WEBVTT - Freddy’s Chicago Days 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:15.640 Welcome back to those amigos with Freda Rodriguez and yours 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:16.440 truly with my mother. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.560 And in our last episode, we teased. 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:24.880 You with a very very exciting journey, very exciting. For 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:30.200 this episode, we we we wanted to focus on on Freddy, 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:35.920 but not like the Freddy the actor when he got 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.960 the break, like I want to bring it all the 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:41.360 way back, man, I. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.200 Want to start with your grandparents. I want to start 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:45.120 with your grandparents. 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.559 Okay, you know, we you know. 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:49.760 And and this is also I called to everybody out there, 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.559 like you know we somebody when I when I was 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:58.400 writing my memoir, my book, somebody said to me, go 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:03.800 ask your parents they were before you? Oh interesting, we 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:08.040 know so much about our parents after we had a 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:12.480 sense of memory right that we rarely go back to 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.959 ask the questions like who were you before mommy you 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:18.560 got pregnant, or or Dad you knew you were going 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:20.920 to have a son, like you, you never asked these 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.680 questions because your life is what you're being introduced over 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.680 and you're seeing new things all the time. So so 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:30.960 that exercise really changed so much for me to appreciate 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.720 what my mom was right from bringing a full circle, 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:39.720 you know, understanding the trajectory or who you before you, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.920 or even a possibility like who was the Rodriguez family 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.240 right right, you know, and and then and then walk 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:50.720 us straight into you know, into into your adulthood. But 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.000 I but I love to start with like what are 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.440 your grandparents' names? And what did they what did they do? 0:01:55.600 --> 0:02:00.280 Yeah, I didn't really know my grandparents. They they uh, well, 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.960 my grandparents. Both of my parents are from San Lorenzo, 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:07.640 Puerto Rico, which is in the middle of the island. 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:14.240 There were farmers that they grew crops and malangas and 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:19.359 beluras and tavaco and had cows and chickens and all 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.280 that stuff. And then around the fifties and sixth so 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:28.839 my parents were both neighbors and they had fincas over 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:34.240 there right as we know in Lalomne Campo Edambsino, and 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.400 that's how they met. And so on my mom's side, 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.680 I had thirteen uncles and aunts. On my father's side, 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:43.480 I had eight, and surprisingly they were the only two 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.519 that got together for them being neighbors. And this was 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.000 around the time that there was a program in place 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:57.680 called Operation Bootstrap, where the factories were alive and kicking 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:04.160 in Chicago, in New York and Detroit, and this program 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.120 was in place by the government to encourage Puerto Ricans 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.560 to come to those cities to work the factories. Now, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.720 my parents weren't necessarily a part of that program, but 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.600 it was definitely inspired by that program. And so they 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:23.320 migrated from Puerto Rico to Chicago, and my dad came 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.280 as a teenager and worked the factories in Chicago until 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.040 he made enough money to go back and get my 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.919 mom and marry her, and they both came to Chicago. 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:33.959 We had an aunt and an uncle who lived in 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.760 Chicago already, and they were in the Lincoln Park area 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.760 in Chicago, which, for those who know Chicago, Lincoln Park 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.840 now is a pretty affluent and prestigious area, but back 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:51.640 then it was predominantly Latino and black. And for those 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:55.840 who have seen the TV show Good Times, the Kabrini 0:03:55.880 --> 0:04:00.640 Green projects are in Lincoln Park. No one knows that 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.760 because that area is like the Beverly Hills now. And 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.279 so they migrated in the sixties and work the factories. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.880 And I have two older brothers and they were born 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.080 and my brothers are a lot older than me. They're 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.520 like eight and seven years older than me. I was 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:20.680 kind of the mistake that came later. And so, you know, 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.919 my parents had the American dream. Although Puerto Rico is 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:25.640 technically a part of the United States, you know, they 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:27.679 had the American dream like everybody, right. 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.280 Well, you know, leaving your pueblo for something different is 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.240 the American dream. I mean, you could be leaving you know, 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.440 you can be living in Arizona and going to Texas 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.360 and making it there, and that's the American dream too, 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.520 So I see why. But for us culturally, it's a 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.920 major leap, you know, because you leave what you are 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.360 to acquire a new way of life, right, Like, it's 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.800 an interesting departure from where you start and where you're 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:52.560 gonna end up. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:57.680 To acquire a new way of life, a new urban landscape. Right, 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.799 think about it, Right, You've been to Puerto Rico, Paradise 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.480 where they were at, and then all of a sudden 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.000 you come to the harsh winners of Chicago. Two seasons 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.479 to see, two seasons, you get fall, you got winter. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.320 You gotta wear a coat, right, you know. I remember 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.400 I would have cousins that would come from Puerto Rico 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:18.440 and they'd be like, we can bring a coat you know, uh, 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.680 you know, to have to take the bus to like 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.640 a factory job where you're working like ten hours a day. 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.200 I mean it was it was rough. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.400 But what was dad like at home for a young 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.160 Freddy when you were a kid, right, you had your 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.520 older siblings, but you seeing your dad doing what he 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:38.800 was doing and all that. 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:40.440 What was it? What was your house like? 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.400 I remember one time and you asked me about my grandparents, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.800 and I'll get back to that because it'll inform that. 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.359 I remember one time I was visiting. I was in 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:53.000 Puerto Rico. I was doing a movie there actually, and 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.400 I was visiting my grandfather before he passed away, and 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.039 my other grandfather was on a horse going up a 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.760 mountain and my grandfather goes, you see that over there, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.880 that's your grandfather. He said, that's the hardest working man 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.600 in the village, and everybody knows that about him. And 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:18.760 I remember it was with the one interaction I had 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.320 my grandfather, I'm wrong. I was like ten years old, 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.120 and he took me around the village and I saw 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:28.839 the respect that was in place for my grandfather because 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.960 everybody knew he was the hardest working guy in the 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.560 entire village. And so that translated to my dad, you know, 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.280 And you asked me how it was in my house 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:42.640 in Chicago. My father was a direct reflection of his own. 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.920 Father just was all about work, all about pride in 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.599 your work, all about integrity and your work and who 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.520 you were as a human being and your moral compass 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.280 and your values as a person. And although we were 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:03.000 a money poor, we were moral rich, you know. And 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.040 that was really important to him, really important to everyone 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.400 in my family. And so that's the way me and 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.760 my brothers grew up. And I feel that's something that 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.160 I've taken with me and as I approached our industry, 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:18.880 whether I'm on a TV show or a movie, I 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.960 bring that same hard work. 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:22.760 I was gonna say. 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:26.000 Yeah, So seeing that statement that is the hardest working 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:27.840 man in this village? 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:29.760 Did that mark you? 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:33.120 And you was like, what, you know, I should never 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.080 have an excuse, So, like, how did that affected you 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:37.400 as a young man? 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.680 It just it all made sense. It made sense why 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.560 my dad was so hard on us, It made sense 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:51.080 why your work and the quality of your work was 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.320 so important. It all just made sense because it was 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.800 ingrained in him as a kid, you know. And then 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.480 he ingrained that in us me and my brothers, and 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:02.960 my cousin and my uncles. And he had a brother 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.080 and a sister who lived in Chicago, and I had 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.280 a bunch of cousins, And so you know, that's saying 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.640 it takes a village to raise a child. It was 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.760 very much a village of like, you know, the Rodriguez 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.040 household in Chicago. 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.720 How did your dad infuse that in you? Like, what 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.040 were the words, what were the moments, what were the lessons? 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:24.800 Were the things that he he made you experience so 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.360 you could put it together that says, Yeah, that's the 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:28.840 anthem of my life. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.440 You know, I don't know if there was ever any 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:34.160 like words, but it was expected in anything that we did. 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.640 It was like, oh, you're fifteen, sixteen, now you got 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.160 to go get a job. You know, you got to 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.520 contribute to the house man, You got to contribute to 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.640 paying a bill, right, you know what I mean? Like 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:49.800 it was just expected of you in everything. 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:54.160 That Yeah, you inherited, right, you inherited the houses, you know, 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.520 guardian and safekeeping and thriving you know. 