Latino actors landing better television roles

January 23, 2005

NATALIA MUNOZ

President Josiah Bartlet, a liberal former New Hampshire governor in his second term in the White House, is played by Spanish-Irish-American Martin Sheen, aka Martin Estevez.

On the same television show, "The West Wing," Jimmy Smits plays a former Texas lawmaker named Matt Santos who has just announced his candidacy for president.

This is not a dream.

Portraying Hispanics as positive role models on television is becoming a trend, and reflects the growing importance of the Latino population.

Soon the list of Latino actors and actresses will no longer be short enough to repeat every year like a favorite song. It'll become a collection of albums.

But that doesn't mean we can forget our founding mothers and fathers in the reel world and on stage. Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno went on to perform other glorious roles, but it was their interpretation of the feisty and proud Anita in their respective Broadway and movie roles in "West Side Story" that made their names household words. The exalted rooftop dance remains one of the most exciting scenes in movie history. And the song "America" still echoes today:

"I think I go back to San Juan,

I know a boat you can get on."

On the small screen, there's Desi Arnaz, who with his wife, Lucille Ball, created one of the handful of television comedies in the 1950s with enduring appeal. And there are some others, for sure. In this third millennium, though, we can add, if not more Hispanic actors, at least the same ol'-same ol' in bigger and better roles. That's something.

Change comes slowly. It was only four years ago that the idea of a ferociously funny El Salvadoran maid made it to the screen in the comedy "Will & Grace." Played by Rachel Morrison, whose name belies her Spanish heritage, Rosario became a recurring magnetic role. In the case of Sheen, his ethnicity is hidden in the role he plays. But there he is, nonetheless, in the Oval Office.

We see him, we hear him. We remember that he starred and sparred with Marlon Brando in "Apocalypse Now!" It is a movie among movies.

We know how his name really sounds when you put the accent on the "" - Marteen. His children are Ramn, Emilio, Renee and Carlos, named with pride of heritage. Named in a country where one-syllable names appear more common.

When Carlos changed his name to Charlie Sheen, some would say that we knew there's nothing wrong with standing on one's father's shoulders in the very business that handcuffed actors with Hispanic surnames by casting them as criminals. They include Luis Guzmn, a versatile actor on a par with Alec Guinness who has played every type of criminal there is.

With Smits, producers of "The West Wing" transformed his Puerto Rican roots into a Mexican-American story. But there he is, a Latino to the core.

No longer relegated to Spanish-Harlem hoodlums and Miami vice traffickers, Latinos can dream of playing the roles of their lives.

Almost 40 million Hispanic consumers across the U.S. - the largest group with a second language rolling off its tongue - translates into a market that has fueled changing times and changing roles.

Today there are 75 networks in both English and Spanish that target U.S. Latino viewers. A few successful networks created versions of themselves in Spanish, including CNN, Fox and ESPN. Networks from the Spanish-speaking world, such as Spain's TVEspana, and bilingual networks like mun2, are drawing in viewers.

We are now blessed with Latino characters who display wit, intelligence, compassion and what Jaime Escalante, portrayed by Edward James Olmos in "Stand and Deliver," called, ganas, or desire.

All of them merit applause. At least in TV land, we are in the White House. For now.

Natalia Munoz can be reached at nmunoz@repub.com