WEBVTT - Harvey Guillén: Breaking Hollywood Molds 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.680 It's that time to put on your jersey and wave 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.320 your flag whoever you root for. 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.560 Why do I watch the work up? That's like asking 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:10.719 me why do I breathe? 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:12.920 And it's beautiful. 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.680 The guys are young and cute and fat. It's not 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:20.000 just a game, it's your culture. Imaging work like that. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:21.920 It's a connecting force. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:27.000 From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernande Chavari and this is American Football, 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:29.920 a show about soccer culture in the US and it's 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:34.320 underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the iHeartRadio app, 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.400 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.560 Sometimes the bigger picture can be overwhelming, but you gotta 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.040 be grateful for the small things, and so the small 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.920 things will add up and the bigger picture will get resolved. 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.920 Did you learn that from I think I learned along 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.640 the way. I have a core group of friends who 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.520 remind me of being grateful. I learned from their kindness. 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.640 My friend from third grade, Romey, who is actually here, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:13.440 reminds me of that kindness every day. 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.040 And you've been friends since went since third grade. You 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.319 know how lucky you are, very lucky. 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.000 But that's careless. If I get stop on the street 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:24.040 for an auto drash like, oh yeah, I forget you 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:25.520 do stuff on TV? 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.280 Dear listener, did you watch that super popular show What 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:39.680 We Do in the Shadows on FX? You might have 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.959 seen Harvey Yen struttying his stuff on red carpets. 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.319 Here's to fifteen year old Harvey watching the Golden Globes 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.240 and dreaming that one day he'd be on the carpet. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:51.000 And here you are, babe. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:55.880 You might have also caught Harvey Gym in big budget 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:02.120 films alongside big names like Antonio. He played the voice 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.760 of Perrito in Puss and Boots The Last Wish this 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.560 is going to Puss and Boots your Puss in Boots. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.160 Or you might have seen Harvey Gien in the Broadway 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.799 revival of The Rocky Horror Show It opened earlier this year. 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.320 The Rocky Horror Show is on Broadway as Studio fifty 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.920 four and nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.000 But most people know Harvey from his role as Pierre 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.679 de la Cruz in the FX vampire comedy What We 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:34.639 Do in the Shadows. 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.320 Are still angry about that Vampa. I tried to eat 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.520 you on you Yes, don't deny it. I can tell 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:41.280 you I said yes. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:47.560 The series, which ran for six seasons, earned multiple Awards nominations, 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.360 including an Emmy win for its costumes. The Emmy goes 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:57.359 to What We Do in the Shadows, along with multiple 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.919 Critics Choice Award nods for Harvey's portrayal of Guillermo de 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:06.440 la Cruz. He is the human assistant who lives in 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:07.960 a house full of vampires. 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.000 I promised to help my master apply for citizenship. Yes, 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.720 you actually started a process, but you didn't finish what 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.320 happened in nineteen ninety two with the Megarain Swift Nation, 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.640 so I didn't really have time for anything is. 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:28.320 And just like Gillermo opens eyes to the vampire world 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.959 of Staten Island, Harvey has made a career out of 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.400 going for roles that people in Hollywood didn't think he 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:36.119 would fit into. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:38.840 With my eyes, with my height, with my body, with 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:40.880 my voice, with my trades. 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.560 As a petit. He's only five foot three. He's also 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.960 plus sized, he's queer, he's Mexican American, he's brown, so 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.840 he was just never what studios were looking for. 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.560 Tall, blonde, blue eyed, and I would convince my agent, 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:58.240 can I go in as a wild card. So the 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.760 trajectory of my career has been book rolls that were 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.480 never written for me, but I go in then people 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.960 end up Yeah, what if they were? 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:06.240 You know? 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.280 And what we Do in the Shadows it was one 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:09.960 of those shows. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.040 Shadows was not written for me. The character Guillermo de 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.120 la Cruz was written twenty years older. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.080 But after talking himself into that audition, he parted his 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.400 hair down the middle, put on a beige sweater vest 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.640 and some round glasses and well he made some magic happen. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:38.920 Happiana Past, Thank you, Master Slumper sleep Fast. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.040 A few days later, he got a call his audition 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.520 was so perfect they wanted him on set the next 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:52.920 week from Futuro Media. It's let you know us say 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.880 I'm atrianga Hosa. Today we revisit a twenty twenty five 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.600 conversation with Mexican American actor Harvey Gee Yeah, and we 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.159 talk about his identity, his upbringing, and how he continues 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:11.480 to make it in Hollywood and beyond. When Harvey Yian 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.880 got on set for What We Do in the Shadows, 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:19.160 he realized that his character Guillermo didn't have a last name. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.000 I gave him the last name of de la Cruz, 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.000 like without knowing that he was a vampire slayer, Like 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.599 I gave him the name early on and found out later. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.640 I am by birth and lineage, a vampire killer. And 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.640 the only reason your life is because I let you live. 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:37.480 And I was like, why did you let me name 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:39.920 him that if you knew this? And it was like, 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:41.360 because it's perfect. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:42.560 Oh my god, it's kind of perfect. 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:42.839 Yeah. 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:43.800 That Guruz means of. 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:45.400 The cross, across the cross. Yeah. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.720 And I just go back to my resume of like, 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:49.760 every time I look at it a role I've played. 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:51.960 First of all, you always think every time I book something, 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:53.920 I won the lottery, because his business is tough, and 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.440 so every time I book something or offered something. How 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.360 lucky am I that I get to like do what 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:00.520 I love and people enjoy it so much that they 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:02.160 come back and ask me to do it again or 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.880 do a different character. But all the characters that I've played, 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:08.159 if you just go down my credit list, are usually 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:09.760 roles that were not written for me, and I had 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.640 to go in and convince whoever was in charge, to 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.480 maybe consider me. I remember going into auditioning for the 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.800 internship with Vince von Owen Wilson, and I knew that 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:19.920 role was not for me, and I just had to, Like, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.880 my goal in life was to obviously want to book 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.040 the role. But if you don't book the role, that's okay, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.160 as long as you book the room. So if you 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.960 book the room, yeah, you book the room. You'll always 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.960 have someone on your side. It doesn't mean that this 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.520 project it was for you, but they'll be thinking about you. 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.360 And so when I go in and I book the room, 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.800 I walk away saying, I don't know if I'm going 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:42.320 to get this, but I know what I did get. 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.840 Everyone in this room enjoyed the work I put into this, 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.600 the hardship I put into this, the character development I 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.320 put into this, and that's all that matters. And as 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:50.800 an artist, that's all you can do is put it 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:51.760 out there and walk away. 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.640 So you were raised in southern California, right, You actually 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.880 were near Hollywood, but you were also very aware of 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.160 your Mexican nests, your Mexican roots. What part of Mexico 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:01.600 are you from? 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.760 Do you know my parents are from me truck Cotton. 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:07.400 My dad was from Sawayo. I was born in Los Angeles. 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:10.400 I grew up in SGV in San Gabriel Valley. 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.720 So in terms of distance, you were pretty close to Hollywood. 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.800 Did you feel like the proximity to Hollywood was like 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.680 this is going to benefit me rather Oh my god, 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.240 I'm so far from Hollywood, but I wish I could 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:24.600 get there. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.400 I knew that I was adjacent to Hollywood. I've always 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:29.560 been like a daydreamer, so. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.600 Like the idea of being so close to something that 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.320 I want to be a part of was really aspirational. 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:37.960 But growing up, actually what I wanted to do was theater. 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:39.160 I want to do musical theater. 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:41.520 So for the longest time, TV and film was like 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.360 something that was like WHOA, totally out of your reach, 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.240 even though you live in LA The theater is what 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.200 I was doing at school, and I was a daydreamer, 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.320 so I was like, yeah, I'll just start with Broadway. 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.360 And that's how people do it. They go to Broadway 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.200 and then they do movies and then they do television. 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:56.880 That's the way up. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:07:59.520 And I was so focused on Broadwick that when an 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.280 opportunity came for television, it almost slipped through my fingers 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.080 because I was so focused on doing theater. It was 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.320 a lucky coincidence and then once I started doing an 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.280 episode here, I did a short film there. It just 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.880 added up before you knew what I was doing television film. 