Speaker 1: This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and
Speaker 1: Courture Latino US. Latin Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. We
Speaker 1: bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you,
Speaker 1: overlooked by the wrest of the media. And while the
Speaker 1: country is struggling to deal with these, we listen to
Speaker 1: the stories of Black and Latino Studio United Latino Front,
Speaker 1: a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement.
Speaker 1: I'm Maria Ino Jossa.
Speaker 2: Every time they need a gang member, called Latino a narco,
Speaker 2: color Latino, an abuser, a murder an abuser, called Latino.
Speaker 1: A poor, downtrodden immigrant, refugee color.
Speaker 2: Latino, and we were more than that, and I was
Speaker 2: always fighting for that. I promise myself if I am
Speaker 2: able one day to produce my own movies in the US,
Speaker 2: I'm going to try to change that narrative.
Speaker 1: Futuro Media and PRX, It's Latino USA. I'm Maria no Josa. Today,
Speaker 1: Mexican actor and comedian Ehango Derves gets serious. Ellego Derves
Speaker 1: is one of the most famous Mexican artists and comedians
Speaker 1: of our generation. And though we do not like to
Speaker 1: do comparisons. In case there's someone who knows nothing about
Speaker 1: Ilheingo der Revez, he would be the equivalent of Steve Martin,
Speaker 1: for example, unable to walk down the streets of Mexico
Speaker 1: City without getting recognized. He is an actor, a writer,
Speaker 1: a director, and a producer. He got his start at
Speaker 1: the forefront of many comedy series that have made families
Speaker 1: laugh for decades on television. Some of them include Alderecho, Ijlderves,
Speaker 1: Dereves and Guando and La Familia Pluce. You can still
Speaker 1: catch some of Oheno's shows on reruns today. Ilhenho isn't
Speaker 1: only famous in Mexico, though, he's a well known name
Speaker 1: across Latin America and in many Spanish speaking households. Right
Speaker 1: here in the US. You have been talking reorder.
Speaker 3: I'm a big fan and I like its range and
Speaker 3: the grow that he has done since he first started.
Speaker 4: He's making Mexico proud.
Speaker 1: Either Mexico Latin America. That's right. You might recognize Derbase
Speaker 1: as the voice of Donkey in the Spanish language version
Speaker 1: of the Shrek movies. He wrote his own jokes for
Speaker 1: the role, and some say his version is even better
Speaker 1: than the original English version.
Speaker 4: Oh Wowesta.
Speaker 1: In recent Yearshino has reinvented himself in the US, a
Speaker 1: process that was not easy. While he was a mega
Speaker 1: star in Mexico, he was just some guy name named
Speaker 1: Ilho in Hollywood and in the United States. So he
Speaker 1: sees the opportunity to completely transform his career by becoming
Speaker 1: a dramatic actor. A big opportunity came knocking with the
Speaker 1: movie Coda. He played the supporting role of a music teacher.
Speaker 5: Do you have something to say? I think so good,
Speaker 5: then I'll see you in class Bob.
Speaker 1: Coda went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two. Now, Elhango Dedabase has returned to
Speaker 1: Mexico to star in Radcal, his first leading dramatic role.
Speaker 1: In the movie. Again, he plays the role of a teacher.
Speaker 1: His name is Serchio and one of his students is
Speaker 1: Baloma Nojola, a brilliant student with a lot of potential.
Speaker 1: This time the film is based on a true story.
Speaker 1: Here now is my conversation with Ilhango de Bas. We
Speaker 1: talk about his work, his drive, and how he keeps
Speaker 1: his feet on the ground. I'm really happy that you're here, Iheno.
Speaker 4: It's so very happy to finally meet in person.
Speaker 1: So Eheno, we interviewed you in twenty thirteen, in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: and now you're back again, So that doesn't happen a
Speaker 1: lot on Latino USA. I was thinking about this. You're
Speaker 1: an artist that I respect.
