Maybe. Maybe. I've seen them without me. Maybe,
yeah. I apologize to them. They're great episodes
when you're not here, so trust me. They're crap.
Yeah. And of course, we got Kwez in the back.
What's up, Kwez? All right, Kwez. Taking care
of all the great comments on there. But before
we get started, first things first, we want to
send our condolences to the Larry Allen family.
Yes. Unfortunately, Dallas Cowboy Lyman. passed
away, I believe age 52. 52. So our hearts and
condolences go to you guys. Absolutely. And we
hope just, you know, just try to get through.
I mean, too young. I mean, very young. Yeah,
I'm sure it was a shock to them as any time anything
like that happens. But thoughts and prayers out
to them. Yeah, thoughts and prayers out to you
guys. But on happier news. Yeah, on a lighter
note, a way lighter note. Way lighter note. Congratulations
to the Wessicle Lady Painter. It cannot be more
of a storybook. Bottom of the seventh, one out.
Base is loaded. Full count. Pitch comes right
down the middle. Bam. Gone. Out of the ballpark.
Beautiful. Congratulations, ladies. What was
her name? Ortiz? Ortiz? I believe her name was
Ortiz. My gosh. You're going to be famous. They're
going to make movies about you. They're going
to name a street after you. You're in Westlaco
somewhere. Somewhere. Probably on Old 83. Yes,
around there. Don't worry about it. Don't worry
about it. It's going towards Dallas. Don't worry
about it. They're all going to know your name.
But guys, today on the podcast. Oh, my gosh,
guys. If you guys tuned in for today, man, we
got a great guest. First time ever having anybody
in our podcast that is literally Hollywood royalty.
Me, Hollywood royalty. It is Hollywood royalty.
It is. It is, bro. It's Hollywood royalty from
the RGV. Ladies and gentlemen. Just get to it
over. I know. I'm scared. First of all, welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for being
here, man. Thank you. First of all, surreal to
have you in our studio. First of all, I'm so
used to seeing you in the TV screen. I'm sorry.
I mean, we did. We did meet up last year in September
at the South Texas University Festival, which
was also a big shout out to them. It's a great
event. It's a great event. It's been over 10
years, I believe, coming up this year, if I'm
not mistaken. Coming up this year, yeah. Yeah,
and I mean, it's just amazing how much entertainment
they bring down. Not only that, a lot of well
-known actors, directors, writers, stunt women.
And now that they come down and give a lot of
advice to the young entrepreneurs that are trying
to get into the business. It's totally for free.
Exactly. Completely for free. So if you guys
are interested in wanting to be in the industry
and you don't know what, what, what, come by
there, come by there and drop into a seminar,
drop into, you know, a lot of different classes.
We had one dude that was doing, putting a piece
of glass in somebody's eye, the makeup artist.
Editors, like you're saying, sound people, the
stunt people, so if you're interested, come by
because it's totally free. Come by, walk around,
see what you learn. Get into some trouble. No,
I appreciate you coming, first of all, coming
to the podcast once again. Matt, I don't know
where to start. I mean, let's start from the
beginning. I know you told you the last time
we had you on the show there, you started where
you come up, where your up comings are from.
Let's start from the beginning, you know, where
are you from and how we got to Hollywood, David.
That's what I wanted to ask. Go ahead. It's all
you. It's Texas, man. It's Texas. But I mean,
I was born to a family of migrant farm workers.
And at about three months old... Yeah, we went
Pal Norte. We would go to Florida and Texas always,
always. And then in the winter months, we'd go
further north, Michigan, all over the place,
Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma,
California, Oregon, Washington, por donde quiera,
man. So at about 15 was the last time we did
that. Mom got a job working at the cafeteria
in Ed Couch at one of the schools. And so we
were able to stay. Then we would only go during
the summer. But living that life, actually working
in the fields, which most of the people my age
have done in one at one time or another. Maybe
they didn't do it as hardcore as I did, but most
of my generation has worked in the fields or
knows somebody that's worked in the fields, right?
Really, really hard work. And that's where I
figured out that size game, I don't want to do
this the rest of my life, man. I don't want to
do this the rest of my life. And so I started
concentrating on education, education. And people
always ask me, do you always know you want to
be an actor? I said, no, no, no. The first thing
I knew I didn't want to be was really, really
poor the way we were. I didn't want to be poor.
I didn't want to be poor. And so I started doing
good in school. And I thought I wanted to be
a lawyer. because I thinking, I need to make
money. In my head, it was doctor or lawyer, doctor
or lawyer. And so I thought maybe I'll be a lawyer.
And for whatever reason, I had a little bit of
brain and a little bit of luck. I had some really
amazing teachers, really, really amazing teachers
that are certainly responsible for a big part
of my success. But when I got to college, the
first class I took was a theater class. It was
a summer class where they were doing four shows
in five weeks, so it was really, really intensive.
And right after I took that class, I went, you
know, Saskia, I don't need to be a lawyer. I
just need a college diploma so that when I graduate,
I'll be able to get a real job, not be in the
fields anymore. Exactly. So that was the plan.
That was just the whole plan right there. I'm
going to graduate with a theater degree. Maybe
I'll teach somewhere. Maybe I'll work backstage.
I don't know yet, but we're still building. But
first and foremost, I need to get that diploma,
that college degree. And when I graduated, I
thought, well, if I'm going to maybe teach it
someday, because I really thought I was going
to be a drama teacher, you know, somewhere in
the Rio Grande Valley. I should go out and see
what it's like. That way I can come back and
tell them, look, this is what the book says,
but this is what I experienced. Pretty much test
the waters. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have some
practical experience. Exactly. I went out there
and it just, it went well. It went really, really
well. I got four jobs real quick, none of them
were acting, but I knew I needed to pay bills.