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:03.160 Yeah. When my dad would have like he'd be like, 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.880 oh I have I have a week off of work vacation, right, 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.040 Like the normal thing is like I have a vacation, 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.760 Let's go somewhere, Let's fly somewhere. I'm like, Dad, what 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.640 are you doing for your vacation? He goes, I'm gonna 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:17.640 go help your uncle paint. That was his vacation. Go 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.600 to what it'd be like, Oh, your cousin needs to move. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:22.640 We got to go help the move. I'm like, that's 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.640 how you're spending your vacation is helping somebody move, helping 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.240 somebody paint their house. Like they they didn't know anything 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.679 else but like work, that's it right. 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:32.920 What what was your first job? 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.200 Oh? Man, my first job. I was fifteen years old 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:38.840 and I was a busboy. 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:43.240 At Dude that was buzzboy, go ahead, A bus boy 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:44.120 at Bennigan's. 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.360 I don't know, do you remember Bennigan's where Benigans was 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.920 a chain restaurant kind of like I don't know how 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.400 you would Chili's or whatever. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.079 I was a sisler guy. 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.120 You weren't, no, but I but you talk about these 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.000 restaurants For me and I it was a sizzler guy. 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:02.400 Was it was? It was? 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:03.680 It was that that change. 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:04.760 Where were you a busboyad? 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:06.840 Well? I was a busboy. 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.720 Uh at this place called Cafe Beju and Sherman. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.839 Yeah it was still there, Yeah, yeah, still there. Yeah, 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:15.880 And I was a bus boy. 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.800 I was the guy, you know, leveling the butters and 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.600 and and bringing the dis wash. But but this is 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.200 not a conversation. 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.200 Okay, So how did you get that job? 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.280 I just applied. I needed a job, you know, and 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.120 I applied for it and and it was, uh, it 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.280 was crazy because I wasn't even old enough to work there. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.440 I had to go down. I was fifteen fifteen and 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.600 I had to go down and get a work permit. 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:41.760 I was fifteen two. 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:43.920 Was that like that here in l A. You had 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.079 to get a work you know? That was enough. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.000 They hired me from the back I was. 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.200 I applied through the alleyway, I see, you know, I 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:53.120 went through the alleyway. 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:54.880 I applied and then I had a black T shirt. 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.040 No. Man, Chicago was like, you got to get a 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.439 work permit because we're going to keep you here a 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.360 certain hour. And like, man, I remember working toil, like 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.120 I don't even know if it was legal at that time, 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.200 working till like ten o'clock and having to go to 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:07.840 school the next day, and. 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.160 Like well, there was no hours there, and there was 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.040 no such thing as made him wage, and there was 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.400 no such thing as you know, hours and extra hours 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.480 and in late hours, there was such thing as that. 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.360 No, especially back then. But but yeah, you know, work 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.640 was really important. And I had two older brothers who 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:25.960 you know how it is like in Latin families, like 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.920 you know, although they were my brothers, there were more 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:30.040 like father figures. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:31.880 You know, how much older were they? 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.600 The oldest is like eight nine years older than me. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.839 My oldest brother, William, and my middle brother, Hector is 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.800 about six seven years older than me. 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:41.679 And what do they do. 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:46.800 My oldest brother is doctor William Rodriguez and he's the 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:51.160 uh he works, he's the assistant dean at Loyola University 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:52.200 right now? Wow? 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:52.560 Cool? 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.199 Yeah? Yeah. My middle brother, Hector, has been in the 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:59.840 supermarket real estate business forever. So now what you expect. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.360 I'm like migrant Puerto Rican, you know, four three. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.960 Were guys took three very different paths and made it 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:09.599 real life strengths. 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.480 Right yeah, yeah, And you know, you know what's really 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:17.000 interesting about that is like especially in our culture, right, 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.640 Like I heard Benicio del Toro talking the other day 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.319 and he was like, all my brothers were lawyers, lawyers 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.720 and doctors, so they expected me to be a lawyer 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:27.160 and doctor. 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:27.400 Right. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.280 Like My family was like all like that. They were 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:34.800 all super studious. All my cousins are all accountants, you know, 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.360 and I was the knucklehead who was like an artist. 