I had a happy little accident a few days ago.  I had been writing a blog post about the recent hullabaloo regarding white actors cast in a Hartford production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' "The Motherf*cker in the Hat":

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/playwright-criticizes-casting-for-production-of-the-____________-with-the-hat/ 

And lo and behold, it was totally erased by my faulty computer after three hours of editing it.   I cursed my own existence, and gave up for the day, vowing to revisit at a later time when I was more calm.  That time came today when I happened upon a fellow actor's blog regarding the issue:

http://peacockchronicles.com/

I found that the talented Carmen Pelaez summed up my experiences exactly, so I didn't have to write anything!

After you've perused these articles, I will leave you with this: I completely support Guirgis' views regarding the production and understand his anger at not giving Latino actors the opportunity to audition for this production.  However, I found myself grimacing while reading about the issue, simply because of the manner in which Puerto Ricans were swept under an enormous umbrella of a certain urban type.  In fact, I expected more care to be taken in using labels for a certain ethnicity from a publication as prestigious as the New York Times.  Dare to dream.

It did make me realize the absolute NEED for a wider range of Hispanic characters in our media outlets.  The reason the term "urban" was not used to describe the characters instead of "Puerto Rican" is because there have been no true successes on a wide scale from Puerto Rican artists to make known the wide range of walks of life that Puerto Rican society enjoys.  It (obviously) is as big as any other society, as big as what they call the "white" society.  There are white Puerto Ricans/Americans, there are black Puerto Ricans/Americans, there are poor Puerto Rican/Americans, there are white Puerto Rican/Americans.  There are even rich-then-stock-market-crashed-and-now-poor-with-a-dark-skinned-son-but-from-light-skinned-parents Puerto Rican-Americans.  I think you get the point.  How odd then, that only the poor and black Hispanic population is portrayed in our movies and media outlets.  How very odd.

I wonder why that is?

(Originally published on Kickstarter on August 4)
Aliens have been spotted.

I'm just kidding! The miracle is that thanks to 148 backers - plus Angel Mercado's enthusiasm and generosity in increasing his pledge - we've reached our goal!

We're currently at $10,010, which is just so beautiful and almost perfectly symmetrical, that it makes me giggle. Thank you, all of you!

"But we still have 10 days to go until the end of the campaign," you may say. "What will we do now?"

We'll figure it out. But for now, we celebrate!

And on that note, I leave you with quite the interesting interview with Modern Family's Sofia Vergara:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/29/sofia-vergara-on-david-beckham-tom-cruise-the-smurfs-modern-family-emmys.html

For our purposes, I've cut down the chit-chat and gotten to what I felt was at the heart of the interview. I've included my own responses to the interview as if I were sitting with Sofia and Marlow (the interviewer). I am notated by VL, for Viviana Leo.

MS: Upon researching you for this interview, I read that you're actually a natural blonde. Why did you make the switch to brunette?

(VL: Oh, Marlow, you're terrible! I know where you're going with this, and I commend you. Let's see how this shakes out...)

SV: Yes, I'm blonde. When I started as an actor, because of the accent and my body and my personality, it was not what the stereotype of the Latina woman in Hollywood is, so they didn't know where to put me. The blonde hair wasn't matching. The moment I put my hair dark, it was better for my work. I think I changed it five or six years ago, but I got used to it. It toned me down a little bit. Before, I was the blonde with big boobs and a big mouth. [Laughs] It toned me down and I really like it.

(VL: Interesting. Yes, we all face this question of whether to stick to our guns and not work, or sell out and become a household name. And we, the audience, allows this to happen! I myself had to take a stage name, and Ms. Vergara, I don't blame you in the least. No, I know what you're thinking, Marlow, I really don't. Had I been given that choice, who knows what may have been. For dyeing her hair, Ms. Vergara is now working often; whereas I, the white Latina, am writing and producing my own work, which truly is much harder and less cost effective. Thankfully, I have a cushy day-job and no children. But who's to say what the future brings. I do a killer Puerto Rican accent, and there's always darker foundation...)

MS: Has being loud ever gotten you into hot water?

