September 15, 2022 • 38 mins
Edward James Olmos is one of the most decorated and respected actors alive, especially in the Latino community. Who is the man responsible for American Me, and why did he make it?
Most of us know Edward James Olmos as a legendary actor, but he's also an activist who for decades has worked on behalf of Latino causes from Hollywood to Washington D.C. But when both of those sides of him collided to make a movie that would stop gang violence what resulted may have been the exact opposite. Why did Olmos make American Me and what went wrong in the process?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I asked him one question, how many of you have
had a brother, sister, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and her
uncle direct relative that has been in prison before you.
This is Edward James almost on PBS promoting the movie
he had just directed, produced and started, called American Me Easily.
(00:20):
I mean just by a few, maybe out of five hundred,
there was maybe six or seven people men who did
not raise their hands. And almost was asked a simple question,
how the hell did you shoot this movie in a
real prison with real inmates? So he described his experience
in folsome prisons speaking to a group of inmates, and um,
(00:42):
I asked them how many would like to have their sons,
or their grandsons, or their you know, the nephews, their
nieces are relative after them come in here. And then
none of them raised their hands. I said, okay, fine,
help me make this movie. And they did. Almost was
a household name at the time. He had spent five
years in Miami, Ice nominated for an Oscar, and now
(01:02):
he was talking to mainstream audiences about his passion project.
It's the first time in the history of this country
that that that we saw of penal institution opened up
this way allowed to be photographed and inmates used. And
the first time in the history of this country that
the fulsome prison, one state prison where Black's wides, Brown's yellows,
and reds all worked together towards one common goal, in
(01:24):
one time, common understanding. The film leaves you with a
pessimistic message, doesn't it. Well, No, it leaves you with
the truth. Welcome to more than a movie, American Mean,
a podcast that digs into the history and mystery of
American Mean, a film directed by and starring Edward James
(01:45):
Almost that had a huge impact on Latino cinema and culture.
I'm your host, Alex Fomero, and I'll be diving into
the controversy behind the movie. This iconic film was a
big deal for the Latino community, especially Chicanos, but unfortunately,
its legacy was dealt a serious blow when several of
the film's game consultants were murdered shortly after its release.
(02:12):
Even Edward James Almost was possibly threatened and extorted. In fact,
while I've been researching and interviewing people related to this
film that came out thirty years ago, over and over again,
I get eerily similar responses like I won't talk about
that or flat out leave this alone. On each episode,
all peel back a layer on the mystery and myths
(02:35):
surrounding American Me. By the way, if you haven't listened
to our first episode, stop, go back and start there,
or this ship is just going to be too confusing.
Let's review the fallout after the release of American Me. One.
Although there was critical acclaim, there was heavy blowback to
the movie, both from the Latino community and the Mexican mafia. Two,
(02:55):
several people who were associated with the film were murdered
after the movie came out, and three, the rumor is
that it was so bad there was a bounty on
Edward James Almost, and some say he even paid anything
from a hundred thousand to a million dollars to the
Mexican Mafia to stay alive. And even though he said
he did, it really looks like Almost never got permission
(03:18):
from the Mexican Mafia to tell this story, at least
not the version that ended up on screen. So why
would he do all this? In order to better understand that,
we're dedicating this entire episode to the one the only
Edward James Almost. But first, let's recap who Edward James
almost plays In this movie. American Me tells the story
(03:38):
of Montoya Santana, leader of Lapri Meta gang, and it
follows him from juvie to prison, where he eventually is murdered.
The film shows Santana's turn from law street kid to
gang leader, to convicted felon to disenchanted, but that Dono
questioning his life choices. Santana has seen on both sides
as both the victim of violence and the perpetray er
(04:00):
of it. We first meet Almost as the older version
of Santana, having graduated from juvie to fulsome prison almost
plays him as a confident prison thug hungry for power
on the inside, comfortably doling out orders to underlings, power
became our game, power to provide everything you find outside.
(04:20):
But later, when Santana has let out of prison, he
is no longer in control of the world around him.
He struggles. That's painfully demonstrated in a scene where Santana
can't perform with his girlfriend until he turns a consensual
exchange into an act of violence. The scene is juxtaposed
with another scene in prison where his gang sexually assaults
(04:40):
an enemy. It's a bleak sequence, but it's a turning
point for Santana and the film. He's become a monster,
and he realizes he's no longer in control of the violence.
The violence is controlling him. From that point on, Almost
plays the character as a man changed, someone looking not
for redemption per se, but for who is when you
(05:00):
take the gang life away from him. In the final
scene of the movie, Santana, who has rejected the gang's
way of life and is about to pay the price
for it, faces down his assailants with confidence. You've got
a lot of heart cutting on, maybe too much, so
he's gotta give it your best shot. You know. It's
(05:24):
a clear and tragic message. No matter how alluring the
power and control of gang life may seem, you can
never truly escape the consequences of it, even if you
mean well. But who was Edward James almost before he
stepped into the role of Montoya Santana. Edward James Almost
(05:50):
was born February in East Los Angeles for the people
living under a rock but somehow listening to this podcast
about a film he directed. Here's a list of a
only a few of his credits. Zoot Suit, Miami Vice,
Blade Runner, The Ballot of Gregorio Cortes Stand and Deliver
talent for the game Selina Twelve, Angry Men, the remake
Beverly Hills, Chihuahua, and of course Battlestar Galactica. He has
(06:13):
been nominated for a Tony and an Oscar. He won
an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a slew of
other industry accolades. And he's won so many Latino awards
like Ima Hins and Alma's that at a party I
once gave him a Latino Barbecue Lifetime Achievement Award in absentia.
Of course, He's also an activist who has spoken at
the United Nations and lobbied Washington on behalf of Latino Causes.
(06:37):
American me as a project was in many ways a
piece of propaganda. It was designed to serve almost as
activist objectives, which in this case were to get kids
off the streets, to stop joining gangs, and end the
cycle of violence once and for all. That's a pretty
lofty goal, some might say, and the way it almost
decided to try to do it, by taking on the
story of an actual gang, was very risky day injurious even,
(07:01):
and it yielded some pretty deadly results when Edward James
Almost was building his career. The word Hispanic wasn't even
on the U S Census when the word first appeared
on the census in nineteen eighty. The decade that followed
saw attention being paid for the first time to this
newly created pan ethnicity that then numbered at fourteen million Mexicans,
(07:22):
Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other folks of different Latin American
backgrounds united to consolidate economic and political power. Industries took notice,
including Hollywood movies starring and about Hispanics in the nineteen
eighties included LaBamba Norte, Crossover Dreams, and Born in East
l A. The first notable Latino film of the decade
(07:43):
was zoot Suit in one starring Edward James Almost. The
last was eight Stand and Deliver starring Edward James Almost.
We literally watched Almost become a movie star over the
course of seven years. Zoot Suit was the o G
Chicano gangster story, and it showed how racial discrimination by
whites and police pushed communities to organize in other ways
(08:06):
for safety and power, including gangs. In many ways, it
was a prequel to American Me. The movie would change
Edward James almost his life forever. And I remember falling
to the ground as when I got the phone call
from the Mark Taper asking me to play that role.
I felt out crying because I knew what this meant.
(08:28):
Almost plays El Pachuco, a mythical character meant to literally
embody Chicano culture. In other words, Edward James almost makes
his on screen debut basically playing Chicano man Our Patrico
realities will only make sense if you grasp their stylization.
It was a secret thing to living to put on
(08:51):
the Zoo. You can see how Alachuko's kind of spoken
word way of narrating influence Santana's voiceover at the beginning
of American me Zo zud New Suit. It sounded all
the same. It was his role in zoot Suit that
caught the eye of casting director Jane Feinberg when she
was casting Ridley Scott's two sci fi classic Blade Runner.