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.840 You know. But but but but then they don't understand, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:43.520 you know, when you're when you're trying to go down 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.679 that path, you know, it just doesn't compute to them 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.440 because it's very sort of one track mine, you know, 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.440 you know one plus one equals too and you got 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:52.000 to follow that. 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.400 Paath, Well, you have a memory of working as a 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:57.280 buzz boy that you were like, yeah, I gotta figure, 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.080 I gotta figure you gotta figure it out. 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:03.560 I remember was a busboy. Uh I had started acting 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.600 by then. And I remember one of the waiters. 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:07.960 Souse, that's why because you started so young. 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:09.120 Ye started on thirteen. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.000 Yeah you started performing thirteen. 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:12.760 Yeah. I remember one of the bus I remember one 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.960 of the waiters brought a headshot to work and he 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.360 was like, I'm an actor and I have a headshot. 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.760 And I was like, whoa, he is a head shot. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:21.960 He's an actor. 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.600 The black and white headshub where they're just looking off 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.920 the commercial head show where you're like cheasing so hard, 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.720 and then the drama sup where you're like obviously. 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.040 Going into internal turmoil. In the picture, oh, would be like. 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:35.680 The composite shot where it's like four different shots, like 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:38.280 the studio did you stayble your your resume in. 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.240 The back of the of course? Of course. 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.040 I remember coming to work and being like, he was, like, 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.960 I just came back from an audition. You get auditions, man, 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.120 he's got an audition. Yeah. No, But I started I 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.120 started really young, you know, I started really young in Chicago, 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:55.439 and you know, I know I had said this in 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.079 the previous episode, but a lot of it stemmed from 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:01.440 like I wasn't and I'm this literally, man, I really 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.280 wasn't good at anything. You know. We talk about my brothers, 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.800 you know, they were so studious and my cousins. You know, 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.640 they would come from school with like a straight A 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.400 report card, and I was I was a terrible student. 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:17.360 I think it was kind of like you were like, 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.520 they're so good at that, and you kind of reveled 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.080 against like wanting to be as good as them, or 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.560 like do you feel pressured? And then therefore you kind 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:29.280 of like forfeited to something else, Like what was that contrast? Like, 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.160 you know, they were going after studies, And. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.360 I truly wanted to fit in, really, I mean, in 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.440 all honesty, I wanted. I wanted to be a good student. 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.240 I wanted to be a good mathematician or whatever it 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.040 was that my family. I just did. My brain didn't 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:47.760 work that way, and I couldn't figure out why I didn't, 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.400 you know. And so it tends to happen when you're 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.480 that age and you don't relate and you don't feel 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.560 like you fit in, you start to figure out other 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.680 ways to fit in, you know, in my neighborhood. You know, 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.560 Chicago at at certain years is the murder capital of 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.160 the United States, you know. And and I grew up 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.320 in Bucktown on the northwest side of Chicago, which is heavy, 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:14.040 heavy gangs, heavy drugs, heavy heavy graffiti, a lot of 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:19.000 graffiti crews in in my neighborhood, and dance cruise and 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:24.400 you know, and so it's very easy to see the 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.560 allure of that when you have nothing else that you 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:32.960 relate to, you know. And I certainly found myself gravitating 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.520 towards that, you know, and It wasn't until this independent 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:43.720 theater company came to my school that that I auditioned 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.320 to get into as a fluke when I was like 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:47.200 thirteen years old. 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:52.520 So before that theater group came to your school, were 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.960 you part of that community like where you're b boying, 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:56.200 where you're tagging. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.360 Or yeah, man, I was, I was hard, hard bet boy, 0:15:58.880 --> 0:15:59.400 I'll tell you. 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.359 So my this is in exclusive. Yeah. 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.760 I don't think anyone can realize the friends that the 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:12.760 great Freddie Rodriguez was actually a boy. 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:18.520 I was. I was always a. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:23.040 Kind of a good dancer, right. And so my oldest brother, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.800 who is now doctor Rodriguez, was a pretty popular. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.520 DJ in Chicago, what kind of parties like. 