(VL: Wait a minute, I'm not finished. I'd like to address Ms. Vergara's statement, "they didn't know where to put me." How about the leading lady in a major Hollywood romantic comedy? How about the leading lady in pretty much anything?! Why's it gotta be about what piece of land we happen to be born on?!)

(Ms. Leo is now belligerent and has to be calmed down by security.)

MS: [As I was saying...] Has being loud ever gotten you into hot water?

SV: It is what it is. Latins, we're like that! We're very passionate and very loud and we scream and shout, but then we forget.

(VL: Really? (silence) Hmm. (a contemplative moment) Well, I have always been quiet and shy myself. But what we're saying is that I'm actually supposed to be loud, and what else? Scream. Yes. Well, I do scream on the inside when I see injustice, but I tend to keep a level head at all times. Though I always assumed that was from my own unique personality. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe to be intelligent, level-headed and studious is actually a trait that all Latinos carry...oh wait, is that what you meant to say?)

MS: Casting agents love to stereotype actresses in Hollywood, but you've really spun that around and made it work to your advantage.

SV: I think I'm going to be stereotyped forever, but I'm not scared of being stereotyped. I'm Latin. I have this accent. I'm lucky that I got this role and showed people that I can be funny. I would never go and read for Schindler's List 2 because I know I'm not going to get the part. It's just a matter of finding the right roles for me. I'm never going to play a scientist or something crazy.

(VL: Indeed, science is crazy, isn't it? And it's just so insane to think of a Latino performing difficult scientific tasks! Oh my. It's just so beyond us. It's interesting, a great uncle comes to mind. According to my parents' stories, he worked on the Manhattan Project back in the '40s. Oh wait, my memory is also recalling my mother's cousin, Nestor, who is himself a backer for this project. He's a chemist who works in Washington. But seriously, other than those two individuals, I highly doubt a Latino could be believable as an actual scientist. Oh wait, my father also comes to mind. Weird. He's an anesthesiologist. And my cousin the neurologist. Gosh. Now I've got Latin scientists on the brain, and the names just keep coming! But what I really meant to address before is that I heard there will in fact be a Schindler's List 2, because one really isn't enough. And guess what? I'll be there auditioning. Cause I do a phenomenal German accent, thanks to an accent coach, and that's really all it takes, isn't it? Did I mention I was a finalist for a role in Irena's Vow on Broadway with Tovah Feldshuh, thanks to a Polish accent I perfected and killer acting skills? Let's all start dwelling in the possibilities, now, shall we?)

(Originally published on Kickstarter on July 27)
A huge shout-out to the Tirado/Rodriguez/Morano/Ahearn family! They've really come through and helped us get to 69%! Thanks for everyone's generosity and hard work to help us get this far. Keep spreading the word!

I was recently getting a snack at one of my favorite vegetarian stands, and while I was waiting for my order, I strike up a conversation with a lady who was waiting in line. She complimented me on my dress in English, and I responded in Spanish since I had heard her speaking it before. Her reaction was like I had stripped myself of my human costume, and a giant cockroach was staring at her speaking Spanish. She couldn't believe it. I told her I was from Puerto Rico, just like her, and she starts going on and on about how white I am. I told her that I had an aunt named Maritza, which was her name, and she wanted to know if there were others like me. At the time, I wish I had my Korean friend with me who grew up in the Dominican Republic, just for sheer theatricality.

We eventually got to the point where we could have a conversation, but it took a while for the shock to wear off. Truth be told, I could've been telling her I had the secret to counting cards, she couldn't have taken it in because of the shock from my being white. I wonder if my parents reacted the same way when I was born: "You have a daughter.", "Whaaaat? She's whiiiite?", "Do you want to hold her?", "But...we're Puerto Rican...", "Should I just lay her down then?". I'll have to ask them, though somehow I doubt it.

But who knows, maybe it's my fault. Maybe when I meet new people, I should just become accustomed to having to wait about five minutes before we can get off the subject of my skin color. But truthfully? I haven't the time. Which is why I'm making this movie.

Thanks for your support everyone!!