(09:16):
Eddie had known for a long time and I brought
him in to meet with Ridley. And it was Eddie's
idea to pay a multi national, multi ethnic, multi lingual
character who had a vocabulary of his own, and already
that early in his career. Almost was asserting his will
on the process. Listen to Ridley Scott talk about how
(09:36):
Almost invented city speak, the fictional language in the film.
That was tricky because Eddie was saying, what's this city speak?
So Eddie god bless and drew me crazy coming up
with ideas of esperanto and rhythms of speech that actually
vaguely dovetail inmate sense into what he had to say
(09:58):
in terms of the drama. He was absolutely obsessed. Without
getting that right to me, it paints a picture of
a guy who won, isn't afraid of powerful white people
like Ridley Scott, and two wants to put his stamp
on everything he does. A lot of actors just show
up and interpret the role on the page. Not Almost.
He was a guy who, whether he knew it then
(10:19):
or not, wanted to be a filmmaker. Edward James Almost
his star was on the rise in the nineteen eighties,
but his big break, the way he became a household name,
all started with a phone call with the Michael calling me.
I'm asking me if I wanted to work on Miami Vice,
and I said, thank you, but I can't do this
right now. Michael Mann, who would go on to direct
(10:39):
Hate Last of the Mohicans and Collateral, was the creator
of Miami Vice and almost still refused the role. I
was afraid of a Miami Vice getting me to that
point of making me known, but not allowing me to
do Latino thing projects unheard of at that time. I mean,
(11:00):
it wasn't even a whisper in Edward James Almost was
running a small furniture business to support his family. He
was driving a sixteen year old car. He was paying
a modest mortgage of two hundred and fifteen dollars a month.
This was not a rich man we're talking about. But
he was developing a few films and he wasn't ready
to go down the path of playing a stereotype. And
(11:22):
people say, well, but if he becomes successful, then it
will help you over here to do this. They're not
gonna want to do stuff that looks like this. I
had a huge responsibility, meaning almost felt a responsibility to
his community that was more important than his career. He
said no to Michael Mann and Miami Vice. When his
wife overheard the phone call, she said, quote, I think
(11:42):
you should go talk to your son. He's in the room, crying,
asking why his dad doesn't want to work. Almost has
said that moment felt like a knife to the heart,
but he remained firm. He said he didn't want to
have an exclusive contract. Twenty four episodes of Miami Vice
means ten months of filming and only two months to
do other projects. But Man wouldn't give up. The fifth time,
(12:05):
Michael Mann called he offered almost a non exclusive contract
with creative control over his character and a lot of money.
I mean the money he was offering me was more
money than my father had made in this entire lifetime,
working forty five years of his life. He had never
acquired what I was going to make in one season
(12:26):
on this television show. Almost joined Miami Vice and stayed
on the show for five years. In Miami Advice, I
played a lieutenant Lieutenant Martin Castillo, and um, it was
probably one of the most interesting journeys that I took,
and because it was such a well received commercial piece
(12:51):
of work, and that's when he got the Emmy and
the Golden Globe. But Almost felt he needed to do
something that would have a direct impact on his community.
He took a role playing a high school teacher named
him Escalante in film Stand and Deliver, and he transformed
from an intimidating cop into a bookish teacher who saw
math as a ticket out of the hood. Scores would
(13:13):
have never been questioned if my kids did not have
Spanish surnames and come from barrio schools. You know that
he received an Academy Award nomination for the movie Stand
and Deliver catapulted almost to movie star status. By he
had succeeded in what few actors, let alone Latino actors,
had been able to accomplish. He was playing characters that
(13:34):
had depth and nuance. He did TV and he did movies.
He got non exclusive contracts, and he got creative control
over his characters. But one thing I noticed about almost
his career is that he doesn't make the obvious decision
an actor would usually make. If you're an actor coming
up who wants to be famous, you don't drive the
director of Alien crazy by insisting on controlling what you
(13:57):
say in the movie. You don't tell the future to
Rector of Heat what your character is gonna do in
the TV show. You do as you're told. But almost
I think saw himself and seize himself first and foremost
as a role model. It's even evidenced by the first
starring movie role he chose, neighborhood hero him Escalante. The
fucking movie is literally called stand and Deliver. So when
(14:20):
he chooses the movie that would become his directorial debut,
he wasn't just choosing it as Edward James Almost the actor.
He was choosing it as Edward James Almost the activist.
To Edward James Almost, making American Me was more than
a movie, and we'll hear more about that side of
(14:41):
him after the break with my guest Raphael Augustine. Welcome
back to More Than a Movie American mem Alex Fumeto.
In the first half of this episode, we dug into
the actor Edward James Almost and how his career ascension
(15:02):
into Hollywood royalty brought him to the making of American Me.
For the record, we reached out to Mr Almost three
separate times to see if he talked to us. Each
time he declined, in fact, you'd have a hard time
finding anything online after we're Almost discussed as American Me
at all. So instead, in this part of the episode,
(15:22):
we dive into the man Edward James Almost, who is
a mentor to my guest Raphael Augustine. I could not
get Edward James almost, but I have the next best
thing sitting right in front of me. My name is everyone.
And to his credit, he actually didn't say no. He
said I can't, which is a big difference. That is
(15:43):
a big difference. Okay, big Zach Morris time out. Um
fuck yeah, it's a big difference. When we were recording this,
this just kind of like flew by me. But wow,
now just thinking about it, the man said he can't
talk about it, can't. It's been thirty years. Okay, time
in I think. Um, I mean, I'm never going to
(16:04):
speak about his feelings into all of this, but I'm
here just to really talk more about who he is
as a person. When Ralpha was a student at U c.
L A. He interned at a film festival called La Leaf,
founded by Edward James almost, And it just so happened
that one day, this is no lie. One day I
was working I was fixing a desk. I was literally
(16:25):
like like laying down on the floor, working like up
and doing the nail. Because even at a Latino film
festival that make you do manual la I'm telling you
that's the main reason I was there. Uh, he walks
in and I was like, there he is freaking Edward
James almost walks in and I'm literally working under the table.
(16:47):
Did you say hi from under the table? Yeah? No,
Well I I stood up quickly, and he was just
like think. He was so gracious. He was like, thank
you so much for being I mean almost student volunteer, right,
So he was like, thank you so much for being here,
for being part of the movement. I was like, movement,
we don't even know what moment we're doing, but that
that a lot that one sentence being part of the
movement is So I feel like from everything I've learned
(17:08):
about him and my own interactions with him, emblematic of
who he is is he views himself as constantly within
a movement, right. Can you talk a little bit about
that ethos? Yeah, of course. I mean not just the
like the lack of representation movement in Hollywood, not just
like lack of proper funding for school education movement. He's
(17:32):
also talking about the Chicano movement and everything else that
he's been working on, and and that it took me
an entire like year to figure out. I was like,
what movement is he talking about? Like what? So I'm
like trying to interpret and understand what he was saying
until I finally saw all these like latinos in Hollywood
in one space celebrating together, and I was like, Holy hell,
this is the movement. There's so little of us, but
(17:54):
we're powerful in like our art, in our intent and
the stories we're trying to tell. Let's get into that.
So what do you know about Edward James? Almost? Like
how does how much do you know about how Edward
James almost goes from a kid living in l A
to Edward James almost Um Well, from all the years
(18:15):
of working with him and just hearing his stories, I
know that he started in music and he brings so
much by the way he brings so much music to
his characters. But that's a separate thing. That's his like,
that's his process. And also this was a little interesting
about him, um he and he embraces and studies so
many different cultures that while everybody was doing suits suit
as a it's like the Chicano masterpiece, right, He's performing
(18:41):
Pachuco as if it was kabuki theater. That's what's so
legendary about him. Like when he does Blade Runner. Really,
Scott didn't ask him to create a new language. They
didn't ask him to do like the ore Gami. He
did that himself. In fact, almost his most famous line
in the movie Too Bad She Won't Live, But then again,
who does that was ad libbed? He was surprised Ridley
(19:04):
Scott left it in. He even invented the made up
language in the movie city Speak. And that's why he's
so freaking amazing. That's why we love him so much.
