WEBVTT - BONUS: Oscar Winner Sergio Lopez-Rivera Unpacks the Industry 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.200 Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:27.200 partnership with iheartradioshas Katie. 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:39.600 Oh my gosh, Sergio, you are such a handsome. 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:42.280 Thank you. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:44.720 At the time of this recording, it's been a hot 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.000 minute since I've seen Sergio Lopez Rivera in person. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:48.400 Hello. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.280 Same, Yeah, I mean, Betsy's known you the longest, and 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:54.120 we can all go through where we first met you. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:55.760 I was guest starring on a show where I met you, 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:56.880 and you look the same. 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:57.480 What. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.840 It's so fucked up. I mean, it's so fucking It's 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.760 like it's like the portrait of Dorian Gray or whatever 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.560 that thing is. Where's your portrait? 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:13.600 There's a decaying portrait in my head? Yeah, yes, yes, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.400 you know what. I think. It's a sleep sleep. 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:20.319 I don't look like you when I sleep. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.959 Yeah, neither do I. And also being in Hollywood with 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.800 our hours that we have worked with you in our masts, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:28.960 I see you without sleep and you look the same. 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.280 And what I'm just so upset about is that you 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:34.120 were a person behind the cameras. Kiermu and I are 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.000 supposed to be the greatest looking human beings of all time, because. 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.120 You are. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.480 I always talked about how happy I was that I 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.040 didn't have the pressures that like Tony Goldwin and Scott 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.319 foleyhead where they had to look good take their shirts 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.920 off every other episode. I was finding that Huck could 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.240 look hungover like it's all good, you know. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:58.000 What I mean, no juicing, no juicing for no juice 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:02.280 or Huck. Well, the people listening, it is so exciting 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.120 to see Sergio. We've all known each other for many, 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:11.720 many years, and we're very excited to dig into the 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:16.680 story and the history of one of our favorite human 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.240 beings and one of the most talented people on Earth. Yes, 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.200 he might have won big awards recently in the past 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.360 couple of years, but that's just the tip of it. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:31.639 Because it's an Oscar right it is. Sergio Lopezervera is 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:38.320 one of the most awarded and respected makeup artists in Hollywood. 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:42.480 Not only is he a makeup artist, but Sergio has 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:46.440 literally designed virtually every show which we won't name right 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:48.200 now because there is a strike going on and we 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:53.800 aren't supported. But since a show very very long time ago, 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:58.000 we've always worked with Sergio to design the entire look 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.920 of the hair and makeup and the cares from usually 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.040 the pilot series on and the ability to actually not 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.240 only do make up with the artistry that he doesn't 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:15.200 trust me. I've experienced it. It's terrifying. I think my 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:17.359 husband just sort of is like, could he just come 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:20.800 over every day for something because you look so good? 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:23.799 But the idea that he actually is somebody who can 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.800 design an entire look for a character in conjunction with 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.440 a customer is mind boggling. 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.440 It is my favorite thing to do, and honestly, I 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:37.400 will get deeper into this, but the opportunity that I 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.880 was given by shandaland where it just worked for everyone 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.760 if I were in charge of staffing the hair and 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.000 makeup trailer, because you guys understood something that a lot 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:53.040 of producers and production companies don't understand, which is, if 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:57.120 you let me create an environment a family, I can 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.200 control the amount. 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.600 Of toxicity or the lack of toxicity. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:06.680 And I can sort of custom build this incredible department 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.480 that yes they're talented, and yes they'll have an opportunity 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.800 to showcase their talents, but mostly it's the fact that 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.280 I like to work with beautiful human beings things like that, 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.400 and so it was a dream for me, like actually 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.919 unimaginable because this had never happened before. It was almost 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.760 like a branding for chandaland that I can tell you 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.000 stories about guest stars that would come in one of 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.799 our shows and they would already know that this makeup 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.599 and herit team was special or extraordinary or whatever, and 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.320 then they would leave these thank you cards at the 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.159 end because they had not had experiences like that in 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.000 television before. So it was pretty cool. And I owe 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:48.440 it all to them, you know, because they trusted me. 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:50.600 It was huge, huge, And. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.800 For everybody listening, like who doesn't know about the hair 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.200 and makeup people. If you are lucky enough to be 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.840 on a show that has longevity, which Shondaland shows fortunately do. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.960 They are the people with you at four o'clock in 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.760 the morning, the proximity to your face. They know what 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:12.800 you smell like after coffee. They know when you are 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.480 nervous about doing a sex scene and your clothes are 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.000 coming off and someone's coming to my trailer to paint 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.800 my butt cover a ZiT I have on my butt. 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.520 I mean, that's how close you are. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.760 Bets, no boundaries, old, don a second. Have you had 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:26.920 your butt painted? 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.320 Yes, our mutual dearest dearest friend who we also worked with, 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:34.760 Denise Hooper. She when I would have sex scenes, she 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.320 would come into the trailer and I would be like, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:39.880 oh my god, like there's like weird. I mean, whatever 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.359 it is, a mosquito, bite, a ZiT, a patch of cellulite, like, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.760 whatever it is, and you're just like you are my 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.840 person who can come in here, and I trust. And 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.080 so I think that's also why Sergio, you've really it 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.640 was so amazing what you did, because I think that 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.599 it's forgotten almost about that, Like the hair and makeup 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:02.960 departments on production are so close with the actors and 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.800 with each other and are working such long hours in 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.760 each other's personal space that if everyone can get along 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.640 and it can be an environment of real collaboration and inspiration, 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:16.520 it goes so much better. 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.000 Yeah, it goes so much better, so much further. When 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.920 an actor goes into the hair makeup trailer, there is 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.160 a hierarchy right in their mind, like the department head 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:33.000 is obviously the better makeup artists or the better hairdresser, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.200 and then the key is the second best, and then 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.800 the third is the worst makeup artist, when that in 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.520 fact is not true. I have thirdy is that right, 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.280 thirdy for department heads and. 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:45.560 They have thirdy for me. 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.240 That's how we do this because we would rather assist 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:55.200 an incredible person than hire a complete douche that just 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.360 comes with a great resume, but nobody can stand him, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:04.279 because even just one person, one energy, can throw it 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.479 all off, you know, like literally my third have more 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.720 credits than me, It just doesn't matter. I needed to 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.040 get rid of that hierarchy because at the end of 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.560 the day, I needed you as an actor to feel 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.480 as comfortable with me as I did with my third. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.160 I needed you to be as confident because as I 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.280 grew within Shandland, it was and harder for me to 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.080 be the person on set making sure that you feel okay. 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.920 And it was very, very important that you trusted my team. 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.400 Delegation is such a huge part of a learning curve 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.120 because I found that too is you know, you can't 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.360 be everywhere all at once, and it's really important that 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:45.280 you trust the points of view. And for me, one 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.160 of the first things we had to delegate was having 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:52.120 somebody that we super super trusted in this department. First 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.280 of all, to help design a look which is coherent 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.560 with a character which is a whole other thing that 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.600 a lot of people don't understand and what hair and 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.800 makeup does when it comes to when you're part of 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.880 the architect of how a character is articulated in the 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:12.440 way that they look. But also over the years with Sergio, 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.320 I would know that if he felt as though there 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.400 was trouble or somebody was upset or they seemed vulnerable 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.640 in the trailer, he could always text me or the 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.440 creator of the show and say I always say, like 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:27.880 sunny with the chance of rain, Like Cou'd say, like, 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.280 how's it going, what's the weather? Like can you go? 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.320 You know they're thunderstorms. They haven't kind of arrived yet. 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.560 Wow, Yeah, light sprinkle. 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:43.800 Light sprinkle, and go like nine to one one hurricane 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.199 and you kind of like running down. 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.560 So makeup trailers also where the drum, I mean not 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.040 the drum, but it's like where people's secrets come out. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.840 It's like where people dish on a Monday after a 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:58.880 long weekend. It's like where people feel for whatever reason. 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:00.520 And I think it's been like this is the beginning 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.000 of time and hollyweird. But like you come to your 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.720 Hollywood makeup trailer, that's where you're like, oh, you know, 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.520 this is what's going on in my personal life, my home. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:14.040 Like it's a really very odd the makeup, wouldn't you agree? 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:14.360 Gee? 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.000 Like the makeup trailers where we talk the most gossip. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.760 Absolutely, it's where Carrie would feed her little dog bacon. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:27.760 Remember every morning, That's right, she would feed her bacon. 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:29.880 But and then we would have our food, and there 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:32.040 they'd be delivering our food. We'd be eating while you 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:33.720 guys are trying to put makeup on our face. 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:38.199 Oh this is so good. Thank you for bringing that up. 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.080 Ladies say go on the record has to say listen, 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:46.920 I understand your window for eating is short, so is mine. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:51.160 But if you're going to eat while I'm attempting to 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:56.040 make you look really good, maybe not a double double cheeseburger. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:10:00.240 Maybe something more friendly like a carrot stick. Okay, then 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.000 you can do something. 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:06.360 Straws are great. Straws are great. Just smoothie with the 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.280 freaking straw smoothie. 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.760 Yeah, so many minerals and vitamins in there. 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.040 We'd be running lines constantly in the makeup trailer. Remember 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:16.720 we have actors come in that weren't getting their makeup 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.840 done to come run line while Katie and I were 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:21.160 getting their makeup or carry so you were dealing with 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.559 all of that, people yapping at each other. 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.600 The music's playing. The music is very important and making 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:27.360 as well. 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.120 Yes, there is hugely music playing in a hair and 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.800 makeup trailer. Yeah, and depending on the mood of the trailer, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.800 it's like, not only are you a genius visionary in 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.040 terms of visual abilities, but you have to be a DJ. 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.480 Yeah, listen, you have to be a DJ. You have 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.000 to be a brother therapist. You have to be a therapist. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.839 You have to be like an emotional support human for 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:50.640 another human. 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:52.760 Yeah, we could get you one of those bibs that 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:53.920 you were that's say emotionally. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:58.840 Yes, this is the part that nobody trains you for. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.320 You know, like, you could go to the best school, 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.520 you could graduate top of your class, you could work 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.840 with the most amazing producers, and nobody teaches you how 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:13.959 to listen to someone. Nobody teaches you that the goal 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.760 is to let this person who is upset or happy 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.840 or whatever it is, be as ready as possible to 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:24.200 step on set and do their job right now they're here, 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.920 so that I can do my job. There's something you 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.640 need that morning after lunch whatever, that you're going to 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.160 need to feel free to speak, you're going to need 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.840 to feel free to express yourself. And so there's a 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:40.079 lot of trust and professionalism that go into staffing a trailer, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.040 because you're right, I'm not supposed to know like eighty 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:44.880 percent of the things. 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:45.120 I know. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.160 You know, you're just there holding the space for someone. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.880 You're in a lock box, right, Oh yeah. 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.480 But I think what's interesting is you started to talking 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.559 about something. I actually don't know the answer to this question, 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:01.640 which is weird because I thought I knew so much. 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.480 How did you get into this? Like, what was your 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.480 path to this career? 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.000 I'm not sure if very many Spaniards come to Hollywood 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.520 and become top awarded makeup artists, but maybe I'm wrong. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.959 How the fuck did you get here? 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.120 I know, I know, you know, it's interesting, Okay. I 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.520 was born and raised in Spain. I was raised in 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:29.520 Northern Spain in Santander. Is a beautiful and it's a beautiful, 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:34.120 absolutely gorgeous part of Europe is Northern Spain. If you 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.840 haven't been, I highly recommend it, and if you like food, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:39.679 I highly highly recommend it. 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:41.959 It's my top top thing anyway. 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.960 But I was born in sixty seven, which means that 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.840 I grew up in a dictatorship because Franco did not 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.120 die until seventy five, I believe, and so seventy seven 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.920 is the first time Spain is a democracy ever. So 0:12:56.120 --> 0:13:00.440 I'm saying this because I really cannot separate my journey 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.240 as a makeup artist that you know, was born in Spain. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.320 I came to Hollywood from the fact that I was 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.440 a gay boy in Spain in nineteen sixty seven, you know, 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:15.040 because it forced me to understand that I wasn't safe. 