You gotta find that hook so everybody can grab on to it. So that you're true to the culture but, at the same time, how it relates to the larger tapestry.
— Jimmy Smits
I've had the good fortune to play characters that have a role-model thing to them.
I always grapple with myself, from job to job, 'Is this going to make an impact in some way?'
I'm happy David Caruso is out there working.
My comfort zone has always been in an ensemble-type atmosphere.
How come actors feel like they have to give some kind of personal revelation attached to the project?
I have been in rooms with people arguing over a character that's not really fleshed out: that, just because the surname is Latino, that automatically means you have an accent.
That 'who's the sexiest' business is a crock that the media cooked up to sell magazines, so while I say thank you very much, I don't put much stock in it.
An actor tries to be versatile, to immerse himself in a different culture.
The great thing about working in cable is that, since the season is truncated - we only do 12 shows - the writers are more at ease in terms of mapping out the trajectory of the story and the characters.
For me, the bottom line is what's on the page.
I have and will continue to vigorously pursue opportunities in all mediums.
What happens to George Clooney and Bruce Willis is great, but I can't gauge my career by anyone else's.
I do want to be involved in quality projects that say something positive about the Latino community.
There's a lot of successful procedural shows that are out there. A lot of them are very successful. I just know there's an audience out there that wants character also.
When you're 27 million strong, no one can tell you that you don't belong or expect you to just move along.
Variety is the thing for me to be able to work in theater and be involved in more films and TV movies that say something.
All my Latino side is from the Bronx.
I know it affected me when I saw certain actors growing up. I had a drama teacher that would take us to see plays in New York, and it was seeing James Earl Jones and Raul Julia - I mean, this guy comes from the place my mother comes from. He's doing Shakespeare right now, and it doesn't seem to matter that he has an accent.
As an actor, you think to yourself, 'I want to do good work,' but you also want the work that you do to make an impact in some way.
I left 'L.A. Law' after five years when my contract was up because I felt I had done all I could do with the character. I didn't walk off the show with a three-picture deal to pursue this wonderful film career.
Latino people have come up to me and said they were motivated to become a lawyer because they saw me play one on TV - and you can't discount how great it is when they tell me I was the first.
I was asked to speak at a bar association, because there's an upswing on college applications - in general and for Latinos - because of 'L.A. Law.' I went to a couple of functions, and I just felt an energy: It was, you're doing a good job, but do you realize how important it is?
People become actors because they want to hide, and it's not easy to talk about myself. I accept that a certain responsibility goes with being an actor in the public eye, but I haven't found a comfortable way to deal with it.
My life hasn't changed that much. Sure, people recognize me, and airports can get tough, but the people who stop me tend to be real nice.
As an actor, it's hard to approach any character with negatives.
When you're doing 22 shows on network television, the writers are going on vapors towards the end and, as an actor, you're just trashed by the end.
I don't want to have the bounds put on me in terms of mediums.
My career aspirations as an actor have always been driven foremost by the creative desire to be versatile.
Every actor has to deal with what's on his plate, and I try to deal with doing the best work possible with the most challenging scripts. I don't base it on whether it's a feature film or a TV-movie or cable.
With the advent of cable and such, you guys are calling it the golden age of TV in terms of the writing and stuff. But it's like different branches of a big tree that TV has become.
I get my jolt of energy in New York. I get mi familia vibe in New York.
What's on the page dictates a lot of what I do. When the words are there, it's easy.
It's a lot of a workload doing an hour dramatic show. It's just incredible what little time off you get.
I wasn't a great student, but I was interested in this theater thing, and I could spend hours in the library researching why the cuffs in the 18th century had four buttons. It was my handle.
I was in Puerto Rico going to school, and it was very jarring for me. 'Traumatic' is the only way that I can say it. Kids were making fun of me: 'Oh, you're a Yankee.' And I acted out a lot. A lot. But looking back, and through a little bit of therapy, everything I am has to do with that time.
I work out, but I'm not doing it specifically because I show my butt on TV.
There just aren't enough positive portrayals of Latino life in film.
I have carried the burden of being a role model for some time. And that's great. The body of work I've done has afforded me that opportunity.
I've been told that I wasn't Latino enough, which was code for 'street' enough.
My central strength as an actor is the fact that I'm 6 foot 3. A certain power emanates from my size, juxtaposed with the fact that I try to find an element of sensitivity in every character I play. People enjoy seeing that because it goes against what we're led to expect as far as the way men are supposed to be - macho and all that.
We tend to think of World War II and all the atrocities that happened, and people say, 'Never again.' But these things are still happening. The Amnesty International files are big.
Doing a truncated series is like doing a long movie, which allows for a certain artistic freedom. After just 12 episodes, you can take a breather and do other things for your career.
Of course you draw from yourself, but the artistic nourishment you want to get is be versatile, do something different, and I think I got a chance to do that in a lot of different ways.
I'm usually very analytical when I'm prepping stuff: real into the head thing.
When I grew up, we went to Coney Island and Central Park. We'd find our way to the water and watch the fireworks.
I don't feel I have to acknowledge how I'm doing by an award.
There's show business, and the business is sometimes in capital letters. You just have to give it your best shot when up at bat.
California has been very good to me in terms of the professional arena.
I'm not going to leave one of the best shows to do another TV show.
