Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, there are folks quick, can you name the highest
grossing Spanish language movie of all time? It's okay, I
couldn't either, But then I found out who wrote, directed,
and starred in it, and I said, oh, that guy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
We love that guy, and that guy just happens to
be our guest right here today on this episode of
Amy and TJ.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Welcome everybody to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Rose.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
This is like, you're giddy. You know him, you know
him so well, you love him and everything you've seen,
and now we got him in here with us.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
A you Henneo Derbez and that smiles, even his face,
like as soon as you see it, it makes what
doesn't matter what kind of day you're having, all of
a sudden you feel lighter, brighter, better. He is that
light and certainly everything he's been touching as a blade
has been turning to gold. I mean, it's an incredible story.
A Hano, thank you for being with us, and congratulations
(01:02):
on all of your remarkable success.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Oh, thank you guys. First of all, thanks for so
beautiful introduction. I had chills. Thank you very much, thank you,
thank you, thank you. Well. Yeah, I am, I'm a
very familiar face to all Latinos. Let's say they've been
watching my shows for decades, but I'm a kind of
(01:30):
a new phase for the for the Americans. It's it's
a great story because I had a career my entire life.
I worked in Mexico, from Mexico for all Latin America,
and and eleven years ago after my I did a
movie called Instructions Not Included. That was the one who
(01:53):
had the title of the highest crossing Spanish language film
ever worldwide. And that movie changed my and so eleven
years ago I moved to the US and I started
from scratch in my career here in the US. So
it's been it's been a trip.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
You started from scratch. You have a you know, a
star on the Hollywood Walk of FG, which is always
like that big You've made it moment, and that is
that was nine years ago. Even so all you've done
since then. When I see you, I think of how
to be a Latin lover. I think about the Overboard
remake because that is literally my favorite movie, the original
of all time. And you all just did Anna Faris.
(02:35):
It was such a cute flip on a script that
I loved. But Dora, the Lost City of gold. I mean,
you just name it. And so all of you have
been on the big screen for some many of us.
But now you're wrapping up a highly successful four seasons
on Apple plus Acapulco and we've been watching it all
(02:56):
morning long. It just puts you on a good mood.
It's such a great fun just like it's It's something
that you don't have out there and a lot of
the streaming services, something that's wholesome even and fun.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
To watch absolutely well. I always wanted to. I remember
that I grew up watching a series with my parents,
The Beverly Hill Billies, the Monsters, the Adams Family, the
Love Boats, you name it, many many many, and I
was like, why they don't do family stuff right now?
(03:32):
Everything is about kidnapping, murders, blood, sex, violence, And I
wanted to do something that could you could watch with
your family. And also I wanted to portray Mexico in
a different way because every time you would turn on
(03:53):
the news and you hear about Mexico, it's always about
narcos killing all the bad stuff that I know it's there,
but Mexico is more, much more than that, and I
really wanted to show Mexico the others side of Mexico
that sometimes the news doesn't show. So that's why we
(04:13):
came up with this idea of a Capulco that it's
it's based slightly based in in How to Be a
Latin Lover. It's like the prequel of How to Be
a Latin Lover that if you if you haven't watched
the movie, it's a very very very funny movie with
Sana Hayek, Robbulo, Kristen Bell, Michael Sarah. It's a great
(04:34):
cast and it was hilarious and Raquel Welch also it
was her last movie. So anyway, we decided to do
this prequel called Akapulco, and thank god we've been on
the air for the last four seasons.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
You talked about how successful a lot fat might I
know you were wildly successful in Mexico. Everybody knows you,
of course in Latin America. But to compare for me,
if you will, compare might be the wrong word, but
success in Mexico as a television or movie star and
success in Hollywood as a television or movie star, and
(05:14):
some of that. You could talk about the practical rewards
and what life looks like. But for you personally, How
did those two accomplishments even compare or feel different to
conquering Mexico or and then conquering a certain degree Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It's completely different. I remember that I tried to do
the crossover for many many years. I remember that I was,
let me tell you really quickly story I was in.
I fell in love with Hollywood. Since I was a kid.