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.560 I may have been safe in my own house, but 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:22.080 I wasn't safe in the city. I was in sane 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.840 in the country. There was no allies or no outlet 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:29.080 for me to know what living an authentic life would 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:33.080 look like. I knew instantly that I needed to become 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.880 two people, you know, in order to survive, to simply 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.200 survive my family, and so I needed to be able 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.360 to become the person that they needed me to be, 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:46.079 which was mostly just a good boy and my real me, 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.480 you know, which was a good boy who was also gay, 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.640 who was also confused and needed a lot of support. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:57.800 And so what happened was I found a lot of 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.080 support and outlet in watching movies. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.439 I just loved movies, and so. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.920 This one time I rented Oh, I was obsessed with 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:07.559 The Exorcist, obsessed with. 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:13.839 You and Sergio Bear hanging too. 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.840 But I loved the movie so much that, under false 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.720 pretenses whatever, I kind of convinced my parents to buy. 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.480 You know, this was the age of the VCR, and 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.680 Sony had come out with like this new VCR where 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.320 you could like freees frame and then freees frame forward 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:36.200 and freees frame. So in my version of the movie, 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.560 Linda Blair was literally swallowing her vomit as opposed to you, 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.880 because I just lovedys and forward and everything. And I 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:46.160 just to torture my sisters because I wanted to replay 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:48.760 the anyway. I was obsessed with them. And I remember 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.240 asking my dad, I said, Dad, where do they make 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.080 these things? And he, you know, pleasant He's like, Hollywood. 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.240 I'm like, where's Hollywood. It's like that's California, California and 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.840 the United States. I'm like, well, that's where I'm going there. 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.000 Suddenly it was like a seed, you know, I'm talking. 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.200 I mean I'm nine or ten years old, right, and 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.520 I'm like the seed was planted that there was an 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.320 outlet for me, There was a place for me to 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:18.360 be where I most likely could be myself, could be authentic, 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.000 could experience what it would be like to be myself, 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:26.200 just myself. So even though I didn't come until I 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.640 was nineteen, those ten years, I was just obsessed with 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.880 putting one foot in front of the other to make. 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.040 It to Hollywood for a couple of reasons. 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.120 One of them was to leave my family, but not 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.120 because I don't love my family out door, Dan, but 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.080 simply because I have no one to be gay with. 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.480 Sure, did you have a group of friends at all 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.080 in Spain? There like that were close friends that knew 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.040 you were gay, that you were able to hang out with. 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.440 And I didn't come out to anyone until I moved 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:53.000 to America. 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:53.720 Oh wow. 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:55.560 And so I mean I came at nineteen, but I 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.080 think the first time I said the words I'm gay, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:58.080 I think I was twenty. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:15:58.920 Oh wow. 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.520 And then I came to my mom at twenty one, 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.960 and then you know, that didn't go so well, so 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:06.720 I freaked out and I didn't come out to my 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:09.080 dad until five years later. It was just a mess 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.160 boy yeah, and so you know, you realize, gosh, all 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:16.160 I want is to be able to experience what everyone 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.200 else around me gets to experience. They're not thinking about 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.440 their sexuality all the time. I'm thinking about my sexuality 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.200 all the time because it could be a problem. And 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:29.720 so that is such a driving force, I think, because 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.320 you're not thinking, oh, I'm going to become a makeup 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.560 artist and go to Hollywood and win awards, but you thinking, oh, 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:38.880 I want to live my life authentically. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:39.840 What does that look like? 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.240 And when you take care of your authenticity when you're 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:48.080 that young, I promise you have zero tolerance for the crap, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.680 the suffering, the everyday suffering. Like I could never be 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.000 at a desk job, you know, I could never know 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.160 anything other than what brings me pleasure. It's a hard 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:58.800 way to learn that lesson because there's a lot of 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.800 introspect that goes in, like to trying to figure out 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.800 why do I feel empty and why do I feel 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.280 like I'm an impostor and so yeah, I can't really 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.639 separate it. But I came when I was nineteen. My parents, 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:14.480 of course wanted me to go to college, which I 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:15.919 did for two years. 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.200 Nice where did you go, well, I went to. 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.400 Valanova University in Pennsylvania the first first year. 