00:00
I have this affirmation.
00:01
I don't know when it's gonna happen,
00:02
but I will be a green lighting studio executive at one of
00:05
these big ones. Like,
00:07
I know him. It's gonna happen.
00:10
Julio. We're here to support you in whatever way,
00:18
All right guys, welcome to Mi Gente Latino,
00:20
and today we have actor and producer Julio Macias in the building
00:29
How you doing, dude?
00:29
Thank you guys for having me.
00:32
forced myself onto this show,
00:34
so I'm very excited to be here.
00:35
No, but we made it happen fast.
00:37
We, we were gonna ask you.
00:39
It was like that tension between like something needs to happen,
00:42
but we, we just needed to talk,
00:45
and it happened last time we were.
00:48
you said it before we could,
00:51
I have a text message from that morning.
00:53
Hey guys, I'd really like to ask Julio,
00:55
before today ends to be on the podcast.
00:57
We were, we were filming right over there,
00:59
and I'm walking over to this set,
01:00
and I'm just kind of looking at the trinkets.
01:02
I see Annie up there,
01:03
and I literally turned.
01:04
why am I not on this show?
01:08
Guys, for those that can't see,
01:09
he's literally across the audio meal set,
01:11
which has turned into Julio's set.
01:13
He's, he's running business on,
01:14
on that side of town.
01:16
It's so, it's so much fun working with you guys.
01:19
the, the aspect of interviewing all the people,
01:21
but I've had such a blast doing like the sketches with you
01:27
that is like my inner Saturday Night Live dream come true.
01:31
It does feel like SNL and then we're just kind of like
01:35
improving and riffing and it,
01:37
it's just, I like it because there's a switch sometimes when
01:39
we're filming them and I'm like,
01:41
oh shit, everybody's locked in right now.
01:44
Like we're doing something ridiculous,
01:45
but everyone's like it,
01:46
but that was not funny.
01:47
Like that take was funny.
01:49
Gene, because you know I can't remember my lines even though
01:51
I write it. I don't know.
01:54
these are your stories,
01:55
man. These are your scripts.
01:55
We've been having a lot of fun this season and you know
01:59
before we get into everything,
02:00
how's life and fatherhood?
02:03
1 kid. I got 2 kids.
02:05
good. Life is life is fantastic.
02:14
I know they say in a weird way grounded but
02:18
so that my head is in the clouds,
02:19
it's so that I have,
02:23
right, that, that keeps me away from,
02:26
from the sense of like,
02:26
oh, I haven't booked the next thing or I haven't worked
02:30
obviously we need to pay bills,
02:32
we need to look out for jobs,
02:33
we need to figure out how to feed our families,
02:35
but being there for my family every single day,
02:41
A huge support system.
02:43
We don't have nannies.
02:44
my family's in Mexico,
02:46
my wife's family is maybe an hour away.
02:48
So we very much co-parent.
02:49
I'll take the kids to school,
02:51
she'll pick them up.
02:52
She gives me time to work out.
02:53
I give her time to work out.
02:54
So that, that balance of figuring out our day to day
02:58
really fills up that space and I see the
03:02
how, I see how well that is reflected on,
03:05
on my children, but also how well that's reflected on me
03:07
where I'm not Ripping my hair out,
03:10
why haven't I booked?
03:12
In like two months or so,
03:14
Absolutely. I can totally see how grounding it is.
03:18
Obviously, you know,
03:19
I'm in the era of no children yet,
03:21
but so I could wake up at 11 a.m.
03:23
but imagine having a baby.
03:25
They would wake me up at,
03:27
you know, 6 in the morning.
03:28
And again, you know,
03:29
this industry is, is constant and the,
03:33
the thoughts come and go,
03:34
especially whether competition, whether you're working,
03:38
bills are a reality.
03:39
So I I love to hear that you're enjoying fatherhood.
03:42
So I know you mentioned Mexico.
03:44
Like, you still have family over there,
03:46
The majority of my family lives in Mexico City.
03:48
Question, how serious are you about making your kids no savo
03:52
because I'm, I'm no savo or not no savo?
03:56
OK, not no savo kids,
03:57
because I'm, I'm failing hard right now.
04:03
Like my kids can't speak Spanish.
04:05
they're, they're still little.
04:06
There's still a lot of time,
04:07
but It, it came from,
04:09
from me not wanting my kids to have a secret language that
04:16
mom didn't understand. And then when I told my wife that
04:21
that's dumb because like I want my kids to know how to
04:25
speak Spanish. Like what are you talking about?