I used to go to the movie theaters to watch
Hollywood movies with my mom and we watched like three
(05:54):
movies on Friday, four movies on Saturday, three movies. It
was insane. I really loved with movies. And every year
I was watching the Oscars, and one day I told
my mom while we were watching the Oscars, that's what
I want to do when I grow up. I want
to tell stories. I want to be a storyteller. And
(06:14):
since then I fell in love with Hollywood. But then
I started working in Mexico. Thank god, I had a
very successful career. And it was until my mom died
when I was forty two. And when I somebody called me,
I always think that it was my mom from heaven
(06:36):
reminding me that I had a dream. But anyway, she
passed after she passed. Like two weeks later, I received
the call from an agent from Hollywood, and that's when
I remember, of course I had a dream. So first
thing I did, I said, yeah, let's have a meeting
in la And I immediately called Berlitz and I started
(07:00):
taking English lessons because my English was really, really really
it is still I'm still a working progress, but it
was really bad back then. And I started learning English,
real English at forty two, and well, yeah, and here
I am. I started. I had a meeting then I
(07:23):
long story, I'm not gonna bore you, but I ended
up three years after that meeting. I ended up doing
a play in Broadway on Broadway at the Helen Hayes
Theater called Latino Loagues. And then I did a movie
with Adam Sandler Blah blah blah blah blah, Jack and Jill.
(07:44):
And then I did a TV series with Rob Schnyder
called Rob and I was ten years later, after trying
to do the crossover, finally I did Broadway. I did
my movie with Adam Sandler, I did a series and
many other things in the middle and then I said, Okay,
I I had it. I'm going to go back to
(08:06):
my country because this it was taking a lot of
energy from me. Because I had my career in Mexico.
I was like shooting all the week long my my
TV shows, and then during the weekends I was coming
to the US to do my stuff. It was insane.
So I said, not anymore, and I went back to
(08:26):
Mexico and to do my movie called Instruction Not Included.
And when I quit the American Dream and I came back,
it came back when it is the theaters. So it's
a it's a it's a great story. You know.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I'm curious about the We were just talking about this
with Bad Money the other night. Well, he did Saturday
Night Live. He did, He hosted Saturday Night Live. English
is not his first language either, and I was thinking
about how terrifying that is if I had to go
to fans and get in front of a live television audience,
no matter how good my French might be. When you
started learning English at forty two, how long before you
(09:07):
got the first gig in which you had to perform
in English? And what did that feel like? Having to
like this is it? You got to try out the
English you've been learning and do it on camera.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
That's a great question. I this is a story I
went to I came to La as a tourist one
not a tourists. I had to learn English after that meeting.
I remember that I took my meeting and I said,
I need urgently to take English lessnse. So I went
to Berlin's. I took like a week intense week course
(09:45):
and then the teacher sent me to see a play
called Latino Loogux that was in a at the current theater,
this small theater in La and I saw this monologues
and I said I I cannot do this. I have
to be honest with me. I can't do this. But
(10:06):
but the director.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
There was a Latin actor who knew me. He saw
me in the in the audience and he presented me
with the director. The director invited me, if you ever
want to do a monologue, just call me and come
to La and do it. And I was like, I
didn't tell him, but I was like, I cannot do this.
I know my ligit. I cannot do this. Well. It
(10:32):
was in my head for three months and after three
months I said I'm gonna do it. So I called
the director. They sent me three monologues. I learned the
monologues by I mean literally by the book. I didn't
know what I was saying. I was trying to do
some research, but it was a lot of slang and
(10:53):
things that were related with the culture, and I was
afraid of asking because I didn't want to lose the opportunity.
So I just learned everything just by the book memory memorized.
I didn't I saw I was not understanding what I
was saying. And I finally showed up like six months later.
(11:16):
So I was still learning English when I stood up
in front of this audience in La and I delivered
my first monologue like nine months after I started studying
and studying English. And that night, after that monologue, I
went to a hotel, to my hotel to sleep, and
(11:38):
I had an internal bleeding because of the stress I had,
and I ended up. I ended up in the hospital.
I had to call nine one one because I was fainting.
I called the reception. I was like, I feel really bad.
So anyway, story short story, I went to the hospital
(11:59):
because I was because the amount of stress that I
had that night, it was insane.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Jesus.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I mean that just speaks to what you put yourself
through there was a physical manifestation of the stress and
the worry, all the hard work. I'm for the pressure
you put on yourself to be the best, but my goodness, yeah,
and then what did you change?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Did you?
