1	Books Author Ilan Stavans has made a career of coloring outside the lines. read more...
2	Film & TV Judy Reyes scrubs in; the perspective of Xavier Perez; back to school with Kenny Ortega. read more...
3	Music The spins of Grupo Fantasma; Calle 13 earns its reggaeton rep; listen up to Lila Downs. read more...
4	Ask Julie The surprising value of silver. read more...
5	Calendar Outstanding events around the country. read more...

Latin Forum

Film and TV

Toward TOMORROW

By Kiko Martinez

Sitcom star Judy Reyes has spent eight years making us laugh on Scrubs. Now
she looks to the future—and all its possibilities.

While wrapping up her eighth and possibly last season as hospital gossip Nurse Carla Espinosa on the Emmy Award-winning TV show Scrubs, actress Judy Reyes admits she got a little “teary” during the final week of production. It’s not known if Scrubs, which moves to ABC this season, will return for a ninth go-around. And contrary to online sources that say she’s out, Reyes, who was recently recognized with an ALMA Award, which honors Hispanics in the entertainment industry, has not decided whether or not she will come back if the show continues.
Still, with lead actor Zach Braff defi- nitely leaving the show after this upcoming season, it’s been an emotional past few months for Reyes and the entire cast.

“We know that Zach won’t be coming back,” Reyes told Hispanic while on set during ing the final week of shooting season eight. “We’d be reading scenes thinking, ‘Oh my God. This is the last scene that we’re going to have with him.’

“I got a bit choked up the other day because I shot this last scene with Zach in a particular episode. It was very moving for me,” she says. And she is not the only one affected. “We’ve been looking at each other and hugging each other nostalgically because there are all these pent up feelings that are starting to surface.”

It’s been a strange year for Reyes and the rest of the Scrubs entourage. When the Writer’s Guild of America went on a three-month strike in early November 2007, the protests affected a number of TV programs, including Scrubs, which ended its seventh season last May with a series low of 11 shows.

From there, Scrubs seemed to be in small-screen limbo, especially when NBC announced its fall lineup without the medical comedy on the docket. In stepped ABC to pick up where their competitor left off.

“We weren’t expecting [season seven] to be cut short because of the [writer’s]
strike,” says Reyes, who is of Dominican decent. “After that, we expected it to be the last season for us. We were ready to let go, like high school graduation. So, when we found out that ABC was actually going pick us up ... we were kind of surprised.”

The surprise was a welcome one for Reyes, who says it’s been a blessing to be on a show for “eight long, wonderful years.” That’s eight years out a career that started in 1992 when she was a student at Hunter College in Manhattan and one of the 13 original members of the LAByrinth Theatre in New York City. Another member was actress Marlene Forté, who has been
friends with Reyes for 18 years.

“I think [Scrubs] has been a big part of Judy’s journey,” Forté says. “But what people don’t realize is that Scrubs is only eight years of a long career that she has had. Just like Ugly Betty has done for America [Ferrera], Scrubs has made Judy a household name.”

Although Reyes says she will always appreciate what Scrubs and her character Carla have done for her career, she doesn’t want the role to defi ne her as an actress. Whether or not she decides to return for a ninth season, she defi nitely wants to test the waters in other acting arenas.

“As an actor, you’d like to do things to expand your horizons,” Reyes says. “You want to try everything. I’ve done a half-hour comedy, and now I want to wet my feet and try feature fi lms and maybe one-hour [shows]. I want to be able to use all my experience ... explore the possibilities, and try.” Reyes says her ambition stems from the life lessons she has learned on the set of Scrubs, where she was a little surprised to discover her own versatility once she donned that nurse’s uniform.

“When I started my career in theater in New York I thought of myself as a serious actress,” Reyes says. “It turns out that I defi nitely have some comedic chops, and that all those days on stage and the days of drama helped my work in comedy.” Now Reyes wants to prove her eight seasons on Scrubs can translate into roles in other genres. The experiment started successfully when she landed the lead role in the dramatic Lifetime movie Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story, where she played a mother who’s thought to have lost her daughter in a house fi re only to fi nd her alive and well years later. She is also set to star as a detective in the thriller The Poker Club. “Thanks to Scrubs, opportunities are opening everywhere,” she says. “This is the best group of people I’ve every worked with and I thank God everyday for that.” The show is further increasing her profi le in syndication. Along with its new home on ABC, Scrubs is also on Comedy Central and recently began showing on TVLand.

“It’s crazy! I’m always getting calls from my relatives saying, ‘You’re on all the time!’ “ she says. “I actually enjoy watching it from time to time. I’ll see it on and go, ‘Oh, I wonder what episode it is.’ I look forward to trying to catch one I haven’t seen in a while, or one I don’t really remember shooting.” It’s hard to tell where the future might lead Reyes, who clearly is not afraid to try new things. “At some point in your career, you have to become an entrepreneur,” Forté says. “Salma Hayek has done it. Jennifer Lopez has done it. It’s very easy to say, ‘I’m on a hit show. I can come back year after year and make lots of money and that’s it.’ But knowing Judy the way I know her, she’s not someone who is going to wait around. She can be as big as a Salma, Jennifer or America.”


