Danny Trejo is clearly having a good time in Central New York while he shoots a new movie.
The “Machete” actor has been spotted at a local gym and multiple restaurants, including Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and Second Chance Diner, over the past week. American High won’t officially confirm it, but Trejo has been telling people he has a role in “The Binge 2: It’s a Wonderful Binge,” a holiday-themed sequel to 2020′s “The Binge” currently filming in Liverpool and the surrounding area.
“On days like these, we LOVE work too!!” the original Dinosaur BBQ location in Syracuse wrote on Facebook Sunday, along with a photo of staff posing for a picture with Trejo.
“Thank you Danny Trejo for making Second Chance diner one of your stops during your visit to Syracuse! We hope you enjoyed everything!” the Second Chance Diner in Camillus said on Facebook Saturday.
Trejo, 77, defies his age on screen and on social media, where he’s also been joking about the winter weather. The California native posted a video of himself on Instagram Sunday performing an “ice walk” — could it be the next TikTok dance craze? — and delivered a fake weather report in front of a pile of snow on Thursday.
“Danny Trejo again, your local weatherman,” he told his 2 million followers on Instagram. “It’s cold. It’s, uh, cold, but hey we’re hoping for warmer days. It’s going to be *30* tomorrow!”
Trejo has been in town for at least a week, suggesting he has a significant role in the new movie.
Danny Klamm, owner of Prime Steak House, said Trejo visited his restaurant on Valentine’s Day last Monday and Blink Fitness Onondaga manager Brandon Anderson snapped a photo with Trejo at the Syracuse gym on Tuesday. Trejo has frequently been spotted wearing a Los Angeles Ram hat, celebrating his favorite football team’s recent Super Bowl win.
Blink Fitness Onondaga manager Brandon Anderson, left, poses for a photo with actor Danny Trejo at the Syracuse gym on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Instagram | @bmalibu145)
“The Binge 2″ began filming earlier this month, but the cast has not been officially announced.
Vince Vaughn (“Wedding Crashers”), Skyler Gisondo (“The Amazing Spider-Man”), Dexter Darden (“Saved By the Bell”), and Eduardo Franco (“Booksmart”) starred in the first film. Darden and Franco were spotted on set filming Christmas party scenes in downtown Syracuse earlier this month, and a casting call hinted at Trejo’s involvement as it sought a “Danny Trejo lookalike” for an unspecified American High project, likely to be a stunt double or a stand-in.
Trejo has appeared in more than 400 movies and TV shows, including “Spy Kids,” “Machete,” “Machete Kills,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Heat,” “The Flash,” “Death Race 2,” “Muppets Most Wanted,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Breaking Bad,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Desperado,” “Modern Family,” “Con Air,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and the new “Star Wars” series “The Book of Boba Fett.” He also owns several L.A. restaurants, including Trejo’s Tacos and Trejo’s Donuts, and recently published an autobiography, “Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood.”
“The Binge,” shot in 2019, was the biggest movie ever made in Syracuse with more than 2,000 extras and 50-60 local crew members. Scenes were shot at Syracuse Studios (formerly the A.V. Zogg Middle School in Liverpool), Onondaga Lake Parkway, Hanover Square, Carnegie Library, Clinton Square, Village Burger in Liverpool, a bridge in Van Buren, and the Greater Syracuse Soundstage (formerly known as the nano film hub in DeWitt).
Jordan VanDina, who wrote the first “Binge” film, will make his directorial debut with “The Binge 2.″ The comedy film is set in the near future where drinking and drugs are banned except for one day a year, and Binge Day will land on Christmas in the sequel with a mix of catchy songs, beautiful stop motion animation, drugs and debauchery.
American High founder Jeremy Garelick, who directed the first “The Binge” movie, will produce the sequel along with Will Phelps, Ryan Bennett and Molle DeBartolo. Andrew Reyes will executive produce the project. It will be the 13th movie shot by American High in the Syracuse area in less than five years.
A release date has not been announced for “The Binge 2,” but given the holiday theme it will likely come out around Christmas on Hulu.
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