Speaker 4 (12:22):
How did you evolve from that where Okay, I can
now get up and perform and not feel this terrible
and this scared. How long did it take?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Well? I after that night, I continued every every single
weekend without any payment. They just let me perform. I
had to pay my own hotels, flights, everything. So every
weekend I was like going back to LA to perform
until three years later. Three years later, every single weekend
(12:57):
performing we ended up on Broadway with that play. That
was a play that we presented on Broadway. So but
before that, it was insane, I know, and I was
I wasn't Broadway and I was telling my my, my,
my friends. The actors that were performing with me. I
was like, why you never told me that I was
(13:19):
mispronouncing a lot of words And they were like, well,
we thought you were like playing with the with the language,
making fun of the language. I was like, no, no, no,
it was me mispronouncing. But let me tell you story,
uh I? I mean after I decided to do this.
(13:40):
I mean I I went to the hospital that day.
I'm sorry because I'm like, I don't want you to
confuse you. I decided to to finally perform in English
every weekend. Then I went back to Mexico. I I
did Broadway in La, no Broadway in New York, and
(14:04):
then I went back to La to do the Adam
Sander movie, then the Rob Schneider and then I quit
the American Dream. But I was still working in Mexico
with my show on my TV shows that were airing
every single week at the same time. So it was
really really tired, tired for me. And then I had
(14:27):
to make a decision. When the movie opens in two
thoy thirteen and it became the highest grossing splanis Langlas
film in the US and worldwide, my agents told me,
you need to come to the US, and it's now
or never. So I closed my office, my production company,
(14:49):
every my entire life. I shut down my entire life
in Mexico to move to the US. And I was
fifty two by then, So it's been it's been an
insane adventure.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
And you know, a you hennyway, I think it is
so cool for people to hear and to listen because
people think I'm too old. I can't do this, I
can't learn that. I can't be that vulnerable. I can't
push myself that hard. I'm this age to hear you
(15:27):
tell your story and to see your level of success.
It wasn't luck, it wasn't right place, right time. It
was courage, and it was hard work. And that was
and of course you're talented, you have to have that foundation.
But that is so inspirational and I appreciate. I know
people listening appreciate hearing your story because we give up
(15:50):
too quickly. But to hear what you did and to
see your success, it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Even I appreciate hearing it.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Oh, thank you. It was. It was hard because I
remember that I was fifty two when I took a
lip of faith and I left everything behind. Everyone. Everyone
in Mexico was telling me, are you crazy? I mean,
you have a family, You had the highest My show
was number one on ratings in Mexico. Imagine like, I
(16:20):
don't know if all of a sudden, Jimmy fallon quitting
his job and going to China to start all over
in another language.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, that would be saying.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
It was insane in the room. Are you crazy? Your
show is number one on the Are you going to
quit your show? Your production company? Everything? But I felt
inside of me that it was my dreams. Inside was
a kid that I and I fought for it like
it left ten years before and it didn't really happen.
(16:55):
So it was now or never. So I moved to
LA and it was this is a true story. When
I took them, I make the decision to move to
the US. June nineteenth, I was flying with my wife
finally with all my luggage to start a new life
(17:15):
in the US. And that day we woke up at
four am. We say we said goodbye to my house
for many many years, friends, family, and I was on
the airplane with my wife and I was like, I
asked her, do you think we're making the right decision?
And she was like, my love, it's too late. Let's
(17:37):
just go for it. We were flying and when we
landed in LA we had hundreds of messages. While we
were flying from Mexico to LA. They gave me the
start in the Hollywood Book of Fame. While we were flying.
I mean, if I put this in a movie, They
(17:59):
will say, come on the day you were moving from Mexico,
that day you received it. Well, that really happened in
real life.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
And when we come on sign oh come on it
no way, this is the universe asking your question that
you asked me when we were about to take off.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
So it's crazy that that same day, when we were flying,
I received the news that I got the starting the
Hollywood Block of Fame.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
It's called validation from the universe.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah, are you one of those folks who again, I've
been on board with this more of the past few
years because of my dear Amy Robot here. But don't
ignore the signs from the universe. Are you one that
now pays attention to signs? Are you one that follows
or you one that kind of has ignored them a
lot of times in your life? Because this one was
(18:51):
a clear sign.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Absolutely. I I I'm always looking for those signs that
life is given you. And the first time I really
understood the value of flowing. Actually I'm right right now,
I'm writing a movie about about that. But the first
(19:14):
time I pay attention was when I in two thousand
and one, I was doing my shows were like number one.
