Red Chair interview: Edward James Olmos
Ask Edward James Olmos who he is, and he will say that he's a storyteller.
An actor, director, activist, yes. But the story of how he became those things starts when he was 5 or 6 years old, back when he fell in love with baseball. He couldn't throw. He couldn't hit. He didn't even really understand what a baseball was. But it was the thing he most wanted to understand.
He took a balled-up sock, and tossed it around. It didn't go well.
Eventually, someone gave him a tennis ball. That went worse.
But then, he put the tennis ball in the sock; he tossed it around, and kept at it, now that it couldn't roll away. He threw it against the brick wall of his house in California, and learned how to catch it. Eventually, the Japanese-American kids next door taught him how to hit. For a decade, baseball was his neighborhood recreation, his seven-day-per-week passion, his discipline.
"You are everything that you possibly could be, as long as you have that kind of discipline," he told CNN during a Red Chair interview.
By then, it was the 1950s. Rock 'n' roll was raging and Olmos was in love again. Olmos wasn't much of a singer, but he had style, he said. That, plus discipline that baseball taught him, brought him to theater. Theater brought him to TV, then motion pictures. Now, he directs, writes and acts.
His chances of making it to this place? "A billion to one," he said.
"Culturally, the art form really doesn’t lend itself to having stories told of different culture," he said. "It’s just recently, in the last maybe 30 years, that we’ve started to see a maybe a culture dynamic arise through the African American experience."
Even fewer mainstream stories stem from Latino culture, he said. To keep going, even when things aren't going well - that is discipline.
"It’s really still very, very small, and with every year that goes by, there are more people of that ethnicity, but we have the same amount or less telling the stories of Latin descent," he said. "I was very fortunate that I got an opportunity to become a part of this craft."
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
Black in America
iReport
Total gentleman any and everyone he speak to he does it with respect. Met Hm a few times amazing he remembered my full name when we met again 2 years later
I've had the privilege of meeting him several times..a total gentleman and class act he always spoke 2 me with such respect. Amazed at his memory. It was 2 yrs. Later .2nd or 3rd time I met him he tapped me on the shoulder from behind, called by my fullname and in such formal Spanish asked me how was doing?
Great man and actor good to know hes still acting
He finds any excuse to ask for donations for proyects that do not happen. We latins are not an uniform group or a race, I have as much in common with him as with an Esquimo.
Our values, cultures are all very diferent. Mexican Americans need to assimilate.
Carmen, learn how to spell; 'proyect' is not a word. As a professional Mexican American, I have little in common with an uneducated Latin like yourself. Learn how to spell, then pass judgement
This guy's range is insane. It was a pleasant surprise to see him grace the scenes in this season's Dexter. Bladerunner to American me, EJO is a true presenter of the arts.
Sometimes you have the roll a hard six...
So say we all!!!
Eddie!!! Orale! I just realized the flying car in Blade Runner is a lowrider, makes sense why it is so cool. Keep up the good work.
LOVED HIM in Miami Vice – wicked cool, stoned faced, strong.
Blade Runner (awesome all around) and American Me (awesome acting, decent movie).
So Gellar isn't imaginary?
He is in the Showtime series Dexter and plays a religious fanatic serial killer–a chilling role by a terrific actor.
I first saw him in Zoot Suit .... if you have not seen the movie, it is a must ... I'm sure you can get it on Netflix
I just recently got Netfix and the first movie I watched was 'American Me'. A true master piece in my opinion.
Before MV, and long before BSG, EJO played a small but key role in a little movie called "Blade Runner." He was then, and still is, a class act. I was fortunate enough to meet him at Comic-Con in 2010, and he was sincerely friendly and unassuming, and very appreciative of his fans. Eddie, you rock!
What an incredible actor. From Stand and Deliver, to Selena, to Battlestar Galactica and so many other amazing works, this man is a true talent.
So say we all!
GREAT ACTOR!
red chair interview!!!! well said EJO ty for bringing so much heart to film.
He should have won several Emmys for his performance on Battlestar Galactica alone. Just goes to show how shallow the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is and how deep an actor Olmos really is. The guy has more range than 99% of the other actors out there.
So say we all!!!
You have done good Ed though it was touch and go there for a while when I first saw your character in MV. Keep going.
Well said friend, well said! A great actor and an awesome human being. Viva Mr. Olmos!