04:27
And, and so now we're playing catch up now,
04:30
you know, obviously I,
04:32
I FaceTime my parents all the time and they talk to,
04:34
to, to, to my kids and then they'll speak to
04:38
the school that they will probably end up going to does have
04:41
like bilingual options and it's kind of,
04:43
you know, because it's,
04:45
you'll, you'll, you'll see this like as a parent you
04:48
have authority and then you have encouragement,
04:50
right?, authority is like.
04:53
Go and do this because I told you to and you know
04:55
and it's and it's for your own whatever and encouragement that
05:01
that's something that they kind of like can wipe their butts with
05:03
if they want to right so so they'll if I tell him
05:07
something and then his like soccer coach or teacher tells him
05:11
to do the same thing.
05:13
He'll do it because the coach told him,
05:15
but when Dad says it,
05:16
you don't know what you're talking about.
05:18
Absolutely not. So if I encourage him to speak Spanish,
05:20
he's not going to want to,
05:22
right? But if I find a,
05:24
a, a third party like his grandparents that are speaking to
05:27
if I want to communicate with Grandma and Grandpa,
05:29
I gotta do it in Spanish,
05:31
that was all I learned.
05:32
I had no, I had no other option.
05:34
But so you know how to fill out those forms,
05:36
siento tia, you know how to fill it out for and
05:39
the other thing that because I have the three nephews,
05:42
y'all gonna learn how to the way I'm teaching them is y'all
05:44
gonna order food right now and like you're gonna go to a
05:46
restaurant, you're gonna order what you want and it's not gonna
05:49
be eso, you know how like because their their thing is
05:51
everything is eso. Oh,
05:52
I want eso like nah bro,
05:54
that has a name and We're gonna learn it today and you're
05:56
gonna order yomofongo with chicharron and you're gonna,
05:59
you're gonna tell her what you want,
06:01
you know, you're gonna learn with us,
06:06
he's at first it was all playing now he's starting to get
06:08
into more like that communicative,
06:13
we go to Mexico often so when he sees like his,
06:15
his cousins and things like that.
06:17
Before it was, I'm still learning how to communicate in general
06:21
with the world, and now I know how to fully express
06:23
myself in English, and I feel that I can't fully express
06:28
myself in Spanish, and I can see that frustration,
06:31
and I think that that frustration is a good thing because it'll
06:35
I'm gonna like he has to be motivated.
06:39
you grew up speaking Spanish first,
06:41
right? And then at what point in your life were you
06:48
interesting., so my,
06:54
this,, dubbing company,
06:56
so translating movies and TV shows from English to,
06:58
to Spanish, and that's something that my grandpa started and my
07:04
runs that and We learned English at a
07:08
young age, but we never necessarily use it because we lived
07:10
in Mexico City and you know,
07:12
so we, we heard it and we understood it and
07:14
we kind of like my parents or my dad brought us every
07:18
summer to Los Angeles for a couple of months while he was
07:21
doing like, you know,
07:22
deals and stuff like that.
07:24
it wasn't until we moved to the states in '98.
07:31
and, and that was like an immersive,
07:33
like, my dad made that choice very quickly.
07:36
circumstances also made that,
07:38
but it was like we're going to the States and now
07:40
you need to learn English,
07:42
the tutor, that was one thing,
07:44
right? But then also my dad giving me movies,
07:49
specifically like Disney movies.
07:53
OK, well, you know all these movies now you're just
07:55
gonna watch them in English,
07:56
and you see the way that,
07:58
that, that Aladdin is talking,
08:00
you see the way that Simba is talking,
08:02
that's how you need to speak English,
08:04
he wasn't, it wasn't just learn how to speak English,
08:06
it's speak English like a Disney movie.
08:09
So you're speaking Disney.
08:11
I don't speak English.
08:12
I speak Disney. I love that.
08:15
So you, you were becoming these characters,
08:17
learning a whole new language,
08:18
but there's something fascinating that I think many Latinos,
08:24
we can relate to that experience of I had to watch television
08:27
to actually communicate in kindergarten because I grew up speaking Spanish first
08:32
even though I was born here.
08:34
My parents taught me that.
08:36
When I got to Kinder,
08:36
I was like hola and they were like hello.
08:41
watch some Dora, watch some Hannah Montana.
