A while back, we had a chance to sit down with Carlos Gómez of The Glades and talked about his long and successful career in Hollywood and on Broadway. Now you can see it here…and on YouTube.
It’s easy (and wrong!) to forget that Carlos Gómez is more than ‘just’ a TV actor. True, he’s been at it–and successfully–for the better part of twenty years. But he began on stage in New York–in the ensemble of Zorba with Anthony Quinn, no less–and worked on Broadway for more than seven years in musical theater before he packed his bags and came to Hollywood, and we began seeing him in quality TV product and the occasional movie, from ER to Charmed to 24 to Sleeper Cell…and, most recently in three seasons on The Glades. (Actually, Gómez is busy right now, filming Season Four of the popular A&E crime drama, with Kiele Sanchez and Matt Passmore.)
In our on-camera conversation, he talked about his time on Broadway and how live performance differs from work in film and on TV, and he talked about the inevitable early days when he was forced to take roles he didn’t exactly love. “I tried to find something good in the character,” he said “rather than complain. Just take the job.” And he talks about the actors who influenced him early on, like Hector Elizondo and Tony Plana, Best of all, he tells us a bit about his future plans, including how he’s currently shadowing directors on his TV show, with the goal of directing a future episode himself, and his larger ambition to become a TV director and producer. And he talks about Latino Broadway (“There isn’t one. There’s West Side Story, and then there’s In the Heights, and that’s about it.”) and in greater depth about Latino Hollywood. ‘That’s a different story,” he said. “I’ve dealt with it many, many times, and I still think that that unless we do projects and movies that Latinos are going to get behind, and go to that opening weekend to see that movie, it’s very difficult for Hollywood as a business corporation to invest in that. As a business owner, I don’t see it.”
Get a close look at this talented actor in our exclusive interview with Se Fija! publisher Angela Ortíz. You can see it below, or click through to the SeFija Online YouTube Channel for this and other one-of-a-kind videos.
Photos: ©2012 Angela María Ortíz S.
