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“Teamwork Makes The Dream Work Part 1” · Dos Amigos

0:05
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to those amigos.
0:07
Speaker 2: Yes, and I hearted Myuda destination for voice and ideas.
0:13
Speaker 1: That's right, Freddie, how are you?
0:15
Speaker 3: I'm good with how are you good?
0:17
Speaker 2: This is Freddie Rodriguez, my my best friends and and uh,
0:22
Speaker 2: you know, partner crime here on this those Amigos adventure.
0:26
Speaker 2: We're a lot of episodes in and we want to
0:28
Speaker 2: acknowledge every single one of you who have been watching
0:30
Speaker 2: the show and also listening to our show.
0:34
Speaker 1: We love you. Guys. Tell a friend that we're here
0:37
Speaker 1: for them as well. And uh, and what are we
0:41
Speaker 1: drinking today?
0:42
Speaker 3: Let's see a little coffeecito. What's the name of this place?
0:45
Speaker 3: You said you wanted to.
0:45
Speaker 2: Get Loddres is a local business. We're going to support
0:50
Speaker 2: a local business. Get our friends over there. And I've
0:53
Speaker 2: completely elevated the coffee cafe game here on the you know,
0:56
Speaker 2: here in the valley. So big shout out to them.
0:59
Speaker 2: They roast their own beans and everything. Okay, very strong being.
1:03
Speaker 3: I mean right right right now.
1:06
Speaker 4: I've had I remember when we first started this, I
1:09
Speaker 4: remember you talking them up.
1:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're great, they're great.
1:11
Speaker 2: So a big shout out to us and everybody you guys,
1:14
Speaker 2: and they keep spreading.
1:15
Speaker 1: They have like a few more opening up, so congregulations. Anyhow,
1:22
Speaker 1: I've been so.
1:23
Speaker 2: I've been so grateful, you know, through our conversations and
1:26
Speaker 2: you know, we we had a great and then when
1:28
Speaker 2: they asked us, like why did you want to do
1:31
Speaker 2: a podcast? You know, it's a quick reminder that like,
1:35
Speaker 2: you know, for me that you know how much kind
1:37
Speaker 2: of we needed this come. We needed to just talk
1:40
Speaker 2: it out and bring us all together and bring all
1:43
Speaker 2: of our people together in the community to kind of
1:45
Speaker 2: just chat and and be and at a time where
1:48
Speaker 2: it's important to kind of say who we are allowed.
1:50
Speaker 2: I think this is you know, this is kind of
1:53
Speaker 2: uh was one of the small missions. But but yeah,
1:57
Speaker 2: but behind all of us, there's an amazing team, right
2:01
Speaker 2: and I want to acknowledge our team here and those
2:04
Speaker 2: those amigos.
2:05
Speaker 1: Yes, we have an incredible team out here.
2:08
Speaker 2: Leo Klem said, Leo Clem to not say anyone's name
2:12
Speaker 2: for his and I thought it was disrespectful because there's
2:16
Speaker 2: it's like so many more people that make this possible.
2:23
Speaker 1: Uh. So we going to introduce our amigo.
2:26
Speaker 2: You know, you you guys know him by now, guess
2:29
Speaker 2: who has returned to the desk of the baron Aaron not.
2:34
Speaker 1: To be confused with Aaron Sanchez. Yeah right, is that.
2:39
Speaker 5: How Yeah Burlison, Yeah, burliston, Yes, Aaron Burlson back again.
2:44
Speaker 5: What's going on, Fellas, what's going on?
2:46
Speaker 1: What's been new with you? Really? Blessed? Really blessed. Indeed,
2:50
Speaker 1: that's a great that's a great update. Thank you. Moving on?
2:53
Speaker 5: Uh yeah, just you know, excited to get him to
3:00
Speaker 5: this conversation about teams. And you know, I was watching
3:03
Speaker 5: the Oscars on Sunday and everyone gets up there, they
3:06
Speaker 5: accept award, they like to thank their teams, you know,
3:09
Speaker 5: big shout out to my team big, you know this person,
3:12
Speaker 5: that person. So just wanted to get the conversation started
3:15
Speaker 5: with asking you both, like, what's the importance of building
3:19
Speaker 5: a solid team and having that support behind you because
3:22
Speaker 5: we all know we can't do it by ourselves, And
3:25
Speaker 5: so wanted to ask you about the importance of a
3:27
Speaker 5: team and then what roles and factors go in building
3:33
Speaker 5: the best team?
3:34
Speaker 3: Rights A great question?
3:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Freddie, will you say that it starts
3:40
Speaker 2: out as this kind of solo mission to try to
3:42
Speaker 2: prove to as many be busy can that you can
3:46
Speaker 2: in fact do this, and you have to make believers
3:50
Speaker 2: out of individuals that are going to help you just
3:52
Speaker 2: to continue to carve away at the possibility, you know,
3:56
Speaker 2: because it seems like you're kind of like solo and
3:59
Speaker 2: just tell and everyone, Hey, put me in the game,
4:01
Speaker 2: you know, right. But then you know, then at some
4:04
Speaker 2: point you need you need to have the support of
4:06
Speaker 2: an infrastructure that's going to support your possible outcome.
4:10
Speaker 3: Now you do, I've had you know, It's funny.
4:13
Speaker 4: I just had this conversation with someone the other day
4:16
Speaker 4: from my hometown in Chicago who does not understand the
4:19
Speaker 4: entertainment industry or how it works. Right, And here's the
4:22
Speaker 4: analogy I gave them. I go, what if you were
4:25
Speaker 4: starting a restaurant, right, you'd be the restaurant owner, correct,
4:29
Speaker 4: And they're like, yeah, I go. And then you would
4:32
Speaker 4: hire a manager to manage the restaurant, right, They're like yeah,
4:36
Speaker 4: I said.