08:43
So that, that is fascinating to hear,
08:46
yeah, and and like the accent thing was also an interesting
08:52
since I learned English,
08:55
like you said, almost like a character,
08:56
and I could see that different characters had different accents and spoke
08:59
differently, right? Like I,
09:01
I, for, for a very long time,
09:04
I, I either had what I have now,
09:06
which, which I call the,
09:07
the Disney accent. I,
09:08
I sound like I'm from the Disney Channel,
09:10
or I would like sort of Chameleon into whatever friend group
09:17
and how they were speaking,
09:19
the, the, the skaters and the paintballers were speaking a
09:22
certain way and like,
09:25
the hoopers and the ballers are speaking like a different way,
09:28
right? And so I would,
09:28
I would kind of fit in any lunch table,
09:32
any click. It's interesting you say that because I also would
09:37
speak in different Latino accents as a Colombian.
09:40
I saw a lot of Mexican representation on my screen,
09:43
so I started picking up a Mexican accent and I would genuinely
09:48
tell kids at my school that I was Mexican and Colombian.
09:52
I'm fully Colombian. And not 1% of Mexican blood,
09:56
but I did feel that connection because that's what I was seeing
09:59
on screen and I would,
10:00
I would start talking a little frecita sometimes because that was the
10:04
character that I was into and etc.
10:06
So,, you've talked about how different people looked at
10:08
you,, when you've transformed into Spooky,
10:11
and we'll switch things up right now.
10:12
How did that change,
10:14
how did that change you after the role as a
10:17
person, not as an actor?
10:23
It was a gift that was bestowed upon me by the universe
10:29
and, and, and not just the like the ability
10:31
to have visibility in this industry as an actor,
10:39
in the larger conversation of,
10:43
of What it means to be human and,
10:45
and, and be part of,
10:46
of, of, of the society.
10:47
Like I, I have always considered myself when people ask me
10:53
I mean, we've always had this like,
10:55
this thing where, you know,
10:56
you're in school and,
10:57
you know, in the late 90s,
10:59
early 2000s where it's like,
11:00
you know, for the SATs or whatever,
11:03
any standardized test like check like black,
11:06
white, other Asian or other or like,
11:14
I guess the closest,
11:15
I'm not Asian, the closest thing is white,
11:19
I don't like, I definitely don't look like James next to
11:25
and then they brought in like Hispanic and Latino,
11:27
and then, then you're like,
11:29
OK, OK, but why is there two,
11:31
why are there two boxes,
11:31
which one do I pick,
11:33
and then you kind of have that conversation with your parents and
11:34
your parents are like,
11:35
you're Mexican, so like I would always,
11:37
I would always put other and then write Mexican,
11:41
right? And some teachers would just let it ride,
11:44
others would be like,
11:44
No, you have to pick like that's not a that Mexican
11:47
is not a race and it's not a race,
11:50
I don't identify with the other one.
11:51
I don't know you want me to put like it's not,
11:54
and but I was always,
11:56
I always identify myself as,
11:58
Mexican, Mexican, Mexican,
12:00
and, and then I got really into history and then I
12:03
discovered what the, the,
12:04
the mix of, of the Mexican people is,
12:09
they, they call the United States the melting pot,
12:11
but if you wanna see what,
12:14
what the world would look like smashed together.
12:17
You go to Mexico and Central America because that is where the
12:21
indigenous population mixed with the European population and the influx of
12:27
African population, but then also within 100 years after that happened
12:32
Asia was coming over.
12:33
So when you see the absolute mix that is going on in
12:37
South America, that's,
12:38
that's what you, that's what everywhere in the world,
12:41
if they were to like homogenize into one thing.
12:44
They kind of look Latino.
12:45
Like that's kind of like the flavor that you're gonna get.
12:48
But before on my block,
12:50
I, I didn't necessarily consider myself like Chicano or Mexican-American or
12:56
or even the moniker of brown,
12:58
right? It was like I It was not even in my
13:03
right,, because it was just,
13:05
it was just Mexican,
13:06
right? I always felt othered by,
13:11
in like I'm, I'm too much of a,
13:14
social friendly person to like really be bullied or put
13:17
in a corner, but I was always othered by by groups
13:20
of friends that I had and it wasn't until I Changed my
13:26
appearance for the show and I walked around the world in what
13:30
was a costume for me at the time,
13:33
but was the real existence of a lot of people.
