Enrique Cerna Interviews Edward James Olmos
This is a transcript of an interview with Edward James Olmos on Conversations at KCTS 9 which aired on December 26, 2008.
Other Transcripts:
EJO: It’s a pleasure and honor to be with you again. It’s been many years we’ve been doing this together.
EC: It’s been a few years since we talked and I am really glad we have this opportunity again. And you know, it’s interesting when I told my colleagues we were going to do this interview with you. The response I got was interesting because there was the younger group, they remember you or actually they know you as Admiral William Adama from Battlestar Galactica and there’s others like me that know your career from Zoot Suit in 1978 which became a movie, also went to Broadway, Miami Vice, Castillo when you played the character of the lieutenant there, leading that operation with Don Johnson and others. Stand and Deliver with Jaime Escalante, and you played his character and earned yourself and Academy Award nomination. You span some generations here.
EJO: Yeah I think we are working on our 5th or 4th decade of working front of the camera and it’s been incredible to say the least. I am very privileged to live the life I led and to be able to be right now and this time period of 2008 going into 2009 with the kind of economic situation we are facing, with this election we are facing, with culture being such an dominant factor in our existence. To be able to do a show like Battlestar Galactica, which throws culture right out the window not that we forget about it just that we are united by humanity and culture is just part of it. It is not the dominant factor, here it’s still the dominant factor, we still have a long way to go before we start thinking of ourselves as all we are all human and that is the most important part.
EC: And that is what's fascinating about Battlestar Galactica, because basically it’s trying to keep the human race alive, a part of a very small group of existing humans fighting against the Cylons, the aliens as it were and it’s not about the differences in the race, the human race.
EJO: Yeah it’s not about fighting against aliens, it’s about fighting against ourselves because we created the technology. Those machines that we created have now advanced themselves and are now coming back to take over and attack us. So, they are not aliens from another planet or anything, they are our creation.
We created a technology that has come back to actually destroy the humanity which created it and that is what's happening on the planet right now. I mean we are very close to self annihilation. I mean, I don’t know how many, I remember back in the 50’s they used to say that it would take 19, you know, atom bombs exploding at the same time simultaneously to knock the orbit of the planet, you know, of its axis. And you know I don’t know how many of our nuclear weapons it would take to explode at the exact same time to do that kind of damage to us and to then careen us to you know the sun and knock us out of from our orbit. We don’t know this, I mean I don’t but personally, I think it’s a little less than what we needed back in the 1950’s.
So, I think our weaponry is a little stronger so…and we have right now hundreds of nuclear weapons in the United States alone. Let alone other nations around the world that are either acquiring it or have it you know. So, I gotta tell you we are pretty close to living the situation we are portraying on Battlestar. I think that is one of the reasons why Battlestar has reached out way beyond everybody’s wild expectations and become has become the number one downloaded show in the world today. More people watch Battlestar Galactica on, you know, on computer and downloading it than any other program that’s ever been made in the history of television and of course…
EC: It’s like a cult kind of show in a sense because its it is reached beyond and so many younger generations are now watching it and influencing those older folks like myself to watch it as well. But, what is interesting to me is that this is a show that is won Emmys, it’s a show that won a Peabody Award.
EJO: It’s never been done before. Peabody is probably the most distinguished honor that can be given to any programming that is done on electronic media in the world. They survey the planet and they choose who is using the electronic media: radio, television, computer now, and who is doing the best work for the advancement of the humanity to the usage of this medium and we received that award. And when we got it the whole world stopped. They said, “Excuse me? The Peabody Award is going to Battlestar Galactica?” And then all of a sudden realized, but you know Time magazine already knew, Newsweek, the major, major critics of the planet had already seen the show and said this is the best television that has ever been made.
EC: But how about you for this character you play, Admiral William Kodama, because you don’t really know who he is or what he is. He is human, that’s what we know.
EJO: Yeah, that’s all you need to know because basically it doesn’t matter anymore. On the program you’ll see Africans, you’ll see Asians, you’ll see indigenous, you’ll see Indians, you’ll see Latinos, you’ll see all of them but no one ever says I am this or I am that. It’s…there is no time for that it’s like there has been a major catastrophe, there has been a holocaust in which all the humanity has been erased. Literally decimated and only 49, 000 people are left out of the billions and billions and billions of people that were once living and those 49,000 people have to survive.