I have spoken to some folks who were involved in
the making of American me and I won't say who
they are yet because they frankly are afraid to talk
(19:25):
about American me um and but one of the things
that I've heard is that there were several versions of
the script and that e j O did his own
pass on the script, and that the studio Universal wasn't
happy with that as a final product, and so they
(19:46):
brought in more writers, and that there was a lot
of tension between him and those writers because he did
not like being rewritten. He did not like he wanted
absolute and total control over the fin product. And that
seems to be a theme in how he works and
in the making of this movie. We've heard many times
(20:07):
that he saw American Me as I don't think he
would call it this, but I would call a propaganda piece,
right that it's a it's a piece of politics, it's
a piece of it was it's I'm gonna make this
movie and it's going to have an impact on the
community and especially youth in the community, and it's going
to dissuade them from a certain life path, you know.
(20:28):
I mean, I will say that if anyone takes anything
about this conversation, it's that his intent was intentional. When
people watch The Godfather today, we romanticize that and we
all like, man, we want to have power and being
in the mafia. You know, when he made American Me,
he wanted to make sure he did the exact opposite
of The Godfather. Right. So I say that because I'm
(20:50):
not just talking to a writer in Hollywood. I'm talking
to someone who lives and breathes thinking about Latino's roles
in Hollyoad. So when we approached the theme to this movie,
I want to kind of talk about it that way.
And one of the things that you can't ignore in
this movie is the use of sexual violence as what
seems to me like a deterrent to to joining a
(21:14):
gang right or to gang life. That's really complicated. When
you watch this movie, how did that sexual violence impact
you when you first watched it as a youth and
what do you think about it now as someone who
sort of thinks about identity in in in cinema. Oh Jesus,
(21:34):
So I would say that when Quint Tarantino was a child,
he want He said that one of the movies the
most impacted him was Deliverance and that rape scene in
that movie. Uh, he said, it's stuck with him for
a very long time. And I think the same thing
happened to me with the American me. I wasn't ready
for that moment. I was like and shocked, and it's
(21:55):
just something that sticks with you. It's like the one
thing in that film that I wasn't prepared for. And
I grew up with a lot of gang violence around
like my neighborhood, so I always knew how to maneuver
my way around, like the Cholas and Scholas. Um. I
don't have much else to say about that particular moment,
(22:16):
but I could just tell you as a kid, I
was like, what am I watching this is so crazy.
Multiple times in the movie we see sexual violence. In
a scene at his mother's grave, Santana finds out from
his father he's the product of rape and you were born.
I tried to love you, but every time I looked
(22:39):
at you, I wondered who your real father was. I
wondered which sailors glad you carried inside you. In a
(22:59):
critical woman in the film, Santana is the victim of
sexual assault, while in Juvie. Many believe these two scenes
were the catalyst for real life murders. This depiction of
male on male sexual assault in a culture we know
to be machista also reads as intentionally homophobic, like what's
shameful about it? Isn't just that you were assaulted and
(23:20):
made to feel powerless, but that it was by a man.
So I asked Rafa if he was reading the use
of violence by almost the same way I was, and
what he thought the reaction would be if American me
came out today Jesus Christ in the same way that
we react to Game of Thrones. I mean, you watch
it in game with their ownes. I don't. I don't think,
oh I want to join wester Row's I watched American Men,
(23:42):
and that I don't want to join that, right? Um?
I for me, actually, the thing that I would most
want to know today is how based on reality it is?
If that's I mean, I don't know if that's true
or if it's not true. I don't know what the
intent of the writers were, But that's where my brain
goes every time I watch something that's based loosely based
on real life, Like why did we want to exploit
(24:04):
this moment for what effect? And if and if there's
any kernel of truth to it? How do you think, uh,
a man being sexually assaulted by another man, how do
you think that that victim is perceived by a large
portion of Latino or Chicano culture? Is it fair to
(24:27):
say that people would make some people might see that
victim as like emasculated or soft or or less than right?
Like is there a certain amount of like? Yeah, but
I wouldn't let that happen to me. The only thing
I can say is that American Me was the most
stolen movie in Blockbuster history. So a lot of people
(24:50):
related to it, a lot of people admired it, and
God knows what that particular scene did to people, but
it definitely did not glamorate like fat lifestyle for sure.
For sure. I think that's yeah, and I think and
I think that was the intent correct, right. Um So,
so you watch this movie and then I think, who's
(25:13):
who's stealing this movie a blockbuster? That's where my break
coming up on More Than a Movie. We'll talk about
how American Me Ever got made in the first place,
and how the movies Fallout changed Edward James almost his
career forever. Welcome back to More Than a Movie American Me.
(25:39):
I'm Alex Fumero. We're talking to one of Edward James
almost his closest friends, Raphael Augustine. He's telling me how
this movie and it's fallout, the threats, the murders, may
have changed almost his career. I've said this, but one
of the main reasons I wanted to do this podcast
was because of what could have been with American Me.
It could have been The god Father or Main Streets
(26:01):
in the sense that it could have launched the careers
of a ton of movie stars and a slew of
follow up films. I wanted rawa to help articulate why
that missed opportunity matters so much. It's lack of jobs.
It's lack of access, it's lack of opportunity to have
one film that hires so many and then they're not
being another. Um, this is life changing for a lot
(26:25):
of people who work in the industry and try to
work in the industry at that time. Right. Um. The
thing about the reaction to the movie, it also felt
like it was too raw and too powerful and not
who who are you pleasing? You weren't pleasing like the
American movie audience. You weren't pleasing the Latino community. You
weren't pleasing members of of like this section of our
(26:48):
society that are dealing with the criminal justice system. So
who are you pleasing? Like? It's a strong, raw testament
of a period in time that he captured and he
made a statement with it. Um, when we look back,
I still think it. I mean I saw that movie
probably like a few years back, and I was like, Jesus,
(27:09):
this is still like hard to watch and it's still
very powerful. But maybe it's one of those things that
it's ahead of its time, Like people weren't ready for this,
and the community wasn't ready for this either, like the
Hollywood community or the Latino community, and now Latinos have
taken over Hollywood and we have and now very little
(27:30):
has changed. And that's that's what's so heartbreaking. We have
known impositions of power. We have very very little writers
and directors. Um you know, you know our percentages across
the United States, and we're like, what five percent of
the speaking roles, four percent of the speaking roles of
the population, We're one in five Americans. And then behind
(27:52):
the camera it's atrocious. And then at the executive level,
and it was, and it was worse then, and that's
when he chose to make American. This was this was
a unicorn. What was happening here was a fucking unicorn,
you know, in fact, like Scarface, for whatever kind of
commercial success it had and cult success like it got,
(28:14):
the studio's got a bad rap. So like part of
the reason that this movie even happened the way is
this script existed for years before it got made. And
part of the reason, in fact, that role that ever
James almost plays was supposed to be for al Pacino
to play, and the studio yes, and the studio was
like no, because we're gonna get major blowback because by
(28:38):
that time there was enough kind of organizing going on
in Hollywood. I think National Hispanic Media Coalition was like
making a big deal about stuff. And and so Pacino,
by the way, who made who made a career playing
I mean outside of The Godfather of course, playing Latino
lead rules in Scarface. Cuban American Puerto Rican's interesting. Tell
(28:59):
me about it. He was trying to do the trifecta
and he was trying to get and they were like, yo, yo, yo,
what's up. I'm not sure that he agreed to do it,
but I know that's who the producers initially wanted and
the writer originally wanted. But but then they were like, no,
we need to do oh yeah, we need to do
this with the Latino lead. And so they went out
at e j Oh. I don't even think he had
been nominated for Standard Delivery yet, but like they you know,
(29:22):
he had made the movie, and they were like, well
cast him, and he actually said to them, I'm not
interested unless I can direct, and then they said, oh,
I don't know, this guy's never directed before. So the
compromise with the studio is that Robert M. Young will
basically co direct the movie with almost so to me,
that means that there were two tracks into producing this film,
because I understood that he also had this article for
(29:44):
years and was trying to make it himself. It's very
possible that he was that he wanted to make this
movie himself, but that the stars aligned right. It doesn't
make a lot of money and it becomes a kind
of cult hip. But that's you know, that's sort of
after the fact. This is where you really got to
interact with him. What has what has the last twenty
years of his career looked like out of the limelight,
(30:06):
like not not the stuff we've seen him do on screen.
