INTERVIEW Reynaldo Herrera, Jr. PHOTOS EstevanOriol.com

If Edward James Olmos had pursued his first passion, it’s possible that Dodger Stadium would have been filled by Mexicans a decade before Fernando-mania struck Los Angeles. A native of East Los Angeles, a young Olmos appeared to have a future in baseball, as evidenced by his Golden State batting championship. Despite this early promise, by the age of 15, Olmos was ready to trade in his baseball bat and cleats for a microphone and dancing shoes. Within three years, Olmos, the lead singer of a band known as Pacific Ocean, was rocking clubs throughout L.A.’s Sunset Strip. But his career path as a rock-n-roll star became rerouted as well, when he enrolled in acting classes at East Los Angeles City College. Discovering this new passion, Olmos was determined to make acting his career.

By 1978 it was clear that Olmos was on the right path. That year, he performed in Luis Valdez’s classic play, Zoot Zuit. Less than a decade later, Olmos would receive an Academy Award nomination for his stellar performance in Stand and Deliver, where he played Jaime Escalante, the inspirational, real-life math teacher.
It is perhaps the role that best reflects Olmos’ true persona, because it mirrors his quest to motivate and mobilize Latinos. Olmos prefers to be thought of as an activist rather than an actor, and his actions clearly speak to this. Year after year he finds the time to carry out countless presentations in the hope of inspiring socially disadvantaged kids to pursue education and a brighter future.

For decades he has also grappled with forces that prevent Latinos from gaining political and social power. For this reason, as much as his acting, he remains close to the hearts of Latinos and one of our heroes.

You’re considered one of the pioneer Latino actors, who, of the current crop of young Latino actors, do you see yourself passing the torch to?
Yancey Arias. Yancey did the Kingpin miniseries and was on American Family. He’s phenomenal. Nick Gonzalez is another one that is coming on very strong. These kids have taken a long time to study really hard, come from top schools in the country, and are dedicated artists who are now working their way through the system.

You’ve witnessed a lot of change through the years in terms of how Hollywood treats Latino actors.
I’ve seen the worst turn of events. It’s gotten worse because there are so many more of us. The amount of people of Latino or indigenous ancestry on the screen, whether it be the big screen or little screen, is almost zero…It’s ridiculous. It’s at 2% of the images on screen, but that’s including the extras. I’m sorry, but you just can’t do this anymore. We’re more than 14% of the population, and that in itself just doesn’t correlate…It’s ugly. It’s something that is eventually going to come back and really haunt a lot of people, because it’s already hurt us. The Latino community has grown so much that it’s unbelievable that other cultures know very little about Americans of Latino heritage, here in this country.

We’ve had some great films on Latino historical figures, which Latino figure’s life do you think most needs to be told in film.
I think you’re going to have to get Cesar Chavez’s movie made really quick. We’ve been suggesting to the family to please make some decisions on this. We need to get this thing going, because it’s been over 10 years since he passed away. It’s not time sensitive but we need it badly. It’s like giving people a glass of water in the middle of the desert.

Another project that I’ve been working on for 24 years know is the true story of Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavides. It looks like I’m going to have to work another year on it before I can put it on the Big Screen. Roy Benavides is the last Latino Medal of Honor winner in the United States. We are the most decorated culture in the United States of America, bar none. [Proportionately] we’ve received more Congressional Medals than any other culture.

If you had the power to go back in time and change one event in Latino history, what would that be?
I think it would be the Chicano Moratorium. I wish it hadn’t occurred the way it had. It’s one event that changed the course of our understanding in this country when it became a riot because of the police department interfering. It was very, very bad.

And the Vietnam War should never have happened. We Latinos have been over-represented in almost every war since the Civil War…the Korean War, the Vietnam War. And right now in this war we are over-represented. We have [proportionately] more casualties than any other culture. It is kind of tough to take. War is not good for Latino kids.

Looking back on your career, is there any one role you wish that you had gotten?
There is only one film that I really should have done that I didn’t do, and that was Something Wicked This Way Come. I would have played the devil. It was a really difficult film to tell what it was going to be like and I didn’t know the director, so I passed on it. That’s the only one.

Benicio del Toro has said he doesn’t like to be thought of as a Latino actor, that he just wants to be considered a good actor. Do you agree with this?
I think Denzel Washington is known more as a great actor than an African-American actor. Just like I’ve never heard anybody say, that great Italian-American actor Robert Dinero. I’ve never heard anybody say, that great Jewish-American actor Dustin Hoffman…Look, you can put me in whatever category or label you want to…because nothing’s going to stop the quality of my craft and the ability that I have to perform. If they want to call me a Latin-American actor, that’s fine. If they want to call me a Chicano actor, that’s fine-because that’s what I am.

Do you still get offered mostly roles that are specifically Latino parts?
No, I basically produce my own roles. I’m looking for the work that really moves me….I pick everything I do. You cannot tempt me with money. McDonald’s, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and the beer companies, all of those people have offered me millions upon millions of dollars to work with them…When money can buy you, it’s all over.

When it comes to politics and elections, what issues do you think are most relevant to yourself and Latinos today?
Voting. We just have to vote. I don’t care who they vote for, I just want them to vote, period.

How dangerous or potentially damaging to an actor’s career is it to get involved in political movements?
It’ll pretty much kill you-just about annihilate you. You divide your constituency in half. The half that doesn’t like you is going to make it really hard for you. And the half that does like you, they come when they want to come. So it knocks your ability right out from under you. It’s a choice you make though. It’s alright.

What struggles did you face as a Chicano actor and are you still facing similar struggles?
Yes. I mean prejudice and discrimination never change, they just keep on growing. It’s become more educated, and that’s the difference. When you have educated discrimination and educated choice of prejudices, it’s much more intense. In the 40’s and 50’s we were doing a lot of it out of ignorance. Now, people are very well aware of what they’re doing, and they’re still doing it.

We’ve seen Arnold Schwarzenegger become California’s governor. Will we ever hear of Edward James Olmos running for office?

No. They’ll have to write me in. I’m not running. The day we nominate a person who doesn’t spend one penny to get elected, but gets nominated because the public is really in need of whatever the person has to give is the day that we’ll have a really strong government. Only rich people can run for government, and if you’re not rich, then you have to give yourself up to whoever gives you the money to run. As soon as you need to borrow money to get elected, you’re going to owe all of those people who gave you money a thank you. If someone gives you a million bucks in your campaign, you don’t think you’re going to give them a big thank you, especially if you win. You’re going to owe them your existence. It’s really sad. And anybody who says, “No, I’ll take the money, but it won’t change my decisions,” is kidding themselves. So we have to take dollars out of the structure.

People have asked me many times, Are you going to run? I’ll never run. If they said tomorrow, “Hey, you’ve got to be the governor.” And I’d say, “Hey, wait a minute. Who said that?” “The entire state of California voted you.” Then I guess I’d have to go. That’s the only way that it would happen. Then I wouldn’t mind serving. But it doesn’t make any sense for me to stand up in front of people and say I’m the best person to do the job. That’s ridiculous. Your ego is completely out of water. Your rhetoric starts to sound like every politician that has ever been. It just doesn’t work. So no, I’m not running for anything.

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