Speaker 2: I got to says Maria Calinda. Thank you very much
Speaker 2: for your kind words.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: One of the things that we're going to talk about
Speaker 1: in this interview is the notion of reinvention.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I wanted to talk to you a little bit
Speaker 1: going back to your twenty seventeen interview where you talked
Speaker 1: about leaving Dololokitini is behind in Mexico, all of the fame.
Speaker 1: You cannot walk down a street in Mexico without being mobbed.
Speaker 1: Now that you have a little bit of distance, right
Speaker 1: the time that you left Mexico to move to Hollywood,
Speaker 1: the successes that you've had, But can you go back
Speaker 1: to those first day where you were like me boy,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna move to la and start all over again,
Speaker 1: Like do you remember those emotions?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: It was hard to process because back then, every time
Speaker 2: I was traveling to the US for a meeting with
Speaker 2: an executive producer, for example, in Hollywood, and you know,
Speaker 2: at the airport they were like, mister, the rest here
Speaker 2: there and a whole antourage around me, paparazzis blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: And then as soon as I landed in la it
Speaker 2: was just me carrying my luggage asking for a taxi,
Speaker 2: you know, then arriving to the producer's offices and they
Speaker 2: don't even know how to write my name or pronounce it.
Speaker 2: They were like, what can you write it down and
Speaker 2: then sit down, wait, and they kept me waiting there
Speaker 2: for half an hour. But that helped me a lot
Speaker 2: to understand that a tira, which your feet on the ground,
Speaker 2: my fee in the ground. Because I was aware that
Speaker 2: I was not more than anyone else that in one country,
Speaker 2: I was trendy, super famous, famous, and then the other one,
Speaker 2: it's just a human being, that's it. So it was
Speaker 2: really hard for me to process that. But at the
Speaker 2: same time it was very I enjoyed it a lot.
Speaker 2: It was like living these two worlds sometimes in the
Speaker 2: same day. So it was a very curious experience.
Speaker 1: One of the things that has happened in your time
Speaker 1: here in the United States, because it's been what a
Speaker 1: decade now A decade now, Okay, So when you move
Speaker 1: to the United States, you're breaking out of the comedic
Speaker 1: box and you're doing work that is increasingly more serious. Right,
Speaker 1: So what you do is that when you move to
Speaker 1: the United States, you form your own production company. It's
Speaker 1: called Trespassos three pas three pass no medias, three pussy.
Speaker 1: I'm really getting schooled by you, man, I wear pus.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you guys. So it's t R three pas.
Speaker 2: Three in English and then pass true And because it's
Speaker 2: bilingual company, we decided to do that and three puss.
Speaker 4: It's guts because.
Speaker 2: Every important decision that you're make in your life is
Speaker 2: with your guts, with your three passes.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, is that cool? So part of your
Speaker 1: ethos right of actually trusting your gut, is that you
Speaker 1: say yes to playing the role of Bernardo Bielovos in Coda,
Speaker 1: about a community that is set aside the deaf community.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Do you know what Bowis said about up Dylan a
Speaker 2: voice like sand and glue.
Speaker 5: There are plenty of pretty voices with nothing to say.
Speaker 5: Do you have something to say?
Speaker 4: Then?
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Coda wins the Oscar for Best
Speaker 1: picture an extraordinary moment, so oh yeaheno when you're just like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm on the stage at the Oscars,
Speaker 1: what was that moment? Like?
Speaker 2: It was the most unbliable thing ever in my entire life.
Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, he didn't expect it at all.
Speaker 4: And I swear, and let me tell you why. It's easy.
Speaker 2: We were a small independent movie, but you know, not
Speaker 2: big commercial Hollywood names, and the other movies were full
Speaker 2: of them, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. The other
Speaker 2: one was like Meryl Strip, another one that al Pacino,
Speaker 2: another one Adam Driver, Lady Gaga. I mean, we were
Speaker 2: against the biggest Hollywood actors ever.
