 This is Startup Storefront. According to the 2020 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinos made up 18% of the population, yet received only 4.6% of movie roles in 2019. To put it simply, even though Latinos make up almost a fifth of the population, there's a massive gap in representation on the silver screen. There is, however, a growing movement within the industry to change that. Today we have the pleasure of talking to a leader of this movement, actress Justina Machado. You might recognize her from her roles in Jane the Virgin, Six Feet Under, or even Dancing with the Stars. In this episode, we discuss why she didn't call herself an actress until she moved to LA, why she didn't feel financially stable until she was 40, and the outrage the Latino community felt when James Franco was cast as Fidel Castro. And thank you to Cat Footwear for sponsoring this episode. They're a premier shoe company that empowers builders and doers to reframe the world to create something more meaningful. Right on set. We are rolling in three, two, one. Welcome to the podcast on Today Show. We're talking to Justina Machado. Thank you for joining. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. For the small amount of people who don't know who you are. Yeah. How do you introduce yourself? What do you do? I'm an actress. That's all I ever say. Yeah. That's a good way. Yeah. What made you want to first get into it? What made you want to get into the world of acting? I don't know. I just kind of fell into it, to be honest. I mean, I was in Chicago and I was, I'm born and raised in Chicago. And I was working at a bank. I had just graduated from high school. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. My best friend's mother, who unfortunately just passed away a couple weeks ago, was an agent and called me. She was the first Latina agent in Chicago. It was called Salazar in Navas. And her name was Mirna Salazar. And she called me up one day and she said there's a play at Latino Chicago Theater. They're looking for a young Puerto Rican girl that's 16 years old. I know that you're not an actress, but I think you have great stage presence. And I was so desperate because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I went and I never stopped. What do you think she saw in you? Well, I was personality. I mean, for a lot of two minutes together. I see it. I was also a dancer. So she would see me dance back in the day. Yeah. So it was that. But then you do it. Then you did it. You did the role. I did it. I did the role. 16, you're having an existential, I was 18. But even then you're having an existential crisis, like a, you know, quarter life, midlife crisis at 18 years old. Come on. Don't we all, when you graduate from high school, you get, and then when your parents don't have money, like I didn't grow up with any money. So it's like there was no money to go to school. You know, they didn't know anything about loans, you know, like, like me growing up was literally working class and, you know, I'm first generation. My parents are from Puerto Rico. And it was just like, keep your head down, work and buy property. They were obsessed with buying property. That's a good tip. That's a good tip, but they didn't care about school. You should care about school a little bit. It should go hand in hand. It should go hand in hand. It worked out for you. So I'm just saying, maybe not so much. Exactly, it worked out. Prior to that. So yeah, I was having a crisis. Absolutely. So then you do the role, you love it. You fall in love and then does she say, okay, cool, let's start casting you into all these things? Or maybe you don't love it. Well, the theater, the theater does that. So the theater, the artistic director, his name is Juan Ramirez, and he was like my mentor. How big is this community of Latinos in Chicago at this time? Oh my God, it was huge. In the acting theater. Oh, I don't know, because I kind of stayed in a bubble at the Latino Chicago Theater. And then I started to go out of the bubble, but he just kept inviting me to be in other plays. And I remember he would say, do you think you're an actress now? Because I thought it was so weird. I was like, you don't say you're an actor. I thought that was so out of corny, you know what I mean? Because in my world, nobody was an actor. And everybody would be like, oh yeah, right, you're an actor. I mean, I grew up in the inner city of Chicago. So it was like a joke. So I didn't start calling myself an actor until I left Chicago and I moved to New York. And did you do like trainings or workshops, acting sessions? I just did play after play after play at the Latino Chicago Theater. And you had it? You didn't have any fear? You were just like on it? I've never really had a lot of fear. Rehearsing lines, all that stuff, memorizing lines. I'm sweating just thinking about it. But I couldn't do what you do. See, that's the thing. What do I? Talk to people? No, I mean, like whatever you do, like, aren't you like... A real estate developer? Exactly. I mean, I couldn't do that. I'm pleased. I've been trying to buy a house forever. And I'm like, oh, I get overwhelmed every two seconds. Don't buy