For the first time I was the peak of my
career in television in Mexico and I wanted to transition
to movies and nobody wanted to hire me. And I
(19:35):
was like, but why, I mean, I have the highest ratings.
All the companies wanted to work with me, but not
the the movie directors, the director from the movies. They
didn't want to hire me, and they said, you are
too commercial, too commercial for us, you are the TV comedian.
(20:00):
So they never gave me the opportunity. And that's when
I and back then, I said this is not fair.
Life is not fair. I was blaming on everyone and
and but because of that, I had the courage to
start writing my first movie, because I said, if nobody's
(20:21):
gonna is giving me the opportunity, I have to build
my own opportunity. And that day I sat down to
start writing my own movie. Twelve years later, that movie
was instructions not included. When I I was finishing the movie,
(20:43):
I told my produce, my co producer, I was like,
I want to put at the very end in the
credits something like I want to thank all the people
who rejected me, because thanks to them, I could make
this movie. I didn't do it but that was a lesson.
(21:04):
Sometimes life is you you feel that this is unfair.
Why is this happening to me? It's the universe telling
you it's this way, not this way.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You didn't have to put that at the end of
your movie at all, because when you were on the
Oscar stage with your cast from Coda getting a freaking Oscar,
I assure you that was a bigger message than anything
you could have put at the credits.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Now I got Chelsea, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Oh yes, we didn't even talk about Soda that movie.
My god, what I've seen it twice now, but your performance,
along with everyone else in that cast, that had to
be What was that moment like you've just described how
you have, you know, just paved your way like a bulldozer,
just finding a way, forging your own path to be
(21:56):
standing on that stage for that incredible piece of art.
What was that moment? Like?
Speaker 3 (22:02):
It was surreal. As I told you before, I used
to watch the Oscars every year since I was eight
years old. I was watching every year the Oscars with
my mom by my side. So if you see the
video when we are receiving the Oscar at the very end,
you will see me back looking at the sky and
(22:25):
I was talking with my mom. It's it's there. I
don't have the picture right now, but I was like Mom.
Inside of me, I was like telling Mom, I'm here.
I mean, I know, many many years ago, I was
on the other side of the TV in my house
in Mexico watching the Oscars. Now I'm here. Finally. I
couldn't believe it. And I swear that year there were
(22:50):
there were many, many, many movies with it was Leonardo DiCaprio,
Jennifer Lawrence, will Smith, Al Pacino, Lady Gaga, your Red Letto.
The casts of the other movies was insane, and we
were small independent movie with no big names. So I
(23:12):
was absolutely sure that we were not gonna win. It
was like so I enjoyed the Oscars so bad because
I was like, I'm sure this, It's just I we're
not gonna win. I don't have to speak anything. So
I was just watching the Oscars. I was a little
(23:33):
bit shocked by the slap because that year was well
remember but all of the time when they said and
the winner is coda, I just couldn't believe. I'm I
don't have I don't remember what happened when between they
said coda, and I went to the stage. I was like,
(23:55):
it was like all the memories coming into my head
and the shock that I don't even remember what happened
between they said code and I went to the stage.
It was insane.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But how did your life change from the moment you
got off that stage. We've seen the projects you've been
doing and what now, But really what how did you
feel life got different from you? Almost literally from the
moment you walked off that stage.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Everything changes in your life. I remember that in just
I was shooting a movie called Radical and I had to.
I stopped shooting for just twenty four hours to go
to the Oscars, and then I went back to Mexico
and just the airport was insane, insane. I couldn't walk
(24:44):
when I came back to my country because the press
was there and they didn't let me even walk outside
the airport and a lot of offers, and I remember
that I had to. It's very dangerous when you you
get to that point, because you have to make a
lot of big decisions. And I think I was not
(25:05):
ready for that, because you have a lot of voices
like don't take any job, wait for something more important,
and on the other side, it's like, no, no, no,
this is a great opportunity. It's really really, really life changing.
