto (film) - Cast and Characters

Cast and Characters

• Darien Dikeos as Young Juan Diego: While trying to cross the border into the states, a young Juan Diego is singled out by an old Indian man who speaks the Aztec language. The Indian man leads him to a small shrine, performs an ancient ritual, and declares the boy's blood is pure. Soon after, the man goes into convulsions and dies in the violent throes of strange mutterings and invocations.
• Billy Drago as The Old Indian/Catrina (Indio Viejo): A strange old Native American man who marks Diego with an Aztec symbol representing Tezcatlipoca and soon after dies.
• Wilmer Valderrama as Juan Diego (Diego de la Muerte / El Muerto): Ten years later, a 21-year-old Diego has made a home for himself in the Latino community of East Los Angeles. Diego has fallen in love with Maria, a young lady who is the niece of the padre of the local mission, and whose family goes back to the very first Christian missionaries to settle the southwest. However, Diego's past still haunts him and secretly dreads the thought of his destiny.
• Joel David Moore as Zak (Zak Silver): Longtime friend to Diego, who is crushed to hear of his friend's demise, but shocked to find his friend still lives as the walking-dead. Zak is the more skeptical character in the movie, often preferring logic to faith.
• Angie Cepeda as Maria Somera (Maria Hermosa): Love interest to Diego and best friend. She is descended from the first Christian missionaries from Spain to settle in the southwest, dating back to the Cortés era.
• Tony Amendola as Padre Somera: Father of the local mission and the uncle of Maria. The Padre, a very dogmatic Catholic, would often get into theological debates with Diego who was fascinated by Aztec culture and mythology. Padre Somera's disapproval of Diego placed strain on the couple's relationship.
• Tony Plana as The Caretaker (Aparicio): An older Chicano man and caretaker of the local cemetery. He befriends Diego after witnessing his powers and acts as his mentor. The character of Aparicio was the invention of director Brian Cox, which was inspired by a minor character in the original comic book. Hernandez has gone on record saying that Aparicio was his favorite character in the film.
• María Conchita Alonso as The Nun (Sister Rosa): A nun of the local mission with an abused past.
• Michael Parks as The Sheriff (Sheriff Ezra Stone): A police sheriff investigating recent murders within the Somera mission and strange occurrences surrounding Maria.
• The Aztec gods Mictlantecuhtli and Tezcatlipoca were both created through special effects. Mictlantecuhtli was made up of puppetry and other visual effects, being depicted as a giant skeletal figure and speaking entirely in Nahuatl. Tezcatlipoca's depiction was completely computer-generated with his voice supplied by Alfonso Arau (credited as "Voices"). The film also referenced Tezcatlipoca's many epithets, such as Night Drinker.

Javier Hernandez made a cameo appearance in the film in which he has a short conversation with El Muerto, credited as "Man in Costume", while co-producer Susan R. Rodgers appears in an uncredited cameo as a participant in the Dia de los Muertos festival. Rafael Navarro, longtime friend of Hernandez and fellow comic book creator had a brief cameo as a witness of a car wreck inadvertently caused by El Muerto.