Before I get into the the organizational work and community
work that he's done. Um, I do want to say
that a testament to his character is a story that
I heard from people close to him that he was
offered the film In the Line of Fire, which is
that Clan Eastwood movie about someone trying to kill the
president of the United States. Edward James almost turned it
(30:28):
down because he said to everyone around him, we cannot
have a Latino or Mexican American try to kill the
president of the United States. That's irresponsible, spot on, But
do you think any actor today would pass up on
that role? For that reason, and I think that, to
me is the story the best represents Edward James almost.
(30:49):
Can you talk a little bit about the institutional work
and also just like what that means, you know, like
like for people outside of Hollywood, Like, how is this
this guy's changing lives? Let's be real, he has changed lives.
You're one example of that, But tell tell me a
little bit more about that. So for decades, the man
gets pulled as the only representation of our community, right,
(31:10):
he gets pulled in many different directions, and he always
shows up, if it's political activism, if it's to make
sure people in the Latino community get out to vote,
to make sure that he's fighting for proper funding and
school educations, to make sure there's proper representation in Hollywood,
and all these things start aligning to become this institute
that we created, the Latino Film Institute. And it all
(31:30):
stems not just from the leaf, right, the Los Angeles
Latino International Film Festival that Lupo Divos told me, this
is where the Latino industry community comes together. It's truly
when we launched the Youth Cinema Project, that's when everything changed.
I mean, the man himself has told me, when I
leave this earth, people will not remember me for my activism,
(31:53):
and people will not remember me for my Hollywood work.
They will only remember me for the Youth Cinema Project.
He has found new meaning and life because of this work.
What is it? So the Youth Cinema Project essentially took
film graduate school and put it in fourth grade. What
we do is not revolutionary the age that we do
it it is. And to me, this is full circle
(32:13):
for Mr. Almost because he's he started. He really came
into national consciousness by portraying him a man who argued
that marginalized students and children will rise to the level
of expectation and no one believed they would until someone
believed in them. And now he's doing the same thing,
(32:34):
but through film in schools. Because what does film do
it a film project, as you know as a producer yourself,
the amount of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity that goes
into a film, those are like the four pillars at
all schools want to accomplish. So the project itself is
(32:55):
not the film, it's the student. It's the amount of work,
a self advocacy, the growth then wanting to read and
write because They're not thinking we're studying. They're thinking, we're
making a film. The idea of telling your own story,
the social emotional empowerment. This work is truly changing lives.
And this is the work that he knows he's gonna
(33:17):
be remembered for. And this is the work that I
also think he's going to be remembered for. Because you
wait until right now we're all throughout the state of
not all, but we're working a lot of school districts
throughout the state of California. You wait until the rest
of the United States gets a hold of this, Like
how we're gonna have a fighting chance in Hollywood if
you start post college. We have plenty of brilliant artists
in our community, we just don't have the access and funding.
(33:40):
So that's what we're trying to address. How do we
prove to people that were worth investing in and how
do we help them get that access into Hollywood. So
in a way, I wonder if you think, I mean,
do you think Edward maybe Edward James almost would be
doing this stuff if he were like directing a film
every year years, you know, But do you think that
(34:03):
maybe the kind of aftermath of American May like ironically
sort of like pushed him into a more direct action
kind of way of intervening in young people's lives, because
he made this movie to intervene in young people's lives, right,
But he sort of ends up actually intervening in young
people's lives, correct. And I think this is the way
(34:24):
I think of American may It is so easy to
get projects that are about gangs and Narco's green lit
by our community, right, And I think he was able
to get this green lit and then turned it on
its head. That's how I'd like to choose to think
of this film. Because he's told me he's tried for
nearly twenty years to make the film about the first
(34:45):
Latino Middle of Honor winner, and he can't get anyone
too to want to do that project. But when it
comes to gangsters and when it comes to like Narco's,
people want to jump on that right away. Well maybe
it lets you know, uh, maybe a youth cinema project
director will make that movie. And we truly hope. So.
I mean, the stories that are coming out of the
(35:07):
our public schools are they'll break your heart. They're so powerful,
so so powerful, because our kids might not have the
money and might not have like the access, but we
have our we have the stories is what we have.
I do have one last question that I ask everybody,
what is your favorite scene in American may Oh my god,
(35:31):
let me think about that, you know, my the the
scene that always sticks with me is when he first
comes out of prison and he's taking in his neighborhood
for the first time, and like, that's that sh It
makes me want to cry because when someone is like
so institutionalized and then they see the outside world for
the first time, and I felt, I felt how both
(35:53):
magical and scary it was to him, and for some reason,
even as a child, like I really responded to that.
It's cool, thanks man, Yeah, man, for sure. You know
what's so interesting, like hearing you your talk, is when
you look back at Dustin Hoffmann. No one will ever
remember him as a Jewish American actor, and people don't
look back at all Pacina go, that's an Italian American actor.
(36:16):
But when they look back at it Regie's almost they
do say, that's a Latino American and that's that's crazy.
That's crazy because to me, being Latino is a uniquely
American experience, Like in and in Cuba, you're not Latino.
Cuban and Ecuador or not Latino. I'm Ecuadorian. In Mexico,
you're not Latino. Your Mexican. But in the United States,
(36:36):
we're all Latino. We made it up here, That's what
I'm saying. So being Latino is uniquely fucking American. And
that's the uphill battle that we're still having. We're Latinos
are still being mothered. Do you only speak Spanish? How
do we write your stories? How do we program your
to you? You know, it's it's still something that we're
all trying to conquer and overcome in Hollywood, and the
(36:59):
work is only beginning. It's the only beginning. That's what's
so sad like we're moving backwards. I mean, we're moving
backwards from the day that Desire Nest was the start
of the biggest show and every American was accustomed to
living with Desi Ernzz, a Cuban American in their households.
We've worked backwards of that. On the next episode, we
meet actor Jacob Vargas. You know him from Traffic Next
(37:22):
Friday and currently in National Treasure, Edge of History on
Disney Plus. But Jacob's big break came from playing Santana's
younger brother Paulito in American Me. And I remember one
scene specifically was the you know, the end of the
movie where where where we do the drive by. I mean,
he was a wreck. He was like an emotional wreck,
(37:43):
like he was like crying, and I remember you're saying
that this is you know this, there's just too much
of this. It's too much of this happy cabinet and
out in our community, Jacob. That's in the next episode
of More Than a Movie. American Mean. More Than a
Movie American Me is a production of Eggsile Content Studios
and Trojan Horse in partnership with My Heart's Michael Ura
(38:03):
podcast network. The show is produced by me Alex Fumeto
at Anger Yuka on the Internets and our senior producers.
Nigel Da Rose Red and Cream Taps are the executive producers.