your home, buy your office, buy your studio. That's the move. See, look at that. See how you think like that? The best in property. You know? Exactly. Like this, this is our studio. So there you go. See, I don't think like that. All right, so then at some point, this becomes real to you and your friends and your family. And then you get, what's the first show? What's the thing? Do you move to LA? Are you still in Chicago? I moved to New York. I never came. I didn't come to LA. I went to New York first. And then I got a job from New York. And then I came to LA. So I was a pilot. You guys know what a pilot is, right? Of course, yeah. No, no, I don't know. I thought you said I was a pilot. And I was like, what? I lost something. It was a pilot. That's the first time I came to LA. So you didn't go to, so you went to New York then because of your theater background in New York? Because I wanted to be a Broadway star. That's what I wanted to do. I want, because I sing and I dance and I wanted to do that. Yeah. So I mean, of course I wanted to do film, but I never thought about television. I just thought New York. I'm from Chicago. The next thing is New York. Los Angeles I didn't like. You know, I had been flown out here a few times to audition. Nobody walked. It was crazy. I didn't know what was going on. People were crossing in the middle of the street. Like, you know, there's no public transportation. So I was, I was intimidated by Los Angeles. When you moved to New York, did you move with family? No, by myself. By yourself? Yeah. On the Lower East Side. Second, in 1994, on second between B and C. Oh my goodness. And it was bad back then. It was real bad. Yeah. So then what happened? You're in New York. So then I got- You do a pilot. It worked out? Yeah, I did a play in New York and then I did a bunch of jobs and commercials and then I got the pilot in LA and then I came out to LA and I never left. What was the move to LA like? Well, thank God, two of my best friends were already here from Chicago. So I lived with them on Lanewood, right by the Chinese theater. So you all lived together. Yeah. The three of us, we slept in one bed. Three girls. That's hilarious. Yeah, we had a one bedroom. I still do that, by the way. That's hilarious. Yes, yes. This is like every startup. So the first company I started was three guys in one bedroom. Really? Yeah. We had a big mattress in the living room. That was like our office. All the computers were there. And then I had the luxury, I had my own room. But it was just the mattress on the floor. I mean, it was bad. We shared the same car, too. And it smelled like dudes. It was like, nah, these guys weren't too clean. Right. Well, my girls were clean. Did you have to coordinate your auditions, then, if you're sharing the same car? It was my friend Laura's car. So we had to do whatever Laura wanted to do. So, you know, we had to wait an hour. We waited an hour for Laura to pick us up. But yeah, it was a stick shift. And it was a pain in LA. And it was like a pickup truck. And that was embarrassing when you're young. Are you still friends with them? Yeah, Laura and Margie, absolutely. Are they in where are they now? Well, Laura got, we were literally here five months and Laura got ER and was on ER for 15 years. Oh, wow. And Margie moved back to Chicago. Yeah. This game is hard, though, right? Yes, it is. OK. Let's talk about the hard parts of like auditioning or just the things that, right? Because it's a success story today. But in the moment, you're taking, you're going to New York. That must have been crazy. I loved it. Latino communities are tight. They're probably like, when she's coming back, they probably miss you. Then you go to LA, right? Same thing, right? You're dealing with all these fears, anxieties. Or maybe not. Maybe you're just like, so you just had it. But they never go away, fear and anxiety, right? True. It doesn't go away. And also, you just, more than talent in this business, you just have to have perseverance and you have to really believe in yourself. And you have to. I always said, Hollywood can't do anything that wasn't happened, that didn't happen to me in the streets of Chicago. You know what I mean? I was pretty tough growing up in Chicago. So it's just, yeah, kind of. And I also went to six different schools by the time I was 10. So I was used to being the, you know, I'm sure I have a lot of PTSD about it. That perpetual change. I heard I have a lot of PTSD. Yeah, I kind of had school of the hard knocks, yeah. So what's your first role in LA? What was the thing that hit? My first was a show called, the pilot called Second Noah. And it was with James Marsden, actually. We played brother and sister. We were both adopted. But then the pilot got picked up and I got fired from the pilot. So I had never experienced anything like that. Does that happen? Yeah, oh yeah. Recast. You get, you get recast. That happened. So I got fired from when it went to series. I got fired and I remember I got recast. I guess I should say that. And that was super devastating, but I just kept going. I just kept going. That's a roller coaster. You think, okay, pilots got picked up. I'm riding this wave. And