Speaker 4: So I was.
Speaker 2: Completely sure, completely sure, we're not gonna be able to
Speaker 2: win anything.
Speaker 1: I mean, there was a part of you that was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, wouldn't it be cool if that happened,
Speaker 1: But it's never gonna happen.
Speaker 2: But I was, I swear, I'm not kidding. I was
Speaker 2: one hundred percent sure that was not gonna happen. So
Speaker 2: I was actually enjoying. You know, when you were in
Speaker 2: a show and you're always nervous, ah, what if this,
Speaker 2: what if that?
Speaker 4: I was completely relaxed.
Speaker 1: It's never gonna happen.
Speaker 4: It's never gonna happen.
Speaker 2: So and all of a sudden when they said and
Speaker 2: the winner is coda, I don't even remember what happened there.
Speaker 4: It's like blurred in my mind.
Speaker 2: I just remember that I'm on stage already with them,
Speaker 2: and remembering that. Since I was eight years old, every
Speaker 2: single year, I was always watching the Oscars with my mom,
Speaker 2: and I was always dreaming. I was always telling my mom,
Speaker 2: I want to do that. I want to be a storyteller.
Speaker 1: Aiki Lindo. So you didn't say I want to be famous.
Speaker 4: No, no, no no.
Speaker 2: In Espanol, mama yokiro de di came yokio, contaristorias, kumoras,
Speaker 2: pelliculas in Hollywood, in.
Speaker 1: Because so many people are just like I want to
Speaker 1: be on the stage because I want to be famous.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, it was it was not about fame.
Speaker 2: It was about movies. I loved going to the movie
Speaker 2: theaters and my mom and I were every single week
Speaker 2: and we went to see at least two or even
Speaker 2: for a day.
Speaker 4: To Maria, like.
Speaker 1: What movie theater would you go to?
Speaker 2: In Mexico City, there were multi cinemas and they were like,
Speaker 2: the schedule was already like four, six, eight ten, so something.
Speaker 2: My mama was like, let's do four pm, this one, six,
Speaker 2: this other one, eight and ten. So what I felt
Speaker 2: every time I was in the movie theater, I was
Speaker 2: moved by every story that I watched, and that made
Speaker 2: me fell in love with cinema. And that's when I
Speaker 2: told my mom, especially when I was watching the Oscars
Speaker 2: and I was like, Mom, I want to be one
Speaker 2: of these guys. I want to be one day an
Speaker 2: actor or a director. And my mom was really really kind.
Speaker 2: She never said nah, but she was like I know,
Speaker 2: my love, but it's it's really hard.
Speaker 4: It's a lot of competition there. It's complicated.
Speaker 2: If you want, you need to be well prepared and
Speaker 2: you have to go to the US and take.
Speaker 1: A She was like giving you a serious answer. If
Speaker 1: you want to do it, you're going to have to
Speaker 1: do exactly.
Speaker 2: And many many years later, I was on that stage.
Speaker 2: So when I was standing up on the stage and
Speaker 2: the Oscar goes to okay, coda, there was a moment
Speaker 2: that I looked copular.
Speaker 4: I remember because I was connecting with my mom.
Speaker 2: I was like, mom, here it was like, mamay and
Speaker 2: here I am many many years later, and I was
Speaker 2: like trying to go all the way back to that
Speaker 2: small apartment in Mexico City.
Speaker 4: It was very, very touching.
Speaker 1: What a beautiful story. And it's interesting that you bring
Speaker 1: up your mom, who obviously had a big influence on you.
Speaker 1: In relation to Coda, there were many things I loved
Speaker 1: about the film. Focusing on the deaf community and then
Speaker 1: just making them part of the mainstream is just such
Speaker 1: a something really beautiful to watch. But what I loved
Speaker 1: about Coda was that you were not You were not
Speaker 1: El Mexicano, you know, the funny guy, the purposely thick accent.
Speaker 1: You were an actor playing the role of the teacher. Right.
