I don't know... I don't think you can trust any of Kurt's characters. That's how Mr. Sutter operates: nothing is what it seems.
— Jimmy Smits
What we need to focus on is not that we're not nominated, but that we have many more Latinos that are in prominent positions on shows all across the dial than ever before.
There are some things you have to give up to the higher power.
Growing up in New York, we lived all around the city depending on our economic circumstance. I also lived in Puerto Rico for a number of years.
I can't get into talking about why another actor left. It has nothing to do with me.
I think education was the key for me, and that's what I tell kids. That base in the classics gave me something to springboard from, which I wouldn't have had if I'd come out to Los Angeles early and been guest punk of the week on 'Hill Street Blues.'
I feel a responsibility to try and give back. I see young people out there who are trained, and any way I can help them and give them an opportunity is gratifying.
It just makes you feel proud, more than anything else, that the work has in some way transcended itself.
I started out in the theater, and my background is classical. I'd love to be in a film version of a Shakespeare play.
Michael C. Hall is an incredibly detailed actor who can convey so much with just an eyebrow.
I'm socially awkward in life, and that's one of the reasons why I do what I do. I'm more about interpreting other people's words.
I almost feel like sometimes when I'm on location, you miss your home and your family and all that stuff, but it keeps you focused on the work.
As an actor, I just want to keep mixing it up.
I save the rage for the stage.
I've always strived to keep mixing it up, keep doing different things, and work in all different parts of our business.
Education is the key in so many ways.
When we are out there selling a new picture, when did it become part of the deal that you have to sell the family? To use the juicy part of your life to get attention? I'm not blaming the reporters. It's the system.
I have no tattoos at all - it was a huge undertaking for me in the '80s to let my parents know I was piercing my ear when I did 'L.A. Law.'
I'm happy that just about on every other show there's a Latino somewhere present, and we're not all the cooks anymore.
Nurturing a project from the ground floor is something I've been wanting to do.
It's a lot of pressure. Some of the cast wants a StairMaster on the set so you can work out like crazy before your naked scene.
I am very Latino in everything I am and I do, but there's a part of me that's also something else. I'm reflective of the way this country's gonna be in the next 40 years. More multicultural is what we'll see.
At first, I took theater courses on the side. Then, theater became my minor; then it was my major.
It's great to be able to play the 'bad guy' role, because you always get a lot to do, but I'm always looking at the why - how does a person get to that particular point.
I grew up in New York City, and I've got wonderful memories of the Fourth of July fireworks.
The friendships I made on 'L.A. Law,' with the cast and Steven Bochco and David Kelley were really wonderful.
When I sit down and sign up for something, I vet where the people are coming from.
'West Wing' was a show about politics.
I couldn't see myself doing a traditional sitcom.
When you have celebrity, it's a whole different thing than being an artist.
I'm not a policy wonk - I'm somewhere between being undecided and a surrogate.
If you're given gifts or blessings in your life, it's up to you to help the guy coming up behind you.
As an actor and as a performer, I've felt that the education system has really helped me in a lot of ways... there was always a teacher or a professor along the way that kept pushing me to the next stage.
There's something so familial and intimate between a boxer and his trainer.
We're at a point right now in our development in this country - setting the immigration issue aside - that you can't ignore the sheer population of us in metropolitan areas all across the country, of how significant Latino-ness is in the United States.
I used to wear sneakers with those nice suits because I wanted Victor Sifuentes to have a bounce in the courtroom.
I've been lucky because I've had wonderful teachers along the way who have nurtured and pushed me to the next level.
Nude scenes aren't fun.
Women think the people that I play are smoldering and dangerous. I look in the mirror, and I go, 'I don't get it.'
I went to Brooklyn College as an education major. It was a big deal in the family, but really, I was living for Mom and Dad.
You can't get so serious as to not realize that what we do is entertainment, but when you have the chance to provoke thought or advance discussion on a topic, it's just the icing on the cake.
The Fourth of July concert is invigorating in so many ways, in terms of what it feels like to be an American.
The hits and the misses. I just want to keep the at-bats solid.
Everything in moderation, like calories.
I worked on a show called 'West Wing' before. I didn't work with Aaron Sorkin, but he created the show and set the tenor of the show, which was you follow the words of the script perfectly because there's a dramaturgical thing behind it.
I had opportunities to stay on shows for long periods of time, and maybe financially that would have been good, but I feel good about trying to keep doing things that are a little bit different than what I've done.
Unfortunately, considering that we Latinos are really big for movie companies when they have blockbuster releases or new cable shows, when it comes to the dynamic of supporting our own product, it leaves much to be desired.
The Latino population has become such a presence. We are part of the American tapestry in a very profound way, in every area you can think of, and are very significant in popular culture.
Media images are so important to young people feeling positive about themselves.
You have to find what makes you stable in the storm. Then, no matter what's happening round you, no matter what the hype or the publicity, you can still manage to make leaps in your work as an artist.