Right, exactly. So I was working as a courier,
I was working as a carpenter, I was working at
a video store, and I was working as a telemarketer.
I'm going to sell them. I was selling gold. I'm
going to do the worst job in the whole, in forever.
The only good thing was when at six o 'clock
when the boss left, we had a long distance phone
line. So we'd call the whole family. Four months
into that in December. I walked into an agent's
office. Again, one of my professors down here
had written me a letter of introduction. He had
one friend he'd gone to Texas Tech with. She
was an agent. She said, if you're not a member
of the union, I can't represent you, but come
on in, let's talk for five minutes, see what
you got. And so I talked with her a little bit,
and I had an old VHS tape of stuff I'd done in
college. And when I was leaving, I said, Terry,
do me a favor. I have a tape. Right here, and
I see you have a tape player. I'm gonna leave
this with you. It's only five minutes. Do me
a favor. Look at it. And if I suck, just tell
me right now. You know, put an end to it right
now. If I'm terrible, tell me. Brother, you're
terrible. You need to go be a carpenter. Right.
And she laughed a little bit. Monday? Keep building
houses. And she laughed a little bit, and then
the next morning she gave me a call. She goes,
I'm not gonna sign you, but I'm gonna send you
out on a couple of things. See how you do. represent
you temporarily. And the first thing she sent
me out on was a movie called Salsa, The Motion
Picture. Yeah, we talked about that. Yes, yes,
yes. Really good soundtrack, the movie. Tito
Puente, Celia Cruz, we got some really good people
on soundtrack. And then that was my first job.
And I ended up working eight weeks on that movie.
And so I made some really good Feria. I put that
in the bank. Then I quit my job. I started looking
for theater, some theater to be part of because
I had a really strong theater background. And
I found one, the theater center, the Latino Lab
at the Los Angeles Theater Center. It all from
there, it was just building, building. I got
to play and then I did da, da, da, da, da. The
first TV thing I did was a Golden Girls. That's
how long ago it was. I was the air conditioning
repairman. I look like I'm 17 years old. I'm
carrying a new body. I was already like, I don't
know, I was 25. I think I was about 25. But that's
how it started. That's how it started. And I
did a lot of theater work at the beginning. I
was still doing TV every now and then and a couple
of movies. And then in 93, We are 92. I got cast
in Blood in Blood Out. Yeah. Wow, man. I got
cast in Blood in Blood Out. One of the most classic
movies. Any Latino man. And it just started coming
out on, they just put it on a streaming service.
Right. Because before that you couldn't get it.
You couldn't find it anywhere. And the funny
thing you say that last night, my wife and I,
we were going through our Roku. Right. And we
saw Blood in Blood Out on Broadway. Yeah. I was
like, what the heck? I go, please don't turn
this into a Western story. Please don't. Please.
Is it just weird or does that sound awesome?
It's a shit! It's a shit! It's a shit! It's a
shit! You heard it first! He had two of your
butt bumps! Where did my butt bump meet? I don't
know. Where did his ass end up? Oh my gosh. But
that was a trip, man, because none of us knew.
Well, I didn't. The person who had the most experience
of all of the Pato Locos was Jesse. Jesse Rodrigo.
Because he'd already been on Fame and he was
already famous. Right, right, right. Really.
The rest of us were just starting out, but there
are a lot of people in that movie. Billy Bob
Thornton? Billy Bob Thornton's in that movie?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the prison? Is it Benjamin
Brack? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Raymond Cruz? He
went from that movie to Clear and Present Danger,
then he did Aliens 4, then he did The Rock, then
he did Under Seas, and just movie after movie
after movie. A lot of people. did a lot of work
after that movie. Oh, man, it's crazy. It's crazy
that you bring that up with the blood and blood
out because that was like one of the most like
I say, it was an epic film. And I mean, there's
so many. Everybody knows the catchphrases as
a whole. The whole thing. I mean, everybody,
you know, who saw it when we were like we were
in school. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right.
Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.
Look at that. Right there, and then I got this
one over here. Something I want you to write
your stuff on there too. Brother, Jesse's performance
in that movie is amazing. Amazing, it is amazing.
It's really his movie, brother. Because he's
the one that's got the journey. He goes from
being a beautiful artist, then he hurts his back,
then he gets addicted, then he's a marijuana,
a heroin addict, and then the... His little cousin
dies, and he gets, you know, his family pushes
him away. By the end, he's gone through this
crazy journey, and he's kind of found some peace.
He kind of figured it out. And that last scene
with him dancing with Ben Brad in the LA River,
that is beautiful, man. This is from crystal
morning Ernie is the best friend everybody has.
If you didn't have an Ernie, you were the Ernie.
That's exactly right. If you paid attention during
that show, Ernie kissed all the girls. Ernie
kissed Sandra Bullock, brother. What? Yeah, it's
true, man! We want details, details of it. You
gotta search through all the episodes. We're
gonna go a frame by frame It would have been
weird if George was like the one kissing everybody
That's the next level right there. I got your
back though. So after doing the blood in blood
out, I mean, what was next? What was over the
horizon? How did you end up going into? I was
still in the middle of trying to figure out if
I wanted to stay with the theater stuff. And
I moved away from that and moved more through
to television and movies. And I started doing
a lot. Being very successful, I went from movie
to movie and then more TV, more TV, and then
I was in Aaron Brockovich as well, and then I
was in Mi Familia as well, and doing really,
really well. And then in 2001, in December of
2001, I got the call for The George Lopez Show.