Production assistants from Sabine Jansen and now Vaio and Stella Emmett.
Mixing and sound designed by the Guado Albornos. Our executive
producers at I Heart are Gazel Bonzas and Arlee and Santana.
For more podcasts, listen to the I Heart Radio app
(38:25):
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
I asked him one question, how many of you have
had a brother, sister, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and her
uncle direct relative that has been in prison before you.
This is Edward James almost on PBS promoting the movie
he had just directed, produced and started, called American Me Easily.
(00:20):
I mean just by a few, maybe out of five hundred,
there was maybe six or seven people men who did
not raise their hands. And almost was asked a simple question,
how the hell did you shoot this movie in a
real prison with real inmates? So he described his experience
in folsome prisons speaking to a group of inmates, and um,
(00:42):
I asked them how many would like to have their sons,
or their grandsons, or their you know, the nephews, their
nieces are relative after them come in here. And then
none of them raised their hands. I said, okay, fine,
help me make this movie. And they did. Almost was
a household name at the time. He had spent five
years in Miami, Ice nominated for an Oscar, and now
(01:02):
he was talking to mainstream audiences about his passion project.
It's the first time in the history of this country
that that that we saw of penal institution opened up
this way allowed to be photographed and inmates used. And
the first time in the history of this country that
the fulsome prison, one state prison where Black's wides, Brown's yellows,
and reds all worked together towards one common goal, in
(01:24):
one time, common understanding. The film leaves you with a
pessimistic message, doesn't it. Well, No, it leaves you with
the truth. Welcome to more than a movie, American Mean,
a podcast that digs into the history and mystery of
American Mean, a film directed by and starring Edward James
(01:45):
Almost that had a huge impact on Latino cinema and culture.
I'm your host, Alex Fomero, and I'll be diving into
the controversy behind the movie. This iconic film was a
big deal for the Latino community, especially Chicanos, but unfortunately,
its legacy was dealt a serious blow when several of
the film's game consultants were murdered shortly after its release.
(02:12):
Even Edward James Almost was possibly threatened and extorted. In fact,
while I've been researching and interviewing people related to this
film that came out thirty years ago, over and over again,
I get eerily similar responses like I won't talk about
that or flat out leave this alone. On each episode,
all peel back a layer on the mystery and myths
(02:35):
surrounding American Me. By the way, if you haven't listened
to our first episode, stop, go back and start there,
or this ship is just going to be too confusing.
Let's review the fallout after the release of American Me. One.
Although there was critical acclaim, there was heavy blowback to
the movie, both from the Latino community and the Mexican mafia. Two,
(02:55):
several people who were associated with the film were murdered
after the movie came out, and three, the rumor is
that it was so bad there was a bounty on
Edward James Almost, and some say he even paid anything
from a hundred thousand to a million dollars to the
Mexican Mafia to stay alive. And even though he said
he did, it really looks like Almost never got permission
(03:18):
from the Mexican Mafia to tell this story, at least
not the version that ended up on screen. So why
would he do all this? In order to better understand that,
we're dedicating this entire episode to the one the only
Edward James Almost. But first, let's recap who Edward James
almost plays In this movie. American Me tells the story
(03:38):
of Montoya Santana, leader of Lapri Meta gang, and it
follows him from juvie to prison, where he eventually is murdered.
The film shows Santana's turn from law street kid to
gang leader, to convicted felon to disenchanted, but that Dono
questioning his life choices. Santana has seen on both sides
as both the victim of violence and the perpetray er
(04:00):
of it. We first meet Almost as the older version
of Santana, having graduated from juvie to fulsome prison almost
plays him as a confident prison thug hungry for power
on the inside, comfortably doling out orders to underlings, power
became our game, power to provide everything you find outside.
(04:20):
But later, when Santana has let out of prison, he
is no longer in control of the world around him.
He struggles. That's painfully demonstrated in a scene where Santana
can't perform with his girlfriend until he turns a consensual
exchange into an act of violence. The scene is juxtaposed
with another scene in prison where his gang sexually assaults
(04:40):
an enemy. It's a bleak sequence, but it's a turning
point for Santana and the film. He's become a monster,
and he realizes he's no longer in control of the violence.
The violence is controlling him. From that point on, Almost
plays the character as a man changed, someone looking not
for redemption per se, but for who is when you
(05:00):
take the gang life away from him. In the final
scene of the movie, Santana, who has rejected the gang's
way of life and is about to pay the price
for it, faces down his assailants with confidence. You've got
a lot of heart cutting on, maybe too much, so
he's gotta give it your best shot. You know. It's
(05:24):
a clear and tragic message. No matter how alluring the
power and control of gang life may seem, you can
never truly escape the consequences of it, even if you
mean well. But who was Edward James almost before he
stepped into the role of Montoya Santana. Edward James Almost
(05:50):
was born February in East Los Angeles for the people
living under a rock but somehow listening to this podcast
about a film he directed. Here's a list of a
only a few of his credits. Zoot Suit, Miami Vice,
Blade Runner, The Ballot of Gregorio Cortes Stand and Deliver
talent for the game Selina Twelve, Angry Men, the remake
Beverly Hills, Chihuahua, and of course Battlestar Galactica. He has
(06:13):
been nominated for a Tony and an Oscar. He won
an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a slew of
other industry accolades. And he's won so many Latino awards
like Ima Hins and Alma's that at a party I
once gave him a Latino Barbecue Lifetime Achievement Award in absentia.
Of course, He's also an activist who has spoken at
the United Nations and lobbied Washington on behalf of Latino Causes.
(06:37):
American me as a project was in many ways a
piece of propaganda. It was designed to serve almost as
activist objectives, which in this case were to get kids
off the streets, to stop joining gangs, and end the
cycle of violence once and for all. That's a pretty
lofty goal, some might say, and the way it almost
decided to try to do it, by taking on the
story of an actual gang, was very risky day injurious even,
(07:01):
and it yielded some pretty deadly results when Edward James
Almost was building his career. The word Hispanic wasn't even
on the U S Census when the word first appeared
on the census in nineteen eighty. The decade that followed
saw attention being paid for the first time to this
newly created pan ethnicity that then numbered at fourteen million Mexicans,
(07:22):
Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other folks of different Latin American
backgrounds united to consolidate economic and political power. Industries took notice,
including Hollywood movies starring and about Hispanics in the nineteen
eighties included LaBamba Norte, Crossover Dreams, and Born in East
l A. The first notable Latino film of the decade
(07:43):
was zoot Suit in one starring Edward James Almost. The
last was eight Stand and Deliver starring Edward James Almost.
We literally watched Almost become a movie star over the
course of seven years. Zoot Suit was the o G
Chicano gangster story, and it showed how racial discrimination by
whites and police pushed communities to organize in other ways
(08:06):
for safety and power, including gangs. In many ways, it
was a prequel to American Me. The movie would change
Edward James almost his life forever. And I remember falling
to the ground as when I got the phone call
from the Mark Taper asking me to play that role.
I felt out crying because I knew what this meant.
(08:28):
Almost plays El Pachuco, a mythical character meant to literally
embody Chicano culture. In other words, Edward James almost makes
his on screen debut basically playing Chicano man Our Patrico
realities will only make sense if you grasp their stylization.
It was a secret thing to living to put on
(08:51):
the Zoo. You can see how Alachuko's kind of spoken
word way of narrating influence Santana's voiceover at the beginning
of American me Zo zud New Suit. It sounded all
the same. It was his role in zoot Suit that
caught the eye of casting director Jane Feinberg when she
was casting Ridley Scott's two sci fi classic Blade Runner.
(09:16):
Eddie had known for a long time and I brought
him in to meet with Ridley. And it was Eddie's
idea to pay a multi national, multi ethnic, multi lingual
character who had a vocabulary of his own, and already
that early in his career. Almost was asserting his will
on the process. Listen to Ridley Scott talk about how
(09:36):
Almost invented city speak, the fictional language in the film.