13:37
Like before, before on my block,
13:40
I had never had the experience of Like someone clutching their
13:45
their, their purse or like moving out of the way
13:48
or getting like I mean I've been stopped by by cops before
13:52
but like for legitimate reasons like speeding or something like that,
13:55
not just because of a certain way that I looked right and
13:58
that happened over and over and then that like in my daily
14:01
life pissed me off right and then that evolved and I,
14:06
I, I put it in the character and then and I
14:08
and I did some self-reflecting and then that that moniker of
14:11
like brown like yeah that that is.
14:14
That is a strong word that is a correct descriptive word and
14:17
I think that that's,
14:18
that's something that, that I started to learn and earn and
14:21
it, and I tried not to be performative of it.
14:24
I tried to, to educate myself on like the,
14:27
the, the, the plight of and I try to be
14:31
specific, right, because Latinos are not monoliths so I cannot
14:33
speak for the entirety of,
14:34
of, of, of the experience of what it is to
14:36
be from Latin America in the United States.
14:39
But for the Mexican-American,
14:40
for the Chicano, that's,
14:41
that's the history that I,
14:42
that I focused in on and learned and try to understand
14:47
as much as possible.
14:50
And that's where I truly fit in because now the idea of
14:57
If I go to Mexico now,
14:59
oye guerovena qui gringo and I'm like mm mm mm mm mm
15:04
you know, but over here,
15:07
I'm, it's, I'm very clearly.
15:11
Put as in in the Mexican box which I love and I
15:14
started working with this with this brand Brown and Proud like
15:19
I, I love their like their clothes are comfortable but just
15:24
the idea that it's I'm,
15:25
I'm putting that on on myself before you call me out I'm
15:29
I'm gonna stand proud and say this is what I am,
15:31
right? And I'm also with my own behavior with my own
15:36
experience with my own way of communicating with people I'm going
15:38
to., not single-handedly,
15:42
but help change the,
15:43
the idea of what people might think that moniker is.
15:48
Yeah, beautifully said.
15:49
I think your description of the SAT box or the,
15:53
the school box, I think that like that was harder.
15:56
than a lot of the tests I think I ever took,
15:58
because it really was asking a big identity question at such a
16:03
young age. And as you described,
16:06
it took a while for you to discover what it meant for
16:09
you. And I think it takes a long time for All
16:13
the various types of Latinos,
16:14
as you said, we're not a monolith.
16:16
We come from different backgrounds,
16:18
different generational stories, right?
16:19
Some of us just got here.
16:21
Some of us have been here longer.
16:24
So,, going back to Spooky,
16:27
was he your first Latino character that you played,
16:30
or had you previously,
16:31
no, I think that I've always,
16:33
I've always played Latino roles.
16:35
I'd never particularly thought of them that way,
16:44
a, a lot of commercials and oddly enough,
16:46
I It was always on the,
16:49
on the Spanish speaking commercials and that's where I would kind of
16:52
like my, my bread and butter for a while it was
16:56
the bilinguals where I would shoot it in English and then I
16:58
would shoot it in Spanish,
16:59
right?, but it was always very clear that that
17:02
Hollywood said oh Latino boy,
17:08
so there's nothing to like be ashamed of now.
17:10
It's now it's now how do you give me the role that
17:12
was either ambiguously written or written by a white man even subconsciously
17:18
saying Well, he doesn't have to be white,
17:22
yeah, but you wrote him.
17:25
but if it doesn't matter,
17:26
then just give it to me and then I'm not suddenly gonna
17:28
come in with maracas and say like da da da da da
17:31
da like I'm gonna play it how it's written,
17:34
but I just happen to be the guy,
17:37
I don't think, and I'm looking trying to think back in
17:40
my filmography and TV like appearances,
17:42
I think that everything that I've always done has been with a
17:45
Latin or brown tint to it,
17:47
just not to the extent that You know,
17:50
Spooky was, I have a question in regards to Spooky.
17:53
What was the moment that like made you be like,
17:57
people fuck with him when you suddenly go from like your Maybe
18:03
1000 friends that you have,
18:05
like, or friends that you have on social media where it's
18:07
like over the course of my experience and from Facebook through Instagram
18:12
I've amounted 900 people that I call my friends and then
18:16
suddenly boom, you blow up to like 500,000,
18:21
right? Like you get curious,
18:23
so you start going through the DMs and,
18:25
and stuff like that,
18:25
right? And there was one from a guy who said
18:31
I watched, I want you to know that your character helped
18:34
me heal a relationship with my daughter.