And it was, the very first call though was just
to the casting director. And they sent me a script,
they sent me a script and I read the script and
I was really excited because I've never seen
a script like that. There hadn't been a show
like that for Latinos anyway. And then I looked
at this character of Ernie and I went, I can
do that, man. I can do that character. I know
that character. And so I went in, she liked it
and called me back. I went in again and again
and again. I went in seven times. And then at
the end, it was just me and this other guy. And
I went into a room, probably maybe twice as big
as this room, but there were maybe 150 people
in it. It was packed. It was back, back, back,
back. And I went, I got on stage. So ready. By
then I'd done it seven times. I was, you know,
ready. And there's a reader somewhere in the
first row that's going to be reading the other
lines. So you find that guy, you ready? Yes,
I'm ready. All right. I turned around like that.
And when I turned back to the audience, they
laughed. I hadn't said anything and they laughed.
I'm driving home and It's feeling really good,
man. It's feeling really, really good. And my
agent calls on the way home. Hey, what's up?
I said, that was a days of the flip phone. Oh,
there you go. But I didn't have dinner. Dinner's
always fucking breaking. Damn it. I had to put
it out the window. I said, no. And it's my agent.
And she goes, how'd it go? And I said. They went
really well. It was surprising. I think it weren't
really well I'm hoping it's gonna go well and
she goes well. Yeah, they did you already got
the job Wow Before I got home they'd already
called that is awesome. Yeah, that is awesome.
We got booked for four shows Usually there's
one pilot right, but we had a special thing going
on where we had four And then we did that that
was 2002 The end of 2001, it came on the air
in 2002, and then we kept going. We did six years,
120 shows. Yeah. Shoot, man. That's crazy. Awesome
show. It is crazy. And it was an awesome time,
man. We had so many really good people on it.
And sitcom is amazing because you carry a lot
of writers. You carry eight, 10, 12 writers.
And once you're into it for a year or two, the
writers already know you. They know what you
do well. And so they're writing specifically
for you, you know? And then if it doesn't work,
they'll rewrite it, you know? And it's a really
short week, and you don't work on the weekends,
and every fourth week, you get off. Yeah, you
get the whole week off. If you can do it, it's
the easiest job in the world. The pressure comes
in when the audience gets in. Because we used
to do a live show. And so we have 150, 200 people
in the audience. And the cameras are all like
this. They're watching over the top of the cameras.
You do the scene. If it works, great. But if
it doesn't work, then everybody comes in like
a huddle. They figure out what you're going to
do. Then they bring the actors in. They go, OK,
everybody ready? All right. Cut this line. Don't
come in on that line. You don't. They give you
like, I don't know, five minutes worth of notes.
Everybody got it? OK, here we go. Roll camera.
That's when the talent comes in, because you
have to have the confidence to go, yeah, I can
do it. I'm fast enough. Yes, I know it. I know
what to do. I'm not going to mess up. Or even
if I do mess up, we'll work our way out of there
to have that confidence. And that's where I think
the big bucks come in, because not everybody
can do that. Not everybody can do that. It's
a tough one. You had a question? No, I was just
going to ask him. He pretty much answered it.
Like, what's it like having that interaction
with the audience right there? It's really cool
because a single camera, like dramas and stuff
like that, they're shooting out in the world.
You got no audience, right? And it's one camera
and you got to do it four or five times to get
all the angles. This one, we had four cameras,
four cranes across the front. And we would do
it once or twice and everybody would be covered.
And then you got George and Belita, who's just
amazing. Belita played the mom. And then Constance,
who's gorgeous and really talented as well. And
then the two kids who were extremely talented.
And then you got George, who's always cracking
up, trying hard not to laugh because he's so
funny. It was beautiful, man. It was a beautiful
time. As far as I'm concerned, for now, that's
been the best project I've been a part of. That's
awesome, man. I know we got a couple of comments.
What's up, brothers? Luis Rizzo says, good evening,
friends. Christian Morin says, him coming out
and the new guy was the best. That was beautiful.
They flew me to Austin for that one. And it was
like storming. And I was in my hotel room, like
on the 20th floor, and there was lightning. And
I was like, god damn it. I just got this part.
I mean, as far as like movies, I mean, I know
being in Texas, that's my board. You know, that's
environment. So doing doing I mean being living
here in the RGB I've noticed you come and visit
a lot. I'm not going to put anybody in the spot,
but not many actors or talents that made it out
really come back and come back home and bring
stuff with them so we can see. What I saw at
the convention, you helped out a lot of people.
Your workshops were amazing. So much information
for these young upcoming people that are trying
to get into the entertainment business. I mean,
when you see these young eyes looking at you
with full attention, what are the feelings going
through you? It's beautiful, man. I'm really,
really proud, actually. I'm really, really proud.
Because when I was going up, and one of the reasons
I do it is because when I was going up, that
didn't happen. No, that didn't exist, right?
And this was back in 1987. And so I didn't have
anybody to turn to to ask what's it like or do
you have any advice or any of that kind of stuff?