That was tricky because Eddie was saying, what's this city speak?
So Eddie god bless and drew me crazy coming up
with ideas of esperanto and rhythms of speech that actually
vaguely dovetail inmate sense into what he had to say
(09:58):
in terms of the drama. He was absolutely obsessed. Without
getting that right to me, it paints a picture of
a guy who won, isn't afraid of powerful white people
like Ridley Scott, and two wants to put his stamp
on everything he does. A lot of actors just show
up and interpret the role on the page. Not Almost.
He was a guy who, whether he knew it then
(10:19):
or not, wanted to be a filmmaker. Edward James Almost
his star was on the rise in the nineteen eighties,
but his big break, the way he became a household name,
all started with a phone call with the Michael calling me.
I'm asking me if I wanted to work on Miami Vice,
and I said, thank you, but I can't do this
right now. Michael Mann, who would go on to direct
(10:39):
Hate Last of the Mohicans and Collateral, was the creator
of Miami Vice and almost still refused the role. I
was afraid of a Miami Vice getting me to that
point of making me known, but not allowing me to
do Latino thing projects unheard of at that time. I mean,
(11:00):
it wasn't even a whisper in Edward James Almost was
running a small furniture business to support his family. He
was driving a sixteen year old car. He was paying
a modest mortgage of two hundred and fifteen dollars a month.
This was not a rich man we're talking about. But
he was developing a few films and he wasn't ready
to go down the path of playing a stereotype. And
(11:22):
people say, well, but if he becomes successful, then it
will help you over here to do this. They're not
gonna want to do stuff that looks like this. I
had a huge responsibility, meaning almost felt a responsibility to
his community that was more important than his career. He
said no to Michael Mann and Miami Vice. When his
wife overheard the phone call, she said, quote, I think
(11:42):
you should go talk to your son. He's in the room, crying,
asking why his dad doesn't want to work. Almost has
said that moment felt like a knife to the heart,
but he remained firm. He said he didn't want to
have an exclusive contract. Twenty four episodes of Miami Vice
means ten months of filming and only two months to
do other projects. But Man wouldn't give up. The fifth time,
(12:05):
Michael Mann called he offered almost a non exclusive contract
with creative control over his character and a lot of money.
I mean the money he was offering me was more
money than my father had made in this entire lifetime,
working forty five years of his life. He had never
acquired what I was going to make in one season
(12:26):
on this television show. Almost joined Miami Vice and stayed
on the show for five years. In Miami Advice, I
played a lieutenant Lieutenant Martin Castillo, and um, it was
probably one of the most interesting journeys that I took,
and because it was such a well received commercial piece
(12:51):
of work, and that's when he got the Emmy and
the Golden Globe. But Almost felt he needed to do
something that would have a direct impact on his community.
He took a role playing a high school teacher named
him Escalante in film Stand and Deliver, and he transformed
from an intimidating cop into a bookish teacher who saw
math as a ticket out of the hood. Scores would
(13:13):
have never been questioned if my kids did not have
Spanish surnames and come from barrio schools. You know that
he received an Academy Award nomination for the movie Stand
and Deliver catapulted almost to movie star status. By he
had succeeded in what few actors, let alone Latino actors,
had been able to accomplish. He was playing characters that
(13:34):
had depth and nuance. He did TV and he did movies.
He got non exclusive contracts, and he got creative control
over his characters. But one thing I noticed about almost
his career is that he doesn't make the obvious decision
an actor would usually make. If you're an actor coming
up who wants to be famous, you don't drive the
director of Alien crazy by insisting on controlling what you
(13:57):
say in the movie. You don't tell the future to
Rector of Heat what your character is gonna do in
the TV show. You do as you're told. But almost
I think saw himself and seize himself first and foremost
as a role model. It's even evidenced by the first
starring movie role he chose, neighborhood hero him Escalante. The
fucking movie is literally called stand and Deliver. So when
(14:20):
he chooses the movie that would become his directorial debut,
he wasn't just choosing it as Edward James Almost the actor.
He was choosing it as Edward James Almost the activist.
To Edward James Almost, making American Me was more than
a movie, and we'll hear more about that side of
(14:41):
him after the break with my guest Raphael Augustine. Welcome
back to More Than a Movie American mem Alex Fumeto.
In the first half of this episode, we dug into
the actor Edward James Almost and how his career ascension
(15:02):
into Hollywood royalty brought him to the making of American Me.
For the record, we reached out to Mr Almost three
separate times to see if he talked to us. Each
time he declined, in fact, you'd have a hard time
finding anything online after we're Almost discussed as American Me
at all. So instead, in this part of the episode,
(15:22):
we dive into the man Edward James Almost, who is
a mentor to my guest Raphael Augustine. I could not
get Edward James almost, but I have the next best
thing sitting right in front of me. My name is everyone.
And to his credit, he actually didn't say no. He
said I can't, which is a big difference. That is
(15:43):
a big difference. Okay, big Zach Morris time out. Um
fuck yeah, it's a big difference. When we were recording this,
this just kind of like flew by me. But wow,
now just thinking about it, the man said he can't
talk about it, can't. It's been thirty years. Okay, time
in I think. Um, I mean, I'm never going to
(16:04):
speak about his feelings into all of this, but I'm
here just to really talk more about who he is
as a person. When Ralpha was a student at U c.
L A. He interned at a film festival called La Leaf,
founded by Edward James almost, And it just so happened
that one day, this is no lie. One day I
was working I was fixing a desk. I was literally
(16:25):
like like laying down on the floor, working like up
and doing the nail. Because even at a Latino film
festival that make you do manual la I'm telling you
that's the main reason I was there. Uh, he walks
in and I was like, there he is freaking Edward
James almost walks in and I'm literally working under the table.
(16:47):
Did you say hi from under the table? Yeah? No,
Well I I stood up quickly, and he was just
like think. He was so gracious. He was like, thank
you so much for being I mean almost student volunteer, right,
So he was like, thank you so much for being here,
for being part of the movement. I was like, movement,
we don't even know what moment we're doing, but that
that a lot that one sentence being part of the
movement is So I feel like from everything I've learned
(17:08):
about him and my own interactions with him, emblematic of
who he is is he views himself as constantly within
a movement, right. Can you talk a little bit about
that ethos? Yeah, of course. I mean not just the
like the lack of representation movement in Hollywood, not just
like lack of proper funding for school education movement. He's
(17:32):
also talking about the Chicano movement and everything else that
he's been working on, and and that it took me
an entire like year to figure out. I was like,
what movement is he talking about? Like what? So I'm
like trying to interpret and understand what he was saying
until I finally saw all these like latinos in Hollywood
in one space celebrating together, and I was like, Holy hell,
this is the movement. There's so little of us, but
(17:54):
we're powerful in like our art, in our intent and
the stories we're trying to tell. Let's get into that.
So what do you know about Edward James? Almost? Like
how does how much do you know about how Edward
James almost goes from a kid living in l A
to Edward James almost Um Well, from all the years
(18:15):
of working with him and just hearing his stories, I
know that he started in music and he brings so
much by the way he brings so much music to
his characters. But that's a separate thing. That's his like,
that's his process. And also this was a little interesting
about him, um he and he embraces and studies so
many different cultures that while everybody was doing suits suit
as a it's like the Chicano masterpiece, right, He's performing
(18:41):
Pachuco as if it was kabuki theater. That's what's so
legendary about him. Like when he does Blade Runner. Really,
Scott didn't ask him to create a new language. They
didn't ask him to do like the ore Gami. He
did that himself. In fact, almost his most famous line
in the movie Too Bad She Won't Live, But then again,
who does that was ad libbed? He was surprised Ridley
(19:04):
Scott left it in. He even invented the made up
language in the movie city Speak. And that's why he's
so freaking amazing. That's why we love him so much.
