Notes

Immigrants often leave behind what they love most, and their bravery in pursuing happiness comes at a cost, as almost everything worthwhile does. This Ballad of an Immigrant With Memory, by director Sergio Muñoz Esquer, hit home for me because of the mother and son scene at the heart of the short film and because of the connection to food and memories that I respect and feel bonded to. Just one taste of a special dish or delicacy can indeed transport you to a time and place that may seem far away or lost forever.

Notes

There is almost too much to share about BARDO. It was called LIMBO at one point, and the pandemic delayed production for about a year. Being cast just before that gave me something to look forward to. The day before the shoot, I finally cut my long covid hair.

Alejandro has talked about how characters live in his mind for so long that he knows when he meets the right actor and that he finds it in our eyes and that it is like meeting an old friend. I remember having him hold a camera very close and focused on my eyes when we first met and did some scene work. Bardo is about so many things, but what inspired it and drove much of it were his experiences with immigrating and realizing that you can never truly go back; about what he shares with the millions of us living a sort of “hybrid” life.

I was given a new life in The U.S. when I was only 8 years old when I met my father, who had left me when I was very young to pursue his dream to the north. Iñárritu has talked about not remembering his childhood, which happened to me as a culture shock. But, some dreams remained, and BARDO is about that space and these experiences that are unique to many of us.

His last film in Mexico was “Amores Perros,” and I smile remembering how I would speak to anyone who would listen in theater class about this new film by an exciting Mexican director about Mexico City and all the actors in it. I wish I could go back and tell that young actor that one day he’d work on Iñárritu’s next great Mexcian film about two decades into the future. “You may miss the birth of your second daughter while doing it”, I would have to add. Okay, I guess that conversation would have to be much longer about my grandmother’s and father’s death, and about finally meeting my mother and that my future wife would meet her on the same day. Well, what do you know, I’d have my False Chronicle of a handful of Truths.

Working on this film gave me the pleasure of helping a great director weave his retrospective visual poem. I was able to use who I am, with my lived experience living in the U.S. and my understanding of the happenings in that back-and-forth literal border, to give life to the symbolic one.

Notes

One of the most fulfilling projects that I was grateful to shoot during the pandemic was Windfall. When director Charlie McDowell called to offer me the role, we had quite a meaningful conversation about the film and how he wanted me to approach my character with my lived experiences and authenticity.

The film was shot with the strictest of safety protocols at one location. The great thing about a small group is that everyone feels connected, even with masks and shields. We had a collaborative shoot where everyone came to give their best, regardless of the situation.

The “Gardener” character for me was an opportunity to do what I set out to do when I chose to become an actor; to represent those with a similar background and perhaps who also look like me and don’t always feel represented properly. I’ve been a gardener, and I have many friends and family members who have grown their businesses to become landscape designers and full-blown entrepreneurs, always providing for their families with honest and hard work.

Windfall touches on many social and economic themes that can’t be ignored as we try to rebuild after some very trying years hopefully. Economic Disparity and respect for essential workers, wealth accumulation by some, and even the responsibilities we share when things turn dark. What is freedom, and as some play with what’s right and wrong, who gets hurt?

I always look for meaning and signs that show how one thing leads to another, and since art does imitate life, I find that the film truly does have pandemic DNA. Of course, it was born from the limitations and isolation of this time and the character of Nobody isolates a couple and forces them to face some truths, infecting Wife with some of his fire. As they begin to breathe in the same air that ultimately takes lives, including an innocent one, accident or not, it all becomes a bit of a time capsule wrapped in a nice screenplay with just the right score and creatives willing to get it done while giving it their best.

Ultimately, Windfall leaves a cinematic mark, and I’m proud of playing a small and pivotal role in Charlie’s film. My character dreams big, works hard, loves his family, does nothing wrong during this time, and falls victim to something beyond his control, just like the sad number of lost souls we’ve had during this COVID-19 period.

It’s just a movie, but when you’re creating art and when you’re immersed and can’t escape reality when filming it, and when you are expecting your very own pandemic baby to be born as you shoot, like Jesse Plemons and I both were, and when Charlie and Lily were about to get married, and as we were all following the vaccine rollout, and seeing the toll it was taking on everyone, well, then the art you are creating does carry weight. And you’re grateful to be able to do it.

Notes

This is the kind of project I became an actor for. Daniel Sawka captures the very current issue of Immigrant children in detention by ICE. I’m proud of the passionate work everyone did on this film. My own approach was to play Manuel with the respect that character demands, to support Daniel’s vision, and to be present and supportive to the young actor, Anthony Gonzales, who carries the film with his tremendous natural talent. I’ve always been honored to play characters who share similar life journeys to mine. As an immigrant and believer in empathy, compassion, love and respect, I am always up to the challenge when art has to comment on current social issues. #FamiliesBelongTogether

Icebox Film Reviews

I play a doctor who is there for Sandy (Jennifer Garner) when she faces a very difficult moment with her kids. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Nicholson. After more than a decade of working as a “Care-Actor”, helping to teach doctors about empathy, I got to use some of my skills on this special film.

Synopsis: When the situation at her idyllic Palos Verdes home turns volatile, young Medina attempts to surf her way to happiness.

Notes

I loved playing a teacher because teachers played such an important part in my life growing up and discovering myself. Sometimes just being interested in what students are dealing with is enough to let them know someone cares. Mosquita Y Mari is a film we can all fall in love with because it dares to give a voice to those who may not always have their stories told. It shows us that we can all learn and grow from the experience of knowing these diverse stories.

Notes

This was my second Disney film. The first being Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The message in this film of family, perseverance, empathy, and courage is what makes me proud of this project.

Notes

Arturo Juan Gonzalez is one of those characters I love to play. He needed representation in the story that I took as a welcomed challenge. I’ll always remember working with the great Kate Beckingsale and having her ask me what it felt like to be cast as such an empathetic character.

Notes

Camarillo isn’t like me at all, but there is fun in portraying the darker side to contrast with other characters. Of course, in this film, one of John Sayles’ best, most of the characters live in a very grey area.