And then the other thing is that it's an industry
where if you really want and all of life is like
this. If you're doing something, you want to
be really, really good at it, you got to really,
really put your time in, really put your time
in, right? But in this particular industry, it
might not happen. no matter how hard you work,
it might not happen. So it has to be something
that really has to be in your heart. You really,
really have to want to do it. And I want to prepare
these kids for that. The second reason is that
without the help that I got from all those people
that were in the Rio Grande Valley, those teachers
I was telling you about, my parents and my own
family, I wouldn't have been able to do what
I did. I would not have been without all that
support. Because when I got to Pan Am, I still
needed to take diction and enunciation and speaking
classic, which is fine, right? But that only
means you can play that one character. So if
you want to move forward and you want to make
it your career, you want to work 20, 30, 40 years
at it, you need to understand how to do that.
And there's a method, there is a way. And that's
why there's acting class and directing class
and writing class, all that kind of stuff. to
pay all of those people back, because seriously,
my life changed 160 degrees, man, 180 degrees.
I was going this way, and before I knew it, I
was going that way because of the teachers, because
of the mentors that I had. And that path that
they put me on, it turned out really, really
good. Really, really well. I've been blessed.
I wouldn't have been able to, if I had dreamed
it, I wouldn't have dreamed this. I never thought
I'd be there. My first thought was, I just want
to make a living as an actor. I just want to
work enough to be able to pay my bills and that
sort of stuff. And so that's another reason I
come back. And then the third reason is, like
in 2010, we did a film. We did a couple of films.
We shot in Elsa and Far and Raymondville, all
over the valley, actually. and I had a crew that
was 90 % from the Rio Grande Valley, 90 % of
the people from Pan Am. Well, not then, it was
UTRGV, I think. And then after I finished that
a year and a half later, about five to 10 of
those people had moved to LA. One of them started
working on Westworld, another one went to Jane
the Virgin, another one, and that sort of stuff.
When I'm thinking... If I had a little bit of
thing to do with that, that makes me really proud.
Because at the end of the day, if you're working
film and television, you're working advertising.
And what you do is you sell Pepsi, you sell Clorox,
you sell beer, all that advertising in between
the shows, that's what you're selling. And so
if at the end of the day you're gonna look at
your life and say what kind of significant? Significant
contribution am I making other than just being
a celebrity and you know getting free meals when
people see me at McDonald's, right? What is it
that I can truly point to in my life and go?
I'm proud of that. You know, I help those people
out Yeah, and so that brings me a ton of energy
a ton of and then The people down here, you know,
I got all my family down here. So I visit every
time I come down here. I'll go visit them And
then the fajitas, of course, we don't have them
over there. That's what I was going to ask you,
but comments came in. Crystal Morin said, Panam,
so OG, I love it. Linda Caso says, hola, boys.
Let me ask you, I got a question for you. Since
you've been out there, I mean, how are you? What's
up? So what's better? Valley tacos or Los Angeles
tacos? Los Angeles doesn't have tacos. You married
here first. Los Angeles has cold tortillas. Everybody
at me, I'm like, I'm telling them, mira, what's
in every single taco? What's the one thing that's
in every single taco? Tortilla. You got to put
something in the tortilla, right? Exactly. So
if you don't pay attention to the tortilla, and
I'm a foodie, now you're in my ballpark right
here. Yeah, we got you right now. If your tortilla
is cold, forget it. You already lost. You already
lost. Exactly. If you try to make a taco and
the tortilla breaks. Dude, come on now. No, no,
no, no. And I got another question going. No,
Selena says Tex -Mex or authentic Mexican food.
There you go. What would you consider the fajitas?
Is fajitas Tex -Mex or is that authentic? That's
a good question. Now what authentic? I love mole.
Mole from Oaxaca, right? That's Mexican. But
there's also green mole and in New Mexico they
put green chile or red chile all over the stuff,
right? So different regions have different stuff.
If it's good, I'm gonna eat it. If it's good,
there's one thing, one kind of food, just one
food that I hate. And it's only a certain way
it's prepared. Spinach. But I like raw spinach.
When we were kids, when we were kids. We were
in fucking kindergarten and they'd go get all
day long. And I hope P .J.'s school smell like
beach space. Yes! No, I mean, I wouldn't introduce
this bitch because of Popeye, but as you can
see, it did not work. As you can see, this bitch
was B .S. This is the only thing here, everything
is on Selena's ass. Does he like cute tacos for
breakfast? You know what? Are the cute tacos
the ones they sell at Stripes? Yes. Well then,
yes. 2010, that was my routine. I'd get up at
five in the morning, because I was sitting in
Edinburgh, we were shooting in Elsa. I'd get
up at five in the morning. I'd come down, I guess,
107, verdad? And there was a Stripe. Just as
you come out of Edinburgh, I'd stop there and
I'd buy 100 breakfast tacos. And that's what
we'd feed the crew in the morning. Nice. Wow.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right here, you got another
comment from... Who is this? Linda? Linda. Hey,
it's Taco Tuesday. That's today. Christina Bennett
says it's taco science. Yes, it is taco science.
It is taco science. I mean, yeah, man. I mean,
food down here. I mean, I've been I've been up
north before and I've tasted the foods and did
what they say. Mexican restaurant. We go over
Mexican restaurants like, no. No. It's different.
The beans are different. Most of the time in
L .A. if you're talking beans, you're talking
black beans. Right. Yeah, unfortunately. So very
few places do I know that they will sell refried
beans, you know, the pinto beans that have been
refried. Right. And then they use a lot of sour
cream. They put a lot of sour cream on stuff.
Right. The Taco Bell method. Yeah, exactly. Yes,
yes. This ain't a baked potato. Hey, you know
what I've noticed? I was at a, I went with a
friend at a taqueria in Pharr and I had never
seen anybody put papa, like papa in their taco.
