Having appeared in numerous high profile features and television shows, actor Luis Guzman developed into a... (Learn more)
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"Early on I had to pay my dues as a Latino in this business. I had to establish my reputation as a good worker, which was playing a drug dealer, a rapist, all those negative roles." --Luis Guzman quoted in "Hollywood Has a Bad Accent" by Lewis Beale in Daily News, January 24, 2001.
In Lewis Beale's "Who's That Character?" column in the Daily News (November 16, 1993). Guzman commented on the stereotyping of Latinos in the movies: "When I first started out, I played drug dealers and rapists and gypsy cab drivers. But as time wore on, I began to get better roles. Today Latinos are still stereotyped, [but] there are more positive roles. I think the market is opening up; Hollywood is beginning to see that there is a major Latino market happening, and after a while Latinos will get tired of seeing their brothers and sisters playing these low-life roles. But it will take Latinos in the industry to help bring that forward."
In Lewis Beale's "Who's That Character?" column in the DAILY NEWS (November 16, 1993), Guzman responded to the question of what his biggest influence was: "My encounter with [director] Sidney Lumet during "Q&A". He made me understand what being myself was about. It was basically through rehearsals, making sure that whatever we were doing was conversational, and that brought out the reality of the characters. And him having the confidence to allow me to do what I did."
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