4:36
Speaker 3: And then that.
4:37
Speaker 4: Manager's job would be to make sure that your restaurant
4:41
Speaker 4: is successful by hiring the right bus boys, the waiters,
4:45
Speaker 4: making sure the plates are good, making sure the menu
4:48
Speaker 4: is good. Right, It's all in collaboration with you as
4:51
Speaker 4: the owner. But it's their job to make sure that
4:54
Speaker 4: everything is running smoothly and in turn to be a
4:57
Speaker 4: profitable business.
4:58
Speaker 2: Right.
5:00
Speaker 3: And what I was explaining to my friend is like.
5:02
Speaker 4: It's very similar, right, Like Wilmer Valderama is the restaurant, right,
5:07
Speaker 4: and you sure have a manager, and you have an agent,
5:09
Speaker 4: and you have a lawyer, and their number one goal
5:12
Speaker 4: is to make sure that Wilmer the restaurant, the entity
5:16
Speaker 4: is successful. Right, And they all work together to make
5:19
Speaker 4: sure that that entity is successful.
5:21
Speaker 1: Would be? Would that be a pretty accurate? Accurate because
5:26
Speaker 1: you you do have to.
5:29
Speaker 2: Think of yourself and I say this only metaphorically. You
5:33
Speaker 2: got to think of yourself as a product. Yeah, a
5:36
Speaker 2: product that's to be shared with audiences. And what is
5:39
Speaker 2: this product's claim, right, and how do you, in a weird,
5:44
Speaker 2: odd silly way, how do you sell this product to
5:47
Speaker 2: the masses? And who does the selling right and who
5:50
Speaker 2: puts you in the game to prove that this product
5:53
Speaker 2: in fact could be something you can welcome to their
5:56
Speaker 2: homes and their living rooms every evening before Aftener right,
6:01
Speaker 2: So so so.
6:02
Speaker 1: That so that's that's part of it.
6:03
Speaker 2: But but Aaron, your question of like, you know, how
6:07
Speaker 2: do you put together a team or like, you know,
6:09
Speaker 2: what is it?
6:09
Speaker 1: What does it take to put a team together? Like
6:11
Speaker 1: this is is is.
6:13
Speaker 2: Very interesting because you know, at the beginning, it starts
6:18
Speaker 2: with the audacity of thinking I can do this. Then
6:21
Speaker 2: you have to find individuals that support that delusion of
6:25
Speaker 2: feeling like you can, you know, and you have to
6:29
Speaker 2: find you have to find people that believe it as
6:32
Speaker 2: hard as you.
6:33
Speaker 1: You know, end up believing you right.
6:34
Speaker 2: Because one thing is having an agent that's just sending
6:37
Speaker 2: you on auditions, and there's and there's another having an
6:40
Speaker 2: agent that before they send you an audition, they get
6:43
Speaker 2: on the phone with a cast in director or a director,
6:46
Speaker 2: a producer or a studio and it says, you have
6:49
Speaker 2: to trust me right, putting my reputation on the line.
6:52
Speaker 1: This is the person you're looking for.
6:54
Speaker 2: Like there is there is like representation, and there is
6:57
Speaker 2: like you know, a real disruptive belief you know that
7:04
Speaker 2: with he's going to have to work and it's that hustle, right,
7:07
Speaker 2: Like you got to kind of find the hustler and
7:09
Speaker 2: the representation. But you know, but how you get there
7:12
Speaker 2: and all that is that's that's a journey, it.
7:15
Speaker 3: Is, right. You ever watch Shark Tank.
7:17
Speaker 1: Yeah you ever you ever seen, for.
7:19
Speaker 4: Example, like the guy who invented the ring camera, right,
7:23
Speaker 4: you ever seen him on that show or other products
7:25
Speaker 4: that have went on to become successful. It's funny because
7:29
Speaker 4: you watch that and then you watch the people sitting
7:31
Speaker 4: on the couch on Shark Tank, and you're like, how.
7:33
Speaker 1: Could you not see that?
7:35
Speaker 3: This is a billion dollar idea?
7:37
Speaker 1: Right?
7:38
Speaker 4: And I almost feel like your your team are the
7:42
Speaker 4: people who are up on that stage saying you have
7:45
Speaker 4: to buy Ring. You don't see it right now, but
7:48
Speaker 4: you have to buy Ring. And the flip side to
7:51
Speaker 4: that is that you're constantly facing people like those sharks
7:55
Speaker 4: on the couch who are like.
7:56
Speaker 3: H I don't see it, right, I don't see it?
7:59
Speaker 3: How could you not see ring? How could you not
8:01
Speaker 3: see the potential in the product?
8:03
Speaker 1: Like that?
8:04
Speaker 4: And it's their job to convince the people that they're
8:07
Speaker 4: missing out on a billion dollar idea, right.
8:11
Speaker 1: Yeah? You know.
8:12
Speaker 2: I think about the beginning of my career. I had
8:16
Speaker 2: a teacher. Her name was Celes Boyd. I think I
8:19
Speaker 2: talked to her. I talked about her earlier in the
8:22
Speaker 2: It was this was just in high school. I was
8:24
Speaker 2: in high school and I was taking her private class.
8:27
Speaker 2: That's her side Wednesday nice to her house, and you know,
8:32
Speaker 2: she was blessed her heart. She was such an angel.
8:34
Speaker 2: She was such a guardian angel to so many of
8:36
Speaker 2: her students. You know, every couple of weeks she would
8:39
Speaker 2: bring her friends who were agents, were just looking for
8:42
Speaker 2: new talent, right, these young, cool small agents, yeah, to
8:47
Speaker 2: her class and showcase, you know, and two things would happen.
