June 10, 2021 • 10 mins
Jimmy Smits checks in to break down his new movie 'In The Heights' and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fun pretrial a little bit. Mario Lopez joining me right
now on the show. Emmy winning actor, My god, Jimmy
Smith's how you doing man? Always great to see you, brother,
Always great to see you. And first off, congratulations, I
just saw you got a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame recently. How surreal was that? That was surreal?
(00:24):
It was virtual? So that was it was perfect the
way that worked out, because still counts. I would have
been mortified, mortified to have to actually ask people to come.
But it was humbling, you know, grateful. Yeah, I know,
you're always such a modest, great guy. And I heard
your starry ended up being next to Gregory peck legend
(00:47):
right there. Huh, that was that was a beautiful thing
that I wanted up working out like that because he
was instrumental on so many levels that the short time
that I got to work with him. But yes, and
up until his passing, Uh, kept in touch and just
a mentor in the best kind of way, and righted
(01:10):
you know, my trajectory in terms of the where the
boat was going into, what kind of waters, how to
how to navigate the waters of the business. That's awesome.
Now that's the best man, and I'm really excited for
Um in the Heights. You're starting Force in Lin Manuel
Miranda's movie, which is based on his first play. I
happen to see the play a couple of times, so
(01:31):
for those who may not be familiar with it, though,
like break the film down for us, and and how
close is it to the play itself? Oh, I'm not
the anecdote guy, so that's gonna be hard. But it
takes place in Washington Heights, which is a section of
New yorganist about the hopes and dreams of a group
of young people and all positive and how different it
(01:52):
is from the from the play. Uh, you know, there's
like ten years difference between when the play went down
and and this iteration of the film. And you know,
the films take a long time in terms of the
sure producing process. So but things work out for a reason.
John Cho who directed Crazy Rich Asians, is directing this
(02:16):
and I couldn't think of a more perfect person to
to melt um these beautiful brushes and homages to old
Hollywood and and keeping it current in terms of like
the music and what the love and joy that all
of these young people bring to this particular area in
(02:37):
New York City with all of these very resident I think, uh,
universal themes about family and home. Where his home is home,
where your parents came from, or where you're aspiring to
be or or is it right here where you're at
community family, And it's just you know, it's it's been
(02:59):
a years since we were supposed to it was supposed
to be last summer film, but you know, the stars
aligned for a reason, and uh, the vehicle being a musical,
you know, the delivery system to the audience. I've been
coming out of the pandemic and and the way we're
and and and and the time that we've had to
(03:20):
think not only about medical stuff but a lot of
social issues. It's it's right for something like this, and
it's our little gift of joy. So I hope people
go and check it out in the theaters. You're totally
the anecdote guy. That was a great description right there.
Who's who? Who do you play? To me? The character's
(03:40):
name is Kevin Rosario and he is the father of
one of the four Principles, Nino Rosario, played by Leslie Grace. Uh,
and it's all about their relationship. All has to do
with a family wanting there the next generation or their
offspring to do better than they did in this country,
(04:01):
no different than than the story of people that came
here in the forties or the twenties, every immigrant story
or came from down south to the north. It's that
whole dynamic. That's great, man. I'm looking forward to checking
it out on screen as well. And Uh, I was
reading about this, Jimmy. It is the thirtieth anniversary of
(04:23):
your Emmy win for l A Law, which I remember.
I can't believe that it was. It was had long ago.
What do you remember about that time specifically? Uh, the
time on the show, the time on the show. Okay,
let's go down. Yeah, that whole era, The time on
the show, the time. The time on the show was
(04:47):
special because it was everything was also new in terms
of a different level in this business, a different playing fields.
And and I really lucked out on so many levels.
The relationship that I had developed with the producer creator
of that particular show, Stephen Botco, lasted for many years afterwards,
(05:12):
and you know, manifested itself in beautiful kinds of ways. Um.