then the next thing you know, you're not in, you're not on the cart. And you have to see it, you know what I mean? Because it stayed on the air for two years. And then after that, I was really stressed out, thinking the next thing after that was, I did a movie with Sean Penn called, She's So Lovely. What is that like? Well, that was, I was terrified I was going to get fired. Because after that, you're like, oh god, I'm going to get fired from everything. I was terrified. And it was like late at night. I don't mean to laugh. I just think it's funny. No, it's funny. I'd be crying otherwise. I do remember that. It was 19, like in the 95, I think. And it was shooting downtown. And I remember when I went there, this happened to me a lot when I first got here. Like they always thought I was a background artist. Back then they called them extras. So they never, they were always shocked that I actually had a speaking role. Why is that? Because I was Latina. So they were like, and even that day, when I went, there were all this, all these background artists. And I kept trying to talk to the AD and say, hi, where do I go? Where do, and she's like, sit there, sit there. And I'm like, wait, but I'm not. Shouldn't I have a trailer? And that happened to me a lot. Is it better now? I mean, because they know who I am. I mean, is it better? It's better. It's not as good as it should be. I mean, what Latino shows do you see on the air? You don't, what Latino families do you see on the air? Why do you think that is? Like when you, from your perspective, as someone in sort of in the game, why do you, I'm sure it's complicated, but just like... It's complicated. And I think that one of the things that people have to start, and not on this podcast, of course, because I'm here, but when people call me from certain news outlets and want to talk about it, they need to start asking the studios that question, not the actors that question. They just don't think we're viable. They just don't, they're not, they're not scared of us either because we don't make enough noise. And also... You mean like by viewership, by... Well, we buy the most tickets, Latinos, movie tickets. You know, we consume so much media. And yet we're not out there. Another thing that happens is that, and, you know, this can go deep about how, you know, as a Latino people were... I just did a special about this on MSNBC. I just did a special called The Culture of Latina. I've never heard of that. I just did the special with, and it was an amazing roundtable of all these women. And one of the things I said is that Latinos are not a monolith, you know? Yet there's something inherently Latino about every single one of us. And I think there's a lot of infighting, you know? Like they're like, oh, well, you're Puerto Rican, you can't play. Like when I did One Day to Time, there were people, there were Cubans mad that I was playing, you know, some Cubans, not all. I got a lot of love, you know? But there were some that were upset. And it's just so silly, you know? It's like we're cutting each other off. And so I think that happens. And also, yeah, that's their excuse, the studios and the networks and all the good stuff. It's totally true. There's a perspective that I like about... So when I watch like Drink Champs or Puff Daddy or all these people, whenever they talk about what they own, they say we own it. And they're talking about we as a collective community. And you don't see this in the Latin community in any capacity. And it makes me sad. It makes me real sad, too. When I bring people to our breweries or the things we own, I'm like, this is ours. Like we own this. But even like I still see people's faces, like they don't really under... Like, what's he doing? Is he trying to trick me? Is he trying to make me feel some kind of way? And I'm like, no, like I just want people to just say like, by virtue of me looking like you, or by virtue of, like in your case, people can watch and see you. And so by virtue of the person watching and looking like you, it's an us thing, though. I agree. That's the thing I'll put out there. We don't, we gotta break that. We don't have it. No, we don't. But you know, I think a lot of us are trying to break it and talk about it and put it out there. It's just gonna take a minute, I guess. What's your thing with like... So James Franco gets all this heat for getting that lead role. Is that a huge issue? John Leguizamo goes out. Yeah, it's ridiculous. Why is James Franco playing Castro? Now, listen, I mean, Castro's no hero. You know what I mean? Right, right. Like, not for me. I mean, I know there's certain people. You know, he, I don't care what anybody says. Look at what he did to his country. Look at that island. Look at these people. I mean, that man was a monster, you know? So it's not like, yeah, I want to play Castro. But at the same time, it's like, why James Franco? If there were even playing ground for all of us that we could do those things, then I'd be okay with it. But we can't. So not that we can't. They don't allow it to happen. So it's ridiculous that James Franco is playing Castro. It's ridiculous. He even said yes to that, you know? So I thought