8:51
Speaker 2: You get real feedback from agents about like you know
8:56
Speaker 2: what you need to cultivate.
8:58
Speaker 1: In, know to get higher outside.
9:01
Speaker 2: You know, like what you need to work on right now,
9:03
Speaker 2: so then when you're out there, you get.
9:04
Speaker 1: A better shot. Right. So, like they give you this feedback.
9:08
Speaker 2: And she saw me do a scene with my sister
9:14
Speaker 2: and she was like, you're ready. And she introduced me
9:20
Speaker 2: to this agent, and this agent say, hey, I'm not
9:24
Speaker 2: gonna I'm not going to represent you yet, but I'm
9:28
Speaker 2: going to send you in a couple of additions and
9:29
Speaker 2: see what kind of feedback we get. And they send me,
9:33
Speaker 2: I think, on like a couple of commercial auditions. You know,
9:36
Speaker 2: I don't even know they are, and I will get
9:38
Speaker 2: all this feedback, right, They're like, wow, he's so good.
9:41
Speaker 1: He's so funny.
9:43
Speaker 2: But you know, but he has an accent, and if
9:48
Speaker 2: you're on television, you don't have accents. You speak perfect
9:51
Speaker 2: English somehow, you know, so he will get this feedback.
9:54
Speaker 2: But he was like, you know something about you da
9:57
Speaker 2: da da keep sending you out, So he didn't really
9:59
Speaker 2: represent me, but he was kind of just trying to
10:01
Speaker 2: take me out and see what kind of feedback I got.
10:04
Speaker 2: I will say that that made me go, how do
10:08
Speaker 2: I work so hard at these at the feedback? Like,
10:13
Speaker 2: how do I get so much amazing feedback that I
10:15
Speaker 2: can just get him to sign me. Yeah, So my
10:18
Speaker 2: hustle was like I want to work as hard as
10:21
Speaker 2: possible to get him the best amount of feedback so
10:25
Speaker 2: he can hire me.
10:26
Speaker 1: Because I wasn't booking the jobs. Like I couldn't book.
10:29
Speaker 2: The jobs right, Like people were like, yeah, it's got
10:31
Speaker 2: an accent, because right, but you know, two and a
10:36
Speaker 2: half years, three and a half years of like auditioning
10:38
Speaker 2: and stuff, you know, he sends me on this pilot
10:41
Speaker 2: and then you know, so he believed enough to put
10:44
Speaker 2: me in this really high profile pilot, which was that
10:47
Speaker 2: seventies show.
10:48
Speaker 3: What were you doing though?
10:49
Speaker 4: Because you were saying I wanted to hustle so hard.
10:52
Speaker 4: I would be so good that I'd be undeniable in
10:56
Speaker 4: his eyes to continue to send me. So what were
10:59
Speaker 4: you doing that you were hustling so hard to show him?
11:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, So if they would tell him, if the feedback
11:05
Speaker 2: was like, hey, he's so funny, then I would be
11:09
Speaker 2: I wanted to be triple the funny the next time.
11:11
Speaker 1: Ah ah right yeah.
11:13
Speaker 2: Or if they were like, oh he was adorable, then
11:15
Speaker 2: I try to be quadrup or adorable.
11:18
Speaker 1: It's like, you know a little and you know it's
11:23
Speaker 1: my glean.
11:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, So like I would just work on like leefing
11:27
Speaker 2: that up, and uh, you know, may or may not
11:32
Speaker 2: have worked, you know, but I definitely eventually he decided
11:35
Speaker 2: to read because I was getting so close.
11:37
Speaker 4: But feedback is so important, right because like they know,
11:41
Speaker 4: you're not always going to book the gig.
11:43
Speaker 3: But as long as.
11:45
Speaker 4: When they're out there getting feedback that people are not saying, man,
11:49
Speaker 4: that dude sucked or he's super unprepared, I think that
11:53
Speaker 4: that's more detrimental as opposed to not booking the gig
11:57
Speaker 4: because they know they know it's a it's a numbers game.
11:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, what about you what was that representation finding that
12:13
Speaker 2: first agent?
12:14
Speaker 4: You know, I feel that throughout my career, I've always
12:17
Speaker 4: had these like guardian angels. I've always had people who
12:21
Speaker 4: were mentors who saw something in me and very much
12:26
Speaker 4: at times that I didn't see things in me. When
12:29
Speaker 4: I was in the seventh grade, I had a teacher
12:32
Speaker 4: named mister Levine who we did a I think I
12:37
Speaker 4: mentioned this in the other episode. We did a talent
12:39
Speaker 4: show and he randomly chose me to do a scene
12:45
Speaker 4: from a TV show and a talent show. I don't
12:47
Speaker 4: know why he chose me, but he saw something in
12:49
Speaker 4: me that I didn't see. When I was in the
12:51
Speaker 4: eighth grade, I got into my first theater company and
12:54
Speaker 4: there was a tea. There was one of the drama teachers.
