Mandalit del Barco Character actor Pepe Serna has appeared in dozens of movies and tons of of TV reveals because the 70s.
Pepe Serna: Life is Artwork disguise caption Character actor Pepe Serna has appeared in dozens of movies and tons of of TV reveals because the 70s.
You might have seen Pepe Serna's mischievously rugged face in lots of movies and TV reveals over the past 50 years.
In Scarface , Serna performed Tony Montana's Cuban drug supplier buddy, who met his demise by a rival's chainsaw.
In Automobile Wash , he acted with George Carlin and Richard Pryor.
He was Punk #1 in The Jerk with Steve Martin and Edward James Olmos' brother on the run in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez .
Now he is the star of a documentary about his life and profession, Pepe Serna: Life is Artwork .
Filmmaker Luis Reyes mentioned Pepe Serna dispelled stereotypes.
Even so, Serna remembers earlier in his profession he had many roles the place he needed to kill or be killed. "He is been working constantly because the '70s and that is a troublesome activity for any actor, a lot much less a Latino actor," mentioned showrunner Gloria Calderon Kellet.
In additional than 100 motion pictures and 300 TV reveals, Serna's been a personality actor recognized for his improvisations. "I wasn't thinking about turning into a star," he instructed NPR, "I simply needed to work." Pepe Serna in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Throughout the eighth Dimension in 1984.
Earlier than its displaying on the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival , Serna sat within the foyer of L.A.'s Biltmore Resort to reminisce.
He talked about rising up in Corpus Christi, Texas, the place he started performing at age 3, entertaining the crowds at his godfather's boxing ring.
He studied in Mexico, the place one in every of his idols from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Cantinflas , helped him break into the flicks as an additional.
After performing in a bullfighting film and a manufacturing of the musical Hair , Serna made his option to Hollywood in 1969.
Throughout our interview, Serna shared a number of tales, usually breaking into character and altering his voice from humble farmworker to a rootin- tootin Tex Mex, to a poetic pachuco.
He recited monologues from his one-man present, which he is turning into a movie, and he improvised different characters on the spot.
Actor and director Eva Longoria calls Pepe Serna a legend within the leisure trade.
Pepe Serna: Life is Artwork disguise caption Actor and director Eva Longoria calls Pepe Serna a legend within the leisure trade.
Over time, Serna has labored with everybody from Meryl Streep to Johnny Depp, and Latino artists akin to Cheech Marin.
Within the documentary, Eva Longoria refers to Serna as a hometown hero. "Should you're from Corpus, you understand Selena, you understand Farrah Fawcett, you understand Lou Diamond Phillips, you understand Pepe Serna." At 77, Serna continues to be the energizer bunny he at all times was.
He'll be featured in Longoria's upcoming movie Flamin' Scorching , and he is starring in a brief movie, Abuelo , which is displaying earlier than his documentary on the Los Angeles Latino Worldwide Movie Competition.