It's hard for the American industry to see a Latin actor playing something that is not a gardener or someone in a cartel. It's hard to find the material that tells a story of a Latin or European Spanish guy that is not a bad guy.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There's a lot of Latinos right now, a lot of filmmakers and writers that are Latin too.
It would be a dream to do a film with Pedro Almodovar and that whole crew of Spaniards. There's this Argentinian actor who's one of my favorite actors in the whole wide world. His name is Ricardo Darin, and he's a brilliant actor. He does a lot of Argentinian films, and I know he does a lot of European films, as a Spanish actor.
I grew up in Mexico, not the U.S., and the fact is that there just aren't any parts for Latin actresses. I have to persuade people that my accent won't be a problem, but an asset.
I think the three Mexican directors - Alejandro Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro - gave all of us foreign, and particularly Latino, directors a big break.
I admire a lot of Spanish filmmakers and actors. I grew up watching a lot of Spanish films and novellas, and there's just so much talent out there.
My label is to play bad guys of Latin origin in American movies. I'm happy with that label. I prefer to play that than to play a city boy. The bad guy is always something very tempting for the audience.
I think all Latino actors want to be storytellers first. I want to be an actor first, and then I want to be Latina.
I like to consider myself an actor who just happens to be Hispanic.
A Latino actor can't play this and a Latino actor can't play that because they're Latino.
It's funny, because I've never thought of myself as a Hispanic actor, like in 'American Gangster,' I'm playing an Italian. I've always been fortunate enough to have been allowed to play all these diverse roles.