What? Like a big, like a big potato. No, not
a big, I'm just, no, I'm not saying lunch, taco,
lunch, dinner. I've never seen that. I've never
had a potato salad. You know how they put all
the, like a, like a loaded potato. Oh, like a
loaded potato. And they just scoop it and they
put it on the taco, which already has beef steak
and all that stuff. Right. Oh, shh. I've never
seen that before. That's evolution. No, sir,
that's called the step to overkill getting a
heart attack. That's a mech solution right there.
Well, you know, there's a step. You know one
of the things I do miss? You guys ever had the
Frito Pies? Oh, yeah! In the football games where
they just cut the Frito bag and they put the
chili on the top? I'm not gonna lie, man. My
mama makes a hell of a Frito Pie. Yeah, she does.
She makes the taco meat. the ground beef, the
taco meat flavoring on top. Once that's done,
she gets the Fritos. She throws the taco in and
she sprinkles it with a little bit of love. I
mean, it's good. It is good, as you can see.
It's good. It's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh. Yeah.
Mama, you know what I want. Make some money.
Make some money, man. So I mean you've done Coming
down here and bringing all that talent down bringing
all this information. I know you told me a story
about I would believe was a young lady But yet
spoke to she had just graduated thing from Patom
Pat America in time I won't let you talk until
the whole story, you know the story you were
telling me about that That she can't see it was
thanks to you. Yes. Yeah. No and I and that's
a that's a You know, you think you're gonna make
a, your hope, you hope you're gonna make a difference
in somebody's life, but you're thinking it's
gonna be in a direct conversation with somebody.
And in this particular case, it happened to be
both because one of the things that ends up happening
is, for example, I'm gonna add to that story.
There was a young man who came up to me not too
long ago and he said, my mom was sick and She
was going through some kidney problems. My mom
would say she was going through some kidney problems.
And we thought it was going to be really, really
serious. And so for a whole month, she had to
go through this whole routine. She was in the
hospital. And then at the end of the month, they
were going to do the surgery. And every night
at a particular time, they would come and they'd
turn on the George Lopez show and watch it. And
then he said, you know, the George Lopez show
got us through those, made us bond, gave us laughter,
and made that time a lot shorter, right? And
so that story, and then stories like this young
woman who said, I saw you speak, and I had misgivings
about doing what it is that I wanted to do. And
I heard you say, at the end of the day, you want
to get to a place where you've made really strong
decisions, really important choices, but they
were your choices. And so you need to empower
yourself so that when you get to that place,
you make the right choice and you make a very,
very strong choice. And then the last thing that
I had said to her, because I say this to everything,
the same thing I said earlier is, doesn't matter
where you're from, doesn't matter how tall you
are, how short you are, doesn't matter your color
eyes, doesn't matter all of that. None of that
matters. What matters is how dedicated you are
to what it is that you're going to do. How dedicated
you are to that and how kind you are to the world.
Because whatever energy you put out there, you're
getting that energy back. It's going to come
right back at you, right? If you want a tough
life, then put tough energy out there. If you
put kind energy out there, you'll feel that coming
back. And that young woman actually made me cry
because I started thinking about without even
knowing it, you're part of an industry that can
change people's lives without you ever coming
in contact with them, ever at all. And that's
the power of television. There are houses around
us that are not in an air conditioning and are
broke down. and they don't have a lot of income,
but they have three or four TVs in their house.
And so we need to see ourselves, our Latino selves
on that little box so that that validates us.
We need to tell our stories and we need to tell
the stories because the other doesn't know us.
They don't know our stories. They think they
do, but they don't. We need to tell those stories.
And it's up to... Our creatives are people who
write music, people who do paintings, people
who do novels, people who make movies, people
who do TV to tell that story, right? And the
more we nurture these people, the better it's
gonna be for all of us in the end. And I just
hope that I can keep making those kinds of differences
in people's lives over and over and over and
over. You know as long as movies and shows like
George Lopez and Blood and Blood are out there
where you can't see yourself and you can't relate
so strongly to characters I think you will because
it's like you said you never know what's going
on in someone's life but you don't you just you
just did it you know you know to do the show
you never anticipated that you were going to
be a part of so many people's lives. In 83, I
got to Pan Am, and the film guy there, Dr. Jack
Stanley, goes, you gotta watch this movie. You
gotta watch this movie. And it was, the other
guys have seen the movie Zoot Suit. Zoot Suit,
I've heard of it. I've heard of it. So up until
then, I would watch TV, and. Okay, the beaver
would come downstairs and go, Hey, mom, I'm hungry.
And the mom would go, Well, why don't you have
yourself a bowl of cereal beef, right? And they
would do that kind of stuff. Okay, so in this
movie, the guy, the kid comes down. That was
the very first time I saw that on TV on a screen.
I'm like, that's what I do. Right? I have a taco,
I don't have cereal. I don't have, you know,
I have a taco for breakfast. And that was another
one of those times where the world got a little
clearer, a little more open for me, and gave
me the idea that maybe I could do that. Maybe
I could do that. And that's the last reason that
I come down here and talk to a lot of kids, because
I tell them, look, I'm here. I'm from Elsa. I
lived up. fucked up life to begin with as a migrant
farm worker, and I put myself through school,
and I went out there, and by the grace of God,
and with the help of a lot of people, I achieved
some really pretty remarkable dreams. But that
means you can do it, too, because it's already
been done. Prove that it could do it. You make
us see that it is possible. That's exactly right.
Exactly. And you feel that motivation. And then
I tell them... Don't build walls in front of
yourself. Don't give yourself excuses. There's
gonna be plenty of people that are gonna build
walls in front of you. You don't have to do that.
