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