I have spoken to some folks who were involved in
the making of American me and I won't say who
they are yet because they frankly are afraid to talk
(19:25):
about American me um and but one of the things
that I've heard is that there were several versions of
the script and that e j O did his own
pass on the script, and that the studio Universal wasn't
happy with that as a final product, and so they
(19:46):
brought in more writers, and that there was a lot
of tension between him and those writers because he did
not like being rewritten. He did not like he wanted
absolute and total control over the fin product. And that
seems to be a theme in how he works and
in the making of this movie. We've heard many times
(20:07):
that he saw American Me as I don't think he
would call it this, but I would call a propaganda piece,
right that it's a it's a piece of politics, it's
a piece of it was it's I'm gonna make this
movie and it's going to have an impact on the
community and especially youth in the community, and it's going
to dissuade them from a certain life path, you know.
(20:28):
I mean, I will say that if anyone takes anything
about this conversation, it's that his intent was intentional. When
people watch The Godfather today, we romanticize that and we
all like, man, we want to have power and being
in the mafia. You know, when he made American Me,
he wanted to make sure he did the exact opposite
of The Godfather. Right. So I say that because I'm
(20:50):
not just talking to a writer in Hollywood. I'm talking
to someone who lives and breathes thinking about Latino's roles
in Hollyoad. So when we approached the theme to this movie,
I want to kind of talk about it that way.
And one of the things that you can't ignore in
this movie is the use of sexual violence as what
seems to me like a deterrent to to joining a
(21:14):
gang right or to gang life. That's really complicated. When
you watch this movie, how did that sexual violence impact
you when you first watched it as a youth and
what do you think about it now as someone who
sort of thinks about identity in in in cinema. Oh Jesus,
(21:34):
So I would say that when Quint Tarantino was a child,
he want He said that one of the movies the
most impacted him was Deliverance and that rape scene in
that movie. Uh, he said, it's stuck with him for
a very long time. And I think the same thing
happened to me with the American me. I wasn't ready
for that moment. I was like and shocked, and it's
(21:55):
just something that sticks with you. It's like the one
thing in that film that I wasn't prepared for. And
I grew up with a lot of gang violence around
like my neighborhood, so I always knew how to maneuver
my way around, like the Cholas and Scholas. Um. I
don't have much else to say about that particular moment,
(22:16):
but I could just tell you as a kid, I
was like, what am I watching this is so crazy.
Multiple times in the movie we see sexual violence. In
a scene at his mother's grave, Santana finds out from
his father he's the product of rape and you were born.
I tried to love you, but every time I looked
(22:39):
at you, I wondered who your real father was. I
wondered which sailors glad you carried inside you. In a
(22:59):
critical woman in the film, Santana is the victim of
sexual assault, while in Juvie. Many believe these two scenes
were the catalyst for real life murders. This depiction of
male on male sexual assault in a culture we know
to be machista also reads as intentionally homophobic, like what's
shameful about it? Isn't just that you were assaulted and
(23:20):
made to feel powerless, but that it was by a man.
So I asked Rafa if he was reading the use
of violence by almost the same way I was, and
what he thought the reaction would be if American me
came out today Jesus Christ in the same way that
we react to Game of Thrones. I mean, you watch
it in game with their ownes. I don't. I don't think,
oh I want to join wester Row's I watched American Men,
(23:42):
and that I don't want to join that, right? Um?
I for me, actually, the thing that I would most
want to know today is how based on reality it is?
If that's I mean, I don't know if that's true
or if it's not true. I don't know what the
intent of the writers were, But that's where my brain
goes every time I watch something that's based loosely based
on real life, Like why did we want to exploit
(24:04):
this moment for what effect? And if and if there's
any kernel of truth to it? How do you think, uh,
a man being sexually assaulted by another man, how do
you think that that victim is perceived by a large
portion of Latino or Chicano culture? Is it fair to
(24:27):
say that people would make some people might see that
victim as like emasculated or soft or or less than right?
Like is there a certain amount of like? Yeah, but
I wouldn't let that happen to me. The only thing
I can say is that American Me was the most
stolen movie in Blockbuster history. So a lot of people
(24:50):
related to it, a lot of people admired it, and
God knows what that particular scene did to people, but
it definitely did not glamorate like fat lifestyle for sure.
For sure. I think that's yeah, and I think and
I think that was the intent correct, right. Um So,
so you watch this movie and then I think, who's
(25:13):
who's stealing this movie a blockbuster? That's where my break
coming up on More Than a Movie. We'll talk about
how American Me Ever got made in the first place,
and how the movies Fallout changed Edward James almost his
career forever. Welcome back to More Than a Movie American Me.
(25:39):
I'm Alex Fumero. We're talking to one of Edward James
almost his closest friends, Raphael Augustine. He's telling me how
this movie and it's fallout, the threats, the murders, may
have changed almost his career. I've said this, but one
of the main reasons I wanted to do this podcast
was because of what could have been with American Me.
It could have been The god Father or Main Streets
(26:01):
in the sense that it could have launched the careers
of a ton of movie stars and a slew of
follow up films. I wanted rawa to help articulate why
that missed opportunity matters so much. It's lack of jobs.
It's lack of access, it's lack of opportunity to have
one film that hires so many and then they're not
being another. Um, this is life changing for a lot
(26:25):
of people who work in the industry and try to
work in the industry at that time. Right. Um. The
thing about the reaction to the movie, it also felt
like it was too raw and too powerful and not
who who are you pleasing? You weren't pleasing like the
American movie audience. You weren't pleasing the Latino community. You
weren't pleasing members of of like this section of our
(26:48):
society that are dealing with the criminal justice system. So
who are you pleasing? Like? It's a strong, raw testament
of a period in time that he captured and he
made a statement with it. Um, when we look back,
I still think it. I mean I saw that movie
probably like a few years back, and I was like, Jesus,
(27:09):
this is still like hard to watch and it's still
very powerful. But maybe it's one of those things that
it's ahead of its time, Like people weren't ready for this,
and the community wasn't ready for this either, like the
Hollywood community or the Latino community, and now Latinos have
taken over Hollywood and we have and now very little
(27:30):
has changed. And that's that's what's so heartbreaking. We have
known impositions of power. We have very very little writers
and directors. Um you know, you know our percentages across
the United States, and we're like, what five percent of
the speaking roles, four percent of the speaking roles of
the population, We're one in five Americans. And then behind
(27:52):
the camera it's atrocious. And then at the executive level,
and it was, and it was worse then, and that's
when he chose to make American. This was this was
a unicorn. What was happening here was a fucking unicorn,
you know, in fact, like Scarface, for whatever kind of
commercial success it had and cult success like it got,
(28:14):
the studio's got a bad rap. So like part of
the reason that this movie even happened the way is
this script existed for years before it got made. And
part of the reason, in fact, that role that ever
James almost plays was supposed to be for al Pacino
to play, and the studio yes, and the studio was
like no, because we're gonna get major blowback because by
(28:38):
that time there was enough kind of organizing going on
in Hollywood. I think National Hispanic Media Coalition was like
making a big deal about stuff. And and so Pacino,
by the way, who made who made a career playing
I mean outside of The Godfather of course, playing Latino
lead rules in Scarface. Cuban American Puerto Rican's interesting. Tell
(28:59):
me about it. He was trying to do the trifecta
and he was trying to get and they were like, yo, yo, yo,
what's up. I'm not sure that he agreed to do it,
but I know that's who the producers initially wanted and
the writer originally wanted. But but then they were like, no,
we need to do oh yeah, we need to do
this with the Latino lead. And so they went out
at e j Oh. I don't even think he had
been nominated for Standard Delivery yet, but like they you know,
(29:22):
he had made the movie, and they were like, well
cast him, and he actually said to them, I'm not
interested unless I can direct, and then they said, oh,
I don't know, this guy's never directed before. So the
compromise with the studio is that Robert M. Young will
basically co direct the movie with almost so to me,
that means that there were two tracks into producing this film,
because I understood that he also had this article for
(29:44):
years and was trying to make it himself. It's very
possible that he was that he wanted to make this
movie himself, but that the stars aligned right. It doesn't
make a lot of money and it becomes a kind
of cult hip. But that's you know, that's sort of
after the fact. This is where you really got to
interact with him. What has what has the last twenty
years of his career looked like out of the limelight,
(30:06):
like not not the stuff we've seen him do on screen.