It's complicated. And then on the other hand, I'm well
(25:25):
known for being a comedian, so constantly everyone wanted me
to do comedy, and I want to do more drama.
So it was like also a struggle, a big struggle
in what kind of offers take and what to do
with my career from now on. So it's been a challenge, I.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Mean, and I think it's so cool to see your
work and to see you building your career across two cultures,
and to be able to be bilingual and to have
some Spanish and some English in your projects, to ring
and unite two neighboring countries together in the midst of
a lot of political upheaval. How do you balance making
(26:07):
the art you make with the realities that you see
all around you? I mean, that has to be tough,
you know. Do you speak out? Do you say what
you think? Do you feel like you would be ostracized
in a way if you actually spoke how you truly feel?
I mean, I'm just curious, as an artist and as
a Mexican, how you balance that.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
It's really hard to balance because, as I just mentioned,
I want to do something more significant, something deeper, especially
after Coda. When I was shooting Coda, I remember that
we had the project and I beg you to watch
(26:50):
a movie called Radical, because Radical was one of the
projects that I wanted to do for many, many years.
But the studios were like, no, no, no, you are the
funny guy. You did a one hundred million dollars with
instruction not included overboarded also one hundred million dollars at
the box office, so you need to continue doing comedies.
(27:13):
And I wanted to do something deeper, something different. I
wanted to explore drama, et cetera. And Coda, thank God,
was the project that opened a small door to start
changing that that vision that all the producers have of me.
(27:35):
So it's helped me a lot because after Code, I
did Radical that won the Sundance Film Festival and it's
based on a true story. It's incredible. You have to
watch it. And but still until this day is for
me a very very complicated because the studios, the producers,
(27:58):
they were always asking me to commercial stuff and I
don't really want to. I want to do something different,
and that's been the struggle to balance my entire life
between I know that I can make a lot of
money and at the box office, at least in Latin America.
I've been always thank god I have a very faithful
(28:20):
fan base, but at the same time, I want to
do something different, and it's been it's been very complicated
to find the balance I.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Have there and trying to find the balance. You're talking
about some somebody's offering you something and then somebody saying, hey,
you need to hold on for something bigger. Has there
been something or projects that have come along that you
did say no to and then you see how they
came out later and you go, damn, I could have
done that better, or man, I would have Do you
have those roles and movies that you have given up
and just something that still sticks with you, like, damn,
(28:52):
I shouldn't have given that one up.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah, since the beginning of my career, Okay, let me
I said no. I said no to Alphonso when he
was in his first movie. He was he was a student,
he was not well known. I was I was already
(29:15):
working on TV. And he called me for his first
movie project, and and I said no to him, and
and I think that's why I've never worked with him again, because.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Why do you say no?
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Because I was I just had my first TV show.
After many many years of uh you know, uh struggling
of asking for jobs in Mexico, I was starting my
career and this is I got finally my first TV
show in Mexico when Alphonso called me and he was
(29:54):
still a student at UH and in the in Mexico,
in in a place in a school called well whatever,
c CEC. I think it's CCC and UH, and he
was doing his how do you call his final exam
with a movie called solo only with your I know
(30:19):
how it translates to do English like only with your
partner or only with your something. So uh. The thing
is that I was doing the skilly show and I
was like, I'm too busy right now. This guy is
a very nice students, but I don't have time to
do things. So thank you allphone, so thank you very much.
(30:42):
And I didn't do that, so I of course I
regretted a lot. And now we're friends. He's a friend
of mine, but he's never hired me again.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
And do you have a lot of I can only
imagine how many young men and women, especially from Mexico,
look up to you and say, I want to do
what Aohinio did, I want to be like him? What
(31:16):
advice do you give, especially those young folks, but anyone
truly who looks at someone's improbable story like yours and think,
how could I do that? Or I could never do that?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
I would say, And it's something I always mentioned to
especially to students. Never say I cannot do this. Ever,
it's complicated, but the only way that I've at least
in my experience. Don't put your life or your opportunities
(31:51):
in somebody else's hands. Create your own opportunities. So I'm
always telling if you want to make a movie, or
you want to make it TV show, whatever you want
to do, write it yourself. But I'm not a writer, okay,
So go and work as a waiter, or go wash
(32:13):
cars or do whatever you want, make some money, and
then hire a writer and sit down with him with him.