It's probably one of the reasons why I'm here talking
to you right now because of that relationship. But it
just looked out in terms of the what the meaning
of ensemble is. But that group, because it was a
big group um of really talented actors, a lot of
(05:34):
them having their roots in the theater, and I think
that had a lot to do with the way we
kind of vibe with each other, you know, and uh, hey,
you know what you know because you've been in the
situation when when when when the vibe is good, it
creates uh, good work. And knowing that you're, you know,
(05:56):
one of the spokes in a particular wheel, and knowing
that on a particular day I would just be a
particular episode I would just the thing was about holding
the door open for Harry Hamlin or or Blair Underwood,
Corbyn Burson's character, and but that the next episode I
was going to have a really strong courtroom case because
it was about lawyers in Los Angeles. Great show, great casto,
(06:19):
as you would rattle off the names right there, you're
also great man on Dexter. That was a lot of fun.
How'd you like? How'd you like working on that show?
It must have been must have been a lot of fun.
Completely different obviously from hell a law Well that That
was great, Mara, because it was it was switching it
up and what people had perceived. You know, it's TV
(06:40):
is a very fluid kind of thing, so you've become
if you're on the show, you're lucky enough to be
in a show six seven years. There's a perception of
what the character is, but what you know, you're, your
essence kind of starts bleeding through so much more so
it was a nice way to kind of of switch
(07:01):
it up. And that was a wonderful cast as well.
And Michael C. Hall was just so generous, generous, just
generosity of spirit and just bring you, bring your a
game and let's let's play. And that's what we did.
That's awesome, that's awesome. Listen, Jimmy, before I let you go,
I'm gonna put you on the spot with some quick questions,
(07:23):
quick answers, Okay, oh, quick answers. Favorite musical, Ah, favorite
musical was probably for a lot of different reasons of
give me a decade. I don't know, I mean, I
love my name La Mancha h. But I'll tell you
(07:43):
what affected me a lot because when I was in
my twenties, I did a lot of community action work
in Brooklyn and I I got to take kids to
go see the Whiz that time, and um, it was
wonderful to watch young people who hadn't experienced theater and
I had already had that thing. I had a teacher
(08:04):
that would take me to go see place. So I
to watching their eyes just get blown away by the story,
by the spectacle of theater, and by the what the
intimacy of theater could be. And uh yeah, so and
I went to see that many times with a lot
of different kids. And that's a game changing moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely,
(08:24):
favorite straight play then a straight straight play. Oh my god. Well,
I mean I remember seeing James L. Jones and Christopher
Plumber and an O. Fellow and that really that that
that blew me away. Raoul julian In in Betrayal. Yeah, yeah,
(08:47):
he was both. I mentioned those two because they affected
you know, you know this whole thing about permission to aspire.
If you're seeing it, you can believe that you do it, uh,
whether it's on stage or on the small screen or
the big screen. So those two gentlemen, for various reasons,
(09:08):
I felt a kin to their spirits, to where they
came from, to what they is performers and artists had
to go through and and because of their sheer talent.
It just made me believe that, Hey, listen, if you
if you're feeling strong and passionate about that, you can
go for it. To look at them, absolutely, go to
(09:29):
late night snack. Go to late late night snack. Raisins, raisins.
We've never gotten Raisins as an answer. That's interesting. I
like Raisins. That was my go to. But I like Raisins, okay,
I mean as a reason I had these little man
have these little mini things because if I had big stuff,
(09:51):
I'll eat it. You know, you're you're a big dude though, raisins. No, no, no,
the little mini not enough to give me a pep
nick name as a kid. Uh Smitty Uh Jimbo. Yeah.
And last question, who do you cast to play Jimmy
Smith's in the biopic? Oh? Man, I don't know. I
(10:13):
don't know. They're they're they're I don't know. Well, you
don't seem to h So you could play yourself. I'm
sure if you wanted to Jimmy. You're right, Gray, exactly exactly. Well.
Listen in the Heights is out now in theaters and
on HBO Max Jimmy, it's great to catch up. Hope
(10:36):
to see you in person soon. Brother. Congrats on everything.