Before I get into the the organizational work and community
work that he's done. Um, I do want to say
that a testament to his character is a story that
I heard from people close to him that he was
offered the film In the Line of Fire, which is
that Clan Eastwood movie about someone trying to kill the
president of the United States. Edward James almost turned it
(30:28):
down because he said to everyone around him, we cannot
have a Latino or Mexican American try to kill the
president of the United States. That's irresponsible, spot on, But
do you think any actor today would pass up on
that role? For that reason, and I think that, to
me is the story the best represents Edward James almost.
(30:49):
Can you talk a little bit about the institutional work
and also just like what that means, you know, like
like for people outside of Hollywood, Like, how is this
this guy's changing lives? Let's be real, he has changed lives.
You're one example of that, But tell tell me a
little bit more about that. So for decades, the man
gets pulled as the only representation of our community, right,
(31:10):
he gets pulled in many different directions, and he always
shows up, if it's political activism, if it's to make
sure people in the Latino community get out to vote,
to make sure that he's fighting for proper funding and
school educations, to make sure there's proper representation in Hollywood,
and all these things start aligning to become this institute
that we created, the Latino Film Institute. And it all
(31:30):
stems not just from the leaf, right, the Los Angeles
Latino International Film Festival that Lupo Divos told me, this
is where the Latino industry community comes together. It's truly
when we launched the Youth Cinema Project, that's when everything changed.
I mean, the man himself has told me, when I
leave this earth, people will not remember me for my activism,
(31:53):
and people will not remember me for my Hollywood work.
They will only remember me for the Youth Cinema Project.
He has found new meaning and life because of this work.
What is it? So the Youth Cinema Project essentially took
film graduate school and put it in fourth grade. What
we do is not revolutionary the age that we do
it it is. And to me, this is full circle
(32:13):
for Mr. Almost because he's he started. He really came
into national consciousness by portraying him a man who argued
that marginalized students and children will rise to the level
of expectation and no one believed they would until someone
believed in them. And now he's doing the same thing,
(32:34):
but through film in schools. Because what does film do
it a film project, as you know as a producer yourself,
the amount of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity that goes
into a film, those are like the four pillars at
all schools want to accomplish. So the project itself is
(32:55):
not the film, it's the student. It's the amount of work,
a self advocacy, the growth then wanting to read and
write because They're not thinking we're studying. They're thinking, we're
making a film. The idea of telling your own story,
the social emotional empowerment. This work is truly changing lives.
And this is the work that he knows he's gonna
(33:17):
be remembered for. And this is the work that I
also think he's going to be remembered for. Because you
wait until right now we're all throughout the state of
not all, but we're working a lot of school districts
throughout the state of California. You wait until the rest
of the United States gets a hold of this, Like
how we're gonna have a fighting chance in Hollywood if
you start post college. We have plenty of brilliant artists
in our community, we just don't have the access and funding.
(33:40):
So that's what we're trying to address. How do we
prove to people that were worth investing in and how
do we help them get that access into Hollywood. So
in a way, I wonder if you think, I mean,
do you think Edward maybe Edward James almost would be
doing this stuff if he were like directing a film
every year years, you know, But do you think that
(34:03):
maybe the kind of aftermath of American May like ironically
sort of like pushed him into a more direct action
kind of way of intervening in young people's lives, because
he made this movie to intervene in young people's lives, right,
But he sort of ends up actually intervening in young
people's lives, correct. And I think this is the way
(34:24):
I think of American may It is so easy to
get projects that are about gangs and Narco's green lit
by our community, right, And I think he was able
to get this green lit and then turned it on
its head. That's how I'd like to choose to think
of this film. Because he's told me he's tried for
nearly twenty years to make the film about the first
(34:45):
Latino Middle of Honor winner, and he can't get anyone
too to want to do that project. But when it
comes to gangsters and when it comes to like Narco's,
people want to jump on that right away. Well maybe
it lets you know, uh, maybe a youth cinema project
director will make that movie. And we truly hope. So.
I mean, the stories that are coming out of the
(35:07):
our public schools are they'll break your heart. They're so powerful,
so so powerful, because our kids might not have the
money and might not have like the access, but we
have our we have the stories is what we have.
I do have one last question that I ask everybody,
what is your favorite scene in American may Oh my god,
(35:31):
let me think about that, you know, my the the
scene that always sticks with me is when he first
comes out of prison and he's taking in his neighborhood
for the first time, and like, that's that sh It
makes me want to cry because when someone is like
so institutionalized and then they see the outside world for
the first time, and I felt, I felt how both
(35:53):
magical and scary it was to him, and for some reason,
even as a child, like I really responded to that.
It's cool, thanks man, Yeah, man, for sure. You know
what's so interesting, like hearing you your talk, is when
you look back at Dustin Hoffmann. No one will ever
remember him as a Jewish American actor, and people don't
look back at all Pacina go, that's an Italian American actor.
(36:16):
But when they look back at it Regie's almost they
do say, that's a Latino American and that's that's crazy.
That's crazy because to me, being Latino is a uniquely
American experience, Like in and in Cuba, you're not Latino.
Cuban and Ecuador or not Latino. I'm Ecuadorian. In Mexico,
you're not Latino. Your Mexican. But in the United States,
(36:36):
we're all Latino. We made it up here, That's what
I'm saying. So being Latino is uniquely fucking American. And
that's the uphill battle that we're still having. We're Latinos
are still being mothered. Do you only speak Spanish? How
do we write your stories? How do we program your
to you? You know, it's it's still something that we're
all trying to conquer and overcome in Hollywood, and the
(36:59):
work is only beginning. It's the only beginning. That's what's
so sad like we're moving backwards. I mean, we're moving
backwards from the day that Desire Nest was the start
of the biggest show and every American was accustomed to
living with Desi Ernzz, a Cuban American in their households.
We've worked backwards of that. On the next episode, we
meet actor Jacob Vargas. You know him from Traffic Next
(37:22):
Friday and currently in National Treasure, Edge of History on
Disney Plus. But Jacob's big break came from playing Santana's
younger brother Paulito in American Me. And I remember one
scene specifically was the you know, the end of the
movie where where where we do the drive by. I mean,
he was a wreck. He was like an emotional wreck,
(37:43):
like he was like crying, and I remember you're saying
that this is you know this, there's just too much
of this. It's too much of this happy cabinet and
out in our community, Jacob. That's in the next episode
of More Than a Movie. American Mean. More Than a
Movie American Me is a production of Eggsile Content Studios
and Trojan Horse in partnership with My Heart's Michael Ura
(38:03):
podcast network. The show is produced by me Alex Fumeto
at Anger Yuka on the Internets and our senior producers.
Nigel Da Rose Red and Cream Taps are the executive producers.
Production assistants from Sabine Jansen and now Vaio and Stella Emmett.
Mixing and sound designed by the Guado Albornos. Our executive
producers at I Heart are Gazel Bonzas and Arlee and Santana.
For more podcasts, listen to the I Heart Radio app
(38:25):
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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