Adan Canto is destined for big things after being cast as Sunspot in the Summer blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past opening Friday May 23. This follows the Mexican actor’s portrayal of Paul Torres on the TV series The Following and bartender Dominic in ABC’s Mixology.

X-Men: Days of Future Past, directed by Bryan Singer and distributed by 20th Century Fox, is the seventh film in the X-Men series. Canto joins an ensemble cast that includes Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Nicholas Hoult, Shawn Ashmore, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.

Days of Future Past acts as a sequel to both 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011’s X-Men: First Class, as well as a follow-up to 2013’s The Wolverine.

HOMBRE: Congratulations, this is a big role, what can you tell us about Sunspot?
Adan Canto: Sunspot is a mutant from the future. His name is Roberto da Costa and he has super powers, absorbing solar energy, managing it and manifesting it in different ways, from lava to fire. He flies around and basically becomes the sun. He is preventing the extinction of mutants, and endorses time travel. It’s the future, the present and the past. They’re holding on the reality of being able to go to the past and take things from it so that mutants can continue existing and doing their work.

H: How did you get the role?
AC: It was through meetings and auditions and readings. I was very lucky to have this opportunity.

H: Growing up, what comic books did you read as a kid?
AC: When I was a kid I read very little comic books. I was mainly energetic. My parents had a horrible time with me. I couldn’t stop moving. I was the kind of kid that ran all over the place. With a huge imagination. At a very early age I was rollerblading all around town. I was always doing something. It was very hard for me to sit still and read comic books. I think that would have been my parents’ dream come true. I was a fan on the X-Men movies, and some of the cartoons. I remember bits and pieces. Once the films came out, I was definitely a fan of those.

H: What did you bring to the character to make it your own?
AC: Well, pretty much everything, in all the action sequences. When you’re exploring what he goes through, when he is fighting. He’s Using his energy and a lot of imagination, a lot of craziness. You just go crazy, you act wild. The fighting this huge, you’re throwing lava. It’s really amazing, it was great to be a kid again as an adult.

H: What challenges did you face?
AC: The challenge was to quiet the mind, and to not let your obsessive mind kick in and tell you how you should do things. You should be free of any kind of judgement. Giving your imagination no filter, knowing that you are this character and nothing else.

H: What do you see as the future for Sunspot?
AC: I hope there is one. He has amazing stories in the comic book. There Is a lot of material. I would be honored, and it would be amazing to have the opportunity to keep playing this guy.

H: What does having a Latino character in X-Men  represent?
AC: It goes back to the comic book, that’s the beauty of X-Men. These guys are from all over the world. You have your Latin X-Men, your European X-Men, your Asian X-Men; they’re from all over the place. I think this is one of the most amazing things. The X-Men franchise is global, and it brings everybody together. It doesn’t acknowledge any separation between nationality or race, which is one of the points in the storyline.

H: Why should audiences see the film?
AC: It’s an opportunity to see superheroes from the past, come together with superheroes from the present, the superheroes we are very familiar with. You get to know new mutants from the future and how they work together for one common goal. I saw the film for the first time and it’s completely amazing. I did not expect what I saw. It’s a superhero movie but it has its roots. It’s very realistic, you feel like you’re in the 3-D world. It’s a really different experience.

H: Finally, what’s next for you?
AC:  There are a lot of projects out there, a lot of business to do. Projects I’m developing, I’m very excited.