And what made the program so incredible is that you look at issues that we think are really, really self-evident, and really important and you put them into that world. Like, for instance, right to choose, right to life. You should see that question asked in this environment of only 49,000 people. And you know everyone has the right to choose they say, and at the same time how can you let any human being not survive? So, there is no…so it’s not that it’s a choice anymore, that doesn’t work, that mentality doesn’t work anymore, now it is a necessity. It’s a need to move forward and understand ourselves. And the places are a mirror on our society and all the planets society because it’s not only speaking to the United States of America, it speaking to the issues of the planet.
EC: And the character that you play when you got that role, what did you want to make him? What did you want him to be?
EJO: Well, they gave me creative control of the character.
EC: Which has always been very important to you…
EJO: Yeah.
EC: In everything you’ve ever done.
EJO: It started with Miami Vice. I had creative control of the character there, too, and it is really, really important. Not that you have to exercise the control if the character is moving in a good solid way and you feel good about it, then you don’t have to say anything, and that’s what happened on Battlestar. I had very little to say, but on Miami Vice, I had a lot to say.
EC: You know it is interesting you have acted for many years but you’ve also directed and you’ve been directing on this show, episodes, but also the big movie that they are… you finalized that at this point?
EJO: Yes. We just finished filming the entire series and I completed the film that is attached to the whole package that is fantastic. And we just finished that, I directed that and it was quite an experience.
EC: What do you enjoy the most? Is it the acting or is it the directing?
EJO: I enjoy it all. I mean I am very privileged; this is a privileged life that we lead. I mean they pay me to tell stories and that is incredible and so whether I am in front of the camera, or behind the camera, carrying the water it’s fantastic to be a part of this art form. It is a very powerful art form. It attacks the subconscious mind and leaves nothing. You can’t do anything about the information going into your brain unless you don’t watch it. If you don’t watch it than it won’t be in there. Anything you watch it will go into your subconscious mind and you will have to deal with it.
EC: Acting. Did you know at a certain age that’s what you wanted to do?
EJO: Not really, this has been a process. I started off as a baseball player. The age of about 6, probably at 6 when I started playing baseball. And I played it with a lot of passion and the love for the art of playing ball, and I got to be very good. I wasn’t…I couldn’t play at all when I started, none of us could play. You know Magic Johnson could not play basketball when he was born. He had to learn how to play it, and yes, you can be a little bit more you know understanding of yourself and being able to bounce a ball better than somebody else, but basically we all start off the same without knowing how to play.
And I’m not naturally gifted or talented in anything that I do. I learned how to play ball, I learned how to use discipline, determination, perseverance, and patience, and I learned to exercise that portion of my character and then went on to use it to dance. My father started teaching me how to dance when I was 9-10 years old. Movement helped me on the ball field and it also helped me in understanding rhythm. And at the age of 14, I quit playing ball after having a very, very strong , I mean they thought I was gonna play pro, they were gearing me up to play in the professional leagues. I was playing with Bobby Knapp and Gary Knapp, his brother, and we have been playing in the California Sun League, and I was catching Andy Robock and Sandy Kofax at the age of 14, you know, and the years when the Dodgers moved over to LA and it was quite an impressive…I was an impressive player and then I went to doing singing, and playing music, and dancing.
And then I went into theatre, and in my first year of college, I took an acting class and it helped me in my performances. Then music, theatre, and movement all became mixed together. I started doing theatre in 1978… I finally, after 14 years, I busted through in Zoot Suit. And then I was then I was singing, dancing and performing dramatic piece with comedy. So, I encompassed everything that I have been working towards and then from there it just never stopped.
EC: When you auditioned for Zoot Suit and the role of El Pachuco, one of the things you did is you came out there dressed as the character. You did a quick turn and then the splits and popped right back up.
EJO: Yeah, I was pretty well conditioned and trained by the time the role came about. The very first time I actually did the role though I didn’t know anything about it. I was walking down the hall in Mark Taper Forum at the annex where they cast parts, and I was going in there for another role that I didn’t get, for something else. And I was walking through the halls and somebody said, “Hey you.” And I turned around and it was a lady sitting in, there's a temporary person in the casting office, she was there, and she goes, “You look like you could be in this, you want to try for a play?” And I said, “What are you talking about?” And she goes, “Do you or don’t you?” “Yes, I do. What's the play?” “Zoot Suit, come here tomorrow at 12 o’clock.”