There'll be plenty of struggle, right? So love
yourself, be kind to yourself, and then dedicate
yourself to whatever it is you need to do. It
doesn't need to be acting or painting or whatever.
It's whatever you wanna do. You wanna be a mechanic,
you dedicate yourself to that, you become a great
mechanic. You make a great life. It's beautiful.
And the funny thing that you say that, I mean,
coming to being in the Hollywood phase and California
phase of the entertainment business, we've talked
to a lot of people that we had on the show that
have been through the Hollywood or the entertainment
business. And they say that being in the business,
you have to have that thick skin. Actually, I
was thinking very much the entire time he was
talking, I was thinking about, remember, we had
a bunch of creative guys who did a movie. here
in the valley yes yes that's uh premiering on
amazon oh yes they're on amazon that big shots
little guy is called the name of the movie is
called find me i know brooklyn is in that brooklyn
dillard's in that i know matthew that's in that
i know several other i know brenda who is in
that Yeah, I just did a movie with a couple of
those people, or not a couple, but a whole bunch
of those people, and probably a lot of the crew
of that movie as well, in Brownsville in December.
Yeah, well, well. Can't wait to hear about that.
Noah Salinas, my best memories with my brothers
was watching George Lopez late at night. You
can't miss it late at night. You wake up out
of nowhere. You just wait for some cowbell. Ding,
ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding,
ding, ding, ding, She says, uh, sons, is that
a hint about the, you know, about the, uh, fruit
pie? I don't drop hints, Mom. I want fruit pie.
Where's my man? I don't see him. There's no hint
in here at all. Mom's on there. Do you see Mom
on the screen? I don't see Mom on the screen.
Ooh, Mom, bigger bowl for me, Mom. Bigger bowl
for me. Uh -oh. Daddy hungry. Oh my gosh. So
yeah, the stories like that, we've heard about
having the thick skin in the entertainment business.
When you had your time in there already and you've
been through that, do you still put up that thick
skin when you go for an audition? It's a little
different for me now only because I've been there
37, 38 years. 36 of those years I've been a member
of the union and and and I have a significant
amount of work and so I'm making money off residuals
and and and we were syndicated as well and that
sort of stuff and after all of these years I've
I've kind of figured out a system for myself
um it used to be you auditioned live you don't
do that anymore now you you tape it and then
you send it in over the over the internet so
that's changed a bit um but I fail probably 90
% of the time. Maybe I get 10 auditions and maybe
I get one, right? And so understanding that,
it's more about if you don't like to audition,
you might not want to be an actor. Right? Because
auditioning might be the only acting you get
to do. Exactly. You might never get that job,
right? Exactly. And so you have to take advantage
of the audition. And so instead of going, damn
it, I didn't get that one, I go. Great. That
means I can audition for something else. Exactly.
Because once you get a job, then you're tied
to that job. Exactly. And so I try to always
look on the bright side. You know, my glasses
always have full. Always, always, always. I'm
already here. I'm in the game. You know, and
then the other thing that I tell actors is, look,
you need to give yourself credit for the things
you've done. Because it's awfully hard, even
if you only get one job, one commercial, or one
maybe extra part or something like that. It's
a really hard thing to dedicate yourself to.
So getting one job, you should be proud of yourself
and reward yourself for the small little victories.
Because when you create Again, a musician, an
actor, a writer, a painter, it's important to
think of yourself as that and have faith in yourself.
You don't have to think I'm the best in the world,
you know, I'm Van Gogh and I'm going to paint,
no, no, no. What you do have to think though
is I have something to say and this is the way
I'm going to say it. This is my form. I'm going
to make it a painting, I'm going to put in a
song, I'm going to put in the book, right? And
then give yourself to that. whatever that requires.
Because people have different ways of doing different
techniques, different ways they do it. So give
yourself to that, but have faith in yourself.
Not everything you're gonna create is gonna be
great, but that's okay. That's fine. That's where
trial and error is all. I mean, you're not always
gonna be somebody's cup of tea. No, at all. It
could be the greatest thing in the world and
somebody's gonna hate it, right? But that's okay
because, and I tell the other thing I tell young
people, look. It's not your job to criticize
your work. What your job is you reach in your
heart You tell your chest open you reach inside
you take your heart out and you show it to the
world. That's your job What they do with it whether
they they take it and then they put it up here
and they cherish it or they knock it To the ground
and step on it. That doesn't matter. You've delivered
your message Can you do that again, but with
more emotion? But you do have to, because you
know what? It is hard, man. It's hard. And you
see all these stories of actors or musicians
or other artists who committed suicide, who turned
to alcohol, who turned to drugs, who had depression,
who gave anxiety and all that kind of stuff.
It's hard to live in your brain. It's already
hard enough. And then you bring in this new thing,
you know, your phone, your social media, all
of that world. And that's just another... That's
a million extra voices in your head. And then
you start reading your whatever what they say,
you know, you're in a movie or something and
somebody thinks you suck or whatever and you
700 comments. I hate your knees. That is crazy
when you do it. I've heard of that too. I personally
can't understand how people can let so many outside
voices in, but I mean if you open yourself up
to the world as much as you say. I can kind of
understand why that could affect someone. You're
going to get the reaction. Like you said, you
tear your heart open, put a show to everybody.
It's going to go both ways. It's going to get
praised or stepped on. And you just got to be
prepared to take that. You have to have the courage,
brother. And that's the first thing I tell kids.