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:33.800 Like Chicago created house music, right, so he was he was, 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.080 you know, transition from disco to house music. So as 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.080 far back as I could remember, he's like eight years 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.800 older than me. There was always turntables in the house everywhere, 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.960 final everywhere, like every weekend, my brother coming home and 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.360 bring like carrying speakers inside the house, you know, And 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.800 and he would always recruit me to help him, like 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.880 carry alcoas and all that. Yeah, and my middle brother, uh, 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.520 you know that's when breakdancing was at its apex and 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.320 he was in a breakdancing crew, and so I learned 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.640 how to break dance really really early on. So with 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:12.199 my brother djying and my brother breakdancing, they would sneak 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.680 me into these clubs when I was like nine, ten 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.240 years old, and the guy at the front, I never forget. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.440 The guy at the front was like, no, man, he's 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.439 like nine years old. And my brother'd be like, no, no, no, 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.040 I'm gonna have him behind the DJ booth. It's all good, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.720 you know, back then when you could do that right. 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:29.280 And so I remember being in the back of the 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.560 DJ booth and peeking out and seeing all these like 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.719 teenagers dancing and all that. And then when my brother's 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.679 crew was ready to battle another crew, they bring me 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:42.840 out from like the DJ booth and some little nine 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.200 year old kid would be there battling some other crew, 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:49.240 you know, which, let me tell you something, Man, doing 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.720 that at nine years old, with like two three hundred 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:57.040 people watching you as you're there, it does something to you. 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.920 I feel helped me later in life because I would 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.480 go into auditions like that because I was so used 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.840 to it. I was so used to like somebody watching 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.879 somebody watching. I was so used to like getting ready 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.639 to fight for it, yeah, stepping into the ring, and 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.560 and and and I had that since I was like 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:19.639 nine years old. You know, you. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:21.840 Have that when you walk into a room. I'm like, yo, man, 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.600 we're not trying to fight. Relaxed man' remember me, it's 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.080 t Wilmer man, It's Tilmer man. That's that's amazing. I 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.520 didn't know that story that you were such a b boy. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.280 I mean, I know that you have love for the end, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.879 you know, for for the days, you know. 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:38.400 Oh yeah, there was a big. 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.520 Question and somebody in the room out here where we're 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.800 talking about, what is the story when you got your 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.200 first uh uh, your. 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:45.840 First Jordan my first? 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.040 Okay, I'm gonna tell you. The first time I got 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.560 my first Jordan's was probably like ten years ago. And 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:54.359 here's why. I was too poor when I was growing up. 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:57.679 And I grew up in Chicago, in the land of 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.560 Jordan during the time that he was winning, and I 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.160 was just too poor man. I couldn't afford freaking Jordan's 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.800 back then, you know. And so when I got older 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.960 and I started making money, I tried to get everything 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:11.800 I couldn't get as a kid man. You and I 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:13.880 have had a very and this is a whole other episode. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:17.879 We've had a very extensive G I. Joe conversation. And 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:19.919 when I first started making money, I would go on 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.040 eBay and buy G I Joe's I could find back then, 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.840 you know transformers back then. 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:28.680 Yeah, that's increating. Did you have a B boy name? 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:34.160 No? No, no, they just what do you think if 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.199 you tap back into that Jan Frederdriguez, what do you 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.520 think it would have been like Little Freddie probably or 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:41.439 something Little Freddie. 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.480 Well, they used to be like, and gentlemen, help me 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:45.000 welcome Little Freddy. 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:46.800 Well, they used to be like, yo, that that's like 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.199 Hector's my brother. Actor, that's that's Hector's little brother, you know, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.840 because Hector used to dance and as Willie's little brother, 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:54.840 you know, I was always referred to as like my 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:55.520 big brothers. 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.240 They were already in the scene. They were the scene. Yeah, 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:01.959 some believab And then so then you were to school 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:03.840 and then this theater group comes. Yeah. 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.760 Yeah. So by that time I was in the eighth 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.840 grade and I just I just felt really lost, you know, 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:15.480 at that age, and you know, the Chicago public school 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:19.399 system at that time, unfortunately wasn't great. And so this 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:22.359 independent theater company came to my school and offered the 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.720 arts for a semester. And you know, at that age, 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.399 at thirteen, you're just trying to be cool and you know, 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.159 you know, want to like look dumb in front of 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.080 the girls or whatever. And so they were like, we're auditioning. 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:35.840 We want people to come down to audition, and no 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.919 one wanted to stand up to audition, and my math teacher, 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.919