And I got there at 12 o’clock on the next day and there were 300 people there. 300 guys, it was cattle call. So, I went in and they handed me a piece of paper, and on the piece of paper for auditioning there was this language… that was Spanish, but it really wasn’t Spanish, and it was something that I’ve heard on the streets but I’ve never seen it written. It was Caló, which is Spanish and English mixed together with gypsy and it’s all like this language that was created by the streetwise guys on the street back in the 1920’s. And by Al Peso and Juarez and they would speak English and Spanish mixed together so the people in either side would not understand them and they could do whatever they wanted to do. And so this language, it’s almost a dead language it was there on paper and I started to read it and it would say Kel watcha amistrapos w……………… I said that’s Spanish, but it’s really different. It’s like what am I saying here.
So, I went up in front of them and I auditioned, but I had heard the language before so I had the inclination of it so, I read it. And I didn’t do a very good job at it, but, I got through it so I was asked to come back. Well, as I was walking out the door I got the piece of paper. I folded it up and put it in my pocket and walked out the door and the person said can I have the paper back. I said I left it inside, but I had it in my pocket. I thought, well, if I get called back, because at that time they didn’t tell me right at that moment, but I got a call back. But, it was about two weeks later and…but going into the call back I found the paper. I said, “Holy macaroni! I should have studied this.” I took it for that reason. So, the night before, I started to study and I have dyslexia and I have memory problem, so it takes me a lot longer to study something. So, I’m studying all night. Studying, studying, studying.
So, I went to the audition the following day and that was when I put on my hat, and I put on a large jacket and overcoat that was a little longer than it should be, because that’s what they wore in those days. The Zoot Suit was a very stylized piece of garment, you know. And so, I walk in character - the character that I thought, you know, would work on this. And I met the director, producer, and writer, who was Luis Valdez, and his brother, they were both there. And I walked in, and they gave me the piece of paper, and I looked at it, and it was the same one. I said, “Oh boy, thank you Lord!” And I looked at them and they looked at me and says, “Are you ready?” And I’m dressed in a hat and I’m dressed with my coat and everything, and I just have a an attitude already. So, I look at it one more time and I throw it over to one side and it floats to the ground. And it was a real dramatic beat, and I cut right into it, and I just boom - stylized it right away. And I brought my hand across the top and I’m looking at them, talking to them directly right into their faces, and I’m saying these lines in a very powerful way.
And then when I finished, I never broke character. I never talked to them and said, “Hi. How are you?” I never did that - just walked in - that was the character and I never broke it. And as I walked out they said, “Oh, by the way, do you dance?” And I spun around and looked at them, and dropped into a set of splits, wham to the ground. And I slowly came up, and as I was coming up I brought my hand across the top of my hat and I looked at them, and I said, “Yeah, a little bit.” And they say, “Do you sing?” And I said, “Like a bird,” and I walked out. Well, I didn’t hear back from them. It took...another 2 weeks went by and they didn’t call me or nothing.
And then the day before they were going to start rehearsals at 7 o’clock at night, I’ve given up. I’d said, “Forget it. They got somebody else and just find out who they got later,” they call me up and say, “Hey man, we would like to know if you’d like to do the part of El Pachuco.” And I just went up against the wall and I just like was standing there and started to cry. I can’t believe it I got it. I was stunned. It was the first time I was doing a major piece of work on a major theater. Before I’ve done nothing but what they call off off off LA theatre, which is really far off Broadway. That’s as far as you can get. And so that’s how it started, that’s where that story comes from.
EC: You have been a real force as far as presenting the stories of Latinos in this country, not only in your roles, but through books and documentaries, and a very hard hitting movie in American Me about gang life, really, the ugly side of that. Is it important for you to, I guess groom the story of the Latino culture to the majority, for sake of understanding?