Not just please write something, No, sit down with him.
Develop your own script. And that's the only way you're
going to achieve your dreams. Don't wait until someone calls you.
(32:34):
Create your own opportunities. Don't ask for a job, Come
and knock at the door with the proposal. That's what
it changed my life.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
How do you the folks you do tell that to
the maybe young students are up and coming actors, writers, directors,
How do they receive that news? I asked that because
sometimes a younger generation gets no, no, sometimes criticized for
wanting it all too quickly, or I'll I'll use a
YouTube channel and I just want to go viral kind
of a thing. And they look at you and they
(33:07):
see your success. They don't know the grind and the
every weekend for three years in la flights you're making right,
So how do they receive that news when you tell
them put your head down and get to work.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
I feel that nowadays generation they don't understand that anymore.
It's like they, as you just said, they want everything quick,
easy and and and unfortunately this device, it's it's danger
because anyone from your house, from your home, you can
(33:42):
just put it in front and do this. For the
reason that I don't understand why you have ten million
US and now you're famous. And of course how can
why I would listen to Ans or TG or Amy
or or Robert de Niro or whever you want. When
(34:03):
I know that by doing I'm going to have ten
million reviews and companies are gonna pay me a lot
of money for doing so. It's that's another world.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
How old are your kids are you, Haniel?
Speaker 3 (34:19):
I have three grown ups thirty well, yeah, thirty seven,
thirty three, and thirty one, and a little one eleven.
The little one, Yeah, the little one is like that.
I didn't we were not expecting to have another kid,
(34:40):
but we finally decided to and she changed my entire life.
So and now I'm struggling with having her off screen
as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, that's eleven. You said we had a twelve year old.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Here you are eleven. So we have to make them
understand that this is not good for anyone.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
But I think it's pretty cool to hear about the
fact that you and your adult children and your wife
all forming a company together. I mean, that is the dream,
isn't it for so many people? Just to do what
you love and then to do it with the people
you love. How has that been navigating that?
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Well, let me tell you all my kids, for some reason,
they decided to be to get to be in the
show business. So all of them are independent and all
of them are successful. They are starring each one of them.
They're starting already their own movies, serious TV shows. And
(35:46):
my three kids and my wife is a very popular
pop singer right now, she's in Mexico, she's touring. She's
always like performing in front of twenty five thousand people.
So we decided one day to do a show called
Traveling with Lost Their Best Traveling with their Best family,
(36:06):
and you can watch it and on Amazon worldwide, and
I think in the US unfortunately it's in a small
platform called vix but it's one of the most and
I think it's number one series for Amazon in Latin America.
So every single year we do a trip. We just
(36:29):
launched Japan season. We went to Japan with the entire
family and it's really really successful. I don't know why
it was for me, it was an experiment, but it
worked really well. I was like, people are not going
to be interested in me traveling with my family. It's
gonna be it's not gonna happen. People are not gonna
watch this. Well, it was a huge success. So after
(36:53):
five seasons, we decided to launch a studio with my
entire family and we are going to start We're going
to start working in our own stuff. We're not going
to wait for companies, studios or platforms to hire us.
We're going to start producing our own stuff with our
(37:14):
own ideas. And that's the idea of this to you.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
And you wonder why they want you to keep doing comedy.
You've gone through everything you touched. This was number one,
this was the highest person in this, this was number
one here, and this was number one. So yeah, they
see your number one resume and it's hard. Why would
we have him step out of that lane where he's successful.
But to your point, it's a good one. I think
a lot of actors that already struggle with that, even
(37:39):
musicians right trying to try something new. So I applaud
you for doing so and sticking with it. My last
question for you has to do with you know you
mentioned it at the top right. It's difficult to see
and you're trying to give a different impression in our
view of Mexico. And I know we've turned the TV
here every single day and the debates are going on
in politics. I'm not going to get into a political debate,
(38:00):
but it has gotten nasty with immigration talk and the
ice raids. If you had a chance to, I know,
you can't sit down with every single American who's maybe
you applaud in the ice raids and maybe don't maybe
have a colder heart when it comes to the compassion
for people who are maybe here illegally for whatever reason.
