When I was growing up there were not really many Mexican actors or actors of Mexican descent that I could look up to. Many of the actors that I had been told were Mexican or Chicano throughout my life, are not either, and are instead one of many combinations of differing nationalities. .
The actors that I have come to learn about are Raquel Welsh (Jo Raquel Tejada), Rita Moreno (Rosita Dolores Alverio), Rita Hayworth (Margarita Carmen Cansino), Andy Garcia (Andres Arturo Garcí-Menendez) Jimmy Smits, Penélope Cruz (Penélope Cruz Sánchez), Benicio Del Toro, Antonio Banderas (Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas), Anthony Quinn, Gael Garcí Bernal, Anthony Quinn, and Salma Hayek.
The only actor I knew of was Edward James Olmos; he starred in many films I saw growing up. Of the films he has made, the only film which has had a positive influence upon myself and that was "Stand and Deliver-. .
Olmos played a schoolteacher in an inner-city high school that encourages his students to excel in mathematics. When I found that the story was based on a true story about a teacher from Garfield. For a long time I have wanted to do something with my life that impacted the lives of others, especially other Chicano/as, in a positive manner. After I saw "Stand and Deliver- again a few years ago, I decided that I wanted to teach; teaching would be my way of changing the world.
Two of the Actors I came across in my research were born in Spain: Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz. Penélope Cruz is from Madrid, Spain while Antonio Banderas is from Málaga, Spain. Both of these actors were successful in Spanish films before they crossed the Atlantic. As has been the case for many decades, Hollywood has continuously used actors of various ethnicities for Mexican characters. .
Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz both have played Mexican characters: Antonio Banderas played the roles of David Alfaro Siqueiros in the film "Frida- and El Mariachi in the film Desperado.