18:38
I, I have not always made the best decisions in life
18:44
my Baby mama and then the,
18:47
my daughter weren't,,
18:49
weren't speaking to me and then we,
18:51
they watched the show,
18:52
they reached out to me and I started watching that show with
18:54
with my daughter and then it gave me an opportunity to
18:57
open up and it allowed her to have a little bit of
19:01
I don't know why Dad started doing the things that he did
19:04
but maybe this is an like it opened up that conversation
19:09
oh man, like that's not just like,
19:11
oh he looks cool or he's writing like that was a real
19:15
that was a real world.
19:18
Like experience that hopefully,
19:20
again, it wasn't just my performance,
19:23
it was the show as a whole,
19:25
it was the, it was the community that built around that
19:28
that show, but because Of the popularity of the show
19:33
it allowed that little girl to see her dad in a
19:37
different light. Now I don't know the specifics other than that
19:39
DM. It could have been,
19:40
but like to me I was like,
19:44
that's, that's powerful,
19:45
yeah. So that's when I knew that,
19:49
There's something deeper to this than just the aesthetic that's still fascinating
19:56
you also produce. How important is it for you to also
19:59
you know, do other things aside from acting?
20:05
It's hard for a kid to know that they wanna be a
20:08
producer because that's such a like a you know what no it
20:14
I think it finds you,
20:15
yeah, I definitely see producing take a much bigger chunk of
20:22
my life moving forward than than act.
20:25
I'm gonna, I'm gonna continue to act.
20:28
and it opens doors and it also fulfills something within me.
20:31
And it pays the bills,
20:37
but producing for me it is,
20:41
storytelling and bringing different people together,
20:43
and I love El ronmpecabezas of producing.
20:47
the, the finding and mismatching of people,
20:50
right? Frankenstein, yeah,
20:51
and even though I spend a lot of time with my acting
20:54
friends, I actually spend it a lot more time with the
20:58
had the idea of I'm gonna be a director or I'm gonna
21:01
be a writer. It was always like,
21:02
how can I help put this thing together,
21:05
right? When you look at the Oscar for Best Picture,
21:09
doesn't the Oscar get handed to the producer,
21:11
the producer and the producers of,
21:14
because that is how important they are to the movies that we
21:18
all fall in love with,
21:19
the TV shows that we all fall in love with.
21:21
If they didn't have a producer,
21:23
we wouldn't have been watching it.
21:26
It's like, it's like the first and last cheerleader.
21:28
They're the people that see that story before when it's,
21:30
when it's, when it's like a on a,
21:32
on a napkin and then all the way through the end of
21:37
I, I, I linked up with my,
21:38
my, with my one of my best friends,
21:40
Alfredo Ibarra, and right out of film school we started a
21:44
production company together and we did music videos for Gloria Trevi,
21:53
not the, not the Korean one,
21:55
Mexican one, I didn't know there was a Mexican BTS,
21:58
yeah,, so a bunch of different artists and,
22:06
right, and And I loved,
22:09
I loved that time in my life because I was,
22:12
it was a struggle because it was just like,
22:13
oh, I'm an actor that's producing,
22:15
but then looking back I was like,
22:17
no, that's where I cut my teeth,
22:18
and that's like what,
22:19
what was I doing with the majority of my time?
22:20
Yeah, I was like doing auditions here and there,
22:23
but like 90% of my time was like calling this person,
22:28
to my, to my director,
22:30
and then like. Figuring it out logistics.
22:32
Oh, Gloria Trevi wants bigger speakers,
22:34
so I gotta run out and,
22:35
and buy some bigger speakers.
22:36
Like, do we have it in the budget?
22:37
Like, well, we don't have it in the budget for
22:40
so we got it in the budget to get these speakers,
22:45
I was enamored with that.
22:46
And then on my block happened and I thought that that was
22:48
like, OK, this is the universe telling me that this
22:50
is where we're gonna go,
22:51
right? It fuels you as an actor,
22:53
Producer because it, it gives you that clarity where I think
22:57
because I, I came up through acting as well,
23:00
that you don't know that you just,
23:02
you go in with just your audition in mind,
23:04
you just go in with your lines in mind,
23:06
but there's so much more that feeds,
23:09
you know, the nose that come which are constant and you
23:12
just kind of as from the producer mindset,
23:15
you start. Giving yourself that feedback that sometimes you never hear
23:19
or that reality check of like oh they went with a boy
23:22
that was 3 years 5 years younger than me because they were
23:25
targeting a different demographic.
