Yul Vazquez, who"s in the recently released Music Within, talks about his latest projects, being 17 again and getting "discovered". He is so passionate and philosophical about his art. Yul has been in many films and TV shows including; Seinfeld, Law and Order, The Sopranos, and films such as Traffic, Bad Boys II, War Of The Worlds, and American Gangster. He also appears in other films produced this year; The Take, Jesus Cooks Me Breakfast, Southern Gothic, The Box, The Marconi Brothers and Anamorph. Yul"s a very busy actor!

Music Within, based on the touching true story of Richard Pimentel, an advocate for the rights of the disabled, mainly centers on his eventual fight to get jobs for the mistreated individuals. His actions helped bring awareness to the public, and ultimately, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What intrigued you about your character in Music Within, what drew you to the role and how did you prepared for it?

On his character: Mike Stoltz comes back from Vietnam a full-blown alcoholic and in emotional turmoil. He works in an office, which gets employment for disabled persons, and often gets disturbed. In one scene he throws the papers off his desk. That’s because the person on the phone is not giving him the answer he wants. It killed him to see what was happening to vets because it was happening to him as well. And he becomes very good at getting jobs for vets.

On taking the part: The thing that drew me to the part was he was a guy who was pretty much a mess. But he found something in his insanity, there was something that he was very, very good at, and it gets taken away from him. So the paradox of that is one of the things that drove me to the role.

On preparing for the role: I prepared for the role on my own. Because Mike has since died, I did not have any source materials to look at or anything like that. I just looked at the part and thought of the psychology of him like what drives a man to do these things.

How did you feel after seeing Music Within for the first time as a finished product?

My first reaction to Music Within was that I was so proud of Steve Sawalich (Director), as I thought he made a really good film. He’s a new director and tackled what is a very difficult and dense story. It’s very difficult to present someone’s life in an hour and a half, but I think he did an incredible job of giving you just the right sort of thing so you could actually piece this guy’s life together pretty quickly.

Did portraying Mike Stoltz leave any lasting effects on you?

You know that’s a good question, every part is a different animal. There is something about this part that I loved. It’s the reckless abandonment in it. That kind of got me thinking a little bit. Each part is different and you kind of approach them all in a different way.

Any other thoughts about Music Within?

The thing about Music Within is that it is so timely to right now because you see what’s happening to vets that are coming back now. I think we need to make real sure that what happened to the vets that came back from Vietnam never happens again in this country.

How does this role differ from others you have done?

It’s a better role for me. What’s interesting for me is that being Cuban, I was given the opportunity in Music Within to play an Anglo character. I’ve been reading some of the reviews on it and people have said some nice things about the film and me. What struck me was it's good to get good reviews for playing an Anglo character. That to me is cool.

As a Cuban, I have had to most always play the Latin guy. Actors like myself that are basically American, speak perfect English and yet never seem to be allowed into those roles. And I thought wow this is really cool. That’s an interesting thing for me. A lot of the Latin actors have come up against it.

Getting advice from an actor that has been in a lot of productions is great, and Yul had some very good philosophical points to pass on.

My advise to students is to work hard. You can be born with talent, but acting is about talent and about craft. And the craft is something you have to work hard at. Craft is something you can take credit for because that comes from very, very hard work, diligent work. I see a lot of young actors, but I don’t see them working hard enough.

I think that if you want to be an actor you should study acting. By studying acting you provide yourself with a tool kit. It’s a technique, its like algebra or calculus... those are mathematical techniques, acting also has techniques. For example, you can’t get a license to be an electrician unless you know what you are doing. A lot of people are running around saying they are actors and they really don’t have the tools of the craft.

If you were 17 again, what would you tell students NOT to do in high school that may deter their future careers?

From my own experience I would have worked harder in school. I kind of coasted through school and I was able to do that, and I’m sure there are a lot of students who coast. I would have definitely worked harder and I would have chosen to go to college, which I didn’t do. I was also playing in a rock band at the time so I had that kind of college. I was on the road at 18 and playing in bars.

It is interesting how some actors are "discovered", what are your thoughts on that?

I had acted as a child because my mother was an actress, but I always wanted to be in a band, and after I got older I joined a band. I was in bands for years, which is why I came to NY. I went back into acting in a sort of odd way. The universe and life will give you sign posts. You can sometimes choose to read the sign post or ignore it.

Acting flowed back into my life in a very organic way. I began to study acting with a wonderful teacher in NY called William Esper and that began to enrich me in a way that music was not at the time. We had just made a record for Epic and we were trying to get another deal, and it wasn’t working. So I kind of moved right into that acting again. I began to study and began to feel very, very happy. That’s where I met a woman called Maggie Flanigan who became, and still today is, my coach.

Giving back to your community is very important today, are there any charities you work with?

My wife and I participate in charity for the guide dog foundation here in NY City. What we do is we raise guide dog puppies. It’s an amazing charity. It’s called the ‘Puppy Walker Program’, and what you basically do is you are given a puppy and you raise this dog for like a year and then the dog goes back to the foundation to be trained as a guide dog.

When you see someone with a guide dog, that’s the journey of the guide dog. Someone has to raise that dog as a puppy because it has to be socialized. Most of the credit goes to my wife. She is really the one who does the brunt of it because I’m traveling a lot. It’s an amazing charity.

What do you think of the current Writer’s Strike that has affected many film and TV projects?

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jAss   |2007-11-20 09:22:39 wow, that is a lot of movies and stuff! guide dog thing is cool. Reply 0   0

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."