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.160 Harvey is a Californian, though he's been bike coastal living 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.040 between LA and New York for a while now, but 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:26.400 still he holds a deep love for Los Angeles, especially 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.160 following the twenty twenty five wildfires. 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:31.760 There's something about it that I was just looking at 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:36.880 the city skyline recently, and it's this dried up desert 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.120 by the ocean with strong winds. But it's still an 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:45.160 oasis and still paradise for me, So I'll always love it. 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:45.559 I love that. 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.480 You know, we've gone through some unfortunate moments. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:50.280 Another fire breaking out right now. 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:51.800 Homes are burning as we speak. 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:56.640 Fisials have issued a mandatory evacuation order. Well, Harvey, were 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:00.400 terribly upset about what happened with your home. I can't 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:05.280 even imagine how one processes that amount of loss as 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.920 an artist, as somebody who is so deeply rooted in 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.959 your space. Can you just tell us how is it 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:12.320 all fitting into your head? 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.040 Well, my home was damage. I caught on fire, but 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.160 it is still standing. To tell you a little backstory, 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.000 of the day that we were evacuated for the house. 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.679 I am a first generational homeowner and I bought this 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:25.319 house a year ago and I just announced it to 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.560 my mom last Christmas. I had tricked George of thinking 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.000 we're going to an Airbnb, and I told her the 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.520 news that I bought this house, that I was an 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:35.640 Airbnb and she cried and I cried, and that. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:37.839 For me, was one of my favorite moments to have. 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:50.120 So it's important for me to let people know that 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.480 I'm very lucky. I am very lucky. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.000 And I went out to my backyard the night that 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.360 they evacuated us, and I asked ancestors to protect my house. 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:05.280 And they did. 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.880 And I had this guilt for a second because I 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:14.280 had asked ancestors. And my friend saw how distress I 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:18.679 was about feeling this guilt, and she put it into 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:20.480 a way that I never even thought of. She said, 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.520 you can't ask ancestors to help you, and when they do, 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.120 disrespect them and feel shame. 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:28.480 And my house caught on fire. 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.319 Every corner of my house, the fences burned and the 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:37.240 trees burn but the house stays intact and the house 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.839 is still holding. There's smoke damage severe toxins that I 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.160 can't live in that house for a while because it 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:49.040 will be deep cleaning, throwing away of furniture, mattresses, of anything. 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.240 So I may have to start over again with the 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.120 interior and not able to live there for a while. 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:55.320 But I did not lose my home. 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.720 And there's people who lost everything, everything they had worked 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:04.800 for generation wellth having passed down to Black families, Latino 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.720 families that were able to buy property in this area 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.280 for the first time southern California. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.040 And I am a part of that neighborhood. So we 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:14.240 are going to rebuild. 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:18.040 And you might have a tragedy like this that comes 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.520 by and test you, but it is a resilient town 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:24.320 and we will rebuild. 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.520 Coming up on Latino USA, we continue our conversation with 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:39.040 Mexican American actor Harvey gee yin he's going to share 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:40.440 his comedic influences. 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.760 I was very much this kid who was Mexican but 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:48.120 also American and those two cultures intertwined. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.520 And later he reveals his true identity. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:12:01.640 Stay with us, Yes, is it hard for you to 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.800 understand English when people speak fast. I'm Connor from the 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.000 Listening Time podcast, and my goal is to help you 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.360 understand English better. That's why I created Listening Time, a 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.920 podcast designed to help English learners improve their listening naturally. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.160 In each episode, I talk slowly and clearly about a 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.480 different topic like travel or US culture, and I give 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:22.760 you the transcript that shows every word that I say. 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.520 Listening Time is the perfect tool to help you understand 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.599 English better. The Listening Time podcast is available wherever you 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:29.720 listen to podcasts. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:42.439 Hey, We're back. Before the break, actor Harvey Gien was 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.880 sharing his love for Los Angeles and talking to us 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.319 about the tragedy that hid his home and his community 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.760 really hard during the fires. Now, Harvey is going to 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.160 let us into his life growing up and the comedic 0:12:56.280 --> 0:13:00.920 influences that he experienced from two different cultures. Let's jump 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.040 back to the conversation. You were raised in a Mexican 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.719 immigrant household in the nineties and the early two thousands, 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.440 and so what kind of television were you watching, both 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:13.760 in Spanish and in English. 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:22.040 I was watching a lot of Kantine Flassranny. 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:25.920 My God. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.839 I got a lot of my comic physical comedy from 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.680 watching Kantine Flask with my dad. My dad love Kantine Flash, 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:34.439 and then I would watch I Love Lucy. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.640 Yes, Envire made a begamin. 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.280 You can spoon your way to hell. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.440 It's so tasty too, tastes like. 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:51.840 Candy, honest, So I would be like, it's the same thing. 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.000 It's if it's one's in Spanish and one's in English. 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.720 But the comedy is there, and these two people are 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.560 comic genius. So growing up, a lot of my influence 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:02.280 was Lucio Ball and was skantin Flus. So I was 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.920 very much this kid who was Mexican but also American, 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.800 and those two cultures intertwined. And so watching both of 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.559 those at my home on a daily like after school 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:14.959 movies with my dad on the weekend, used to like 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.520 all the Maria Feliques like movies, like we used to 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:18.560 watch all of those classes. 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.000 So you are like, seriously Mexican. 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.680 Yeah, I'm twisted. 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:23.200 I am. 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.920 So Harvey, did you feel like as a queer Mexican 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.160 young man and boy, did you feel like there was 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.360 space for you or were you still working that out 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.040 as you were watching Ganting Pleas and Lucille Ball. 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.680 You know, growing up Mexican is great and also has 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.320 some of the bad traditional values that are bestowed upon men, 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.280 which is like the machismo culture and how you see 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.920 a man act like a man and a man is 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.280 supposed to be a man, and if they see any 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.280 kind of softness in a boy, it needs to be addressed. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.280 I remember being at a kid's birthday party in a 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:04.480 park and someone makes you know comment you know, you know, which. 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:05.800 Is the equivalent of the f slur. 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.600 Yeah, that's a very very hard And as your child 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.160 growing up, where you're just living your life and dancing 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:15.560 in the grass and just having the best time, and 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.920 to hear someone say to you like, don't do that, 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:20.480 don't be that. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.000 That's not good. You don't want to be that, and 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:25.960 you as a child saying what's not good? 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:27.000 What did I do? 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:28.680 So you had to ask your mom? 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.080 Yeah, I remember when I was little. I actually years 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.360 later I realized what happened. I'd been gay bashed. I 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.600 went to play with my neighbors at my last place 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.040 in Mexico, and I brought my tonguea truck because I 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:42.920 played Tonka trucks and I played with like dolls. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:44.720 I play with both of those, and I brought my 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.040 truck full of dolls. 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:47.840 I was like, do you guys want to play with 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.640 my Tongua and this is the Tonka trucks, the metal ones, 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.680 the heavy ones. So I'd drag this big Tonga truck 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:54.320 with the dolls and tops. You guys want to play, 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:56.200 and I remember one of the kids saying, no, we 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.520 can't play with you, and I was like why because 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.560 my brother says it is Mariposa and I was like, 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.280 I'm a butterfly, and I was like, what is that? 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:04.520 What? 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:06.720 And I didn't know at the time, because I didn't 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:07.320 know I'm a child. 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.840 That was a negative connotation about someone who is light 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.680 on their loafers, or any other phrase that you've heard 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.400 throughout history that has been given to kids, to young adults, 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:21.200 to grown men, that we've been called for centuries just 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.080 because it makes the other person feel that they're entitled 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:25.680 to and to put you down. 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:27.720 So I didn't know what that meant. 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.840 So as I walked away with my toys, I got 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:33.160 Tyria and I was like, why do they want to 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.040 play with you? Anyway, I walked away, they started chanting 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:39.480 it Maripo sat and they grabbed some pebbles off the 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.600 floor and I was like, I'm walking back to my 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.760 grandma's house. I felt something fly by my ear, and 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.800 I didn't know and then I looked back and a 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.320 rock just hit my and I. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.040 Still have that scar on my eyebrow. 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:52.800 Oh my god. 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.480 It was my first bashing when I was a kid, 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:00.480 and I didn't know why. I was about six years old. Baby, 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:03.200 being six years old and not knowing that you've just 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:07.399 been bashed because of what apparently everyone else knows you are, 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.600 except you don't know yourself because you're a kid and 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.600 you're just being yourself and you don't know that this 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.399 offends anyone so much that they have to take it 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.720 upon themselves to tear you down. 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.480 So for me, that was the beginning. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.000 I learned that there was something different about me that 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.840 people were obviously scared of offended by. 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:29.879 I didn't know what that was. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.960 And I ran home and I was crying and covered 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.200 in blood and dirt, and my mom said was like, 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.760 they call me Mariposa is why would they call you mariposa? 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:40.800 And she looked at me, and I knew then that 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.480 my mother knew what all of this meant. 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:53.760 And all she said was like, yes, Like it's like, 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.359 who cares they call you a butterfly? Because butterflies are 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.080 beautiful and they get to fly far away. 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:03.240 Places and oh my god, your mom is amazing. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.000 Yeah, And so it was just like that turnaround for 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.000 me of like I still knew something was different about 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:10.440 me for the time being. 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:12.959 That's all I needed to know to give me reassurance 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:14.760 that there was nothing wrong with me. 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:39.239 We'll be right back, Yes, hey, we're back. I'm going 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:43.199 to wrap up my conversation with Harvey gen about his career, art, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:45.400 and his true identity. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:46.439 In the end. 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.239 I mean, you're a star on television, So what are 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.000 those friends and neighbors, what are they saying to you? Now? 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.960 Well, it's funny now, like the people I've had, people 0:18:56.000 --> 0:19:00.000 who were definitely bullies reach out and like nothing happened, 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.200 like none of their negative words had any damage. I 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.480 called them out on it, like I said, I'm sorry, 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.119 aren't you the same person who did A, B and C? 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.200 And they're like, yes, oh my god, did I do that? 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:11.640 Oh? 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:12.440 And then I get it. 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.280 People grow and they evolve and they make mistakes and 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.560 we learn. But I make the choice to who I 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.879 surround myself with and who I share energy with. And 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:24.720 people trying to sneak in back into a life that 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.320 they have not been a part of for years and years. 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:30.720 Like it's kind of very telling on them, and I 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:32.720 think a little bit of like yeah, like it's like 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:34.800 they reached out to me, found me, found a way 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:36.320 to get a hold of me, and said remember me, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:37.240 Remember me. 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:38.399 It's like, I don't think. 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:40.960 About you because you're that part of my life is 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.919 back then, and I don't look back if I look forward. 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.720 So if you keep looking back, you're going to miss 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:48.560 what's right in front of you. 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.880 You know what, You're giving us some life lessons. Okay, 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.399 all right? So in Companion, it's in the near future 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.960 kind of scarily where you can rent a highly sophisticated 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:06.200 sex robot. The days of you controlling me are over? 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:11.800 Did you Joe break your sex part? 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.320 Okay, I gotta tell you this totally freaks me out, 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:19.440 But let me ask you this, So, what do you 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:25.160 think that this film actually says about men and love? 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.639 I think the movie shows the relationship that men have 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.879 with companions, with a partner, whether it's human or not, 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:38.719 and those shows the loneliness and the epidemic that's happening 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.439 where men feel the neat that they have to purchase 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:42.000 a companion. 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:43.440 When I was reading the script. 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:44.840 One of the first lines that popped up to me 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.680 was jack Quade's character and the way that he talked 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.480 to Iris. And one of the scenes after they've been intimated, 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:52.800 they're in bed and she's gushing about how much she 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.399 loves him and whatnot, and he's just fed up and 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:57.800 he just goes Iris go to bed and just like 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:01.879 talks to her very direct and unbeknownst to me that 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.920 far in the script, I had no idea what the 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.560