he was done after the whole, like, oh, that thing. I thought he was canceled. Yeah, yeah. Well, apparently not, because he's playing Castro. Yeah, right. I mean, he and Seth Rogen are splitting. I mean, they're. Yeah, I love that Seth Rogen. I'm going to work with him. But I just follow him. I think he's a great guy all around. Yeah, he does actually. Super smart, too. He is. He knows what he's doing. Every time I watch him, like, this guy's dumb as hell. But then I'm like, wow, he could bang her, bang her, bang her. His energy is on a different thing. Yeah, so I'm totally against that James Franco casting. I think it's sad. I think it's really sad. Who would you have wanted to see in that role? Oh, I don't even know. But I know that there's wonderful Latino actors. You know what I mean? I don't know who the right person is. And don't give me this crap about, you know, he's got facial. Yeah, he does look like him. But we don't know how to make somebody look like somebody. I didn't even know Jared Leto wasn't Batman. I was like, that was him? He played the penguin for like a second. I actually did not know that was called this moment. Yes, he did the new one. He was like the penguin. That was Colin Farrell. Oh, that's what I meant. Oh, shoot, sorry. Jared Leto was in House of Gucci. And I didn't recognize him. So, oh, that's right. He was so good in House of Gucci. I did not recognize him for half a minute. That was a great character. So don't tell me you can't do it, you know? It's just, so they're going to give you all these excuses because, you know, they're going to, they probably needed him to green light the movie. That's probably what happened. But that has to change already. And it's ridiculous. You're probably right. When you were on, just go back to Sean Penn. Sure. So I was watching the actor's guild, Tom Cruise is on there, and Tom has this thing where he learned it from some of the, somebody he played with early on, where it's like everyone on set just calls each other by their character name. Yeah. Is that a thing? Is that a real thing? That's so very fun. That's so funny that that's hilarious because Nick, Nick Cassavetes was the director of that. And I was, we were rehearsing, and Sean Penn didn't talk to me, but he came up to the, to the whatever, the ticket thing that where I was supposed to be selling him tickets. And he's like, what's your name? And I was like, Justina Machado. And then the director goes, no, Justina, not your real name, your characters. And I was like, well, I didn't know that. I didn't know he was improving. He didn't so, yes, so he started to improv. But it stayed in the movie. You know, so I just jumped on it and named myself because I always wanted to be named Carmen Rodriguez. I think that's such a beautiful name. It's a very Puerto Rican name. You know it. I grew up in Springfield. Most of the Latinos in Springfield, Massachusetts, were all Puerto Ricans. Oh my God, really? So I just grew up like, like my best friend is named Alan Rodriguez. Right, Rodriguez is such a Puerto Rican name. Yeah. And so I was immersed in that culture. People thought I was Puerto Rican. Because there's no, there's no other Latino in Massachusetts that I moved to L.A. Everyone's calling me Mexican. And I'm like, I'll be all of it. I don't know. I'll be all of it. I'm here for it. Yeah. If I'm in Portugal, people go, oh, he's Portuguese. I'm in Spain. I'm Spanish. I'm like, whatever. Right. Call me whatever you want. We'll go with it. After that movie, what was the next thing? Oh God, that was such a long time ago. I think it might have been NYPD Blue, like for two seconds, like a two second role. And are you comfortable in terms of like, from a money-making perspective? Or is it always like, you make it, then you're terrified and then like, with money? Just in terms of acting, like, do you ever feel stable? Or is it a constant game of? It's a constant. I feel a lot more stable now. Yeah. But I mean, I think I've been stable, but it took a long time to feel that way. How long? Also, oh my God, probably I didn't feel stable till I was like 40. That was a long time. And I started doing it when I was 18. You know, so I didn't feel, and even though I owned, you know, my place and I owned, I didn't feel, well, also I didn't know how to deal with money. And I'm just, and I've just learned how to deal with money, you know, because when you don't grow up with it, you don't know what to do with it. And then you don't trust, you know, like, because you hear all these stories. How did you go about navigating like? Well, I had a business manager that I actually got a lien put on me when I was with him. So I was like, that's not the right business manager. Right, right. I was gonna say, that's a lot of trust right there. And then I, you know, and then I have a great guy now that made me do a lot of stuff that I didn't know about, you know. So, and now I ask questions because I think I was just embarrassed. So I didn't ask the questions. And now I ask the questions. Yeah. So now you feel stable and now you're good. I do feel stable. Now I'm, I'm good. You know, I still like those phone calls still make me nervous. Those phone