Speaker 1: That's how I remember you, is playing the role of
Speaker 1: the teacher, having this beautiful, this beautiful back narrative. And
Speaker 1: I'm wondering about that decision to say yes to a
Speaker 1: role where you were like not going to be able
Speaker 1: to fall back on the comedic tradition. This was serious
Speaker 1: acting for you.
Speaker 4: It was very challenging and I knew it was a risk.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, those kind of roles were
Speaker 2: never offered to me when I was in Mexico.
Speaker 4: Yeah, in Mexico.
Speaker 2: There was a time where I wanted to be also
Speaker 2: a dramatic actor or start doing movies and things with
Speaker 2: more depth, things that would be more serious, and they
Speaker 2: never gave me a chance to do something like that.
Speaker 2: They were like always telling me, as you know, people
Speaker 2: are going to laugh they see you, you're going to
Speaker 2: ruin the movie. They were really really really straightforward when
Speaker 2: they were telling me why and they were like, no,
Speaker 2: you know, this is a very dramatic movie and if
Speaker 2: they see you on screen, they will immediately think that
Speaker 2: you were a comedian, or they're gonna remember your characters.
Speaker 4: Whatever. So they never gave me a chance.
Speaker 2: And in the US, when they were offering me a coda,
Speaker 2: for example, I knew that the director she was not
Speaker 2: aware of my background or my characters or my TV shows.
Speaker 4: It was so refreshing because you.
Speaker 1: Went into the audition just like.
Speaker 2: As an actor, and because one of the producers told
Speaker 2: the director, this guy is really popular among Latinos, it
Speaker 2: would be great, it would be good to have a
Speaker 2: Latino in this story. What I loved about the character
Speaker 2: was that because you know, every time they need a
Speaker 2: gang member called Latino and narco color Latino.
Speaker 4: An abuser, a murder, an abuser called Latina.
Speaker 1: Who were downtrodden immigrant refugee.
Speaker 2: Called Latino, and we were more than that. And I
Speaker 2: was always fighting for that. And I promise myself, if
Speaker 2: I am able one day to produce my own movies
Speaker 2: in the US, I'm going to try to change that
Speaker 2: narrative and portray Latinos in a different way. So when
Speaker 2: they offered me this role, I knew it was perfect
Speaker 2: for me because it was just a music teacher that
Speaker 2: happens to be Latino. And that's the way it should be.
Speaker 2: That's real diversity.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because that's life in the United States exactly. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're Latinos are everywhere North Dakota, Alaska, Maine, Florida, Arkansas, everywhere.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: So immediately said yes to Koda, and so we made
Speaker 2: we adapted some tough to say that he was from Mexico,
Speaker 2: that he studied in mexicoh blah blah, and then he
Speaker 2: moved to the US. It was really a very important
Speaker 2: role to me because they were finally giving me a
Speaker 2: chance to be a dramatic actor and it was not
Speaker 2: about being Latino.
Speaker 1: You know, people I know this happens to you, ill Henu,
Speaker 1: it happens to me right, you reach a certain level
Speaker 1: of visibility and because of social medi frankly, life can
Speaker 1: look great on social media, but actually it's really hard.
Speaker 1: Like you're having to go into an audition cold. You
Speaker 1: don't have to audition for anything in Mexico and here
Speaker 1: you're going into an audition where they're just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: try this guy out. People need to understand it's really hard.
Speaker 1: What does that hard part do for you? The fact
Speaker 1: that it's like, oh, what is I mean? You know,
Speaker 1: your company is named Threepas. It's all about trusting your gut,
Speaker 1: but you know, the gut is also we can get wounded,
Speaker 1: we can get hit right in our gut.
Speaker 2: Right constantly, constantly since I moved to this country, every
Speaker 2: single day I am doing things that make me feel
Speaker 2: uncomfortable in a good way. I mean, when I was
Speaker 2: in Mexico, I was the king in Televisa.