If you had a chance, though, to just make a
(38:22):
plead to them to soften their hearts a little bit
about what they're seeing. Nobody here wants anyone to break
the law and get away with it. We all can
agree on that, but there's a little compassion sometimes that's
missing from the conversation. For you, if you could just
take a moment for those Americans, what would you say
to them to try to possibly just soften the heart
or give a little different perspective.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Thank you for this opportunity and for this question. I
would say, I know that we just see or feel
that all these people coming to this country are stealing jobs.
First of all, they're not stealing anything. They are the
(39:08):
ones that start America at four am by cooking cleaning.
When you arrive to your office, a Latino already cooked
your breakfast, or clean your floor or whatever in any area.
We are hard working people, but we're in this country
(39:30):
not because we want to make more money or steal
a job. Most of the people that are all these
immigrants that come to the US are clean, are running
away from violence. It's not their fault. I swear. I've
seen these people that are constantly threatened. They rape their
(39:55):
woman's their child, they're steal their houses. The narcos sometimes
many of them, they're constantly making. All these people flee
from their countries because they're again they're raping, stealing, There's
no job opportunities, so these people are starving, so they
(40:18):
come to the US just to find some peace, to
find a decent way to make a living, and to
feed their families and their kids. So I just want
to put this on the table, because they're not criminals,
or they're not just looking well, let's go to the
US to make more money. Why not. No, they're literally
(40:42):
fleeing from being killed or being raped or starving, and
all they want is to work decently and try to
feed their families.
Speaker 4 (40:57):
You know, and we appreciate that. I can't imagine just
the pull that must but you must feel, and so
many other just Latino Americans and Latinos around the world
just feeling torn because people don't understand unless you've walked
in their shoes. And I think that's what we're all
hoping for.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
I mean, so.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Many of us just want there to be just more
perspective and bigger hearts and just a willingness to try
and understand and to ask questions instead of to throw accusations.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
So yeah, we appreciate that, no think. And of course
in one and I don't know in between, in ten
thousand people probably are two that are not good people,
but they're like pointing them like they're like they they're
like gang members, like you kill assistance or rapers. They're not.
(41:54):
They're good people and they're they have families, and it
breaks my heart to see how they are like reporting
them and tearing them away from their kids and making
I don't know, it's a mess. It's a very complicated subject.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
Well, the art that you make, uh and certainly just
even programs like Alcopolco, which I love that you're part
of your mission is to show people your culture, your people,
not in the way they've been depicted on the news,
but in the way you live, breathe see experience them.
And anyone who travels to your beautiful country knows the same.
(42:32):
We're huge fans.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
We're there.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
We try to be there at least once a year.
We love the West and the East coast. They are
and we I still want to go to Mexico City.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
I'm gonna start going on the weekend. Get my Spanish better.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yes, Mexico City. It's a great, great city. It's it's
it's it's so completely different from anything else you'll see.
And great food, by the way, it is in there.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
It's on my list. But yes, we are just huge
fans of yours and your work and just continued success.
I don't think that you need any like adda boys
from us, because certainly you are self motivated in a
way most people are not, and you have read benefits
and just your warm heart, your beautiful smile.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
Thank you, thank you about you being okay. We know
whatever happens, you're gonna be fine. You'll work your way
out of it. It'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Man.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
It is an absolute pleasure and it's an inspiration. Look,
we didn't know how this was going to go and
how much stuff to promote, but once you started talking,
we just wanted to talk to you back. So if
you know no notes. We just wanted to have a
conversation with you man, and this is absolutely been beautiful
for it. Thank you so much, this man.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
Thank you for this opportunity. I was really nervous because
i know your podcast is listening by many many people,
and I'm always worried about my English because I'm still
working on my English every single day, I swear. But
now that I happened in eleven year old, she constantly
request me, like, Dad, it's not this, it's that. And
(44:05):
I'm always speaking in Spanish at home because I want
her not to lose the Spanish, but I'm losing my
English because of that.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (44:18):
Please give love to your beautiful family, and thanks for
being on the podcast.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
Thank you, thank you for inviting me. Thank you very much.