Esai Morales
Esai Morales
Esai Manuel Morales, Jr.is an American actor. He played Bob Morales in the 1987 biopic La Bamba. He also appeared in the PBS drama American Family and in the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue and Joseph Adama in the science fiction television series Caprica...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth1 October 1962
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I remember doing 'La Bamba' and thinking, 'Do you really think that Latinos will be accepted in mainstream?' and I said, 'Someday I hope so, but there is no guarantee.'
I believe if people understood each other more, if people took the time and realize it's not 'all about me' and I'm on a big planet with a lot of other people and concerns, maybe we can learn how to get along with each other.
My mother taught me when you go someplace, you leave it better than you found it.
How often do you get a movie where the coolest character has your own real last name? I played Bob Morales as a cross between my own father - the passion, the fury - and the real Bob Morales. I loved that movie. People, kids always come up to me and tell me how much they still love 'La Bamba.'
We understand 'Roots,' and that experience was mind-boggling, and it changed the way society viewed race relations. It was incredibly important. With 'Roots,' I was just as proud as anybody else that people of color were getting their stories told.
When you have a little 10-month-old who is climbing up your leg because you are their mountain - there's no nobler reason to get out of bed every day. There's no better reason to live, to make sure you provide as much guidance and as much room for that child to thrive.
I'll never lose the sense of being an underdog. I'm capable of a lot more.
I'm a very romantic person.
I don't get paid like a person that everyone knows, but I get paid so much more in so many ways.
Being an actor you have a lot of expenses.
I'm really, really dumb about describing wine, but I like wine that's full-bodied and dry.
I went jogging up on Mulholland. In the middle of my run I had some form of asthma attack and couldn't even walk. I couldn't get a ride one block to my house. I thought I was going to die.
My character Esteban is a guy who really didn't think he was gonna be there at this point in his life. He's in his early 30s. He's got a son. He's raising his son as a single father.
I like the Beatles. They're at the core of my musicality. And John Lennon's my spiritual father.