One to Watch: Jesse Garcia

Jessie Garcia (center) and his buds in Quinceañera.


If you’re looking for a grown-up, funny, sexy, smart and very well-made drama with attractive gay dudes, sassy teenaged girls, social commentary and a bit of almost mystical whimsy, check out Quinceañera the just-released feature from openly gay directors Richard Glatzer (who’s one of the creators of America’s Next Top Model!) and Wash Westmoreland (who directed The Fluffer). The film won both the Jury Award and the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and it’s gotten swell reviews. And like its creators, the film’s pretty gay, too.





Okay, on one hand it tells the story of Magdalena (Emily Rios), a Latina teenager living in L.A.’s Echo Park, who gets in “trouble” just as it’s time for her big 15th birthday quinceañera celebration. But the film’s also the story of her cousin, Carlos (played by Jesse Garcia), who gets tossed out of his house for being gay, and who embarks on a three-way relationship with two guys who just happen to be his great uncle’s landlord. There’s much more going on, but Garcia’s performance is at once sensitive, tough, heartening and impressive. And he looks good in a wife-beater, too.

I chatted with Garcia in New York recently (he looks much younger in person; and more sweet than street), and he’s charming, friendly, and happy to chat about his playing this nuanced Latino gay character.

Here’s what he had to say about cholos, playing gay, and being a cheerleader (really!).

Congratulations on the movie. I was at Sundance, that’s where I saw the movie and where it won both the Audience Award and the Judges Prize. Does the response to the movie still surprise you?
Yes and no. At Sundance, it was crazy. I mean you go there hoping that the movie will do really great but it’s a total crapshoot; everyone could hate your movie. You could be a shame to Latinos everywhere. [laughs] But they really embraced it. One of the cooler things that happened there Terrence Howard, who came up to me and goes: “The movie was awesome, loved it, your performance was great.” I was like, “Terrence Howard gave me props!” That’s awesome. That guy’s dope.



Garcia (right) with costar David W. Ross. They get it on in the movie.

Growing up in Wyoming—which is pretty different than L.A.’s Echo Park—could you relate to the urban tensions in the movie, the racial and neighborhood tensions going on?
I really didn’t grow up with that, but everyone deals with that at some point, whether it’s racial tension or coming of age for yourself. It’s kind of a coming of age for Carlos, too. He’s discovering his sexuality, who he is, and what kind of person he’s going to be. I’ve gone through stages and I’m still going through these stages figuring out who I am and what I’m going to do when I grow up.

How did you go about playing Carlos, who’s really such a good gay character, like we haven’t seen much in the movies? Was it a challenge to make him authentic?
One thing that actually helped was cutting my hair. They were like “You’ve got the vulnerability and acting down; let’s cut your hair!”

Garcia in his tuff Carlos mode.

Butch you up a little bit?
Right. It was like, “let’s take the metrosexual out of you.” So we cut my hair and put tattoos on me.

Did that do the trick?
Yeah it did. (laughs) After I cut my hair and had a tattoo on the back of my neck, and wore baggy clothes, people did perceive me differently. Guys and other people who live that lifestyle really get the wrong side of the stick. Not all people who shave their head and wear baggy clothes are gangsters and are going to kill people. It’s just a kind of lifestyle that they know and feel more comfortable with.

Rios and Garcia, keepin' it real in Echo Park.

Also when you’re gay it’s a way of protecting your sense of masculinity or a way to heighten that.
There’s actually a culture of very masculine manly gay cholos. It’s like a down-low group that I never knew about. I went to a gay club in LA with one of my gay friends, and saw all these cholos at the club making out and I was like, “Dude, I’ve never seen that”.

Since the beginning of films there’s been the character of the Latin lover. There’s a tendency—and I love how it’s addressed in the movie during the gay dinner party—to fetishize the Latin guy; there’s almost this commodification of the hot Latin type among some gay people. Was it interesting to get in there, play this character and mix up those stereotypes?
Yeah. What I wanted to do with this role was to break all stereotypes of what people would expect of a Latino actor and a gay character. One I never wanted to play a cholo because that’s a role that we get pinned; as criminals and gang-bangers. So I did not want to play a cholo unless the role was unbelievable. And the gay role, unless it was comedy, I wanted to play it subtle and honest. That’s how I approached it. This kid, you forget he lives this lifestyle as a cholo, he’s just this guy. He can be threatening but he is just this regular guy who has this love story going on.

What is the biggest challenge of being a Latino actor?
The market is growing but there’s still a limited amount of strong Latino roles, men or women. They are starting to come out now with these really diverse TV shows and good movies but a lot of movie stars and dominant actors are still white. Black actors have a better market now, but Latinos are only starting to come up. I definitely want to do strong Latino roles but I also want to be in parts where you wouldn’t expect a Latino actor, like playing a corporate giant or in a romantic comedy.

Garcia, getting pensive during a down moment at Sundance this past January.

Have your parents seen Quinceañera?
Yeah, they came down to Sundance from Wyoming and saw the last screening. They really liked it. They were really proud. My mom started freaking out during the last fight scene. She started crying. I was getting my butt kicked onscreen; it was really funny.

And so what’s next?
I just got done working on The Closer. And I’m attached to a few movies that aren’t still completely off the ground. One is called Looters. It’s about this guy who is trying to get his buddy across town during an L.A. riot so he can give his grandma her insulin shot so she doesn’t die. It sounds cheesy but it’s all about the journey across town. I end up battling against these cops. There are a lot of fight scenes. It should be a lot of fun.

And you were a cheerleader in college?
Yeah. I had almost a full scholarship at the University of Nebraska, which was one of the top schools. I had so much fun.

Is that a very gay activity? Are there a lot of gay male cheerleaders?
It kind of depends. There’s NCA and UCA, which are divisions of cheerleading.
NCA tends to be a gay division and UCA doesn’t. It’s just some weird thing
We had a gay male cheerleader on our squad, but he ended up quitting for whatever personal reason. Other than that everyone was straight. There were actually a lot of couples in the squad.

See that’s the danger of perception. I always assume those perky cheerleader guys are gay. You should find some way to get involved with the Bring It On movies.
I actually auditioned for that movie and made it to the last round. But they went for someone who was an exceptional dancer.

But you’ve got the skills!
Bring it on!

Fame? Awards? Cheerleaders? Yes, please.


Quinceañera is now playing in New York and Los Angeles; it opens in places like San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and Cambridge this Friday, and then it's spreading all over.

Comments

omg jesse garcia is hella fine

[Nina]

I love this movie Quinceanera! It is awesome and it's so true to reality! I live in Colorado and the town I live in is known as one of the worst gang cities in the US. I see this type of stuff all the time and I feel that Carlos (Jesse Garcia) was excellent in this movie.. and if he's single shoot holla at me! haha.. just kidding but I love the movie and I give a 5 star rating!

[Luis]

Really well wrapped up article, this movie was very emotive, and I think the contrast that it was made into this sort of Careless White Gay Community vs this guy that happened to be gay himself was very pulled off. Without stereotypes, as they don't actually fit our world. Digging deep, brings out marvelous stories like this. So this mix-mash of lifestyles really brings something fresh, besides Garcia is very hot and fit, oh so well hehe.

[Franklin]

This movie was fantastic.Stuff like this does happen in real life.This movie made me and my friends cry because some of the stuff that happen in the video happen to us.It was really sad but I enjoed it.You did a great job being Carlos in the video.you guys should do a part 2.Am an actor to so when u guys need an acter am here.

[El Coyul]

yeah this guy is really hot! he reminded me of the first cholo I had sex with at the age of 16.