The Latinas in this industry are really supportive and stick together. America Ferrera, Gina Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, and Salma Hayek have all reached out and have helped promote 'Vida,' and it's because they get it. They really are about opening doors. The more there are of us, the more of a movement it will be, and it won't be just tokens.
Because I also write, I really admire Latinas who are creating content. That's the next step. We can talk about seeing more Latinas on TV all day long, but it's about what we can do to make that happen. Women like Eva Longoria, Sofía Vergara, Jennifer Lopez, and Salma Hayek are producing a lot of great shows that feature Latinas. Those are the women who inspire me because they're not just acting; they're creating for the future.
Being on 'America's Got Talent' has really helped me expand my self-confidence on the stage and anywhere - I'm more comfortable, and it's just really helped, and I'm glad about that.
There's a reason we all cried when Gina Rodriguez won that Golden Globe. It didn't matter if we're Latina. We get it. We're just like, 'Thank you! Finally, a more accurate reflection of diversity!'
There are still many writers out in the Bay, extraordinary writers like Gina Valdez, a poet who I just saw in Portland. We have young people like Eduardo Corral, who won the Yale Younger Poets Award. José Antonio Rodriguez, published by Luis Rodriguez. But there are only a few of us who are paid attention to in New York. There are legions behind us who are not.
I believe if any of these candidates really understood that America is in the crosshairs of God, and that America will never be made great again. None of them will be able to lift America up but letting the Black man go and giving us justice that will save America... I am almost sure that if they don't do that, it will be said: "We must get rid of Farrakhan." And that will bring about the destruction of America even more quickly.
I came to America because of a tennis scholarship. I really wanted to get away because I was really frustrated about my injury so my mother said, "Go to America for four months and just open your eyes and see that there's more things than tennis." That's what happened.
I really like the risk takers. I like people who make those different choices on the carpet. I really like Charlize Theron. I think she's elegant and edgy as well. I love Zoe Saldana.
I don't want to follow the map of what the music industry does because I've already lived the industry and I still live the industry so I already understand how it works. The industry doesn't really like us around anyway once we get older because we know too much so, that's fine - cut us off - and we'll find another way to get it out there.
Everything shifted for me after 'Rush.' It wasn't as financially successful as other things I'd done, but it gave me more movement, more options, more doors opening, more meetings. All of a sudden, it's, 'Oh, wow! You're an actor!'
Today, there's more that can and should be done that really has to come from the industry itself, and how we can strengthen our economy, create more jobs at a time where that's increasingly challenging, to get back to Teddy Roosevelt's square deal. And I really believe that America and all of you are up to that job.
It's not my place to say how Zoe Saldana perceives herself, and I can't say how anybody else perceives her, either. I see her as a black person of Hispanic origin, but I don't even know what that really means, because I don't know anything about race and Hispanic culture.
I'm offended by the kind of smarmy religiosity that's all around us, perhaps more in America than in Europe, and not really that harmful because it's not really that intense or even that serious, but just... you know after a while you get tired of hearing clergymen giving the invocation at various public celebrations and you feel, haven't we outgrown all this? Do we have to listen to this?
For us, being a label, we took out the whole aspect of the business that goes into sifting through people who don't care, who don't get what you're trying to do. We can just hire and work with people who get it - the people who understand what this project is about. When you're on a label, you're just hoping somebody will stick their neck out and work for you. Most bands are just like, "I hope they do it. I hope they promote it." But being a label, we know exactly what's happening.
A lot of times when you see Bun you don't see me; that's because we have to go our separate directions to promote on our own. When we're separate, we can cover more ground than we can together. That doesn't mean that it's not still UGK for life; we've just figured out ways to promote and cover more ground.
There are so few roles out there. And even if it is a film that could be led by a black actress, how many times is that film going to get funded? Let's just be real. But it's not just black people. It's Asians, it's Hispanic people if you're not Salma Hayek. It's hard. It's hard to get films funded.
I really enjoyed working with Daniel [Craig], because he's a brilliant actor at the top of his game. That gave me an opportunity to learn from the best, which is what you're always looking for as a performer in order to grow and get better at your craft. It was also great because he was so nice and incredibly supportive, because it really was an intimidating experience for me. He sort of held my hand and said, "We're in this together and we'll get through it together." And he did look after me.