23:27
So yeah, it kind of does take the magic away from
23:30
it sometimes, but I felt like when I was acting it
23:32
always gave me the most constructive criticism to put that like producing
23:39
and I think like moving forward where it for me it's I
23:43
I got frustrated a while after a while where
23:45
it was like, oh man,
23:46
like I thought that being on on my block and then being
23:51
like I had broken past a certain threshold where like now the
23:54
offers are gonna start coming in and now I don't have to
23:57
do it now, now it's gonna be easy sailing from here
23:59
on and that wasn't the case,
24:00
right? I'm still very fortunate.
24:02
I know that I have a leg up on a lot of
24:04
things. I know that when,
24:05
when my tape hits the producer's desk,
24:07
it, it has a slightly Higher cachet than just someone who's
24:11
got nothing on the resume,
24:12
right, but it's also I'm not Pedro Pedro Pascal,
24:15
right? So I got frustrated for a while and then about
24:20
I, I told my wife I think I'm,
24:21
I'm gonna start producing and I think a lot of actors that
24:25
go back or start producing,
24:26
there's, there's the idea of like producing for yourself like I'm
24:29
gonna make a movie for me.
24:30
I'm gonna write myself,
24:31
and they always tell you that like I'm gonna write a movie
24:32
for myself. I'm gonna direct myself in this movie.
24:34
I'm gonna do something for me.
24:36
And maybe that's where it started,
24:37
but it has now evolved where I have.
24:41
Maybe 10 projects and I have 1 or 2 roles in there
24:47
for me where maybe I come in,
24:49
but I'm I'm, I'm actively creating projects for other people.
24:54
And I feel so incredibly fulfilled.
24:57
Just building these projects together,
25:00
So like I have this affirmation.
25:02
I don't know when it's gonna happen,
25:03
but I will be a green lighting studio executive at one of
25:06
these big ones. Like I know him.
25:09
It's gonna happen. Hire me.
25:12
We're here to support you in whatever way,
25:14
shape or form. Alright,
25:15
brother, I'm gonna put you on the spot.
25:16
This is a new segment we have.
25:18
It's called Mount Rushmore.
25:20
So I need you to put together your top 4.
25:24
I'm gonna give you the category.
25:26
but let's start with horror movies.
25:28
Talk to me. I'm not a huge horror guy,
25:32
but I would say I think it's the,
25:34
the 5th kind. It's like an alien abduction movie with like
25:39
I think that's up there just because it's,
25:40
it's, it's freaky to me,
25:50
OK, OK, The Exorcist,
25:52
the OG one, the OG Exorcist,
25:54
that shit. And not a horror film,
26:00
but I watched it at the right age and I had nightmares
26:02
of, of rats crawling out of my stomach,
26:07
OK, not a horror movie,
26:08
but like it's, yeah,
26:09
yeah, yeah, if it gave you it evoked that feeling
26:12
it counts. I got one a little bit more dangerous
26:14
now. Top LA restaurants.
26:17
I gotta put in and out up there just because I eat
26:20
OK, so that's normal.
26:23
Cain, which is a Mexican restaurant over in Hollywood,
26:28
This is maybe a personal preference for me,
26:29
but Sushi Dan over here in Studio City.
26:32
yeah, I love Sushi Dan.
26:34
I've been told about it,
26:38
is it Musso and Frank's or Frank's and Musso Old Steakhouse over
26:41
in Hollywood? Can't remember which one.
26:43
Yeah, Frank and Musso,
26:47
those are your four.
26:48
And then the last one is actors who are your four top
26:53
So for me, I think that just like a general phenomenal
26:56
actor,, Meryl Streep,
26:58
her ability to Bring herself to every character and it's so like
27:05
her deliveries are are so casual they have gravitas obviously but I
27:10
never feel like I'm watching Meryl Streep even though Meryl Streep always
27:13
brings herself to the roles,
27:14
right? So I think that that's that's something that that.
27:17
That I, that I love watching her do.
27:19
Robin Williams, again,
27:22
the polarity, right?
27:23
I think, I think that I wouldn't put them up on
27:25
my Rushmore, but like,
27:26
OK, I knew that best and,
27:27
and, and Jim Carrey were the reasons that I wanted to
27:28
be an actor because when I was watching him I was like
27:30
yo, the bravery to do that buffoonery.
27:35
Right. Like for you,
27:36
the, the willingness to go and do that.
