Humiliating Roles Turn Actor Into a Cabbie

My friend Nick returned from meeting with the building manager and told our group: “The lady says, Jose has to get out of the swimming pool.” Then Nick turned to me, “You can’t swim in the pool.” This happened over 20 years ago while visiting friends at their new condominium in Sunrise, Fla. I felt more welcome in that pool than I do in my profession today.

I am an actor.

In his article “TV Violence Isn’t the Only Issue” (Calendar, July 31), Rick Du Brow writes that proper minority and elderly representation on TV “are tougher matters to crack because of longstanding inflexibility that has hardened into simple injustice and human cruelty.”

His words resonate with me--especially since the particular realities met daily by women, seniors, African-Americans, Latino/Hispanic-Americans, Americans of Asian-Pacific origin, of lower income and disabled, were spelled out not long before in the articles “TV Not Representative of Society, Study Finds” (Calendar, June 16) and “Networks, Studios Won’t Discuss Minority Reports” (Calendar, June 17).

Those two articles prompted me to obtain their subject, the final report from the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists--”Employment in Entertainment: The Search for Diversity.”

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The report, which affirms Du Brow’s point, is an X-ray into the souls that decide who works in Hollywood. It shows how they make cruel and distorted images of America, images of what, to them, reality should be--a world eclipsed by white men under 40.

What a relief to see 10 years of pain reflected in objectively gathered statistics, i.e.: “. . . Most ill-fated fictional characters come from the ranks of poor, Latino and ‘alien’ men. . . . In features . . . the percentage of Latino/Hispanic performers hired (4%), is 5% below their U.S. population . . . in television . . . Caucasians receive 82% of all roles (compared to (their) 76% of the U.S. population) . . . while the 3% Latino/Hispanics hired for TV jobs falls short of the census by a full 6%. . . .”

Here is my experience with television violence. I was born in Havana, Cuba. I am black. Fifteen years ago, when entering “the business,” it took me three years to land an agent. It didn’t matter that I was trained by Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater, or that I had acted in a world premiere of David Mamet’s “The Blue Hour,” directed by the author, or that I was much praised for my work as “Jose, the Junkie” in Sidney Lumet’s “Prince of the City.”

Agents said, “We already have someone like you.”

“How many?” I asked.

“One,” was the usual reply.

After finally winning representation and being represented for 10 years by David Guc of the prestigious Gersh Agency, and after having played too many “ill-fated fictional characters,” I refused to continue auditioning for those humiliating roles. My income as an actor dropped from more than $75,000 in ’88 to less than $6,000 a year since then.

I have a degree in mass communications from the University of Vermont and have served our country as a VISTA volunteer. Until five years ago, I consistently worked with our best theater, film and television artists.

Then I refused to portray violent and negative stereotypes to children. Today, with no regrets, I drive a taxi to pay my bills.

In his essay “Our America,” the Cuban patriot Jose Marti wrote: “The conceited villager believes the entire world to be his village.” Let us educate ourselves, so that we can prove these villagers wrong.

A start would be to call the Screen Actors Guild or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to request their report. In it, you will see details, facts and statistics behind 10 years of images that Du Brow so aptly declares are “shameful.”