calls, like, it's my money. And I get nervous about talking about it, you know, or with the guy that, that invests. I get nervous about it. And I still have that. So what do you invest in? Well, I mean, I don't really know, you know, like, like stuff that's, um, stuff that's safe. Sure. That's all I know. What's safe? What's safe in today's world? Oh my gosh, I don't want to talk about this. You're making me nervous. I'm busy. Cause like, what's safe in today's world? Index funds, COVID, COVID vaccines. Well, by the way, hello. Not dogecoin. What's that? You're not in crypto. Well, it's so funny because my girlfriend was trying to get us all to do that NFT. Is that still happening? Is that still popular? It's crypto winter. I would avoid that. It's okay. That's what I thought. I didn't want to buy a stupid cartoon for $30,000 or something. Sorry. It was like, I was like, what? That's a lot of money. What? For like a thing like, oh, I know. That was, you look, see, that was as much as I was willing to. And I wasn't even going to do that. All of these entrepreneurs that come on the podcast are looking for a competitive edge. That's what we partnered with Athletic Greens. I ditched my vitamin C packets. I was previously drinking in the morning and I've never felt better. It's noticeably given me more energy in an optimized immune system. This is not my first go around with multivitamins. I used to take these capsules and they made me feel bloated and disgusting. 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Again, that is atthleticgreens.com slash STS to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Did anybody see what you were doing and go, okay, I want to go. I want to try acting. Did you like are there seeds within your family that they're maybe or maybe they just like. My brother's not an actor, but he's a fashion designer. He's actually designing. He and his partners, they've designed my dress for the Critics Choice Award for my MSNBC special, three Latinos, and I think they're going to make something for me because Norman Lear's 100th birthday celebration is September 8th. How long did you live with Norman? For five years. So maybe you can answer a question for me that I've always had. When you wear a dress on like a red carpet and like, you know, people ask who you've always had this question. That should be enough for you to worry. I'm curious about like the bump because like you hear, you get the question like, who are you wearing? And then like for you, you get to say, Oh, I'm wearing. My brother's got lined. And so like your brother can tell you like, Oh, we got X amount of business from this or like, so I was curious if you had delved into when I say it at this red carpet, it gets more recognition or publicity than when I say it at that red carpet. Oh, like, I mean, no, not really. Because I'm not, I don't even like, you don't follow it. I just have to have it because of what I do. You know what I mean? Right. I'm not very good at it because you should really post a lot to have people always. I think my last post was like a month ago, you know? And so no, I don't really follow that. I don't know how to do that. So you don't ever feel the obligation then to, to be your own like cheerleader publicist? No, because I'm from a different era, you know, like where it wasn't, it didn't matter how many followers you had. That's never affected me. Like I know it affects the younger actors. That's what I've heard, like the really, really young actors. But that's not my world, you know? So I don't even let it creep into my mind because it's like, that'll drive you crazy. Like I heard my daughter on one day at a time, she'd be like, oh my God, this, you know, this girl has a million followers. And it's like, have you ever seen Black Mirror? Did you see that episode of The Followers? Oh, it is now. Oh my God, you got to see that show. It's so great. It's a great show. It's a great show. I just, I don't care, man. There's too much to care about. I'll drive myself crazy. And the studios from your perspective, they don't care either based on you. Not for me. Because you have the talent. Right. I already know you. But they would, I think, for some people. For the younger generation, yeah. I think it's important for the younger generation. I mean, look at all the people that do the movies, but then I don't think the movies do that well. I got to be honest. You know, the influencer, I mean, they do good on, like, things like Dancing with the Stars, you know, but I don't know if they can, you know. How was your time on that show? It was, it was a lot of work. Heather and I were talking about that. It was a lot of work. It seems like a boot camp. Like it seems like these people are working out a lot. I mean, they're getting injured. Yeah. I'm like, what is happening with these injured? How bad is this thing? You're dancing every day. Every. That's too much. Yes, I know. I figured that out. I was like, this is crazy. Is it like the show making you? Or is it like your partner, the person you're paired with, just wants to get this so dialed in? It's the dancers. It's the dancers. Yeah. Because the show always says to you, this is what