Family will do you too. You gotta thank you with
Morio a little pett
Fun pretrial a little bit. Mario Lopez joining me right
now on the show. Emmy winning actor, My god, Jimmy
Smith's how you doing man? Always great to see you, brother,
Always great to see you. And first off, congratulations, I
just saw you got a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame recently. How surreal was that? That was surreal?
(00:24):
It was virtual? So that was it was perfect the
way that worked out, because still counts. I would have
been mortified, mortified to have to actually ask people to come.
But it was humbling, you know, grateful. Yeah, I know,
you're always such a modest, great guy. And I heard
your starry ended up being next to Gregory peck legend
(00:47):
right there. Huh, that was that was a beautiful thing
that I wanted up working out like that because he
was instrumental on so many levels that the short time
that I got to work with him. But yes, and
up until his passing, Uh, kept in touch and just
a mentor in the best kind of way, and righted
(01:10):
you know, my trajectory in terms of the where the
boat was going into, what kind of waters, how to
how to navigate the waters of the business. That's awesome.
Now that's the best man, and I'm really excited for
Um in the Heights. You're starting Force in Lin Manuel
Miranda's movie, which is based on his first play. I
happen to see the play a couple of times, so
(01:31):
for those who may not be familiar with it, though,
like break the film down for us, and and how
close is it to the play itself? Oh, I'm not
the anecdote guy, so that's gonna be hard. But it
takes place in Washington Heights, which is a section of
New yorganist about the hopes and dreams of a group
of young people and all positive and how different it
(01:52):
is from the from the play. Uh, you know, there's
like ten years difference between when the play went down
and and this iteration of the film. And you know,
the films take a long time in terms of the
sure producing process. So but things work out for a reason.
John Cho who directed Crazy Rich Asians, is directing this
(02:16):
and I couldn't think of a more perfect person to
to melt um these beautiful brushes and homages to old
Hollywood and and keeping it current in terms of like
the music and what the love and joy that all
of these young people bring to this particular area in
(02:37):
New York City with all of these very resident I think, uh,
universal themes about family and home. Where his home is home,
where your parents came from, or where you're aspiring to
be or or is it right here where you're at
community family, And it's just you know, it's it's been
(02:59):
a years since we were supposed to it was supposed
to be last summer film, but you know, the stars
aligned for a reason, and uh, the vehicle being a musical,
you know, the delivery system to the audience. I've been
coming out of the pandemic and and the way we're
and and and and the time that we've had to
(03:20):
think not only about medical stuff but a lot of
social issues. It's it's right for something like this, and
it's our little gift of joy. So I hope people
go and check it out in the theaters. You're totally
the anecdote guy. That was a great description right there.
Who's who? Who do you play? To me? The character's
(03:40):
name is Kevin Rosario and he is the father of
one of the four Principles, Nino Rosario, played by Leslie Grace. Uh,
and it's all about their relationship. All has to do
with a family wanting there the next generation or their
offspring to do better than they did in this country,
(04:01):
no different than than the story of people that came
here in the forties or the twenties, every immigrant story
or came from down south to the north. It's that
whole dynamic. That's great, man. I'm looking forward to checking
it out on screen as well. And Uh, I was
reading about this, Jimmy. It is the thirtieth anniversary of
(04:23):
your Emmy win for l A Law, which I remember.
I can't believe that it was. It was had long ago.
What do you remember about that time specifically? Uh, the
time on the show, the time on the show. Okay,
let's go down. Yeah, that whole era, The time on
the show, the time. The time on the show was
(04:47):
special because it was everything was also new in terms
of a different level in this business, a different playing fields.
And and I really lucked out on so many levels.
The relationship that I had developed with the producer creator
of that particular show, Stephen Botco, lasted for many years afterwards,
(05:12):
and you know, manifested itself in beautiful kinds of ways. Um.