Look, at 18, it turns into your life. You become
an adult. You become legal. Not for everything,
but for most things. But it's your life and you
need to have the courage to say to yourself this
is what I want and this is how hard I'm going
to work because sometimes people will and with
the best intentions they're not trying to bring
you down they're trying to protect you. That's
a hard life, Mijo. I don't know, maybe you should,
you know, do this as a backup plan. Maybe you
should do this as a backup plan. We've always
talked about that. We've always talked about
that. We're always out of love. We're not wishing
you bad, but they don't understand that, you
know, I want this badly and I want to, you know,
I want to dedicate my life to it. And then there
are the other assholes that are just trying to
bring you down. You'll be back in three months,
you know. So you have to prepare yourself for
that, you know, and I think as long as you're
dedicated and you really, really love what you
want to do, because it will take your life. It'll
take your life. It'll take your whole life. It's
a beautiful life, but you know, so just make
sure it's really what you want to do. So any
more comments here? We got one here. Crystal
says preach. I want to walk into ongoing traffic
right now. Send the fire truck, I can take it
off. Break it. Wow. No, that's the thing. I've
seen Mr. Rodriguez go up on stage and do his
class. And the way he talks, I mean, it's like
things are possible. Never think that it's not.
Sure. Because you got to, you are your own. Critic
you pretty much you are and you and you as a
human being are at the very very top of the chain
and we are in terms of intelligence in terms
of Computers that we can carry around and in
our pocket in terms of our technology in terms
of where we are We're at the apex of everything
right now the best it's ever been ever been here
and in the United States even better in terms
of opportunity, in terms of job, in terms of
the place you want to go, in terms of wages getting
even between men and women and doing the same
kind of work. And then as well, now you don't
have to go to Hollywood anymore because of this.
Yep, yeah, no, you're right. What you guys are
doing here, we're in West L .A., we're on the
third floor, let's go to the building. Well,
I'll probably be back next month, and then for
sure in September for the show. Guys, we're booked
for next month, September. That's right. I think
we're having a barbecue. Chris Moniz says, let's
not walk into anything, please. We all are loved
and appreciated and deserve a spot in the sport.
I'm just playing, dude. Where was it? Where was
it? Crystal, my knees. Crystal, we're just kidding.
If you would have kept on talking, I would have
ran. I would have bumped into you. I'm done.
I'll give you five bucks to do it right now.
I'll give you five dollars to watch you run into
a parked car. Let's see what happens. Hold on
to this mic. Hold my beer. Hold my beer. All
great stories. Hold my beer. Let's dive in to...
To your younger self, what were the favorite
hangouts from back in the day? I was so do you
guys remember when they shut it down? It used
to be beautiful. It's kind of beautiful. The
park and then the pavilion and they had music
and everything and then one time some girl went
in the water and Amoeba apparently this is the
story I heard. Amoeba crawled up her nose and
then she died. That day I was there. I was in
that water No, my chance. Bro, I drink Donna
water. I'm good at it. I'm good at Donna. Hey,
does Donna have a lake? Well, I wouldn't say
that. Listen, I just have a tip for tomorrow,
man. You keep hearing about the Donna lake. You
get a water bottle. It looks like water. It moves
like water. No, it doesn't move like water. It's
not water. No. I love my city data, but yeah,
that's not a place we want to take any of our
tourists. Not even on me. Crystal Morin says
quiz needs a padded room. Why? Just because he
wants to run into a park car? Those words hit
me, dude. Those words hit me. Those are good
words. It was, well, it was Delta Lake. It was
Delta Lake. And, you know, I joke about the canales,
but no, we used to go fishing in the canales.
We used to take our bikes and stuff like that.
People still go fishing in the canales. Then
there was Dairy Queen. We had one when I was
a kid, we had Dairy Queen. That was all I remember
we had. And then Pizza Hut came in a little bit
later. But that was it. We were rancho. The population,
probably about 4 ,000. It was still only like
5 ,000. Pizza Hut with the Pac -Man table. Then
it was an economy in the corner and that's where
it had You're a pretty much small town. And what
do you think of the Valley now? Okay, the whole
thing is how does it take 20 fucking years to
fix that road over there in five? There's only
one road in the area! Yeah, yeah, I was friends
with that with some of the causes as well as
Matt. I was friends with 10 customers. He was
about 2 years older and I am graduated just ahead
of me. Yeah? Yeah, yeah. Watch mom jump up there.
They're related to us. Oh my gosh, here we go.
That's how mom stopped. We were famous for a
while because we had one of the drive -ins. We
used to have a drive -in in El Salvador. In El
Salvador? In El Salvador, yeah. Yeah, in Carlos'
night. Hombre, forget it, brother. You packed
a car, te hace el barbeque, pe to el jale. Oh,
wow. You park it backwards like that. The idea
was then they were supposed to build another
one in McAllen. They were going to build one
in town, but I guess it never started, never
happened. The project crashed. I thought it was
going to come back when COVID did. Speaking of
fun and funnier fun good old times You have a
show coming up. Yes, Thursday, Thursday night.
There's a university code right here. So you
guys University Draft House in McAllen. It's
on 83 and Colonel Rowe. 83 and two. It's a really
nice place on top, but we on the bottom there's
a basement. It's and he's trying to turn into
a comedy space. We we did. This is our third
month in a row. Awesome first month we sold out
the second one. We came really close this one.
