I did a lot of commercials early on, and I remember the first commercial I ever got was for a product called Funyuns. I had to eat these chips for, like, 12 hours straight.
Paula Garces
When I'm hired just to be an actress, I don't have to worry about anything else but showing up on set, making sure I know my lines and making sure I know what I'm bringing to the character. When I'm a creator and executive producer, I have to worry about the whole thing.
The first time I got pregnant, I was a young girl - I was 17 years old. Although I knew right away that I wanted to keep my child, being a pregnant teen was an extremely scary experience for me. Luckily, my family and friends were very supportive and were there for me every step of the way.
Baby names are a big debate in my family. Like true Colombian and Puerto Rican families, everybody and their mother is putting their two cents in - everything from Jose to Francisco to Victorio to Rain has been suggested.
It's definitely thrilling to know that you studied for something, and then you went in, and tried to do your best, and then somebody dug what you did.
There were the people that believed in me when I was walking around Spanish Harlem, saying that I was going to be a Hollywood actress. They were like, 'Yeah, you could do it!'
I told everybody that I was going to be an actress in Hollywood one day. People looked at me like I was crazy.
I am a big, big geek at heart and a Sci-fi fan. And I love the Comic-Cons.
People tell me being a perfectionist is a fault, but I find that's what drives me.
I think the reason why I'm an actress is because I got hooked on the feeling of studying for an audition, going to the audition, and then getting that phone call.
I'm South American, and growing up in New York, I had the total stereotypical way of thinking of what Texas was about. I'm like, Texas. Big. Cows. Cowboys. Cowboy hats and cowboy boots. And barbeque.
Obviously there aren't enough Latino roles out there - I wish there were more of them - but there's got to be more in the future. I'm sure there will be more in the future. The public is asking for it.
I think the reason why a lot of the Spanish films do so well, and are so well done, is because the public really respects it and wants it.
Growing up with Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek - people who were always trying to do something else - I wanted to follow in their footsteps. They gave people a different perspective of how women were supposed to look like and be.
I want to make sure that teenage girls know that if you decide to keep your child, you have to get an education. You have to have a plan A, B, and C. Make sure you have a good support system. If all those things are not in place, it's going to be very, very hard - very, very lonely.
Let's be honest. The powers that be all of a sudden realize that there's a lot of money to be made from the Latino market. It all comes down to economics. That's what's happening. So what! We're in style. I mean, that's silly, but I'm taking full advantage of that.
