New York, Feb 12 (EFE).- The American actor of Mexican origin Pepe Serna, one of the first Chicanos in Hollywood and whose long career in cinema includes the iconic ‘Scarface’ (1983), said this Monday that currently they are the women who drive Latino representation in Hollywood.
“When I arrived, there were only regarding ten (Latin actors) who were always working. Now, for me, women are the ones who are advancing the movement,” the 79-year-old Texan performer told EFE in a virtual interview for the premiere from his documentary ‘Pepe Serna: life is art’.
This work regarding his life and career, directed by Luis Reyes and which premieres on digital platforms in the US and Mexico on February 21, addresses how Serna stood out in a time of scarcity of roles for Latinos other than the stereotypical ones, of a drug trafficker or thug, which still persist today.
Serna looks back and says that the scripts in Spanish that were given to Latin actors years ago were “pure madness”, since the scriptwriters perhaps only knew “a little bit of Italian”, and when they tried to ask for corrections they were disallowed: ” No, you are not the writer, we know,” he laments.
“That’s where the fight went: with representing us like that, with pure cholo roles. It’s still the same, because in television series like ‘Narcos’, ‘Queen of the South’…Everything is the same, it’s not (regarding) people with confidence and education,” says the artist, who has accumulated a hundred film titles.
Precisely one of the best known is that of the gangster Ángel Fernández, the friend of the character Tony Montana who died dismembered in the film ‘Scarface’, and who deals between jokes and seriousness in the documentary, explaining that it was a reflection of the lack of opportunities or “positive examples” for Chicanos.
However, today he sees that role as a “door to conversation” with the new generations, who he encourages to ask themselves who they are, the history of their families and see that there is much to tell regarding the “richness” of the Americas and their indigenous cultures.
In that sense, Serna highlights two directors with whom he has recently worked, and who participate in the documentary, as drivers of change: Gloria Calderón Kellett, of Cuban origin, creator of the series “With Love”, and Eva Longoria, which debuted behind the camera in the film “Flamin’ Hot.”
“It was interesting to see what they and all the others are doing; Eva is like the ‘mentor’ for everyone, especially for the women, because they ask her for help,” she says regarding the actress, whom she considers a good friend and with whom she shares his hometown, Corpus Christi.
Using Longoria as an example, the “godmother of Latinas,” she reiterates that in women “is the strength”: “It is women who are advancing in our cultures, men are always there to advance themselves, because they are the males… (…) I have never been like that, we have to help each other.”
Serna, who expresses affection for his latest roles in “short films”, participated in films such as ‘Car Wash’ with Richard Pryor, ‘Postcards from the Edge’, with Meryl Streep, ‘The Jerk’ with Steve Martin and ‘Downsizing’ with Matt Damon.
Throughout his career, the actor has worked alongside great filmmakers such as Brian De Palma, Clint Eastwood, John Schlesinger, Dalton Trumbo, Roger Corman, Henry Hathaway, William Friedkin and Dick Donner.
With palpable good spirits, from his home in California, Serna claims to be well following being diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and is especially grateful for the support and smile of his wife Diane, to whom he has been married for almost 55 years.
Nora Quintanilla
By: EFE
The post Actor Pepe Serna highlights that women drive Latino representation in Hollywood appeared first on Minuto30.
2024-02-13 03:58:56
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