The tickets are going as well. I think all of
the. tables all the private tables have been
sold there's still some tickets i think it's
30 bucks 30 bucks uh with this with this qr yeah
it's me it's flow it's uh anthony and then tonight
on thursday night we're having uh sonia trevino
is coming sonia trevino is from from the river
yeah i've done a show with her we did a show
with her in in huéslaco uh here in huéslaco actually
at the It was the ranch house. Yes. Okay. She's
going to join us on Thursday night. So the show
starts at seven. So come on by if you want to
catch a show. Yeah. Yeah. I like the name of
the guy says way funny. The way funny show. Way
funny. Not the way funny. The way funny. They
keep paying for car washes and storage units.
We're never going to get a driving. Oh, that's
true. There's so many car washes here. It's so,
it's just, it's almost the same. Crystal, you
wanna be on the show, Crystal? Crystal, you need
to stop doing cocaine before it's done. It's
making you crazy. Oh my gosh. Don't do that.
Don't tell him that. Why is it normally? Oh,
my gosh, man. 58 minutes into the podcast, guys.
Time goes fast. We'll do it again. We'll do it
again. We love you back. We love to have you
back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For real, come
back. For real, come back. I mean, the next time
you come back and you want to bring, if you have
any comments, you want to bring one of your,
one of the comedians with you. Oh, that'd be
cool. Well, you know what? In September, let's
you come to September and I'll... You know, well,
bringing them over, maybe. Nice. Fantastic. We
had Lieutenant Phillips. Yes. Yes. I actually
got to... You talked to him a little bit. Yes,
I talked to him a little bit. It was surreal,
man. Yeah. I was like, I got jealous. And everybody
was telling me, did you do it? Did you do it?
I go, do what? Richie, what am I going to do
that for? I'm not going to do that. No. I'm not
going to do that. It was so cool because I started
telling him about a story. My cousin is from
Corpus Creek, California. I know that he grew
up in far graduated from there. And I started
telling the story about on the movies, my cousin
was there and they were seeing down watching
when he got up and started fooling around and
says, hey, I'm going to be on that screen one
of these days. And when I told him that, he just
looked like ghosts of Christmas past. He's like,
holy moly, how do you know that story? I go,
my cousin told me. I just want to confirm it's
true. And sure enough, it goes down. Wow. It's
true. How great is that? This was back in 82,
83. 40 years ago. When I said this, he goes,
yeah. And right there, he goes, you know what?
Give me a beer. I'm like, guys, give me a beer.
Yes, I'm drinking a beer with sir. But he hasn't
called me back. That's the best one to do because
the other one And Valente Rodriguez with the
blue check mark, that's not me. It used to be
me, but somebody hijacked my shit. Oh, really?
So all of the blue check marks, Valente Rodriguez,
they used to be me, but now it's some Vietnamese
guy, Van Tran. Van Tran! Somehow they got my
shit and $300 and I'll send it back to you I
was lucky enough to reach out to you through
Messenger on Facebook and I was very fortunate.
You can find me on Facebook. It's just my head
with glasses on a bubble bath. That's the one,
that's the one. And unfortunately I can't friend
everybody. I'm almost full of friends, I think
like 3 ,000 I'll go see, but if you want to follow,
and that's why I'm saying Instagram, because
Instagram is either just to follow and then do
it. Right, right, right. They can find information
about shows that you're doing on there. Okay,
excellent. Last but not least, I want to ask
you one more question. When it's all said and
done, Everything's in a book. You're up in the
gates of heaven. What do you want to be remembered
by? I want to be remembered by the influence
that I made on people's lives. I want to be a
footnote in everybody else's life. I don't want
their story to be... And then one day I met Melendez
Rodriguez and that was the best day of my life.
No, no, no. I want my name to be a footnote in
their big story. I want them to say, I met this
guy and he was really cool and he helped me along.
That's all I need. That's all I need to be able
to actually make a difference in somebody else's
life and contribute to the world in a good way.
I want to be a good dad. I want to be a good
husband. I want to be a good and kind individual
to the world. Because this might be heaven, guys.
This might be it. We don't know where we're going.
When we die, we don't know. We gotta make this
place the best we can. And the easiest way to
do that is to be loving and kind to each other
and look at the world with kindness and with
love. And it'll make the world better. Make the
world a better place. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We're
running into walls here, brother. You're an inspiration,
sir. I'm gonna be the rock. Come on, brother.
Let's go run through a wall. Oh, yeah. Oh, my
gosh. Thank you so much, man. Thank you guys
for having me here. Thank you for coming. I appreciate
you taking the time out. Taking the time out,
coming up here with us, man. Having a little
fun with us. None of that. I'm going to say bless
in the studio for us finally getting blessed.
Oh, it's beautiful. I love the stuff. Thank you
so much. You need more velvet. See, you see.
You know, you know, we're not going to hear the
end of it from bro. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Okay. We're all for the big bro show. We're
not going to hear the end of it. I told you,
I told you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you,
man. I hope to see you back again very soon and
continue doing what you're doing. You are a blessing
to the RGB and bringing all that knowledge down
here is helping us out. Thank you, brother. And
you're funny. Thank you so much. I appreciate
you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that is
the podcast for this evening. Great podcast,
man. Fantastic. Great podcast. It was awesome
having them on the podcast, man. It's a blessing
to have people like Mr. Rodriguez be on the podcast
with us. I mean, it's very rare to have. So what,
are you going to pay me my money or what? There's
our podcast for the night. We will see you Thursday.
We'll give you another good one. Another good
one. Another good one. Who's got a Thursday?
Coming in, Mr. Cuellar coming in from Mr. Chopped.
It's a barbecue place here in Westonville. I
tried my best, guys. I tried my best. I tried
my best to do the podcast there, but he said
no. That is the podcast we will see you next
week WITCHES!