the show says. And by the way, I love Deena Katz. I love everybody over there. They were really wonderful during a time where the pandemic had just started. And, you know, I was super depressed. And I didn't know, I was like, oh, this sucks. Why? Because Hollywood stopped or what? Everything. I mean, it wasn't even so much work. It was like, what was going on? The one day I was on the talk, doing the talk, the next day I was like buying a Peloton. Like the rest of the world. That's funny. Yeah. That's funny. And so literally, I was like, what's happening? So when they asked me to do it, I said, yes, I'd rather be doing that every day than lying in my bed. And I was really depressed. And so, but the show says, you can dance as much as you want to dance, rehearse as you. But you know, you get in there and you want to win. So you say, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the dancers really want to win. So yeah, there was a lot of dancing. It's like a workout and a half every day. How many hours a day do they put you guys through? Well, the good thing is that because it was the beginning of COVID, we couldn't just do anything. They had to like, we could only do three hours or four hours a day. Only three? Yeah. Oh my god, these dancers would do before COVID did like seven, eight. They could do however long they wanted. How old are these people? I know. By the way, Nellie and I were like the oldest ones. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh my god. Then we made it to the finale, myself and Nellie. He won, right? No, no. Bachelorette. Oh, OK. Caitlin Bristow, yeah, she won. And then the catfish guy was second. I forget his name. Ned? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was great. He was a good guy. And then Nellie was third and then I was fourth. What did you notice career-wise after the show? That a lot of people watch it. A lot of people watch it. Yeah, yeah. It's a juggernaut. I had this one person tell me something which I thought, I don't know how to respond to this. He's like, oh, my stepmother is the most racist woman in the world and she was watching it and she just fell in love with you. I'm like, OK, I don't know what to say. So is her racism cured? Did I change her? Yeah, right. Did I change the lady? I think you changed her. I think you solved racism by dancing with the stars. That's the answer, everyone. It actually, it does a lot for you, to be honest. It really does a lot for you. You wouldn't think it does, but you know. Especially if you make it deep. Yeah. Especially if you make it as far as I think. I mean, Mario Lopez, it seemed like he was resurrected. Oh, yeah. Now, complete. Complete. I love that guy. He's a great guy. He's a great guy. I loved him then. I love him more now. But it's like that show really took him to a place that he was everywhere all of a sudden. Everywhere. And that's what happened. And I think it's nice if you dance well. Yeah, and he was a great dancer, Mario. I think it's basically a show for Latinos, to be honest. He put a Latino in that show. They're going to do well. There's not that many Latinos. They need more Latinos. And you know what else they need. And I say this. They love doing the rumba, the salsa, cha-cha-cha. Where's the Latino dancer? Exactly. Where is your, like, you need to bring that in, you know? And I've said that before, because that's, they love the Latin dances. It looks good on TV. Yeah, exactly. It's sexy. So what happened after dancing with the stars? I don't know what happened after dancing with the stars. I can't remember. It doesn't it feel like it's been 10 years from 2020 to 2022? It does. It does, yeah. I don't know what happened. I just started working, and I did a couple movies. And then I did the pilot for the horror of Dolores Roach last year for Amazon and Blumhouse. And then they picked it up. And then that's what I've just finished shooting it on Saturday. Give people a sneak peek. What is it? Oh, God. It's just I'm really bad at explaining it right now. But it's like a crime thriller. Well, it's funny. It's like a new genre. It's like it's almost like a berry, you know? Yeah, great show. So that's such a great show. So she's in jail for 16 years after selling weed. She gets set up by her boyfriend. And she comes out. Washington Heights is completely gentrified. She doesn't know anybody. She walks into this empanadas shop. And the same kid that had a crush on her when he was like 13 is running it. And he gives her a place to stay. And she starts killing people. And he starts making empanadas out of it. I'm making it. But you guys really fought. OK, now I'm getting the Sweeney Todd reference. That's what it is. So it's so funny. It's so funny. And it's dark. And it's crazy. Yeah. And it's like a stoner comedy also. Because I did. I read it right away. And I thought. I could kill people. No. I just thought that when have you seen a woman of color have that kind of role? It's always a white man. Not even a white woman. It's always like, you know. The serial killer is always like. Yeah, Walter. You know, I'm breaking bad. I loved breaking bad. You know, Dexter. And I just thought how exciting to be that person. To