In many ways the talented young actor has always been one step ahead of everybody. He's been entertaining audiences since his grade school days. "I was always a big attention getter, like the clown, always getting kicked out of class. I was always talking shit, mimicking people-- whether it be cartoons or somebody on tv-- and somebody told me I could make a living at it." Once he decided to go into the business, Clifton soon found himself working on film and television projects like Dead Presidents, Fortress, Sgt. Bilko, "NYPD Blue" and "ER", as well as a recurring role on the series "Crisis Center". But, it was his role as Cesar, the hard-core gang member who terrorizes substitute teacher Samuel L. Jackson in 187 the drama that gained Gonzalez Gonzalez national recognition.

Ironically, his experience on 187 was both foreshadowed and echoed in The Replacement Killers. "We shot in the same warehouse where we shot 187. It was kind of weird. Both times there was something bad happening, along with something good--being in the movie. And when I was doing 187, Sam told me about Chow Yun Fat. Sam's a big fan of Chow. The next thing you know I'm auditioning for his movie with (director) Antoine Fuqua who won the award for Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise' video. When I found out all that, and found out Mira Sorvino was attatched, I thought 'Cool! I want to do this!'" As attractive as the prospect of working with the talented director and the beautiful Academy Award winning actress were, Clifton admits the big draw was that of working with Yun Fat. "Mira was cool but working with Yun Fat... after seeing The Killer, Hard Boiled, The Peace Hotel, Once A Theif... this guy's like legendary! He's the Fred Astaire of action movies. But he's so humble when you meet him and he continues to be this way and so endearing and open to anything you have to say. He's really cool. I know he's doing The Corruptor with Mark Wahlberg and I was like, 'Wow, I want to be in his next movie too!'"

In researching Loco, Clifton went to Watts and hung out with real life gang members. "I had to get some of that flava' back. It's hard sometimes because the cops would be rolling by and I'd just have to roll the dice. I figured the worst thing that could happen is they'd rough me up a bit. They'd be like 'What are you doing here?' and I'd tell them, 'I'm an actor' and they'd go, "Yeah, right." And then kick me." (laughs)

Obviously an actor prepared to "suffer for his art," Clifton does admit that sometimes he may just go too deep into a role. "It's funny, you have to justify your actions to make them right. In order for me to justify my character when I was doing 187, I had to really go to some dark places. I sat down with the lead actress and said "You know, when this movie's over I want to play a character who's a real bad-ass, somebody who just doesn't care and is really violent.' She looked at me and said 'Cliff! You just did that!' and I said 'No I didn't!' I had to sit and think about it and I was like, 'Damn! I'm still justifying this guy's actions!'" Still he admits that getting caught up in the character is a danger he faces as an actor and sometimes has to struggle to get back to being Clifton. "I'm so busy trying to be other people. You start acting just as soon as you walk into the door of that casting office. You can't just be yourself because they don't want to hire you. I am not a killer. I don't beat my mother. I don't do these things, but you have to walk in there and be these things because they don't want to hire somebody who 'pretends to be gay' or 'pretends to be a gang member.'"

In spite of the danger of getting lost in a character, Clifton realizes that an even greater danger to the career of a young actor is being stereotyped. "That's exactly why I have to be all these different people. Once they see you doing a gang member, they always want to see you do that. I got several offers after 187 and I turned them all down. I want to do other things, and if I have to struggle a little bit to prove I can do that then it's okay. It's really about being an artist. I'm not going to sell out." Of course his choice of names didn't help. He laughs, "I didn't become Mexican until I signed up for Hollywood. 'Oh he's a Mexican. Clifton Mexican Mexican.' 'No, Gonzalez Gonzalez!' My birth name is Clifton Collins, Jr. My Mexican friends didn't know I was half Mexican until they heard me speak Spanish."

Clifton changed his name to honor his grandfather, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, a barrier-breaking Mexican actor in Hollywood. "He did movies with John Wayne like Rio Bravo, The High and Mighty, and Strange of stuff." Although his grandfather was ecstatic in Clifton's choice of names, his more practical Latin actor friends were horrified. "They were like, 'Cliff, don't do that! If you do you'll never play Anglo again!' I thought 'That may be a problem but it's a fight worth fighting. It's my grandfather's name.'"

What began two generations ago continues today. Clifton finally got the chance to work with his grandfather in the soon-to-be seen screen version of the Ray Bradbury short story, "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit." "He's got a cameo. The director [Stuart Gordon] came to my birthday party and said, 'We should put your grandfather in the movie. He should be the landlord that throws you out of the building.' My grandpa said 'Good! I've had a lot of practice at that!'" (laughs) In The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, four men (Clifton, Esai Morales, Joe Mantegna, and Edward James Olmos) have their lives changed when they all chip in to buy a cream colored suit that fits each of them. "I play the hopeless romantic guy who's got a crush on this girl and she never notices him until he wears this incredible ice cream colored suit. It's a nice change. It goes along a lot more with my lifestyle." In addition to working with his legendary grandfather, Clifton was thrilled to get the chance to work with Olmos and Mantegna and his good friend Morales. "I've known Esai for ten years and it was the first time we got to work together! I talked him into doing the movie because he plays the guitar so well and I knew they were interested in him."

The experience of Ice Cream Suit prompts Clifton to hope for such synchronicity on future projects. There are plenty of others in the Hollywood elite he would love to work with. "I'm a big fan of Gary Oldman-- Sid and Nancy, Dracula, Immortal Beloved-- I've watched every film he's ever done. I'd also love to work with some of the old school greats like Mike Nichols and Spielberg. And I think Gus Van Sant is totally cool." Clifton almost got to live his dream of working with Spielberg when he auditioned him in a very different kind of role. "I almost got to do Saving Private Ryan, playing a German. [breaks into a perfect German spiel] I learned a German monologue in two days. I worked with Marco Hofschneider from Europa,Europa. We taped it and I went over it about a hundred times. It got down to me and Jeremy Davies. Even though it didn't work out I know he's got his eye on me now so that's kind of cool."

Missing the opportunity to work with Spielberg hasn't fazed Clifton. He's been too busy planning and writing his own projects for his Stone Free Productions company with his writing partner, CAA's Jason Elen. On the front burner is a movie called Heron Hoofer "It's about tap dancing in the '40s. I do '40s-style tap, the old school like the Nicholas Brothers. You'll be reading about it in the trades (laughs). I want Sam Jackson to be a part of this too. Sam, Joe Mantegna, and a bunch of friends."