Speaker 4: So here every.
Speaker 2: Single day I'm like, oh my god, I have a
Speaker 2: meeting in Universal Studios or Paramounds or Sony and a
Speaker 2: lot of important executives and in English, and English is
Speaker 2: not my first language. As you can tell, it's complicated,
Speaker 2: so I'm always like full of fear. It has helped
Speaker 2: me to be more humble, honestly, and it makes me nervous.
Speaker 2: Of course, I prepare way more than when I was young,
Speaker 2: because I'm now in Hollywood.
Speaker 4: It's the top of the line.
Speaker 2: You know, there's nothing beyond that, so I need to
Speaker 2: be really prepared. I need to take sometimes acting lessons
Speaker 2: just for a casting. But on the other hand, that's
Speaker 2: the kind of things that keep me young, that keep
Speaker 2: me hungry, that make me feel like when I was
Speaker 2: I don't know, seventeen eighteen years old, and I was
Speaker 2: studying my life and fighting for credibility, a teenager fighting
Speaker 2: for a place in the world.
Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, we continue our conversation with
Speaker 1: Mexican actor and producer a Hano that is and talk
Speaker 1: about the challenges of taking on a lead role in
Speaker 1: a dramatic movie. Stay with us, not yes, Hey, we're back.
Speaker 1: We're going to continue chatting with Eheno Verbees. We're talking
Speaker 1: about his transition from comedy star in Mexico and Latin
Speaker 1: America to his most recent work, a dramatic lead role
Speaker 1: in his own movie Radical. It's the true story of
Speaker 1: a teacher in Matamoros, a Mexican border city, who tries
Speaker 1: to support his students in an underserved community. All right,
Speaker 1: let's jump back to our conversation. So you decide to
Speaker 1: fight again in an interesting way because you know, after
Speaker 1: you win the Oscar again, the doors now are more open,
Speaker 1: just more open. Somebody could have thought, well, Eheno is
Speaker 1: now going to do a fully English language film, very mainstream,
Speaker 1: you know, because he's fully mainstream now. Instead, you released
Speaker 1: at the end of twenty twenty three radcal or Radical.
Speaker 1: You make this fully spent language with subtitles. It did
Speaker 1: win the Festival Favorite Award at the twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: Sundance Film Festival. That was huge, and we decided that
Speaker 1: we wanted to have you describe what Radical is about.
Speaker 1: So what's the plot, what's the storyline? It's based on
Speaker 1: a true story.
Speaker 2: The Wired magazine in the US named a twelve year
Speaker 2: old kid the next Steve Jobs. And this is the
Speaker 2: story of a girl that was born in the trash
Speaker 2: that wants to become an astronaut and that she has
Speaker 2: the potential to get there. And then I learned that
Speaker 2: there was a teacher behind this girl and many other things.
Speaker 2: So I remember I was in twenty twelve living in Mexico.
Speaker 2: Back then, I was watching the news and everyone was
Speaker 2: talking about that.
Speaker 1: It was a big moment.
Speaker 4: It was a big It was a big moment in Mexico.
Speaker 2: Wiredespecialnologia a persona in particular Como Lasso says so.
Speaker 4: Postive jobs, and I was shocked.
Speaker 2: I mean, how come this twelve year old girl from
Speaker 2: a small public school in Matamora was now named the
Speaker 2: next step Jobs? But they didn't tell a lot about
Speaker 2: the story, about the background of Paloma. So a few
Speaker 2: years later, when I moved already to the US, the
Speaker 2: journalist who wrote the original article came to us and
Speaker 2: he offered the rights for the movie, and I immediately
Speaker 2: say yes, let's do it. I said, this is the
Speaker 2: kind of stories I need to tell. First because it's interesting,
Speaker 2: Second because I know this is going to be universal.