12:57
Speaker 4: Her name was Carol Gutierrez, and she saw something in
13:01
Speaker 4: me that I didn't see. And it was because of
13:04
Speaker 4: her that I starred in the play in the theater
13:06
Speaker 4: company when I was thirteen fourteen. It was because of
13:10
Speaker 4: her that I got a two year scholarship to the
13:12
Speaker 4: National College of Education. It was because of her that
13:15
Speaker 4: she encouraged me to audition for the drama program at
13:18
Speaker 4: my high school. There was another mentor named Ray Moffat,
13:23
Speaker 4: who hired me in this independent theater company called Muan
13:26
Speaker 4: when I was like fifteen. Jeff Garland's ex wife, Marla,
13:33
Speaker 4: who signed me as my first agent when I was
13:35
Speaker 4: like fifteen sixteen at Suzannees a Plus in Chicago, and
13:40
Speaker 4: then coming to La, you know, my first manager, my
13:44
Speaker 4: first agent here. You know, there was always people who
13:47
Speaker 4: saw something in me. And it's funny because you were
13:50
Speaker 4: saying you were fighting against your action. I was fighting
13:52
Speaker 4: against my accent too. I mean till this day. People
13:55
Speaker 4: were like, nah, he sounds too urban, he sounds too Chicago.
14:01
Speaker 4: I quick, quick side. But I had an audition one
14:04
Speaker 4: time for a role. It was supposed to be a Latino,
14:09
Speaker 4: a priest out of Chicago, and so I went in there.
14:12
Speaker 4: I didn't lose my accent. I just sort of sounded
14:14
Speaker 4: like me. And the feedback was he just sounds too urban.
14:19
Speaker 4: I'm like, wait a minute, isn't the character Latino. They're like, yeah,
14:23
Speaker 4: I go, isn't he from Chicago?
14:25
Speaker 1: Yeah?
14:25
Speaker 4: I go, I'm Latino and I'm from Chicago. So I
14:28
Speaker 4: sounded like myself, So how can I sound too urban?
14:30
Speaker 2: Yeah?
14:31
Speaker 1: Yeah?
14:31
Speaker 2: Anyway, I mean if I had a dime.
14:35
Speaker 1: It sounds too Latino, right, Yeah, yeah, sounds too like
14:38
Speaker 1: I do.
14:39
Speaker 4: Okay, But yeah, I constantly had mentors along the way
14:44
Speaker 4: that that continued to believe in me and see something
14:47
Speaker 4: in me and was willing to put their reputation on
14:50
Speaker 4: the line for me.
14:52
Speaker 3: You know.
14:53
Speaker 4: Oh quick, shout out, I have to give as we're
14:55
Speaker 4: on the subject Mary Renew.
14:57
Speaker 1: Oh, Mary who.
14:59
Speaker 3: Is a director. So I've said this before.
15:05
Speaker 4: One of my first movies was Dead Presidents, and I
15:08
Speaker 4: was an unknown out of Chicago. I was in La
15:11
Speaker 4: shooting one movie and I auditioned for it and they
15:15
Speaker 4: wanted everybody who was super popular at the time.
15:17
Speaker 1: The studio did.
15:19
Speaker 4: And she went to bat for me, and she wrote
15:21
Speaker 4: a personal letter and she said, this is the guy
15:24
Speaker 4: you need to hire. Trust me when I tell you this.
15:26
Speaker 1: WHOA.
15:27
Speaker 3: And it was.
15:27
Speaker 4: Because I'm not surprised going to bat for me that
15:30
Speaker 4: not only did I get that movie, She's cast me
15:33
Speaker 4: in like five other movies. I can't hardly wait because
15:37
Speaker 4: of her. I did this other movie called Inconvenience, I
15:39
Speaker 4: did Harsh Times, Grindhouse.
15:41
Speaker 3: Those are all Mary Vernew movies.
15:44
Speaker 2: I mean, Mary is and yes, major shutout to Mary
15:47
Speaker 2: has been very vernew she's Betty May casting and you know,
15:51
Speaker 2: but many many actors can can look at her as
15:54
Speaker 2: that guardian name.
15:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, somebody who really put them on. She's a champion.
15:59
Speaker 2: She actually is someone that I respect so much. I've
16:02
Speaker 2: she's mentored me so much about you know, what they
16:06
Speaker 2: look for when they're casting and you know what, talk
16:09
Speaker 2: about a casting director and team. By the way, because
16:11
Speaker 2: the girls on the office are also Yeah, I mean,
16:14
Speaker 2: I'm unbelievable. They they will not let you leave until
16:19
Speaker 2: you have your best work on that tape.
16:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, dude, that's so rare. Yeah, that's so rare.
16:24
Speaker 2: And I mean I've I've experienced so many casting directors
16:27
Speaker 2: in my career at the beginning of my career to
16:29
Speaker 2: say where they're just like you know, cattle, like they
16:34
Speaker 2: no emotional investment in trying to find the person because
16:38
Speaker 2: you're at the casting call. You're not even at the
16:40
Speaker 2: producer's called the director's call. So in the casting call
16:43
Speaker 2: or just like filtering actors, you know.
16:45
Speaker 3: What's your worst what's your worst audition experience?
16:50
Speaker 2: Oh god, I mean, there's nothing worse than somebody, you know,
16:56
Speaker 2: staring into a laptop while you're here for you or
16:59
Speaker 2: like there's nothing there, you know, there's nothing worse than like,
17:04
Speaker 2: you know, you're in the middle of an addition. Somebody
17:06
Speaker 2: walks in with a message for the director or for
17:08
Speaker 2: the casting director and what and they're just like pretend
17:11
Speaker 2: and then just expect you just keep going with the scene,
17:14
Speaker 2: whether it just like whispering something. There are excuses that
17:17
Speaker 2: they're filming it anyways, but they don't understand, like the
17:20
Speaker 2: disturbance of there's so many elements you're fighting against when
17:24
Speaker 2: you're in that room. Yeah, nerves, all of the nerves, right, nerves, preparation, right,
17:30
Speaker 2: you're making sure you don't forget what you have just
17:32
Speaker 2: read landlessly memorized, you know, and listening, you're trying to
17:37
Speaker 2: listen without listening to what's not happening or what's happening
17:43
Speaker 2: on the side of the addition, right, Like you're reading
17:45
Speaker 2: with this person. But there's like rumbling here, there's like
17:48
Speaker 2: whispering here. There's like writing notes sending back and forth.
17:51
Speaker 2: You're like, you know, like you wonder what are they
17:53
Speaker 2: writing on that or what you know, it's like did
17:56
Speaker 2: they laugh did not laugh at the right part. There's
17:59
Speaker 2: just so much stuff and you just try and you're
18:01
Speaker 2: trying to do such a good job. So I think
18:03
Speaker 2: those are probably the worst additions. You come in there
18:05
Speaker 2: and they're just like they're just filtering through or they
18:08
Speaker 2: know you're not it as soon as you walk in
18:11
Speaker 2: and they just let you go through with it.
18:12
Speaker 1: You're like, you know, it's like and you can feel it.
18:15
Speaker 3: You're like, you're like, this is not going well.
18:18
Speaker 1: Totally, totally. So that's why Mary. Mary is so different.
18:24
Speaker 2: You know that team is going to spend time with you,
18:27
Speaker 2: and if they brought you in, it's because they you know,
18:29
Speaker 2: they want you to get that part.
18:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
18:32
Speaker 3: The only one of the only movies I produced, I
18:35
Speaker 3: hired her.
18:37
Speaker 4: She I produced a movie called Nothing Like the Holidays
18:40
Speaker 4: and Mary key sure, and.
18:42
Speaker 2: I dream of the day of being able to go
18:46
Speaker 2: to marry me, like, would you please help me cast something?
18:50
Speaker 2: Because she's just a master. She just has an eye
18:52
Speaker 2: for people that know how to entertain.
18:55
Speaker 1: You know.
18:55
Speaker 2: So for Mary, I'm assuming it was so important to
18:59
Speaker 2: put together the right casting assistant team right that can
19:02
Speaker 2: really bring the best out of these actors and and
19:05
Speaker 2: you know, and therefore the directors get the best you know.
19:09
Speaker 1: View at who's writing. Who's wrong?
19:12
Speaker 2: Somebody might be right for it, but they just weren't
19:14
Speaker 2: set up for success in that room.
19:15
Speaker 1: And they're like that. You know. It's stuff, you know.
19:18
Speaker 2: But they also tell you you need to be you know,
19:21
Speaker 2: you need to rely only on yourself when you go
19:24
Speaker 2: into that room. Yeah, you know, if the reader is horrible, which,
19:28
Speaker 2: by the way, the readers is so bad. You know,
19:33
Speaker 2: by the way, just for the people at home, a
19:35
Speaker 2: reader is somebody who is at the opposite side of
19:38
Speaker 2: the camera just literally reciting the lines of the other
19:41
Speaker 2: characters in the script while you're auditioning for your character.
19:47
Speaker 2: So they're the ones that are just like going through
19:49
Speaker 2: the other lines just so you can say your lines.
19:51
Speaker 2: You know, I got to tell this bad audition story,
19:54
Speaker 2: if I may please.
19:56
Speaker 3: So this was like the mid.
19:59
Speaker 4: Nineties, mid the late nineties, and this was around a
20:02
Speaker 4: time that I felt that every time you saw latinos
20:07
Speaker 4: on screen, they were sort of encompassing the stereotype, right,
20:12
Speaker 4: And stereotype is a whole other conversation that we could
20:15
Speaker 4: have and how I feel about it. But I had
20:17
Speaker 4: a couple of pretty prestigious movies out and I was
20:19
Speaker 4: doing pretty well and there was a big movie that
20:23
Speaker 4: was being cast, and the role was a very stereotypical
20:28
Speaker 4: Latino gangster role, and every I'm sure you went up,
20:32
Speaker 4: every single Latino actor went up on it, right, And
20:35
Speaker 4: I was like, nah, I'm not doing it. I'm not
20:38
Speaker 4: auditioning for it, right. I was taking a stance. However,
20:42
Speaker 4: the casting director was a big casting director, Okay, and
20:46
Speaker 4: it has been around since like the sixties, and cast
20:48
Speaker 4: al Pacino and cast Dustin Hoffman and blah blah blah
20:51
Speaker 4: blah blah.
20:52
Speaker 3: Right, and so they were like, are you sure, man,
20:55
Speaker 3: are you crazy?
20:55
Speaker 4: You better go in there and audition. I go, I'm
20:57
Speaker 4: not auditioning for I said, but I do want to
21:00
Speaker 4: meet her. I don't have a general meeting with her.
21:02
Speaker 4: I'm still new in town. And so my agents were like, okay,
21:05
Speaker 4: we'll set up a general meeting.
21:07
Speaker 3: Right.
21:08
Speaker 4: So I go into the audition and like I said,
21:11
Speaker 4: every actor that you know was in that audition.
21:13
Speaker 3: They were all in the waiting room. They all looked
21:15
Speaker 3: the same.
21:16
Speaker 4: They all had the same like freaking like like plaid
21:20
Speaker 4: shirt on with the baggy pants.
21:22
Speaker 3: And here I come in and I'm dressed regular. Right,
21:26
Speaker 3: everybody there.
21:27
Speaker 4: Is going over their lines, and they're their focus, and
21:30
Speaker 4: they're in character, and they have their sides in their hand,
21:32
Speaker 4: and there I have no sides, and I'm just kind
21:34
Speaker 4: of like chilling there, smiling, you know. And so speaking
21:37
Speaker 4: of the casting assistant, I see the casting assistant come
21:40
Speaker 4: out and he kind of, you know, crosses someone's name out.
21:44
Speaker 4: He calls an actor in there, and he kind of
21:46
Speaker 4: looks at me.
21:47
Speaker 3: Right.
21:48
Speaker 4: He goes in and brings the actor in, comes back out,
21:50
Speaker 4: crosses another name, gets another actor, and then looks at
21:53
Speaker 4: me again. Right, Every single time he comes out, he
21:55
Speaker 4: has the look of concern in his face increases. So
22:01
Speaker 4: finally he comes to me and he goes, all right, Freddie,
22:04
Speaker 4: it's your turn, right, And I'm walking into this audition,
22:08
Speaker 4: and at a certain point I can see the wheels
22:10
Speaker 4: just turning in his head. And he finally turns around
22:13
Speaker 4: and he goes, hey, are you you are right? Do
22:16
Speaker 4: you any sides?
22:17
Speaker 1: You know?
22:18
Speaker 4: And I'm like, sides, No, I'm just here for a
22:21
Speaker 4: general meeting. And his face dropped. He was like a
22:26
Speaker 4: general meeting, and I was like yeah. He goes, wait
22:29
Speaker 4: right here, So he goes in to this casting door.
22:33
Speaker 4: He slams the door. I could hear him talking and
22:35
Speaker 4: I can hear her erupt on the other side.
22:38
Speaker 3: What And I'm like, oh, damn, this is not going
22:43
Speaker 3: to be good.
22:43
Speaker 1: Right.
22:43
Speaker 6: Finally, why was she yelling at She didn't know about
22:47
Speaker 6: the Yeah, I guess the agents didn't tell her that
22:50
Speaker 6: it was a general meeting. They probably just told the
22:52
Speaker 6: assistant assistant did a communicator and they just probably in yeah,
22:55
Speaker 6: oh gosh.
22:55
Speaker 4: So then they opened the door and you could see
22:58
Speaker 4: it in his eyes that he just I reamed.
23:00
Speaker 3: Out and he's like come in. He's so pissed off, right.
23:05
Speaker 4: And she's like sit down, and I sit down, and
23:09
Speaker 4: I'm like hi, and she's like, so here, you're not
23:13
Speaker 4: going to audition for this why? And I was very
23:17
Speaker 4: honest in my response, and I just said, look.
23:20
Speaker 1: I'm here.
23:20
Speaker 4: I have a couple of movies out in the theater
23:22
Speaker 4: right now. I think I'm going on a very different trajectory.
23:26
Speaker 4: And I told her honestly about how I felt about
23:28
Speaker 4: how Latinos were being.
23:29
Speaker 3: Portrayed in the film. And I stood my ground. She
23:32
Speaker 3: heard me, she heard me, and then she was like
23:34
Speaker 3: all right, and then she just sort of dismissed me.
23:37
Speaker 1: Right, So that was like that was it was? It?
23:39
Speaker 1: Was it a short meeting? Was it a long meeting?
23:41
Speaker 1: It was talking about Chicago Little No, absolutely not.
23:44
Speaker 4: She just wanted to hear what I had to say, right,
23:48
Speaker 4: And she sent me on my way and I left
23:50
Speaker 4: and I was like, I'm never going to hear from
23:52
Speaker 4: her again. Cut to a couple of years later. I
23:56
Speaker 4: get an audition for a movie called Payback and it
23:59
Speaker 4: was Hegeln was directing it. He had just he had
24:04
Speaker 4: just written Mystic River. I think I think he just
24:06
Speaker 4: won the Oscar for Mystic River. And this was his
24:08
Speaker 4: first movie. It was a big Warner Brothers movie. Mel
24:12
Speaker 4: Gibson was attached, Chris Christofferson, Lucy Lou It was a
24:16
Speaker 4: huge cast, right, And I look on the sheet and
24:19
Speaker 4: I was like, Yo, she's bringing me back in after
24:22
Speaker 4: that encounter that I had. And she brought me back in.
24:26
Speaker 1: Was she in the room when you were worked in?
24:28
Speaker 4: I walked in and it was the complete opposite. It
24:31
Speaker 4: was one of the most pleasant experiences I've ever had.
24:35
Speaker 4: She sat me down and she was so nice to me,
24:38
Speaker 4: and she wanted to know everything about me. And she
24:41
Speaker 4: went on to tell me that she cast al Pacino
24:44
Speaker 4: in this movie and Dustin Hoffman in that movie, because
24:47
Speaker 4: I told her that those are my influences. And we
24:50
Speaker 4: went on and we auditioned, and I got the part.
24:54
Speaker 2: Wow, that's I mean, what a what a one eighty like?
25:00
Speaker 2: That's that's intense. And do you think you think in
25:04
Speaker 2: whatever however many years? How many years did think happened
25:07
Speaker 2: in between?
25:08
Speaker 3: Maybe like like two maybe I mean, yeah, this.
25:12
Speaker 1: Is what I think happened. You forgot no, but this
25:23
Speaker 1: is what I think happened.
25:24
Speaker 3: Yeah.
25:24
Speaker 2: I think that in the time that you had left
25:27
Speaker 2: her office, you made such an impression of somebody that
25:34
Speaker 2: then knew who he was that she had to.
25:37
Speaker 1: Do a little homework.
25:39
Speaker 2: Okay, right, if you're a great casting director, which she is, right,
25:55
Speaker 2: she's going to be intrigued enough to say, somebody who
25:59
Speaker 2: has a direct response to what they're not is someone
26:05
Speaker 2: I need to know.
26:07
Speaker 1: So I think she's been kind of tracking. She did homework.
26:09
Speaker 2: She saw a couple of your movies, you know, you
26:12
Speaker 2: had a couple of things out of the time, and
26:13
Speaker 2: she's like, who the fuck is this guy?
26:16
Speaker 3: I have the audacity?
26:17
Speaker 1: Who is this dude?
26:19
Speaker 2: And I think that she's been waiting this whole time
26:21
Speaker 2: for something that was right for you. And you know,
26:24
Speaker 2: to our luck, there's not a lot of stuff that
26:26
Speaker 2: we were right for in that era, right, Like there's
26:28
Speaker 2: just not a lot.
26:29
Speaker 1: But I think that's what happened.
26:32
Speaker 2: I think she kind of like went back and then
26:34
Speaker 2: at this point you're coming back but like major shows,
26:37
Speaker 2: and you're like, I having my movie right, And that's
26:40
Speaker 2: what happened, you know, you know, I I uh, before
26:44
Speaker 2: we move on to you know, how you put teams
26:47
Speaker 2: together and as a producer you have to no, no,
26:50
Speaker 2: but I want.
26:51
Speaker 1: To kind of fig it back what you're saying. There's
26:55
Speaker 1: so many.
26:57
Speaker 2: Instances where, you know, where you kind of have to
27:02
Speaker 2: put yourself to the town or and over again. And
27:05
Speaker 2: when I had finished a seventy show, or actually two
27:08
Speaker 2: and a half years before I finished seventy show, I
27:10
Speaker 2: had to go around town and beg my agents had
27:15
Speaker 2: to beg for me to have these general meetings and
27:19
Speaker 2: every WHI What a general meeting is is you you know,
27:22
Speaker 2: you're meeting an actor for the first time, just so
27:24
Speaker 2: for awareness that this person exists. So if there ever
27:28
Speaker 2: was a role or something that you were rite for,
27:31
Speaker 2: you were top of mind or you were in a
27:33
Speaker 2: shortlist and you connected with individuals, so they see that
27:37
Speaker 2: not only you were serious, but you were somebody to
27:38
Speaker 2: be trusted. And and so for two and a half
27:43
Speaker 2: years being on the show, like they had to say, hey,
27:49
Speaker 2: you know, Wilmer is more than just Fez, right, And
27:53
Speaker 2: that was the struggle to be able to like go
27:55
Speaker 2: to all and you know, I this is like coming
27:57
Speaker 2: full circle.
27:58
Speaker 1: We talk about teams and.
28:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think how many how many years
28:02
Speaker 3: into the show was this.
28:03
Speaker 1: That they I think six years.
28:05
Speaker 2: Oh, I was two and a half years before it
28:07
Speaker 2: was done, before the show was.
28:08
Speaker 3: And you felt that you were going in and they were.
28:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they were just like there were surprise right,
28:14
Speaker 2: Like but you know, this is big shout out to
28:15
Speaker 2: Shaney Rusens.
28:16
Speaker 1: Why I go over at UTA.
28:17
Speaker 2: She she's been my agent since I was like nineteen
28:21
Speaker 2: years old, right, and she fought with the talent for
28:26
Speaker 2: them to see me, ask who I was and for
28:28
Speaker 2: what I could be as opposed to like what they
28:31
Speaker 2: could see.
28:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, especially when you well especially when you create such
28:36
Speaker 4: an iconic character like that, right, those are the pros
28:38
Speaker 4: and cons. The pros of creating an iconic character is
28:43
Speaker 4: you created an iconic character. Yeah, the con is is
28:46
Speaker 4: that people will only see you as that.
28:48
Speaker 2: Right, right, And so I you know, so she was
28:51
Speaker 2: just setting me up with the head of casting of
28:53
Speaker 2: every studio, the head of casting a production company, the
28:56
Speaker 2: head of casting of every network, you know, producers, writers, runners,
29:00
Speaker 2: like I was meeting whoever wanted to have me, and
29:03
Speaker 2: when I will walk in, I looked very different.
29:05
Speaker 1: I sound very different, you know. So people were.
29:07
Speaker 2: Like, whoa, right, I had no idea that you didn't
29:11
Speaker 2: sound like that I or didn't do your hair like that.
29:13
Speaker 1: You know.
29:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's kind of a very funny thing that
29:16
Speaker 2: you know, we kind of have to educate anyone just
29:18
Speaker 2: so I can have a shot at auditioning for the
29:20
Speaker 2: stuff that I wanted to do, right, you know, just
29:22
Speaker 2: for the audition so they can bring me in because
29:25
Speaker 2: it was hard for them to imagine if I could
29:27
Speaker 2: do someone else.
29:28
Speaker 4: And I think also because you created that, that was
29:32
Speaker 4: the first thing out the gate, right, So it wasn't
29:35
Speaker 4: like it wasn't like you had other stuff to point too.
29:39
Speaker 4: And then you created that character, and then people you know,
29:41
Speaker 4: like Forrest Gump or something, right like, you know, like, oh,
29:44
Speaker 4: it was Tom Hanks doing Forrest Gump.
29:46
Speaker 3: It was like, who is this guy? I should he's
29:49
Speaker 3: funny because.
29:50
Speaker 2: In the world's hands wearing bell bottoms. That's how I
29:53
Speaker 2: said hello to people.
29:55
Speaker 3: And would you say that the punch.
29:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, the punch trata other area. Yeah, that was that
30:01
Speaker 1: was me.
30:01
Speaker 2: But you know, you're you're a producer and you know,
30:05
Speaker 2: and and your director before it.
30:08
Speaker 4: I have yeah, not not on a major level, but yeah,
30:11
Speaker 4: but you're a director.
30:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I you know, I'm very curious about what
30:16
Speaker 2: do you look for in your team? You know when
30:21
Speaker 2: we talk about leadership? Yeah, and then and then follow
30:24
Speaker 2: up that question is you know is how do you know?