27:40
Robin Williams, Denzel Washington,
27:45
another character that similar to Meryl Streep is able to
27:51
Deliver things very naturally without it feeling like a
27:54
line reading and I feel like he's like an actor that like
27:58
you, you wanna work with somebody who's just gonna like breathe
28:02
and and work with you and you're like.
28:03
If I don't have to do this 70 times,
28:07
if we can do this 3 or 4 times and we know
28:09
that we, we got it in the bag,
28:10
then like let's move on because after that it starts to get
28:13
like very rehearsed Daniel Day-Lewis because of the performances that he
28:21
has done though I don't completely agree with the ways that he
28:28
got. To do them right.
28:32
I very much admire the work that I see.
28:35
When I see the process of doing the work,
28:38
maybe less so respectable.
28:42
You're Mount Rushmore solid list.
28:45
we're at our another segment we have which is called
28:48
Perocadaquien. Somebody wrote into us,
28:51
OK,, I have the text here.
28:52
They're asking for advice and comosaisa,
28:55
right? Pedro cadaquin,
28:58
mi gente Latino, I've been an influencer for a few years
29:02
opened a lot of doors for me,
29:03
but acting has always been what I really wanna do.
29:06
Now that I'm auditioning more,
29:07
I feel like people still only see me as the influencer instead
29:11
of an actor. I don't wanna run away from what,
29:14
but I also don't want it to define what I'm capable of
29:18
How do you get people to see you differently when you
29:20
already have the idea of who you are?
29:22
Do I separate myself from the influencer's side,
29:27
or do I keep working,
29:29
until people take me more seriously?
29:32
never run away from your,
29:34
from your base, from the people that,
29:37
that, that got you visibility.
29:39
I think that that's something,
29:42
I I personally, you know,
29:46
when anyone wants to take a picture with me in public,
29:49
if I'm not in a life or death situation or I really
29:51
have to go somewhere,
29:52
like I take my time to have that two-minute conversation,
29:56
and there's a line that Channing Tatum says where like,
29:59
Sandra Bullock is like punking him on like
30:01
you just take pictures and he's just like,
30:03
what's so bad about like giving this person like a moment of
30:07
happiness, right? And like I remember seeing that I was
30:10
like, yeah, it's true,
30:12
as ridiculous as anybody else might say,
30:14
like someone who doesn't know me and it's like,
30:16
oh look at this asshole taking a picture with,
30:18
do you think you're important?
30:18
Like I don't, but to this person,
30:21
I made their day and why would I not want to like
30:27
but to be taken seriously as an actor,
30:29
that's a different, that's a different,
30:32
skill set, I don't know because I,
30:34
I, I think that it happened inversely for me,
30:36
right? Like I started acting and then that grew my social
30:42
and not the other way around,
30:43
and I do think that that people even for actors they do
30:47
put you into things.
30:48
So if I, I love doing comedy,
30:51
but I get very few opportunities to do comedy because people now
30:56
and which is fantastic,
30:57
which is great, right.
30:59
but I think that that's also something that happens with
31:01
like comedians. They,
31:02
they, they do stand-up comedy and they do a lot of
31:03
comedy and then whenever they try to do something serious,
31:06
typecasting, typecasting, like you laugh,
31:08
you're like, ha ha ha ha.
31:09
So,, I don't think that it's an Influencer problem
31:13
as much as you said,
31:14
it's a typecasting problem.
31:18
Differentiate differentiate yourself and don't expect your social media character.
31:26
To cross-pollinate with your,
31:28
your acting career cause they might be completely different.
31:31
Don't change this because this is what's gotten you here and these
31:34
are the people that,
31:36
that love you, respect you and have been following you.
31:39
If you want your fans to take you more seriously,
31:41
I think that that's different than the industry taking you more seriously
31:44
because if you go in and you give a hell of a
31:47
performance at an audition,
31:49
that producer is gonna take it to the director,
31:51
that director's gonna see something and they're gonna give you that opportunity
31:54
I don't think they're they're they are not gonna go through
31:57
your social media and say,
31:58
oh, this person does,
32:01
I don't know, gifts unwrap like gift opening or whatever
32:05
so obviously he can't deliver a a Shakespearean monologue believably
32:10
if you walked into that room and delivered that Shakespeare.
32:14
It don't, it don't matter what you're doing on social media
32:18
I don't think it's a,
32:19
it's a. It's an influencer situation.
32:23
It's a typecast situation,
32:27
a solid response other than definitely don't alienate yourself from the,
32:31
from the people that got you to where you are.
