Actress Judy Reyes has never revealed so much about her personal life like she did for the new HBO Latino documentary THE LATINO LIST: VOLUME 2. CineMovie talked to the Bronx native in a Q&A about sharing so much about herself and why she found the documentary inspiring after watching her peer's personal stories.
Interviewed by award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, Reyes tells us how the NPR and PBS journals warmed her over before getting to the very personal questions.
What was the experience like talking directly into the camera and telling your story?
Maria was a really good interviewer, I have to say so. And we're talking for a whole hour. Of that hour they used four minutes. She's really wonderful, and she does all her research, fantastic interviewer and she softens you up before you get to the juicy bits.
What part of your story didn't make it into the documentary?
Oh, I can't remember. I really can't. I tell you what she did do is create an enormous amount of ease with which she's able to conduct the interview. It's not your typical (interview) of 'so what's next?' and 'what do you do?' and all that stuff. They're in-depth questions that capture you off guard, like your talking to your best friend about what happened when you were a little kid and all that stuff. And that's what you get to see. And there's wonderful moments you get to see with everyone on camera. I went to the premiere screening in Los Angeles, and the audience was just in delight and ah! and reacting to these wonderful moments that you would never catch on an ordinary interview. That's why I think this one, I haven't seen the first one, but I know this one will really capture any viewing audiences the same way it captured the audience that night, particularly myself when I was watching it. I'm so proud to be part of this. Each interview is its own very special format, and it was just an honor - a delight because it gave every person hope and inspiration. It's extremely inspiring.
Did you relate to someone else's personal story from the Volume 2 documentary?
Dolores Huerta just devastated me. Devastated me. I love Jon Seda, whole thing about boxing being compared to the (Hollywood) industry - 'at least you can see the punches coming.' That kind of thing. The Puerto Rican athlete, I forget his name, about dancing the salsa on the sidelines (Victor Cruz). That kind of celebration that comes with every single thing that you achieve is like 'what!' I can relate to that. And George Lopez talking about his mom and making her laugh even through sickness, and talking about Indian and all the things that he is because that's what we all are. We are all these different things. We're black. We're indigenous. We're Indian. We're all these things that we get to own. You can be who you are right now. That's exactly what that whole thing is about. And of course Nely (Galan) was like "f*** it, I gave up my $2000 apartment" and starting my own thing and you suffer for a long time. You think for a long time, 'Am I doing the right thing? I have no idea if this is going to work.' And you have bouts of that. You really do have doubts of that. And you are living a dream? And this dream sucks! But you're in it now because you don't want to be wrong. Even Jesus had doubts, honey!
Should this documentary series be mandatory for Hollywood executives to watch in order to understand the complexities of the Latino culture?
That's an idea. I don't know about mandatory because shoving that kind of diversity down an executive's throat won't work. In terms of diversity training, it's a brilliant idea because its a brilliant documentary. It certainly cannot hurt.
What can we expect from Devious Maids?
You can expect five fabulous Latinas actresses in a lead turning it out like crazy. And you have Marc Cherry. You have Eva Longoria as the EP's (executive producer) and Marc Cherry as the writer. He's proven himself to breed success. And you have me, Ana Ortiz, Roselyn Sanchez, Dania Ramirez, and Edy Ganem. We're going to bring it.
Are you able to bring a little Latino flavor for each character?
There's nothing but Latino flavor. Five Latinas as the lead, are you crazy? It's all flavor.
THE LATINO LIST: VOLUME 2 is airing throughout the week on HBO Latino.