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:23.320 You kidding? 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:24.600 I didn't speak English. 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:28.119 I didn't speak English like nothing, I literally, I mean 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:29.439 I came on a plane, but I might as well 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:29.960 be a boat. 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:31.520 Okay, we will. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.520 Be back with more after the break. 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.240 So, and you didn't speak the language, but you managed 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.000 to get through two years of sitting there and just 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.520 looking adorable, like, what the hell did you do that? 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:47.720 Hell? 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.800 Well, honestly, this is almost embarrassing. 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:54.760 Because awesome, go for it, right, No, it's just. 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:59.679 That I was renting a room from a Spanish professor 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.840 who teaching at a university. My parents felt very comfortable 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.400 having that arrangement, right, So okay, I'm renting a room 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.720 down the street from the campus and he has to 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:13.000 help me. He takes me to the registration office. He 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.600 is like, okay, well you can't take this, because you 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:18.119 can take that. And what I ended up with my 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:24.360 first semester was pottery, photography, battery. 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.159 Photography, drawing, and our history. I was really good at 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:28.960 our history in. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:30.520 All terrific tools. 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.040 Right for being a creative makeup artist. 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.919 Yeah, but you know when you're nineteen and you have 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:43.120 essentially escaped your situation. I think you don't experience fear. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.400 You just don't you experience acceleration. You are like, are 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:48.320 you kidding me? 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.600 I'm out, I'm out of here. I'm got out. 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.720 I get to wipe the cafeteria tables as my job. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:55.639 I get to work at a dry cleaners. Are you 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:56.119 kidding me? 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:56.520 Yes? 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.440 Yeah, hell yes, Are those some of the things you did? 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:01.080 Sure? Well. 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:05.760 I applied for a job in the cafeteria and I had. 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:07.600 To wear this polo that was really bad. 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.280 It was a terrible polo, Like I hate this polo anyway, 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.399 But I started wiping tables and I did it for 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.399 one afternoon and I was like, this is not I 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.199 am better than this. I just I don't know what 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:16.920 I'm going to do. 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:17.960 But I'm not doing this. 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.720 I'm not wearing that polo. It boiled down to fashion, 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:21.639 I mean immediately. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.160 And also it was a used polo, like it was washed, 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:26.840 and I was like, oh no. 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:27.920 No, oh my god. 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.479 I went down the street on Lancaster Avenue and I 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.720 applied for these drag cleaders that had to help wanted 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.200 and thank god, this man, this Greek man that on 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.119 the I think he saw himself in me. 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:39.840 So he gave me a. 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:41.720 Job and I worked at a dragtonners while I was 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:42.399 going to school. 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:43.160 Wow. 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.199 Yeah, so you get through two years and then you 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:48.200 decide to drop out. 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:50.840 Well, yeah, I did my first semester in Villanova and 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.800 then I transferred to UCLA Extension in. 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.640 La I flew out here for the interview. 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.320 And you know, it was like may or something. It 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.680 was beautiful California day. I'm like, oh, I found my home. 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.440 This is where I want to be, and yeah, I 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.560 dropped out. It was such a sense of an urgency 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.679 inside of me. That is like anytime I sat in 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:12.920 a classroom for like an hour an hour and a half, 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.280 I'd be like, oh my god, this is not at 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.600 all what I want to do. But dropping out of 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.520 school comes with such stigma. You know, my family is 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:23.920 no different. So I had to be really, really sure 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.359 of myself. And this is something that has helped me. 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.000 In my family. I didn't do the things the way 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.959 that the rest of my family did them, and I 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.320 had to be very very sure of myself to not 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:37.720 be dissuaded due to something I didn't want to do. 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:39.879 Well, look at you, now, you gotta Oscar Now, so 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:45.720 all that that's right? Were you doing makeup stuff throughout Sergio, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.960 like when you were in the first college in Vilenova 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.480 and then transfer to use in between. Were you doing 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:51.920 all sorts of makeup stuff? 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:56.240 Yes, because I also I have a huge love of photography, 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.640 and one of my classes in College of Lenova was photography. 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:04.480