32:33
Beautifully said, and I think as an industry,
32:36
creators and influencers are sort of reshaping a lot of.
32:42
Like promo postproduction, like there you see these big name studios
32:47
and you see like influencers not joining the cast.
32:50
I feel like it's that part of it has lessened,
32:53
but more just like being an integral part of a marketing campaign
32:56
that's going to push the film towards different audiences and I know
33:00
I've come across a lot of actors who.
33:04
Lean into influencing because that's where they could gain visibility.
33:08
It wasn't necessarily a project that gave them that first opportunity,
33:14
I love your response and,
33:16
and has, have you seen directors or like producers feedback ever
33:21
be like. Social media following,
33:24
social media, or I guess because I've heard that people are
33:28
saying that they're not being cast because they don't have any social
33:31
media. Do you think that's accurate?
33:34
it's, it's one of a million.
33:40
if we are Let's say that we're,
33:45
Zorro, right, and myself and Julio and this other actor
33:50
they're they're gonna, they wanna cast someone Latino,
33:52
boom, we're both Latino,
33:53
they wanna cast someone,
33:55
boom, we're both in their 30s,
33:57
they wanna cast someone that,
33:59
that they can speak Spanish fluently,
34:00
boom, we. Both speak Spanish fluently,
34:03
they want to cast someone that has like short hair
34:07
that's a smaller thing.
34:07
Oh, they both have short hair and then,
34:10
they gotta be locally hired.
34:11
Oh, we both live in Los Angeles.
34:12
That's like that, that's an even thinner line.
34:18
Is it, are they both great?
34:21
they're both sending incredible tapes.
34:23
So if we're like neck and neck and neck and neck and
34:25
neck, and then suddenly they're like,
34:27
they're running the numbers and saying,
34:29
OK, well, they both gave us the same performance,
34:32
they both look the same,
34:33
they both are, they both would be the perfect that,
34:37
right? And then to try to get it across the green
34:41
line to a guy who does not care about any of that
34:44
other stuff. And then they have this social media number.
34:50
I think it helps you in the conversation,
34:54
I don't like the defining factor.
34:56
It's not a defining factor,
34:57
and I don't think it's a deal breaker.
34:59
it's another thing. It's an asset.
35:02
It's another asset, right?
35:05
this Julio Macios has,
35:08
X amount of followers,
35:10
but this other actor has,
35:12
an experienced equestrian for 15 years,
35:15
and he can do all of his own horseback riding and,
35:19
our thing if we can see Zorro actually doing the things without
35:23
oh man, actually we want the audience to see Zorro doing
35:26
that thing. So suddenly boom,
35:28
your social media numbers don't matter because the the homie's got the
35:30
skill, right. I love that POV and perspective.
35:39
Let's keep it going.
35:40
Thank you so much for joining us on Mi Gente Latino.
35:43
Julio, you have anything you wanna plug in,
35:45
anything you have going on?
35:50
Brandon Pads is, is,
35:51
is a dope brand that I've been that I now I'm gonna
35:53
start working with a little bit more integrally to,
35:56
to try to bring some more apparel and,
35:58
and, and, and interesting things,
36:01
but, I wanna plug in our other show,
36:04
you know, go for it,
36:05
you know, we're killing it on that side,
36:07
Audio Mio, like I'm having a blast over there.
36:10
We're, we're coming up with incredible titles.
36:13
these, these books are,
36:14
are legitimate fuego, right,
36:19
The interviews are having a blast and these comedy skits
36:22
I'm just like come on let's just spin off that show right
36:24
now like NBC whoever it is just pick it up like pick
36:29
up that sketch show because You know what they should because Marcelo
36:34
Hernandez is carrying on NBC SNL right now.
36:38
What if a group of powerful Latinos came in,
36:41
right, because the people want that.
36:43
There's numbers behind it.
36:44
If dear executive, I,
36:46
I can, and then we bring in different hosts and have
36:50
them doing their own thing promise you guys.
36:52
Funny. We are funny.
36:54
Like I'm not wasting your time.
36:56
Like this shit is funny.
36:57
We're funny. It's good.
37:00
Julio, well, before we leave,
37:02
we do have to hit them with a mi gente Latino in
37:05
J.Lo fashion. So where is she?
37:08
Where is she? We have our candle turned around.
37:11
Wait, wait, let me show you.
37:13
Yo, the JO migente latino.
37:16
She's giving us her blessing on the count of 3,
37:19
uno dos tres mi gente latino.
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