Speaker 2: This story could happen in any part of the world
Speaker 2: and you're going to feel identified. And also because it
Speaker 2: was the kind of movies that I want to tell
Speaker 2: in my company. Movies were Even though it's a raw,
Speaker 2: very raw and tough movie, you can see also people
Speaker 2: like Sei Ho, the teacher or Paloma the student. There
Speaker 2: are good people, good Mexicans, and I was tired of
Speaker 2: watching the news and just watching the faces of the
Speaker 2: narcos or the criminals or the gang members.
Speaker 4: And we're more than that.
Speaker 2: So it's time to put the spotlight on the good
Speaker 2: people too.
Speaker 1: The interesting thing is for you in this movie is
Speaker 1: that there's nothing between Eheno Derbz and the audience. We
Speaker 1: don't see you actually in any comedic form. We don't
Speaker 1: see you wearing any kind of interesting get up or
Speaker 1: look at all. It's very, as you said, raw, And
Speaker 1: it's kind of like again this time because it's not
Speaker 1: in somebody else's film, it's your film. It's the comedic
Speaker 1: megastar who is really choosing to be quite serious. So
Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about that very
Speaker 1: particular decision. Again, of the United States is a place
Speaker 1: where you've had to keep yourself grounded. But what about
Speaker 1: this notion about you, the comedic megastarre really saying I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be serious. I'm taking it yet another step further
Speaker 1: than coda. Right. Absolutely, it's intentional.
Speaker 2: It's completely intentional, and it was actually this is my
Speaker 2: first dramatic role starring in a movie, because I've done
Speaker 2: a little bit, but not much, but some dramatic roles
Speaker 2: in other movies. But it's just like Coda probably was
Speaker 2: the biggest role I've got.
Speaker 4: But I was part of the ensemble cast, right, this
Speaker 4: is you.
Speaker 2: This is me just starring in a dramatic moviecause st Loco.
Speaker 1: Let's that's what youngle that.
Speaker 4: So look, I'm okay, you see see what.
Speaker 2: Probably two days before you start shooting, I was having
Speaker 2: second thoughts. I got cold feet. I was like, what
Speaker 2: am I doing here? People are going to criticize me.
Speaker 2: They're gonna say, what what is he doing here?
Speaker 4: Hello?
Speaker 2: He should go back to his characters exactly, all that
Speaker 2: stuff that I was like, Oh my god.
Speaker 4: I was so nervous. I thought it was a mistake.
Speaker 2: Probably I thought that I should just produce it but
Speaker 2: not be an actor in it. So I was panicked, honestly,
Speaker 2: especially because the director, Christopher Sala, who's been all around
Speaker 2: the world, he was not aware of Mexico and how
Speaker 2: they perceive my image there, and so I was constantly
Speaker 2: fighting with him, like Chris, you don't know people. They
Speaker 2: know me really well, so I don't want them to
Speaker 2: see hen you at a bese on screen, I want
Speaker 2: them to see the character. So I was fighting to
Speaker 2: put something in my face, like a different hairdle or
Speaker 2: glasses or something, and he was like, no, I want
Speaker 2: you just like that. Yeah, And I felt so insecure.
Speaker 2: I remember that I was talking to my business partner
Speaker 2: and because he was like, if you want, you can
Speaker 2: talk as a producer and say no, there's away and
Speaker 2: do whatever you want. I didn't want to because I
Speaker 2: was like, I've been there and I don't want to
Speaker 2: be the respectful with the director. So now I'm talking
Speaker 2: as an actor and I don't feel comfortable, but I
Speaker 2: need to obey my director.
Speaker 4: And probably he was right.
Speaker 1: He was right, he was right.
Speaker 2: And now it's probably one of the most beautiful compliments
Speaker 2: that I've been reading constantly and social media that they say,
Speaker 2: I didn't see Anulaves in that character. I forgot that
Speaker 2: it Wasves and for me that it was one of
Speaker 2: the best compliments I've got in my career.