It's probably one of the reasons why I'm here talking
to you right now because of that relationship. But it
just looked out in terms of the what the meaning
of ensemble is. But that group, because it was a
big group um of really talented actors, a lot of
(05:34):
them having their roots in the theater, and I think
that had a lot to do with the way we
kind of vibe with each other, you know, and uh, hey,
you know what you know because you've been in the
situation when when when when the vibe is good, it
creates uh, good work. And knowing that you're, you know,
(05:56):
one of the spokes in a particular wheel, and knowing
that on a particular day I would just be a
particular episode I would just the thing was about holding
the door open for Harry Hamlin or or Blair Underwood,
Corbyn Burson's character, and but that the next episode I
was going to have a really strong courtroom case because
it was about lawyers in Los Angeles. Great show, great casto,
(06:19):
as you would rattle off the names right there, you're
also great man on Dexter. That was a lot of fun.
How'd you like? How'd you like working on that show?
It must have been must have been a lot of fun.
Completely different obviously from hell a law Well that That
was great, Mara, because it was it was switching it
up and what people had perceived. You know, it's TV
(06:40):
is a very fluid kind of thing, so you've become
if you're on the show, you're lucky enough to be
in a show six seven years. There's a perception of
what the character is, but what you know, you're, your
essence kind of starts bleeding through so much more so
it was a nice way to kind of of switch
(07:01):
it up. And that was a wonderful cast as well.
And Michael C. Hall was just so generous, generous, just
generosity of spirit and just bring you, bring your a
game and let's let's play. And that's what we did.
That's awesome, that's awesome. Listen, Jimmy, before I let you go,
I'm gonna put you on the spot with some quick questions,
(07:23):
quick answers, Okay, oh, quick answers. Favorite musical, Ah, favorite
musical was probably for a lot of different reasons of
give me a decade. I don't know, I mean, I
love my name La Mancha h. But I'll tell you
(07:43):
what affected me a lot because when I was in
my twenties, I did a lot of community action work
in Brooklyn and I I got to take kids to
go see the Whiz that time, and um, it was
wonderful to watch young people who hadn't experienced theater and
I had already had that thing. I had a teacher
(08:04):
that would take me to go see place. So I
to watching their eyes just get blown away by the story,
by the spectacle of theater, and by the what the
intimacy of theater could be. And uh yeah, so and
I went to see that many times with a lot
of different kids. And that's a game changing moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely,
(08:24):
favorite straight play then a straight straight play. Oh my god. Well,
I mean I remember seeing James L. Jones and Christopher
Plumber and an O. Fellow and that really that that
that blew me away. Raoul julian In in Betrayal. Yeah, yeah,
(08:47):
he was both. I mentioned those two because they affected
you know, you know this whole thing about permission to aspire.
If you're seeing it, you can believe that you do it, uh,
whether it's on stage or on the small screen or
the big screen. So those two gentlemen, for various reasons,
(09:08):
I felt a kin to their spirits, to where they
came from, to what they is performers and artists had
to go through and and because of their sheer talent.
It just made me believe that, Hey, listen, if you
if you're feeling strong and passionate about that, you can
go for it. To look at them, absolutely, go to
(09:29):
late night snack. Go to late late night snack. Raisins, raisins.
We've never gotten Raisins as an answer. That's interesting. I
like Raisins. That was my go to. But I like Raisins, okay,
I mean as a reason I had these little man
have these little mini things because if I had big stuff,
(09:51):
I'll eat it. You know, you're you're a big dude though, raisins. No, no, no,
the little mini not enough to give me a pep
nick name as a kid. Uh Smitty Uh Jimbo. Yeah.
And last question, who do you cast to play Jimmy
Smith's in the biopic? Oh? Man, I don't know. I
(10:13):
don't know. They're they're they're I don't know. Well, you
don't seem to h So you could play yourself. I'm
sure if you wanted to Jimmy. You're right, Gray, exactly exactly. Well.
Listen in the Heights is out now in theaters and
on HBO Max Jimmy, it's great to catch up. Hope
(10:36):
to see you in person soon. Brother. Congrats on everything.
Family will do you too. You gotta thank you with
Morio a little pett
Host
Mario Lopez
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