We recently had a chance to sit down with Danny Trejo, one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood. We talked about his new film, Machete Kills, his charity work, and his proudest moments in life. Here's what he had to say!

EatYourComics (EYC): I saw Machete Kills and I loved it. Machete is a super hero, but without super powers. What is it like to play the Mexican Batman?

Danny Trejo (DT): [Laughs] That's one of the things that Robert wanted to do. He wanted to make this guy something that people could identify with. None of us can identify with somebody that flies, or melts steel or stretches. None of that. He's just a regular guy that will kick ass if he needs to. Let's make this guy identifiable.

EYC: Machete is a physically demanding role, but you're one of the busiest guys in Hollywood. How do you stay physically fit when shooting a movie?

DT: There's a gym in LA called 24 Hour Fitness, and I was going there at 1'oclock in the morning. That way everybody would leave me alone. But people found out that I would go at 1'oclock in the morning, so all of a sudden there's 45 or 50 people there wanting autographs. I finally just put a gym in my house. I don't have insomnia, but I'll sleep 4 hours and then I'll wake up, then I'll work out for a little while and go back to sleep. I try to stay in shape. I walk a lot. If I'm going to go to the store I just walk to the store.

I ran the LA marathon before I turned 60, 9 years ago. I've been thinking about doing it before I turn 70, but whew, that's coming up real quick, and it takes a while to get into shape.

EYC: One of my favorite scenes from Machete Kills features you throwing knives. How did you learn to throw knives?

DT: Well, I threw knives in Desperado 20 years ago. It’s all a kind of movie magic. But Robert gave me a knife in our first movie Desperado, and I had to learn how to twirl it and throw it, but he certainly wouldn’t let throw it at Antonio Banderas.

EYC: Robert Rodriguez's movies are always a lot of fun to watch. Are they as much fun to make as they are to watch?

DT: Absolutely! The set is so relaxed, and your kids are on it. You could open up a day care center, there are so many kids on set. His films are a family affair. You'll see his sister in one, and his kids in one. It's a family-owned business. If you watch, he uses a lot of the same people. Even the crew, that's a family.

EYC: Is it true that you're related to him?

DT: I found out that I'm his second cousin while we were doing Desperado. All of my family is from San Antonio, Texas, and I was the only one born in Los Angeles. Robert's family is from San Antonio. When we were shooting in Acuña, Mexico my family came down to visit me and my uncle ran into Robert. He said, ‘Hey, we're related to him! He's your second cousin!'. It was kind of cool. I said, ‘Alright cuz, let's make my part a little bigger!'

EYC: Please tell me there are plans for a third Machete movie!

DT: I hope so! This one's doing pretty good already. There's a lot of buzz. Everyone says, ‘How come you did another one?'. I say, because the last one made money. That's the reality. So if people like it, yeah, we'll probably do another one.

EYC: In the film there's a lot of heavy car scenes and helicopter scenes. How do you prepare for that?

DT: First of all, I love cars – any kind. We had Jesse James build the cars for Machete. That was a lot of fun, working with him. I've got 5 oldies, lowered, low riders – cars that I love.

EYC: You're constantly working on movies. When do you find downtime?

DT: I love what I do, so what I do is Danny time. I remember someone asking me if I was going to take a vacation, and I was shooting a film in Hawaii. I was in Hawaii for 3 months. My vacations are my work. I love what I do. It's like someone who shoots pool for a living. I'm not going to hate shooting pool and make a living out of it.

EYC: You're known for your outreach work in prisons and high schools. Why do you do the charity work you do?

DT: There's two kinds of people in the world. There's people who want to make a difference, and there's those that are taking up space. I really want to be known as someone that tried to make a difference. I love going to juvenile hall and telling those kids that are on their way to the penitentiary, ‘Hey, you can change!'.

When I go to a high school I first congratulate all the kids that are doing great. Our biggest problem is that we always focus on the bad. The first thing I do is congratulate all the kids that are doing great, the scholars. When you go to talk to kids, I don't care who you are, you first have to get their attention. Which is impossible, because they have none. Then you have to keep their attention, which again is impossible, because there are 1500 students. Forget it. The most important thing to them is what's going on this Friday or this Saturday. And then you have to show them that you're cool. The biggest problem is that if you're 10 years older than them you're just not cool. That's just the law.

The blessing that I've got is that when I walk onto campus I've got their attention. Not Danny Trejo, but the guy from Spy Kids, the guy from Con Air, the guy from Heat, Machete. ‘Whoa, Machete!' They don't know who I am, but they know who Machete is, so I've got their attention.

My message is to take drugs and alcohol out of your life, and that education is the key to anything you want to do. Because I've got their attention, they'll hear it. If someone else says it, they don't have their attention. They have to give you their attention. I've had teachers tell me that ‘You've got the kids here that don't usually even come to these things, because you're that guy from Con Air, the guy from Desperado.' I am under no pretense that if it was just me that I could get the same attention, so that’s a blessing. That's one of the reasons that I love to do it.

EYC: What has been your proudest moment?

DT: My kids, definitely my kids. In fact, my daughter wants to be an actress. She's going to college right now, and I think that's so cool. My son is like 25 years old and he shadowed Robert Rodriguez. Now he's doing a film in Milwaukee; he's producing and co-directing a film called Snapshot. He raised his own money on Kickstarter. They raised $90,000! I thought, ‘Damn, when I was 25 years old I was sitting in state prison!' My big boy, he's into electronics. So they're all doing really good, and I'm thinking ‘Wow. I've got great kids.'

EYC: You're always involved in so many different types of film and TV projects. What kind of stuff do you like to watch when you get some downtime?

DT: I love Animal Planet and the news. There's a western channel we have – I love westerns. When my kids were little and John Wayne would come on the screen, I would say ‘It's John Wayne!'. Everybody would stand up and salute as our little thing to John Wayne. And then finally my daughter was the first one to say, ‘He's not really a hero, he's and actor!'. So they stopped. I have a dog named Cash that's a big Rottweiler/pit-bull mix. And I taught him. ‘Cash, you like John Wayne?' [Mimes barking like a big dog.] He'll start barking. My daughter says, ‘Only you would have a dog that likes John Wayne.'

EYC: What other projects are you working on that you're excited about?

DT: I've got the Muppets Most Wanted coming out in 2014, and I'm really excited that Ray Liotta and are doing a musical! We've got Dead in Tombstone with Mickey Rourke coming out the 22nd of October. We've got Bad Ass 2 (Bad Asses) coming out, and Bullet coming out.

Right now I'm working on a sitcom with George Lopez called Saving George. That guys the funniest guy in the world. All we do is crack each other up. We see who can tell the best jokes.

EYC: You've worked with some other movie tough guys, like Van Damme and Stallone. Which of the tough guy actors you've worked with is the closest to the real deal?

DT: Charles Bronson. I think he was like the real deal. I love the guys who do things naturally. This guy did things naturally. Other people – you can kind of see their acting. But Bronson just made so natural. I worked with him on Death Wish 4 and on Forbidden Subjects. I just became his friend.

EYC: Is there anyone you'd like to work with?

DT: I work well with everybody! Bring me what you've got. I don't care. I love what I do.

EYC: What was your favorite scene from Machete Kills?

DT: Kissing Amber Heard! She was awesome.

Machete Kills opens in theaters October 11th. Keep an eye on EatYourComics.com for our full review of the film!