Speaker 1: So this notion of wanting to do stories based on
Speaker 1: real life, right, because you also did the twenty sixteen
Speaker 1: film Miracles from Heaven. But there's again, it is a
Speaker 1: quite serious decision. For you. I want to do stories
Speaker 1: that are gritty, very much about gannas also three pass guts, desire,
Speaker 1: being hungry, and based on real life. And why is that.
Speaker 2: I love stories that are based in real life For
Speaker 2: some reason me as an audience, I love those kind
Speaker 2: of stories because I feel they have an extra ingredient
Speaker 2: that makes you realize that even if it's something that
Speaker 2: it's incredible, you know that it happened and it immediately
Speaker 2: has a bigger value for me.
Speaker 4: And it's a beautiful true story. And that's what I
Speaker 4: love that.
Speaker 2: I'm always thinking that there are still good people that
Speaker 2: can make great changes in the world.
Speaker 1: So the story is about said here the teacher who
Speaker 1: is working with Baaloma. It's a lot about, you know,
Speaker 1: breaking what's happening in failed educational systems. When we were
Speaker 1: prepping the interviews, it's not a failed public educational system
Speaker 1: just in Mexico. No, it's a failed public education system
Speaker 1: in the United States. Even though the Secretary of Education
Speaker 1: now Miguel Gardona, you know, talks about bilingual as a superpower.
Speaker 1: It's a big change, but it's in general in this country,
Speaker 1: they're trying to not teach history right, like literally literally
Speaker 1: change it. So when can you give us a quick
Speaker 1: update on what's happened in all of the time since
Speaker 1: Baloma was written about and said he was the teacher, Like,
Speaker 1: what's the quick update and what do you want people
Speaker 1: to take away?
Speaker 4: Well, there are a lot of messages here.
Speaker 2: First of all, let me tell you what's going on
Speaker 2: with the real Paloma and the real Serhiu. The real Paloma.
Speaker 2: Usually in that kind of environment in those schools, kids
Speaker 2: they don't even finish elementary school. When we were talking
Speaker 2: to say, one of the worst problems in the school
Speaker 2: that he was teaching, it was that kids quit in
Speaker 2: the middle of the year because they have to work,
Speaker 2: because they have to take care of their families, their
Speaker 2: little brothers, so mom or dad can go work. Some
Speaker 2: of them end up in crime, you know, working for
Speaker 2: the criminal organizado. They're not so it's unthinkable that someone
Speaker 2: would go all the way up to high school forget
Speaker 2: about college. Well, Paloma, she's like two or three months
Speaker 2: away of finishing college nowadays. She wanted to be an astronaut,
Speaker 2: but she ended up in law school because she felt
Speaker 2: that she would be more helpful to her community by
Speaker 2: being a lawyer and right now, she's about to finish
Speaker 2: college as a lawyer. The teacher when I was shooting
Speaker 2: the movie and he came to visit, I asked him,
Speaker 2: where are you now and he said, I'm still in
Speaker 2: the same school, teaching the same grade. And I was like,
Speaker 2: but why, and he said, after the magazine came out,
Speaker 2: a lot of people approached me, especially private schools, and
Speaker 2: they offered me amazing opportunities, a great salary. It's in
Speaker 2: a much better place, with a lot of equipment and computers,
Speaker 2: et cetera. And I felt that I was betraying my
Speaker 2: kids by leaving to a better place. So I decided
Speaker 2: to stay in the same school, in the same grade
Speaker 2: because I feel that here is where they need me more.
Speaker 1: That isn't that beautiful the lessons we learn from the
Speaker 1: people that we need. You know, as a journalist, when
Speaker 1: people ask me like, oh, what famous person, It's like, no, Actually,
Speaker 1: the people who inspire me the most are the people.
Speaker 1: They are just out there doing their thing exactly, whether
Speaker 1: as artists or as teachers, or as people defending their community.
