On one of those days when even the most politically lethargic Latinos spilled into city streets, snapped to attention by illegal immigration rhetoric, Esai Morales was watching from his cushy perch in La La Land. He was headed out to a meeting with a meeting to follow that one, a conference call later with his agent and perhaps a little dinner out at some trendy little eatery.
Not that Morales, who has surfaced this fall on the Fox kidnap caper Vanished, is politically neutral, or neutered. He's one of the more outspoken actors in Hollywood, and certainly one of the few considered effective with the powers that be - he's like a shrewd, sly diplomat. Unlike Edward James Olmos, who gets his way with pushing and shoving and finger-pointing, or Salma Hayek, who says little while pulling, wizard-like, a number of behind-the-scenes strings, Morales prefers to graze with grassroots advocacy.
He co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for Arts, a consortium with the objective of advancing the presence and quality of Latinos in TV. In layman's terms, it's a group trying to knock down the barriers of hiring Latinos as something other than gardeners, maids or gang bangers in bandanas.
NHFA is part mentor program, part school room, part motivator, part relationship builder designed to put talented Latinos in the faces of the people who claim ignorance of their existence - casting directors, producers and network executives whose social worlds are built around people just like themselves.
There is no such barrier-breaking movement afoot for black actors, at least not anymore. When Fox came along and hired a bunch of black actors for black-cast comedies to reach into large cities (and then dumped them after achieving their goal), when WB came along and hired a bunch of black actors for black comedies to reach into large cities (and then dumped them after achieving their goal), when UPN came along and hired a bunch of black actors for black-cast comedies to reach into large cities (and while not dumping all of them, dumped most, and lumped the rest onto specific nights), black Hollywood naively figured the worst was over.
Complacency is a killer. For those who like to keep head counts, this is a dismal season for black actors, one Bruce S. Gordon, president of the NAACP has already termed "unconscionable," even though the actual tally isn't due for another couple of months. With the black situation comedy, the foremost vehicle for employment of black performers, writers and producers, rolling toward extinction (The cancellation of The Bernie Mac Show leaves a season without a black lead character on a comedy among the four major broadcast networks) there's little reason to believe that the numbers game won't worsen.
On the other hand, Latinos are flexing their muscle. Next week's premiere of Ugly Betty on ABC, executive produced by Hayek, is the kind of series black actors would love - a drama with good writing and sleek production values.
Ugly Betty is based on Yo Soy Betty Ia Fea, the popular Colombian telenovela, about the adventures of an ugly duckling (played by America Ferrera) in a beauty-obsessed world. Hayek helped bring the series to ABC, and in terms of characters on other shows, she's got company.
Jay Hernandez is a focal point of the drama Six Degrees, Lourdes Benedicte and Camille Guaty are on The Nine, Ramon Rodriguez has Day Break, and Sofia Vergara co-stars on The Knights of Prosperity.
There's Hispanic presence on other network shows, too, like Shark, Standoff and Smith.
"Thing is, we're not going anywhere," says Tony Plana, the veteran character actor who stars on Ugly Betty. "The last 30 years we've been relegated to Spanish television because of the language difference. The mainstream didn't feel we belonged.
"Well, that's not true anymore. Sixty-five percent of us speak English only. It's not like we're immigrants. We're part of the American fabric. How long can you expect Hollywood to ignore that fact?"
There's something different about this season when it comes to Latino actors. It reminds me of a few years back when all the noise was made about a "black out" and networks responded by sprinkling black characters in shows. Networks called it progress, and its critics agreed.
Having watched from the rafters, Latinos are taking a different approach. "I think it's all about the creation, and it's all about the timing," says Hayek. "There's a lot of excitement in the Latin community about Ugly Betty. I sold the idea based on that. And because the way the show is set up, we'll get different viewers who just find this fish out of water story interesting."
Hayek's film reputation gave her a leg-up in network meetings. Morales is certain that what has kept people of color from breaking Hollywood's glass ceiling is the same thing that keeps them out of the higher echelons of corporate America: relationships.
"That's 50 percent of the game," Morales says. "You have to have power but frankly, look at how many questionably talented people are working all the time. And look at how many incredibly talented people are not. So I tell you, don't take relationships for granted."
He doesn't mean sleep your way through town. He means respect the dynamics of politics.
"I think everybody deserves a chance," Morales says.
Even a series with a title like Ugly Betty.
"I'm sorry she's ugly," he says. "But, hey, we'll take it. And with Salma Hayek producing, there's reason to feel good about it. We got a lot to offer. People keep calling us minorities getting a shot at the mainstream. Look around you. We are the majority. We are the mainstream. There's an illusion that we're not."
[Author Affiliation]
Ken Parish Perkins, one of the nation's top television critics, writes a weekly TV/media column for the Chicago Defender.
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