EJO: Yeah. I think that I am Latino, and I am not one of those kind of people that needs to break away from it - the culture - and just be an artist, and take me for who I am because there are a lot of us that do that. Not that they ran away from their culture, they just don’t want that to define them. They want to be able to be an artist that encompasses the humanity and not just the cultural dynamic of who they are. But I never ran away from that. I just said that’s who I am - a Mexican-American kid from East L.A., and you know that’s who I am. So, hey world, if they are going to ask me that question, that’s who I am. I’m not anything but that.
And yes, I am a human and I believe in the cultural dynamic being secondary to the humanity. It’s a definition of the humanity that we are, but it doesn’t define us to the point of it usurping us as human beings. We are human first and in that we have culture, we have our educational situations, we have our religious beliefs, we have our political beliefs, and all these things that we create and understand about ourselves, but we are human first. But I am Mexican-American. I never run away from it, so everything that I touch, whether I am playing Mexican-American or I'm not because I do a lot of roles that are not Latino, I mean I do many that are not Latino…
EC: You’ve been able to cross over…
EJO: But basically I’m not afraid of playing Latino and being known as a Latino-American actor at all.
EC: And I guess with the success you’ve had obviously you’ve had more opportunity to bring more of those stories.
EJO: Yeah, I think about the last…over the last 20 years, I’ve been in more than maybe 80% of all the stories ever done on Latin culture in film, I’m sure of it. I think I have the largest body of work on the culture and dynamic on film than almost any artists in the history of the medium.
EC: One of the things that I know you that you have done every time you go somewhere, that’s why you are here in Bellevue, you are here to speak of behalf Hope Link Organization that helps people that are homeless and need housing and other social concerns. That’s a big part of your life.
EJO: It’s been the key to my success. The more you give, the more you receive. So, I received an awful lot so I gotta keep on giving. And one of the things that you learn is that the only thing you can really give, yes you can give money, everyone should help as much as you can, but when you give time - it’s when you are really giving life to whatever it is you do talking about what you are doing.
EJO: He who sits around and reads a book is really, really advancing himself, therefore advancing the ability they have for helping others. But, if you don’t use that to help others, then you are just enhancing yourself and you are going to become a wise idiot, you know. Just a very smart and very intellectually brilliant person that has no commitment to the humanity which delves you and it will come back to bite you. You will never get what respect you deserve by just being an intellectual. You must give to the community. You must give your time. You must give of yourself in order to really achieve the full benefit of who you are as a human being. That’s our nature here. That’s why I come here to Hope Link and say to Hope Link, “Thank you.” People say, “What are you going to do to talk about thankfulness?” I’m going to thank these people for being a part of this world and spending their time and energy helping others to survive in this planet.
EC: What’s ahead for you? More directing? Or do you want to, is there a special role out there or a particular project that you really want to do?
EJO: Sure, there are and we are trying to do them. There are some stories that are very much needed to be seen and we are trying to do them now. And more and more people are bringing me projects that have to be done and they now know, let’s go with Eddie, and if nothing else we will at least have a shot at trying to get this kind of work done, because the kind of work that we do takes forever. The Walkout which was the last thing I did, which was very powerful piece of work.
EC: Yeah it was based on an actual walkout that happened…students in East LA…back in what in the 70’s I believe.
EJO: ‘68.
EC: So, those kind of social type….
EJO: Take forever, that took 10 years to make.
EC: That is what you want to do?
EJO: Yeah. Stand and Deliver took 5 years to make. American Me took 18 years to make. You know these are things that are nobody really …
EC: Because they are not as commercial.
EJO: No, they are, well they have become very commercial. Stand and Deliver…
EC: Eventually…
EJO: Yeah. Stand and Deliver is the single most viewed film in the history of film made in the history of the United States of America.
EC: Are you still in touch with Jaime Escalante?
EJO: Sure, he is a wonderful, wonderful person and he is retired. He still works but he is retired.
EC: Feel blessed by the fact that you’ve been able to do what you’ve been able to do?
EJO: Very much.
EC: As an actor and also as an activist?
EJO: Very much, very much.
EC: And as a father?
EJO: Very much, all of the above. It will make you cry. The older you get the more you seem to cry. You tend to understand life in a way that it makes you just very thankful, and it brings tears of joy for having lived this life that I’ve been able to. It’s going by very fast so I know that I am doing well.
EC: Edward James Olmos, thank you very much.
EJO: (laughs) Thank you.
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