Speaker 1: Now it is impressionante, I know. If you look at
Speaker 1: humanity from the possibility as opposed to humanity as a threat, right,
Speaker 1: because you are of these two worlds. Are you hopeful
Speaker 1: about the United States? Are you hopeful about Mexico. It's
Speaker 1: an election year in the United States, it's an election
Speaker 1: year in Mexico. Like, are you feeling hopeful or not?
Speaker 4: Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 2: Not much, honestly, why Because I remember years ago we
Speaker 2: were all excited about some candidates and there will always differences,
Speaker 2: and you want to, oh, I'll go right or left,
Speaker 2: or black or white. But nowadays in both countries, you
Speaker 2: don't see like something that you like, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. It's not like, oh, I would like this
Speaker 2: person to be or president in this country or in
Speaker 2: this other country. I feel that it's like always the
Speaker 2: same thing. There's not a new air or a big change,
Speaker 2: and that makes me a little bit concerned. I would
Speaker 2: like to have another option, you know, so we can
Speaker 2: at least have something different. But nowadays it feels like
Speaker 2: everything is the same. And I love both countries because
Speaker 2: I was born in Mexico, but now I live in
Speaker 2: the US and I love the US too, and I'm
Speaker 2: worried about both countries.
Speaker 4: Honestly.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're gonna switch Channa Lists. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about dreams. One of the things that I do. I'm
Speaker 1: a professor at Barnard College, my alma mater, and I
Speaker 1: start all of my classes I ask my students, what's
Speaker 1: your craziest, wildest dream, Like I want to be an astronaut.
Speaker 1: So right now, do you have a crazy, wild dream
Speaker 1: that you're like that you're prepared to say?
Speaker 4: God?
Speaker 2: For many many years, it was winning an Oscar, But
Speaker 2: now I feel that it's more about telling stories that
Speaker 2: could change the world more than winning an award. Sometimes
Speaker 2: there are movies that are amazing that they didn't made
Speaker 2: it to the Oscars, and sometimes there are movies that
Speaker 2: won an Oscar and they're not that good. Probably, So
Speaker 2: now I'm part now of a movie that won on Oscar.
Speaker 2: That makes me happy. I'm probably still I would like
Speaker 2: to have one by myself. Probably that would be my
Speaker 2: wildest dream. But also make a movie that can make
Speaker 2: a difference. And that said, I probably feel that radical
Speaker 2: is one of them. So I feel that radical can
Speaker 2: make a lot of huge changes in the world. We
Speaker 2: are already talking to politicians in Mexico and in the US,
Speaker 2: and my hope is that we can start a conversation
Speaker 2: about a new way of teaching kids, and I hope
Speaker 2: they can approach to Cerciu, the teacher in Radical, to
Speaker 2: see if we can reply his model in other schools.
Speaker 4: That would be for me one of a dream come true.
Speaker 4: Definitely the best.
Speaker 1: It has been so much fun talking to you, which
Speaker 1: I get to ask us then we want to come
Speaker 1: and visit Latino Usa. We love having you on the
Speaker 1: show and continue success.
Speaker 6: Thank you very much, Love you.
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Gini Montalbo and Glori mar Marquez.
Speaker 1: It was edited by Marta Martinez and mixed by Julia Caruso.
Speaker 1: The Latino USA team also includes Victori Estrada, re Renardo
Speaker 1: Lanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Rusado, Mike Sargent, Nor Saudi, and
Speaker 1: Nancy Trujuio. Benile Ramirez is our co executive producer. Our
Speaker 1: director of Engineering is Stephanie Lebau, additional engineering support by
Speaker 1: Gabriel Lebias and JJ Carubin. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna.
Speaker 1: Our theme music was composed by Zane Roinos, I'm your
Speaker 1: host and executive producer Marianno Posa. Join us again on
Speaker 1: our next episode and in the meantime, look for us
Speaker 1: on social media and remember always and forever not Bayes. Bye.
Speaker 3: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation,
Speaker 3: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide,
Speaker 3: the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Agnes
Speaker 3: Gund