Luis Antonio Ramos
©2013 Angela María Ortíz S.
SeFija! publisher Angela Ortíz caught up with veteran character actor Luis Antonio Ramos at a Television Critics Association event a few weeks ago and talked about his career–past, present, and future.
For more than 34 years, we’ve seen Luis in movies and on TV, including roles in Trouble in the Heights, Common Law, Burn Notice, Roc, The Huntress and more. This fall he gets to plays his first “regular guy, a good guy, a family man” in ABC’s new series Lucky 7, about a group of New Yorkers who win the lottery and have to deal with the consequences, both good and bad. Luis is ecstatic at the opportunity. “I have a family and kids!” he said.
For years, Luis told Angela he was relegated to the same negative roles that Latinos have had to play for decades: “the gangster, gang-banger, rapist, all around bad man…” He mentioned those roles when he was part of the Lucky 7panel at the TCA, and he got emotional–a little choked up–when he talked about them.
Luis and some cast members of Lucky 7
©2013 Angela María Ortíz S.
In his conversation with Angela, he told her how he had to leave Hollywood a few years ago, and go back home to New York to find himself again, to “save his sanity.” He dropped out of acting for a while because those roles were the only roles that producers were giving him, and it was beginning to affect his spirituality and spirit. Then he went back to acting on stage, and found that being in plays made him happy. Then, when the Lucky 7 role came around he was ready for it.
This fall is a new beginning for his film career as well. As excited as he is about the TV series, he’s equally enthusiastic about his upcoming film, The Miracle of Spanish Harlem, in theaters in October. He has a family in this film as well, and Kate del Castillo plays his wife.
And all the way along, Luis has lived his life to the fullest. He’s an avid biker and has a blog called Luis Antonio Ramos—Actor on a Bike, You can check out his blog here.
Meanwhile, here’s just a snippet of the talk we had with him–this bit on the red carpet, where he talks about his own luck and love of life.
Lucky 7 premieres on Tuesday Sept. 24 at 10P on ABC. You can learn more about the show here, and even catch chef Mario Batali interview with Luis and other members of the cast. Actress Alex Castillo plays his TV wife.
Special thanks to Lea Michelle Cash for her contribution to this post.
