The family that plays together, stays together.

In one of the more surprising theatrical hits of last year, family comedy Instant Family was adored by many audiences as a real down-to-Earth comedy that dealt with the subject of foster families and adoption.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne and Isabela Moner in this family comedy written and directed by Sean Anders. The original story is based off of Ander’s real adoption of his foster children. It also stars Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz, Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro.

LRM Online had an exclusive phone interview with Gustavo Quiroz, who plays Juan as one of the three foster children.

Quiroz has been acting since he was a toddler in Pain & Gain. He has made appearances in Peppermint and TV shows like NCIS: Los Angeles and Criminal Minds.

Instant Family is out on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.

Read our interview below.

LRM: I’ve seen a few interviews of your interviews. I noticed that your voice was changing. How young were you when you first started this project?

Gustavo Quiroz: I was eleven. I remembered that I had my birthday on set. That was pretty cool.

LRM: Oh, wow. That is pretty cool. [Chuckles] Why did you want it to do a movie like Instant Family?

Gustavo Quiroz: I guessed it would be a really cool movie. I thought it was really important. There’s not a lot of movies out there that talk about this subject. If there is–it’s not very realistic as Instant Family is. It’s not sugar coated like other movies.

LRM: Yeah, it is a very down to earth movie. You actually play a pretty interesting character of Juan. Tell me what you like about playing Juan.

Gustavo Quiroz: I just liked that it was a different character for me, because usually I play more dramatic characters. This character was a little bit more like clumsy. He just had a different side to him with a different personality than most of the characters I played before before.

LRM: Was it easier or harder to play this clumsy emotional character of Juan for you?

Gustavo Quiroz: It was a mixture between the both. I’ve never played this type of character. I had to get more into the mindset of that. My character Juan is really emotional. So I cried a lot. It was tough for me to cry. As more as I did it, it got easier for me.

LRM: In the end, it was very satisfying. Am I correct?

Gustavo Quiroz: Yeah.

LRM: Tell me about your onscreen sisters of Julianna Gamiz and Isabella Moner. How were they?

Gustavo Quiroz: They’re really amazing people. I don’t have any sisters in real life. It was really fun to have sisters on set or at least with pretend sisters. I have a brother. It’s different to have a brother than a sister. With a sister like Julianna, she was younger and I could tease her with, “Oh! You’re such a princess.”

LRM: Who did you interacted more with–Julianna or Isabella on set?

Gustavo Quiroz:  I think I interacted with Julianna a little bit more. Isabella was more busy with school. I had more time to hang out with Julianna.

LRM: That’s great. What was the funnest thing that you got to do as kids on set? You said you had a birthday party. That sounded like a lot of fun.

Gustavo Quiroz: It was a lot of fun. Everybody was eating cake. I was just really happy. Everybody’s saying happy birthday to me. That was really fun. One day, Rose Byrne popped on set and we all had ice cream. It was really fine.

LRM: I was going ask on how was Mark [Wahlberg] and Rose as your onscreen parents.

Gustavo Quiroz: That was really amazing. I never would have thought that Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne would be playing my parents in a movie. It was pretty amazing. They’re just really great people. Rose is very sweet. She’s very nice. Same with Mark. He’s really funny.

LRM: This is the second time that you were in a movie with Mark Wahlberg. But, the first time you were very young. Am I correct?

Gustavo Quiroz: Yes. I was about like four-years-old.

LRM: You probably don’t even remember what it was like to be in the Mark Wahlberg’s Pain & Gain then?

Gustavo Quiroz: No. I didn’t remember. I remembered my parents were crazy about it.

LRM: What was your parents’ reaction when they found out that you got to do it again?

Gustavo Quiroz: They were really happy and now I knew who Mark Wahlberg is. I was really excited as well.

LRM: Did you actually have to do any research for your role since this role is about foster children?

Gustavo Quiroz: Yes, I did. I met with some of Sean Ander’s kids. He’d adopted two children. I got to meet with them and to talk about like how system is. It’s just get more into the mindset of how it feels in the process system and find a family.

LRM: What was the most important lesson did you learn from his kids?

Gustavo Quiroz: Not every family is the best family. When you find a really good family and you really want to keep that family. It’s hard to explain. You just had to be like really cautious and try not to mess up. Try to be like the perfect kid.

LRM: Since you did meet with the Sean’s kids, were any of them relatable to you?

Gustavo Quiroz: Sean said that I was kind of like one of his kids as Juan. I got to talk with that a little more.

LRM: How was Sean’s direction with you for the film? How did he do?

Gustavo Quiroz: He was really great. He always got me in talking about the role. He also got me into the mindset of how he felt when he was adopting his children. He talked to me about this as we sat down. Sean helped me feel more emotional about how they’re getting adopted. Juan is a very emotional character. He helped me get to the mindset getting emotional.

LRM: Does this kind of change your perspective on foster kids overall?

Gustavo Quiroz: Yes, it does. Because before I didn’t really know much about the foster system and now that I’ve done this, I know a lot more and I’m more like, Hey, I think I might adopt told you when I’m older and more people should adopt children.

LRM: You’ve been working since you were four years old. Why do you like to be in this acting business as a child star?

Gustavo Quiroz: I just always thought it was fascinating seeing everyone on set with the cameras. I also watched YouTube videos like the Marvel’s behind the scenes with all the green screens. It always just fascinates me. I always want to know and be in the industry. It’s so much fun. I love acting.

LRM: With a long career in the future, are there any types of movies that you would love to be in?

Gustavo Quiroz: I would love to be in a Spider-man movie.

LRM: Who would you love to play in Spider-man?

Gustavo Quiroz: I would love to be Spider-Man, really. There are different Spider-Mans. I would love to be Miles Morales or any other Spider-Man. He is the greatest superhero. I would love to play him in a movie.

LRM: Gustavo, I really appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

Gustavo Quiroz: No problem. Thank you.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive