Latest / Dos Amigos / Why not you? With Diana Maria Riva

Transcript

Why not you? With Diana Maria Riva · Dos Amigos

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Freddy Rodriguez. And I'm Wilmer Valderrama.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Dos Amigos on the iHeartRadio app or everywhere
• 0:16
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• 0:19
  Speaker 2: us from the comfort of your own.
• 0:21
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• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and what else?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: And YouTube.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of different places.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: And everywhere else you could find our videos.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's right, because we have video.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: And where else? And where else?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe... Social media. Social media. You could
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: be watching us on Instagram.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: You know, and all that. So for that, we say
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: thank you. And don't forget to subscribe.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: That's right. We still have children. Anyway, it's very special
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: episode today. A very empowering episode today.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: You know, we always say this because we rarely have guests,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: but when we do, we have.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: The absolute best. That's right. People that really touch our lives.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: People that have absolutely altered the face of our community
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: and told our stories around the world. And most importantly,
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: people that we just admire and respect and love so
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: much and can't wait to get even deeper to the
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: root of of why she is so incredible.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Diana Maria Riva.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: Ay, ay, ay!
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Ay, ay, ay! She is la terda amiga.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: La terda amiga today, that's right.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: La terda amiga.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: In the hot seat.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: And also, I got to say.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: This up front to all of those of My Cultura
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Podcast Network fans.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: She's also a member of the My Cultura family.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: You know, she has her own podcast called How Hard
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Can It Be? Killing it. And she makes it look
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: muy exiliosos.
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: Killing it.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Well, let's get started. First of all, welcome. Welcome to
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the Domingo. Thank you.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: That was quite an intro.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Finally, we've been sending you invites for like three years.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Listen, I've just been hanging out in front of your
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: house and people don't know why. I'm just right at
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: the gate.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Oh, you're the one ringing the bell.
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: That's me.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: That's me.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: First of all, I got to say one thing before
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: we get started is my wife is, obsessed with you
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: because she's a big fan really yeah she we we
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: watch um you know we watch a show with christina
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: and linda for a long time and and uh you
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: know you were one of the.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Best characters in that entire thing as always so she
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: told me to say hi yeah.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: You're like you're like one of those actors that that
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: like As soon as they cast you, the project just
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: becomes that much better.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: Oh, my goodness. Coming from you, thank you.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. You're like one of those clutch player actors. Oh,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: That'll keep me in the game a little bit longer
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: because I threaten to quit all the time. I quit
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: the business probably three times a year. I'm like, you
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: know what? Can you swear on the show?
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Even more specifically, actually, I want to make sure to
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: mention that you play Detective Ana Perez.
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: In Netflix, Dead to Me.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: And that show was opposite Christina Applegate and Linda Catarelli.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: Shout out to Linda. I've known her since we were
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: both in our early 20s. She was in Freaks and Geeks.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: I was on The 70s Show.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: We lad. Really, really fun. But anyways, why don't I
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: mention that?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Because I forget that I need to set that up
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: for the fans out there. But speaking of clutch, you
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: are also clutch, Freddy Rodriguez.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: Agreed.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I received that coming from you.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: I think both of you gentlemen.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Do what you do. And it brings right back to you, buddy.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, take with that what you will. So you were
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: born in Cincinnati.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: Which nobody can believe, I think.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati, yeah.
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: Oftentimes, especially other Latinos.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't look it.
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: I know, and I'll go ahead with that.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: You don't have a Cincinnati.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: I don't?
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: You're a freak of Cincinnati.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Cincinnati, we were the only Dominicans in the neighborhood in... And,
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: you know, my mother and the family immigrated from the
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: Dominican Republic during Trujillo.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Both of your parents?
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: Well, my mother. And so we, you know, I was
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: first generation Dominican and I went to, and I was
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: raised in a house speaking Spanish. And then when I
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: went to the little local elementary school is when... English became,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: you know, the everyday. But what my parents did so
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: beautifully was that they sent me to the Dominican Republic
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: with my grandparents every single summer of my life, all
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: the way through to when I was a teenager and
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: in college. And that kept the language alive and la
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: cultura and everything in my relationships with my family there. So,
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: you know, when there weren't, there's a far bigger Latino
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: population and community in Cincinnati now. But back then it wasn't.
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: So that kept the culture alive and being able to
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: just connect with my roots and my family. So it
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: was a gift.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Are your folks still there? Do you still have family
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: in Cincinnati?
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're outside of Cincinnati now, retired, empty nesters. But yeah, no,
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: I moved to Los Angeles when I was 25 because
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: I was pursuing the business. Actually, I didn't know I
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: was going to end up here. I was a theater student.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: Wait, but back up a little bit. Let's go back
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: to Cincinnati for a second. So you're in Cincinnati.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: You're very far from anything that's entertainment.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: And you decided, what was that moment? What was that
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: eureka moment where you're like, I have to be a
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: part of that?
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: It was unplanned with this because I was a theater
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: major in college, undergrad and graduate school.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: We're in college.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: University of Cincinnati.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: Your BFA and your MFA in theater performance from the
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: University of Cincinnati College.
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Fancy conservator of music wow you know why because.
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: I told my parents when i was 11 year old
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: who was a pivotal moment my grandmother took me to
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: see the broadway tour of annie that was in town
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: when i was 11 years old and i was like
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: i don't want to go i want to go to
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: the skating party that was happening that night because there
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: was this really cute boy that i wanted to go
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: out on the moonlight with and i go to see
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: this plate and i see these girls the same age
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: as me these little orphans running around stage singing and
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: dancing i'm like oh shit, they can make a living
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: off of this. I love that already. So I went
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: home that day and I told my parents, I'm going
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: to be an actor. And they said, okay, not a problem,
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: but you're going to get your education. You're going to
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: get your training and education because, you know, in LA,
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: a kid says that every five minutes. In Cincinnati, kids
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: were not saying that. So at least they had the
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: wisdom to make sure that I pursued training.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: So I did.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: And so I went to the College Conservatory of Music
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: at the My thesis was interning at a local theater,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: Equity House. But the play that came in to the
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: residents of the theater company was a play about a
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: very funny, comedic little Latina nanny. Well, I was the
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: only Latina that, I was auditioning for it just because
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: it was protocol for interns to audition, but not be
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: in it, just for practice. The director came from LA
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: and he's like, Her. And, like, she's not in the ensemble.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: She's an intern. He's like, she's the one for the role.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: And they fought over it, but I got the role.
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: And a year later, the role came out here with
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: a new cast, and I got picked up on a
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: series for ABC. I didn't know.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: What was the series?
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: With a comedian, Greg Giraldo. Yeah. Cuban-American.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, of course.
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: Probably the first Latino lead since Freddie Prinze. I think
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: they were using that at the time in a multicam.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: And then there were two Latinos because they had me
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: on it. So this was in 96. That was huge.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: Huge.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: And I didn't know what anything, I didn't know what
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: a talent agent was. I didn't know what a multicam,
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Robbie Benson.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Was the director. So you were on the show and
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: you didn't have representation.
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: No, I literally went to the top guns with the
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: manager and said, who wants their 10%? It's already a
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: done deal. So I was quickly thrown into it. Luckily,
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: I had an ethical group of people that surrounded themselves,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: that I surrounded myself with that made sure I didn't
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: get taken advantage of. I got very lucky. My first manager,
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: Beth Colt, who was making sure that nobody took advantage
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: of this and that I was set up well. So
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: I go on, Robbie Benson's the director of this multicam,
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: and I don't know anything about where, I'll tell you,
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: here's how, we were in this scene, and a pen
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: is on the table, and it rolls off, and I
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: literally go like this to go pick it up, because
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: in the theater, you don't let things sit on the floor.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: And Robbie took me over to the frame. He's like,
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: I just want to show you what happens when you
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: go off frame. And I like, I'm there in the camera.
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: And then the next minute I disappear. And he had
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: to just teach me those things. And I luckily from
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: the theater to a multicam, it was the closest relation
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: because the live audience is there. The fourth wall is broken.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: And so I was able to, and because I had
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: somebody like him just saying, all you got to do
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: is this and this and this. And that was a
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: quick learn. And, you know, when it was canceled after
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: six episodes, I'm like, wait a minute. That's when the
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: surprise came in. I'm like, wait, you guys, we're not
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: done yet. You ordered 13. Like, why would you? I
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: didn't understand that the turnaround could be that fast. But
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: that was it. I decided to stay and do this.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Where did you move to when you came to L.A.?
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Off of Melrose. Wow, you were in the mix.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: I didn't even know what. I was in the heart
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: of it. I thought, oh, my God, look, it's L.A.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: CBS is right here. The price is right over there.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: I thought it was huge. And there's Melrose. This was
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: in the height of Melrose Place. I'm like, I live
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: on Melrose. Everybody in Cincinnati thought that was some pretty
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: cool shit.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: How did your parents feel about that? That must have
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: been a trip. Right? Because you didn't come from a
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Hollywood family.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: No.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: You came from this Latino family.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: In Cincinnati, in the Midwest. Yeah.
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: How was that for them when all of a sudden
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: you got a TV show and then you're in L.A.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Doing this?
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: I'll tell you, that's a great question because it was
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: a shock. They always believed in me, but us, again,
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: in the theater. They didn't know that it was going
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: to be this way. I was home for a wedding
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: when the second episode of Common Law came out. And
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: it came... and there was a big newspaper article that
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: I was home for this wedding, and dah, dah, dah,
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: and whatnot. And I remember the phone rang, like landline.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: And I was getting ready to leave that night on
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: a late flight back to L.A. And it was like, hi,
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: this is such and such from ABC7. We're outside your
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: door and love to come in and interview you. And
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: I was like, oh, my God. So I said, my
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: mom said, Mom, she's cooking dinner. I was like, the
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: ABC is outside the door.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: They want to interview me.
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: And she's like, we are having dinner first as a family.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: And that's it. And I was like, OK. My mom
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: said that you guys can come in after dinner. And
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: they sat outside in my driveway until we had our
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: family dinner. So they weren't ready for this, but they
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: were ready to just learn on the go. And they've been,
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: you know, my cheerleaders ever since.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's incredible.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: So what is the perspective now? Like when they said, oh,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I'm going to do this. And then you actually do it.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: I do it.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Just like think about that.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Like how many stories at a time where, I mean,
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: look at the 90s and you said you can count
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: in one hand. how many opportunities we probably had to
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: tell our story with our faces on, right?
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: And to be leading characters.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Because I'll tell you from my perspective, my parents always
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: thought all the way up to probably maybe like four
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: years ago, they thought I was doing a high school play.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Like everything that I did, it was just like, oh,
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: let's get mijo.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Like it was just like muy bien, mijo, muy bien.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: You know, like it was like they didn't understand the
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: magnitude of the audacity, you know, but where are they
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: with that in the relationship with you and your industry
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: and the fact that you actually did it?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Well, I think that They not even having not living
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: in Hollywood or knowing anything about the business. I think
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: they just knew that it was just a rejecting business.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: You know, so they were always ready to catch me
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: if I fell. You know, but they also my mother
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: was the first person to empower, empower me with. Why
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: not you? Why not you? Because they want this girl.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: So what?
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: Why not you? Because they want the skinny girl. So what?
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: Why not you? Because they want the girl with the
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: straight hair. So what? And because of that, I don't
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: even know if she knew what she was saying. Why
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: not you? As far as the industry went. but she
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: knew I was worth it. So she has always been
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: that way. And when I, like I said a minute ago,
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: like I tend to, I quit the business three times
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: a year because of some bullshit that's happened. And I'm like,
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: oh my God, I'm so done with this bullshit. My
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: mother's mentality of why not me keeps me going, keeps me.
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: So I think that their perspective is never about the business.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: It's just that they believe in me. No matter what happens,
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: they believe in me. Whether I decide to stay in
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: it or not, they believe in me.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Where do you think that comes from within your mother?
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: I think Latinos are that way. My grandfather, Papito, was
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: this way. When he saw what the dictatorship was doing
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: to the Dominicans and that his family was, you know,
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: under a threat. My mother talks about how she would
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: be at the family, one of our family members' farm,
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: that Trujillo's brother, Horafi, would come and check on with
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: his entourage. And because she was a very beautiful 13-year-old,
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: whenever his, you know, cavalry would start coming down the
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: dirt road, my aunt would hide her under the floor
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: because everybody knew what was happening to young women in
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: the Dominican Republic during that era. So when my grandfather
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: kind of saw that kind of stuff going on and
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: happening and people disappearing and, you know, you've heard about
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: the Maribel sisters, Mirabel sisters and that story. He's like,
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: I need to take my family somewhere else.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: And for those who don't know that story, do you
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: mind telling a little bit about that?
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: Trujillo was a dictator in the Dominican Republic, I think
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: for 10 years, but my history may not be right
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: on that. His dictatorship ended when he was assassinated in,
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: I think, 62. But no one was able to freely
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: leave and enter the country. You had to have... show
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: special circumstances or special reason for why you would leave.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: And there were rapes, murders and kidnappings and disappearings. That
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: was a really dark moment of their history. But the
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: country and the people did rise and they overtook that
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: presidency and they have a democracy. to this day.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: And the sisters, could you tell?
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: The sisters were three activists that decided, revolutionaries, decided to
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: start their own, they were called Las Mariposas, the butterflies,
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: and they were the, they started their own revolution of
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: trying to take down this dictatorship. And of course, they
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: had targets on their head, and eventually they were the
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: Trujillo revolution, administration did kidnap them and beat them to death,
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: bludgeoned them to death and killed them. So they went
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: down in history as the advocates for democracy and peace
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: and down with the dictatorship, but they paid with it
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: for their lives, with their lives. And they are recognized
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: to this day as some of the most amazing women
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: in history.
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: I saw the statue in the– you know, that statue
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: that's dedicated to them in the Dominican Republic.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I saw that, yeah.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's really– there's such a beautiful culture in the
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: Dominican Republic that it's some of the nicest people on
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the planet, and it's just so beautiful.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: And they have had their pains and their heartaches. And
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: what I always said, whatever poverty is in the country,
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: they're so rich in spirit that it just, to me,
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: it's just always holds a place in my heart. And
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: I'm just grateful that I spent so much time there
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: growing up. And now, you know, pushing forward to that.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: And that resiliency was passed down to your mother. I
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: really do. And then your mother passed it down to you.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: I do. I think my grandfather, who taught himself how
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: to speak English with a vitrola, He would just listen
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: to it play. Hello, how are you? Hello, how are you?
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And they went to Puerto Rico first. And then from
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: Puerto Rico, they came to the States. And I think
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: that I tell my daughter all the time when she's
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: about to take a chemistry test in college because she's
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: pre-med and she gets her anxiety. I'm like, Papito is
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: looking over your shoulder right now like that. I always say,
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: you're a Riva. Where are your feet?
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: And I taught her to answer rooted in resilience. But,
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: you know, when she's feeling too cool, she won't answer me.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: That's a beautiful story and it's actually a perfect segue.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Do you think a lot of that pedigree, a lot
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: of that, you know, ancestry, you know, has fueled your
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: sense of responsibility to stand up at a time where
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: our culture has needed multiple voices to kind of piece
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: together the right moment in history for us?
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like that's fuel?
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm pretty sure that You know, you look
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: at your kids, you look at our culture, you look
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: at your community, and it makes you go, well, that's
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: where we came from. That's part of who I am.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: So I have to use my voice for that moment.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that came, that developed in me over time.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: I think, obviously, as a young person, I, you know,
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: I always used to say that I didn't, I really...
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: connected more with my identity when I moved out here
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: because there were so few Latinos in Cincinnati that you
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: just try to blend when you're a young person. You
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: don't necessarily want to stick out because when you do,
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: you get harassed or ridiculed or whatever. So there were
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: things I didn't feel that were, that, that matched me.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: It was still a good childhood, a good upbringing, a
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: good life. But when I came out here is when
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: I really started to dive into my, my cultura just
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: as a whole, excuse me. And, um, But I think
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: growing as an adult is when I started to recognize
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: even more so the responsibility that I felt I had
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: to be true to my culture, true to my heritage. Also,
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: I'm just proud in general. On a Tuesday, I'm proud
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: to be a first generation Dominican. So I'm proud to
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: share that for any reason. But as a mother, I
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: became even more so proud. And of course, we've kept
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: the culture alive and the traditions and the foods and
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: all that. But when we were on strike in 2023
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: here in Hollywood. And I decided that something had to
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: be done as far as holding the line for our
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: union to really make a mark for that middle-class actor
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: who was trying to fight for that sustainable wage. I
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: thought the only thing I can do is create a
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: creative reason to get us out on that line. And
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: I thought, well, okay, my theme will be Latinos because
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: I know a lot of them, Latinas in particular. I
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: know a lot of them. So we'll get out there
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: every Friday and we'll pick it. And I called our
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: dear friend, Lisa Vidal, beautiful actress and human who knows
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: everybody in this town. And I said, you want to
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: organize this with me? I've got this thing. Latina's acting
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: up because we're all actors. And before you know it,
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: we had a group of 80 women that first Friday
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: in front of Warner Brothers just coming together to hold
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: a line. What we saw over time were these were
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: a lot of young women. in various stages of their career,
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: mostly early stages, who were hungry for connection and community
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: out here because this town is so, and the business
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: is so isolating and divisive. And that is when I
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: felt my biggest connection to responsibility of curating a group
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: or a platform that allows these women in this town
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: in particular to come together, have each other for support
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: and solidarity because we're not going to get it elsewhere.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: We have to find it at home. And if your
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: family isn't here, then we have to create a family.
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: What else is, so is that the primary goal for
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: Latinas Acting Up or are you guys expanding into other
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: avenues at all?
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, we didn't know it was going to
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: run with, become so big so fast, but we have,
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: our mission statement is to raise visibility of Latinas in
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: all arts and entertainment areas of performance journalism photography everything
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: from in front of and behind the camera so not
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: just the ones you see all the ones that are
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: in charge of everything to make the project happen. And
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: we are three chapters, LA, Chicago, and New York. And
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: we have close to 400 members and we are there
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: to collaborate. You know, if somebody wants to do a
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: project and we have our online home where we can
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: all talk and say, I need a makeup, I need
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: a stylist. Buy it for this shoot tomorrow. Here comes
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: this one. She's a stylist and they collab and they,
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: maybe if they don't have the money, they barter something together,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: but we can create our own work and our own projects.
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: But the more we need to know each other. So
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: the more of us we know, the more we grow.
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: Thus the platform.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: And it's multi-chapter, right? I mean, you're going to a
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: few states.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: We were in those three states of LA, New York
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: and Chicago, but because we're also, we do a lot
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: of our panels and workshops online. You can be from anywhere.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: And we're international, too. We have, you know, girls that
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: are that are based internationally as well. And we'll have
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: home chapters in Miami and Miami's asking us, Boston's asking us, Atlanta,
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: so that they can meet personally and have their cafecitos
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: and have their there's a hangout happening in New York.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: in September that we're going to. And so we'll do
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: that too. But also because this is like a 501C
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: and Lisa and I are giving up our time, we
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: don't want to, if it goes too fast, we won't
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: be available to give of ourselves what we promised. So
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: it's moving fast.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: No, it's an incredible organization.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: I think you guys have done such a consistent job
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: at building, and not just infrastructure, but that loyalty and
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: that trust from the community. You know, you're so consistent
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: with how you meet, where you meet, and what you
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: talk about. That's kind of part of the, you know,
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: kind of the part of the, when you talk about
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: the pieces of the puzzle and building a more equitable
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: space for most of us, you know, in this industry.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: You know, I think it's also something to be said
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: about that building a culture of collaboration is how we're
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: going to get it done. And I think that most
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: of what we've experienced And our fortunate and unfortunate history
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: in this industry is that, you know, we're in this
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: solo missions and trying to just create a blip for ourselves,
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: you know, and I think the idea that we embrace
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: that conversation is like, hey, there's more of us. In
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: this together than there was before.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: I think it's an.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: Important reminder of the power of what the community can
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: do when they lock arms together.
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: Have you found that the possibilities have gotten a lot
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: more obtainable, specifically with the collaborations within your org?
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: You know, what I do find is that when we
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: are united like this, we get more attention. So, for example,
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: during the picket, our group was on the front cover
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: of something every week. The headline could be that Warner
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: Brothers lost $ 80 million that week, but it was our picture.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: And every week that they showed us on the cover
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: of Hola and Hollywood Reporter and Vogue and, you know,
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: this Canadian thing, whatever. I thought to myself, my God,
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: wouldn't it be great if the headline were this often
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: because of all the work that we're doing? All the work,
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: the art that we're contributing. And it spoke to me
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: that even if we fight at home, we have to
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: be united out there in front because they pay attention
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: when we're united. When we're divided in front of everybody,
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: they use that against us and they don't want to,
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: you know, the other- But.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: The images of unity are so much more investible.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: They are investible. And by the way, they're true. They're real.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: And this doesn't just apply to the thinking of anybody
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: who's in entertainment. What we're seeing as far as how
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: our community is being depicted on television right now, I'm
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: talking the news. then it's really important for us to
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: collaborate and put out all the artistic pieces that show
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: all that we contribute, all that we do, so that
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: there is more empathy and compassion for the fact that,
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: you know, what you're seeing on TV is not this
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: negative criminal thing that the criminal's being dragged off the
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: street like that and thrown into a truck. No, they're not. No,
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: they're not. Maybe one in 47. So it's more important
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: for us to.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Control the narrative and making sure that the narrative is
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: controlled by us, which I think is the point of
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: having your own podcast and having your own platform. It
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: gives you this ability to continue to be relevant to
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: the people and to the hearts that need to listen
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: to you.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Is that one of the drivers? How did the podcast
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: come about?
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: How hard can it be literally came from me reading
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: an article in 2021 that's from Forbes that said the
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: Gen X woman, of which there are over 50 million
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: in this country, represent over $ 15 trillion, with a T,
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: trillion dollars of purchasing power, and are the healthiest, wealthiest,
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: and most active generation in history. At the same time,
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: society wants to tell us that we're on the downhill slide.
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: We're rapid up. our bodies are doing the dumbest of
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: shit that we don't understand. And I've got chin hairs
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: coming in where they shouldn't be. And I've got eyebrows
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: falling out and I have more on my plate. I've
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: got aging parents and I have children that are still
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: dependent on you. So don't tell me I'm done. I
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: have so much shit to do and we're doing it.
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: By the way, we're not retiring tomorrow. We're also bosses
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: and business owners. And we are still at that pivotal
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: point where like, I have more to do that I
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: know that I haven't been recognized for. So with all
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: of that, why don't we talk about it? So I
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: was literally on a train in Spain with Eva and
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: we were trying to curate this idea for a television
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: show that really wasn't selling yet. And she said, why
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: don't we pivot this thought process into a podcast? I'm like,
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: I don't want to do a podcast. And she goes, well,
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: you have a voice.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: Use it.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: What was your hesitation with a podcast?
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: Because I didn't know how. I didn't think I knew how.
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: She goes, you have a voice.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: You know how to talk though.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Girl.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: Don't threaten me with.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: A- This medium was built for you. That's true.
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: Do not threaten me with a good time. I do
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: know that. And she posted, she goes, what do you
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: want to talk about? And I said, well, I don't
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: know what I want to talk about, but I know
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: what I want to complain about. She goes, same thing.
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: I was like, okay, okay. Because one of the things
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: I recognize is that my squad in Cincinnati, Ohio, and
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: my squad in Hollywood, we have different daily lives. Us women,
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: us Gen X women, anywhere from 45 to 65. But
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: we are complaining, confused, frustrated, seeking answers to the same thing.
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if my bestie Tina in Cincinnati is
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: not on a red carpet. We're still wondering why We
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: have all these symptoms and these hormonal things. Why the
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: mood swings? Why do I want to kill this person?
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: Because they sneeze too many times. Whatever it is. And
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: there's answers out there that the medical field has kept
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: from us, that science has been sitting on, or that
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: they refuse to put money into the research for. And
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: then we have just the relationship issues. It's not all
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: perimenopause and menopause. I figured if I get on to
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: do a podcast and I open the floor to discussion,
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: they will come. And my God, did they. And the
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: conversation has been, you know, to hear Gina Torres and
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: Lisa Vidal or Eva Longoria talk about 50 and over
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: is about saying no. Things like that. Prioritizing sleep. To
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: hear this OBGYN talk about how two-thirds of Alzheimer and
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: dementia patients are women.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Two-thirds?
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: Yes. that something's wrong, something's happening. So why aren't we pouring?
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: That's significant. We need to pour. Why isn't money being
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: poured into discovering why? Is it because of the depletion
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: of estrogen? Let's talk about it. So that was more
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: my thing. Again, like trying to bring community in the
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: Latinas in the industry here with Latinas acting up. Same
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: thing with empowering Gen X women, bringing this community of
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: conversation so that we are not walking through this in
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: the dark. Which by the way, you two are married.
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: You would know.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I've been married 30 years.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, like, your.
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: Wife is walking through this chapter.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Okay? Yeah.
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: What are you experiencing? Because I love to turn the
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: mic on you.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Everything you just said, you know? You know, she's Gen
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: X like us.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Every single thing you just said.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Do you find her with frustration and confusion over certain
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: things her body doing, the certain emotional journey?
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: A hundred percent. And it's my job to be patient
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: and supportive. And and that's after 30 years of marriage
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: is what I've tried to do.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but that's the best thing about it is that
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: guys come into it with their best efforts, but literally
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: it's almost the blind leading the blind because we don't
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: know what to tell you. And I'm hoping the podcast
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: will tell you, do this, do not do that. It's like,
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: you keep fucking with the thermostat and we're going to
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: have a problem. I have it at 58 for a reason.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Hello. That's amazing. The culprit.
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: He was just sitting there calmly just minding his own
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: business and he just got assaulted.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: The culprit. In the middle of a podcast.
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: But that was my way of giving you a heads up.
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: Don't touch the thermostat.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: That's great advice.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: That's great advice.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Okay, cool, man. That's literally great advice. I'm not going
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: to take it personal, right?
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: Don't take any of it.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: The tone, right?
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: What are you hoping to, I mean, first of all,
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: I'm so impressed with what you and Lisa have been
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: able to achieve with, Latinas acting up, I didn't know
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: that it had expanded to all of the different cities
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: and sort of what it's become. I knew the origin
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: of it and why you did it, but now that
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: you're expanding it, it's so incredibly impressive, right?
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: So I just want to say that off the bat.
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: But what are you hoping that it evolves into?
• 29:56
  Speaker 5: If you've evolved it into what it's become now, What
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: is it in 10 years from now?
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: I think the short answer to that is a studio
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: that produces its own work, its own projects, finances and
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: produces its own project. That's the big dream. Right now,
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: what we have, if I, God forbid, if I die
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: tomorrow and what comes out of it is these women
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: knowing how to create community and collaboration with each other,
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: my job here is done. As a mother, because Lisa
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: and I talked about that the most, that as mothers,
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: that really tugged at us. What we are seeing is,
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: are things like casting directors saying, we've got this Nickelodeon show,
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: we've got a Disney show, and we have searched high,
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: you know, far and wide for this. We need a
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: 24-year-old Latina, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, hold, please.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: So we're building.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: And that's a huge, I mean, at a time where the,
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: you know, departments have been dismantled and executives that look
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: in sound and feel like us are not in the
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: room to help guide, by the way, very well-deserved interest
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: from all the studios within the stories of this community
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: and help them navigate how to make them real and
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: how to actually make them achievable and producible. It's invaluable
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: to go to an organization like yours and say, hey,
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: I can't pretend I have all the answers, but I
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: definitely can find the wisdom here.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: You just said it right there. We said what we
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: don't know, we'll find out from somebody else because we
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: have a lot of connections in this town. Lisa and
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: I have been working for over 30 years, over 40
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: for her. So we know a lot of people. We've
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: knocked on your door, Wilma. We knocked on your door, Freddie,
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: and you guys have come up and all of our
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: friends and acquaintances and peers in this industry have come
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: forward to help us. They've given panels. They've given talks.
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: And if we can do that, we're already making the
• 31:47
  Speaker 4: journey of them pursuing their artistic passion a more pleasant
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: one than when we grew up in this business, right?
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: We didn't have that kind of collaboration. But it's coming out,
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: and we are quite literally stronger together.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: I see it going in that direction.
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: I see you guys having your own studio and it
• 32:06
  Speaker 5: just makes sense.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: It's already evolving into that.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: 100% beautiful.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Congratulations.
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: So what's next for you as an actress? What do
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: you want to do next?
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh. So that was the one thing that
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: I think that I started to pivot into opening my
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: mind to the podcast. That the podcast can open doors
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: to the things and the dreams that I have still
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: as an actor. Because I'm not done yet. I haven't
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: even tapped into the stuff that I want to do.
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: And part of it was, you know, when I became
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: a single parent and I was for a long time,
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: I put some of those pursuances on the back burner
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: because I was like, I'm not going to be gone
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: from raising my children. I'm going to make sure that
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: I'm here for that. So I still worked, still got
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: great work. And now that I'm an empty nester, I'm like,
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: all right, where's that horse and that sword, my dream role? Like,
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: out there with my sword on a horse. I'll take
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: a dragon if it's a sci-fi, whatever it is. I
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: want to do that. I'm producing. I'm creating projects right
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: now that are being considered. I sold a script with
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: two great, a writer and a showrunner last year to NBC.
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: So I'm like, I'm getting into there, not waiting for
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: the discussion to come to me and pursuing those dream
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: roles and projects that I said I would do once
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: it was my turn.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: It's my turn.
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: And now it's time for you to claim what, you know,
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: what you not only can do, but the things that
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: you've been waiting to interpret and do on your own.
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: I mean, look, there's a bag of, you know, skills
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: and weapons that, you know, that only unlock when, you know,
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: when your roads cross the opportunity, you know, and like
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: this is the time where you got to claim it
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: and be as aggressive as you want with the things
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: that you want to build.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: Which is what you're doing. That's what I see you
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: doing with your with your company, with your company, with
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: your with your studio and your company. And I feel
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: that when we see our peers and our friends that
• 34:03
  Speaker 4: we've grown up in the business with doing it, then,
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: you know, why not me? Why not me? So it's
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: great to dive in and just get, you know, I
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: come to you and say, I need your input on this.
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: What do you think? I need, and when you have that,
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: you just feel unstoppable.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah. But you, but that's the thing.
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: We have to be aggressive with using what we do
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: have at our disposal.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: We're, we're always so like, let me wear until something
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: is real before I make that call to a friend
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: of mine that are like, no, like it makes real
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: because you may, it gets real because, because you make.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: That phone call.
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: And like, we, we talked to a lot of extent
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: and like make the call, you know? And, and I
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: think that, that, um, that's what we're lacking that, that
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: humble confidence to say, it's not fully baked, but I'm,
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: you know, I'm going to call Freddie. And like, Freddie,
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: Freddie does it all the time. We do it all
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: the time. We run stuff by each other all the time.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: He's like, is this crazy?
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: And then he's like, but in a good way. You know?
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: And we're never not going to tell each other not
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: to jump off the, you know, jump off the bridge.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: But that's what Wilmer and I have always had in common.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: You know, we always thought big, right? Yeah.
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: If you don't think big, and you don't fricking go
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: for it, then what? You're just sort of waiting by
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: the phone for something to happen. And that's what I
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: love about what you and Lisa did, because what I
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: said in the beginning of this podcast is that you're,
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: you're like a clutch player actor, you know, that every
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: time someone puts you in something, the project instantly becomes better.
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: I just, that makes my heart feel so good.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah. That's how I always saw you.
• 35:36
  Speaker 5: Every time I see you in something, I'm like, it's
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: instantly better because you're always, you're always so solid and
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: everything that you do. However, but that comes with when, when,
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: when you're considered that person, I feel like that comes
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: with a, with a, you, You start to develop some leverage, right?
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: You as a person.
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: And now you're just sort of leveraging the leverage that
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: you've built right into this company. And like you said,
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: you know, you make the call, people pick up the phone.
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: And between you and Lisa and everybody else that you're
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: accumulating in your company, it just, it's the natural evolution
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: of you in this industry.
• 36:09
  Speaker 4: I want, you know what? I thank you for that.
• 36:11
  Speaker 4: Because it's always wonderful to have your Latinas and your
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: girlfriends and your squad say those things to you. Yeah.
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: When two wonderful gentlemen like you, good men, fathers, husbands,
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: incredible actors, and incredible businessmen share that with me about
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: my work too, I thank you. And I take it
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: with me because it just reinforces what I do believe,
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: but who doesn't want to hear that reaffirmation? And I'll
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: take it because this is a business who will try
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: every single day to tell women It's not going to
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: be you. It can't be you. It'll never be you.
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: Why not me? And so you have to take opportunities
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: to sit with people like you. They say, no, no, no.
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: Keep going. No, you're right. You're on the right track.
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: You have to be bold in what you want.
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: But you said something, too. It's a standard that you
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: have to live by for yourself. And I definitely want
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: women to get that out of my podcast, too, that
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: we can have these standards, but they're not a standard
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: if you don't follow through with them. And that's where
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: that aggressive– What did you call it? Humble confidence comes from.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: That you can have your humble confidence and still stick
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: to your standard. And I do think that you can
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: apply that to any area of business, though, or any
• 37:29
  Speaker 4: dream or passion that you have.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: We have to find a way to get you a
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: sore and a horse.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Please.
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: I need to get you some kind of sci-fi medieval
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: time something.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: Listen, when I saw Robin Wright in Wonder Woman. And
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: she comes in with all those Amazon and she's doing
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: her thing. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is me.
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: I can do that. And I can do that at
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: 60 and still be badass.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: I'm not 60, but I could.
• 37:57
  Speaker 4: So, you know, whatever your dream is, I feel like
• 38:00
  Speaker 4: you got to hold on to it and keep aiming
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: for that and see what develops along the way.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: Well, we're so grateful that you came with us on
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: our podcast. Thank you so much.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: And we enjoyed it. I mean, it's just amazing to see.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: To hear you speak.
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: And also, it's such a blessing for us to offer
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: this to all of our listeners, you know, to see
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: another Latina doing it in the way that you are
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: and have such an organic story that continues to cement
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: the fact that it doesn't matter where you really did
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: come from or what your ethnicity is, that you actually
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: have a path if you want one.
• 38:31
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: And just congratulations on everything.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: And we'll be tuning in to your podcast. But only
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: if you listen to ours.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, the time.
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: That's what I said. Once I saw Annie Gonzalez on here,
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: I was like, I want to come. I want to come.
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: I didn't know girls were allowed. But this is what's
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: so great. I've been fans of the two of you
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: for a long time. You know where we met?
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: In the 90s, right? I remember meeting you in the 90s.
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: Yes, but do you know where? You all, you don't
• 38:56
  Speaker 4: even remember that I emailed you last week in that
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: you replied. So I'm going to remind, who's the one
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: in menopause here? You or the wife?
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Ouch, very good.
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: But I will remind you, Bird's Cafe.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Bird's.
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: You and your beautiful wife. And I was there with
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: a girlfriend and we had been to one like Alma
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: Award enough to recognize the, well, I was already a fan,
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: but I hadn't worked quite as much yet. But that's
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: where the first time we actually talked.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: About it.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, when I used to live over on like
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Beachwood and Franklin area. That's right.
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: It was birds.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: I'm telling you.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: I knew I knew you since the 90s.
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: And, you know, because there wasn't really a lot of
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: us around. So I remember looking.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: At you going like, oh, another one of me, right?
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Because I would never see it.
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: But I didn't realize you pinpointed it towards birds.
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: No, because I have an insane memory. You know women
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: don't until menopause.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: They don't forget.
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: They don't forget. It's another thing in menopause, when she
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: commits to what it is that she remembers, go with it.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Is that true? Women don't forget. He's here.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: He's alive and well.
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: He's alive and well. That's amazing. Well, thank you so
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: much for being on Those Amigos. Until the next episode,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: I'm Wilmer Valderrama.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: I'm Freddy Rodriguez.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: And this was Three Amigos. Yay!