"When you have a little 10-month-old who is climbing up your leg because you are their mountain - the..." — Esai Morales

How often do you get a movie where the coolest character has your own real last name? I played Bob Morales as a cross between my own father - the passion, the fury - and the real Bob Morales. I loved that movie. People, kids always come up to me and tell me how much they still love 'La Bamba.'

Do I have to see movies and television about the English throne or the Holocaust every year? There are multiple multi-million dollar movies with the same backdrop. But our Holocaust - meaning Latino - aren't ever told.

I remember doing 'La Bamba' and thinking, 'Do you really think that Latinos will be accepted in mainstream?' and I said, 'Someday I hope so, but there is no guarantee.'

I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor get to be the hero?