30:30
Speaker 2: How do you what do you consider your trades as
30:33
Speaker 2: a as a leader?
30:34
Speaker 4: Yeah?
30:34
Speaker 2: And you have to find it over over time. So
30:36
Speaker 2: what do you look for in the team? You know,
30:38
Speaker 2: when you're putting together, who you're going to go to
30:40
Speaker 2: war with?
30:41
Speaker 1: You know? And anyway, and how do you define yourself
30:45
Speaker 1: as a leader.
30:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm going to give you two examples before I
30:50
Speaker 4: answer that question. Okay, I've been on some of the
30:54
Speaker 4: most successful TV shows and movies of all time, and
30:59
Speaker 4: I've been in pretty crap TV shows and movies as well.
31:04
Speaker 4: And what I've learned from those both experiences is that
31:07
Speaker 4: it all starts at the top, okay, and the tone
31:11
Speaker 4: that you set on top trickles down to everyone else
31:15
Speaker 4: below okay. And I saw how that worked. I saw
31:22
Speaker 4: how that formation contributed to the success of a show
31:28
Speaker 4: of a movie, and I saw how it didn't work.
31:30
Speaker 4: And I saw how the person on top did not
31:34
Speaker 4: possess any sort of leadership skills, brought bad habits, came
31:42
Speaker 4: with attitudes that were probably not acceptable everything else under
31:49
Speaker 4: that umbrella, and how them being that way contributed to
31:56
Speaker 4: the show or the movie taking a nose dive.
31:59
Speaker 2: So you feel all those things other energies were infused
32:04
Speaker 2: into the DNA of the product.
32:06
Speaker 4: Yes, because no matter who, no matter who is below you,
32:10
Speaker 4: if you're the leader, everyone's looking up to you, right.
32:14
Speaker 4: No matter what integrity those people bring to the table,
32:17
Speaker 4: no matter how high their skill level is, they're.
32:20
Speaker 3: All looking up to you, right. And if you're a prick,
32:23
Speaker 3: if you're a.
32:24
Speaker 4: Whatever, if you're coming to work with bad habits, then
32:29
Speaker 4: they're taking a page out of your book. I'm sure
32:31
Speaker 4: there's been other instances where that hasn't been the case.
32:34
Speaker 4: But that's been my experience and so learning that early on.
32:39
Speaker 4: I've learned that if I'm going to be a leader,
32:41
Speaker 4: it's important how I lead, how I conduct myself, what
32:45
Speaker 4: kind of habits I possess, what kind of energy. You know,
32:50
Speaker 4: I'm a strong believer in energy and synergy and vibe an,
32:57
Speaker 4: integrity and honesty. You know, Like I may sound corny,
33:02
Speaker 4: that may sound nerdy, but I'm a strong believer in
33:05
Speaker 4: that stuff. You know, in an industry where sometimes people
33:08
Speaker 4: don't value those things. Let me tell me something, man,
33:11
Speaker 4: some of the biggest people that I've worked with from
33:13
Speaker 4: a producerial level have all been really honest, very and
33:18
Speaker 4: very straight up and very straightforward, no matter no matter
33:22
Speaker 4: what the ramifications of that is going to be. And
33:26
Speaker 4: they'd rather be that way and be straight up and
33:29
Speaker 4: and accept whatever comes from that then to be dishonest
33:35
Speaker 4: and to be deceitful and deceptive and to have that
33:38
Speaker 4: blow up in their face and affect their reputation. So
33:42
Speaker 4: I'm a believer in that. Listen, other producers, you know,
33:46
Speaker 4: conduct themselves differently, but I believe in that tactic.
33:50
Speaker 1: You know.
33:51
Speaker 2: I I think you're right, and I've seen it. I've
33:55
Speaker 2: seen it in you. I've seen it how you went,
33:57
Speaker 2: you know, when you enter the room, and the energy
33:58
Speaker 2: that you said, you're you know, you're collective, You're you're listen,
34:02
Speaker 2: you're transparent. All those things are important for whoever you
34:06
Speaker 2: work with in your team to feel like they have
34:10
Speaker 2: also the environment to be the same.
34:12
Speaker 3: Right.
34:13
Speaker 2: Well, thank you everyone for listening or watching the first
34:18
Speaker 2: half of his leadership conversation, and I hope you guys
34:22
Speaker 2: enjoy part two. This is Los Amigos. I'm Wilmer Valdorama,
34:25
Speaker 2: I'm Freddie Rodriguez. See you on the next one.
34:31
Speaker 4: Dose Amigos is a production from WV Sound and iHeartMedia's
34:35
Speaker 4: Michael through That podcast Network, hosted by Me, Freddie Rodriguez
34:39
Speaker 4: and Wilmer Valdorama.
34:41
Speaker 2: Those Amigos is produced by Aaron Burlson and Sophie Spencers Abos.
34:45
Speaker 4: Our executive producers are Wilmer Valdorama, Freddie Rodriguez, Aaron Burlson
34:50
Speaker 4: and Leo Klem at WV Sound.
34:52
Speaker 2: This episode was shot and edited it by Ryan Posts
34:55
Speaker 2: and mixed by Sean Tracy and features original music by
34:58
Speaker 2: Madison Devenport and Helo boy.
35:00
Speaker 4: Our cover our photography is by David Avalos and designed
35:03
Speaker 4: by Deny Holtzclaw and.
35:05
Speaker 2: Thank you for being their third amigo today. I appreciate
35:07
Speaker 2: you guys always listening to those amios.
35:09
Speaker 4: For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the I Heart
35:12
Speaker 4: Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
35:15
Speaker 4: favorite shows.
35:16
Speaker 1: See you next week.