When you're doing 22 shows on network television, the writers are going on vapors towards the end and, as an actor, you're just trashed by the end.
I started out in the theater, and my background is classical. I'd love to be in a film version of a Shakespeare play.
We're at a point right now in our development in this country - setting the immigration issue aside - that you can't ignore the sheer population of us in metropolitan areas all across the country, of how significant Latino-ness is in the United States.
Latino people have come up to me and said they were motivated to become a lawyer because they saw me play one on TV - and you can't discount how great it is when they tell me I was the first.
There are no right and wrong ways to work in this business, but there are some basic common-sense practices. Work very, very hard and always be prepared; never give up; and once you get the job, give them more than they ever expected: - Shine!
It just makes you feel proud, more than anything else, that the work has in some way transcended itself.
I know it affected me when I saw certain actors growing up. I had a drama teacher that would take us to see plays in New York, and it was seeing James Earl Jones and Raul Julia - I mean, this guy comes from the place my mother comes from. He's doing Shakespeare right now, and it doesn't seem to matter that he has an accent.
I've been told that I wasn't Latino enough, which was code for 'street' enough.
California has been very good to me in terms of the professional arena.
I've been lucky because I've had wonderful teachers along the way who have nurtured and pushed me to the next level.
It's a lot of a workload doing an hour dramatic show. It's just incredible what little time off you get.
My comfort zone has always been in an ensemble-type atmosphere.
When I grew up, we went to Coney Island and Central Park. We'd find our way to the water and watch the fireworks.
All my Latino side is from the Bronx.
I don't want to have the bounds put on me in terms of mediums.
I wasn't a great student, but I was interested in this theater thing, and I could spend hours in the library researching why the cuffs in the 18th century had four buttons. It was my handle.
There's something so familial and intimate between a boxer and his trainer.
Celebrity hits like a bomb.
I'm an actor. I love to act. That's my job. I'll leave the politicking to others.
I've been very lucky to work on a wide variety of projects, including two long-run and top-10 dramatic television shows. That is why it is so important to offer a helping hand to the next generation of young Latinos coming up behind me.