have that opportunity. To do it. You know. Do you ever have a dream project? Maybe as a writer, producer yourself? Or a dream role maybe? It's funny. Because people ask me that. And I don't know. I don't think I have a dream role. I think that I've been really lucky, you know, 20. Well, I shouldn't say lucky. Because I worked hard. But like 20 years or more than 20 years ago, I got six feet under. And that was that revolutionized television. And then, you know, I got to play this fabulous character, Penelope Alvarez, on One Day to Time with Rita Moreno. And that was. And then this, I think, is going to be something. So I think that I think I've, you know, I've always been really picky about what I do, even when I didn't have any money. I didn't want to do stuff that was a stereotype. I didn't. Unless. Unless. Because stereotypes do exist sometimes. Unless it's layered. And unless the person is doing something, you know. I don't want to just be Lupe, you know. Right. Yeah. Lupe the housekeeper. You know it. Lupe the housekeeper. She cleans the house pretty well. She's saying you ought to go like, how'd you do it? You know, I didn't want to just do that. That's what I loved about I Love Lucy. Oh, God, I loved I Love Lucy. Because it was like a woman and a Cuban guy. Yeah. And like that, that to me at the time was like, imagine. Right? Right. Like people are like, I don't know. I think they miss it. I think they don't understand when they're watching it. You know, I think now today it's like, holy crap, how progressive was that. But that show was bananas. Have you seen the documentary? They have so many great documentaries on it on Amazon. They really do. And it talks, you know, the Desi Arnaz is the one that invented four cameras for the sitcom. That was Desi Arnaz. He also had the, what was it, the residuals. He more or less invented like residuals. Yeah. So Desi Arnaz. What does that mean? What does four cameras mean? Well, okay. So when you do a sitcom, they used to be film. It's not film anymore. They have four cameras because you're on, it's flat. You're just like on a stage. You know, you have the audience and then you're here. So in order for them to get every angle, they have four cameras. And Desi Arnaz is the one. So before that, nobody did that. So before that, nobody did that. It was his idea. See, we need eight cameras in the podcast, you know. We need to be the first one to have eight cameras. It was his idea. That's amazing. We're going to have every angle imaginable. Well, so, and with the residuals, Desi did it as a result of Lucy being pregnant. And so they couldn't go on the air anymore. And so he was like, reruns. That's what it was. Yeah, thank you, reruns. And so because she was pregnant and couldn't go on the air anymore, he was like, well, I have been sitting on this footage. I own it. Not the studio. They owned it. So what they did was like, they were like, well, let's replay it. And at the time, no one knew. That sounds like a bad idea. At the time, no one had done that before. Will people tune in for this? And it was such a hit. And so he kind of rewrote how the industry operated after that with the ability of rerunning IP that they had already invented. I love that show. I'll still watch that show. You used to watch that before. I went to bed every night. That was such a good show. I want to make a movie about my mom, my mom's life. Because I think she plays all the stereotypes. But then it's the ultimate success story. It's the ultimate moving to America, single parent. I was watching Care Bears while she was cleaning a motel. And then how she got a job. And then at that time, the American Dream was like, your kids go to college. And then it's us graduating college and where we are today. But really, her fighting through all these hurdles, I want to make that movie. It's a great story, man. Those stories are always great. And they never... And there's plenty of that, for sure. The human condition. But it's awesome. Everybody loves to see that. You want to play my mom? Sure. Done. We inked it. We inked it. That was too easy. I got to get the marijuana accent. From your view in the world of Hollywood, what do you think Latinos need to either be successful, maybe get to get... Like, how do we change the thing? The thing that's a problem today? We just keep talking about it. We just keep getting people in positions that are more powerful, you know? We have... I mean, my old boss, she's one of the best. Gloria Calderonquelet. I mean, she's just doing everything to move us forward. Eva Longoria, America Ferrera. I can go on. These women are really doing stuff, you know? So we just keep doing that. And that's all I could really say. It's a constant fight. It's a constant fight. And I think what I like about the younger generation that's here now is that they're not scared, you know? Like, when I was working... When I started out, you really couldn't say anything because then you'd be fear of never working again, you know, of somebody blackballing you, blacklisting you. And now, because of social media, because of so many movements, that doesn't really happen. So I do like that everybody is really talking about it. And that's the way it changes, you know? But we also have to support. Like, I have so many friends that say... I feel like this is where it drops off. Because they'll say, like, oh, I saw that show was stupid. And I said, let me ask you something. Wait, what show? What show? How come Latinos... Oh, I don't know what to say because all my friends have been... I mean, all my friends are on all the shows, you know, the Latino shows. And I... But the thing is, is that why can't we... Okay, maybe it's not the greatest, but why can white people have every stupid show around? Why does ours have to be so incredible? Let's, you know, let's... Just make it basic. Let's start somewhere and build. But let's support it. And then there'll be another. And then there'll be another. And then, you know, like, one day at a time, that was brilliant. I mean, it was not just because I was on it. It was like a brilliant show, you know? Look at Goldita Chronicles. That got rave reviews and it got canceled. HBO decided that they weren't going to do family programming anymore. So, Goldita Chronicles just got canceled. Baker and the Beauty was... One season got canceled. You know, it's just... I mean, I'm glad that Rosalind's show is doing great. Fantasy Island. Fantasy Island, I've watched that one. Yeah, it's... I always loved Fantasy Island. You never saw the reruns of Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban? Montalban and... He's like, taboo. He's like, they're playing! They're playing! Yes. Old show. It's old. It's from the 70s and 80s, yeah. I used to watch that and the Love Boat and all like, it was like a lineup. Fantasy Island and the Love Boat. I think from my perspective, we had Avenida's productions in here and the thing they're doing, they're creating like this almost like an incubator where they're providing funds for scriptwriters. Yes, a lot of people are doing that. Yeah. And they also built out their own studio and so it's like they have a bodega and they have all the things in like a studio that... I don't know who they are. Avenida productions. They're pretty close. We had them on the podcast. We connect to you after this. I would love to know who they are, yeah. They're also starting this like, streaming service aimed at Latino shows and programming. I would love to know who they are. That's awesome. Yeah. And so we, you know, but it's like, okay, you have that part. But when we talked to them, the whole thing was like, we need people to tune in though. We need the Latinos to vote with their eyeballs. And that's the thing. That's not the only thing, but that's how they viewed it. But it is a big thing. They're right. But it's not the only thing, you know, because they also have to give shows an opportunity. Another thing that happens is that the studios don't put any money into marketing. They put no money into it. Right, they'll do all the rest of it. Yeah. So then they're like, oh, it failed. Well, of course it failed. You know, like back in the day, they would put you on a talk show. Or if it was an ABC show, then you'd be on whatever late night show was that show. They're not even doing that. Right. So then does it become prescient to use your social media platform? Yes, no, but that's true. But let's see, but me, it's not, that's not going to happen because I'm not going to do it. You know what I mean? So even though you know, like, is it because like, you just don't want to touch it? It's because I'm not good at it, man. Because I'm not good at it. Hire somebody. Just hire someone to do it. That's true. But then I'm a control freak, you know? Yeah. And I'll be like, I'll be a micro, you know, micromanaging stuff. So no, I think that, of course, yes, it comes down to us. But also I'm working for Blum House in Amazon and, you know, they're two powerhouses. So I'm sure that, you know, that they're going to do it. And I'll do my part, of course. Are there a lot of Latino executives, like in those leadership positions? No. No, that's probably problem one. Exactly. Yeah. It's all of those. Those are all the problems. Yeah. Well, listen, we heard it's your birthday coming up. Yes, it is. Yeah. September 6th. Yeah, you know it. We got you a little bit. Jake, come here. We had to do it to you. So happy birthday to you from the podcast, from our listeners, from Cat Footwear. Thank you. You're very welcome. Oh my goodness. Thank you for coming on the podcast. I'm going to make a wish, guys. Hold on. Please do. Please do. It's for the movie. We'll check in with you later to see if it came true. Yeah, I know, right? I hope it does. Thank you, Justina. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you. Happy birthday. Thank you. If you made it this far, I bet you loved the episode. So, you should join our YouTube channel membership for only $2.99 a month. This gets you access to one, the whole unabridged conversation. Two, you get the episodes on Monday, one day earlier. Three, you get two additional entries to our giveaways. Check out our Instagram to see what we've given away. And four, you get access to seasons one through three. That's over 100 episodes of wisdom and life-changing advice. What are you waiting for? Join.