INTHESPOTLIGHT:
Caught on Film

DIRECTORS AND ACTORS USUALLY GET ALL THE CREDIT FOR FILMS. BUT THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ONE, KEEP IN MIND THERE’S ANOTHER MAJOR ROLE—THE ONE WHO BRINGS THE DIRECTOR’S VISION AND ACTORS’ WORK TO THE SCREEN. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY XAVIER PEREZ GROBET MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN HIS NATIVE MEXICO. NOW HE MAKES THE CUT IN THE U.S

HISPANIC MAGAZINE:You just worked on City of Ember, directed by Gil Kenan and starring Bill Murray and Tim Robbins. The apocalyptic fi lm is about what happens when the electrical system fails in an underground city powered by light. Tell us about your work on the movie.

XAVIER PEREZ GROBET: It was a very interesting fi lm to work on. The lighting situation was all artifi cial; there was never any natural light. It was a great challenge for me. We were able to build the city. It took more than a month to pre-light.

HM: You studied fi lm in Mexico City, and have four Silver Ariel Award nominations in your home country. Your fi rst U.S. fi lm was Before Night Falls, and have since worked on others like Monster House, also directed by Kenan, and I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey. Did you always want to do this?

XPG: When I was 12 years old, I got my first Super 8 camera and started doing my own movies. My mom is a still photographer and my dad an architect—there’s a lot of relation in terms of visual art and creating space.

HM: How do you work with directors to capture a scene?

XPG:Some directors are very visual and know what they want; others are more inclined to take care of actors. I come up with ideas, and the director has ideas as well. It’s not black and white; there’s so many ways of shooting a scene. After talking with the director, I create an image in my mind. It’s very intuitive; I go with my instincts, what I feel in my gut.

HM: What’s your favorite part about your job?

XPG: I try to have fun all the time. At the end, when you see the result ... it feels really good. It’s a big payoff.


DIRECTING A DANCE

As the third and final installment of High School Musical readies for release, director Kenny Ortega savors the moment before moving on.

t was a childhood trip to his cousin’s dance studio that would inspire ALMA-Award winner Kenny Ortega’s career. The director and choreographer of the High School Musical movies— High School Musical 3: Senior Year, hits theaters in October—was lured by his cousin’s mambo and cha cha at the age of 4 and fell in love with dance and performance. He danced from that point right on through his teenage years, and acting would soon follow.

“I really got bit by the acting bug when I was 13 and was cast in a repertory company for a children’s theater,” Ortega says. “I focused on it in high school, won a contest when I was a senior and then I went to college and joined the San Francisco company of Hair, and then did the national touring company. ... Then I was off and running.”
Encouraged by his teachers and inspired by Gene Kelly and early motion picture musicals, Ortega went on to a flourishing choreography career. It started in Phoenix in the early 1970s when he got together with a music group called The Tubes with the mission to improve their live performances. He would work with the group for almost a decade, and through that experience grew to love the conceptual side of directing.

His was a natural calling. His passion and talent led him to win award after award for his work with such stars as Cher, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Gloria Estefan and more. He was also the choreographer and director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, as well as for some of the best dance films: Dirty Dancing, Xanadu and Newsies, among others.

A veteran director of two Disney flicks, Ortega was well versed in directing by the time High School Musical came along, and he knew enough to embrace it. “I approached it with great gladness,” Ortega says. “I saw something at the center of this project. I saw high school in my head, I saw the bullies and artists and jocks. ... We knew that we were doing this [project] for a special group and that on this channel it would have a shelf life.” No one from the cast or crew was prepared for the level of success the franchise has enjoyed. The movies launched stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Ann Hutchens and Ashley Tisdale into celebrity status and was a huge boon for the Disney Channel, generating a soundtrack, product lines and more. Hundreds of millions of movie viewers later, Ortega approached directing the third and final installment with humility and a trademark sense of fun.

“[This is] just a simple story, kind of an old fashioned idea in new clothes,” he says. “The main ingredient is the chemistry between the kids.”

It has been a successful run, which after a tearful last day of shooting, is taking the director and actors on a whirlwind tour of the globe. Ortega and company will visit travel internationally, catching up with audiences and seeing firsthand the big impact of this little story.


ScreenShots
Whether in theaters, on TV or arriving in your mailbox on DVD, these screen gems coming out in October burst through any screen, big or small.

LATINOS ’08
How are Latinos going to vote? What motivates them? And what sends them to the polls. Airing on PBS this documentary examines the 2008 election and seeks to fi nd what impact this dynamic, enormous and diverse group will have on the presidency. Airs Wednesday, October 8 at 9 PM ET.




Tlatelolco Massacre
Discovery en Español explores a tragedy so devastating it’s been called Mexico’s version of the massacre at Tiananmen Square, a student protest in Mexico City 40 years ago that left hundreds wounded and dead. Airs Sunday, October 5 at 10 PM ET/PT.



High School Musical 3
Director Kenny Ortega directs his now-famous cast (including Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Zac Efron among others) of singing and dancing seniors in this third and final installment of the wildly popular Disney Channel franchise.



Hacia la Oscuridad
The 90 minutes after José Gutierrez becomes another victim of Colombia’s feared kidnapping business are crucial as a family worries and strategize his release with the help of special ops. America Ferrera stars. Debuts Monday, October 6 at 8PM ET on HBO Latino.



Capadocia: Un Lugar sin Perdon
Ana de la Reguera stars in this HBO Latino dramatic series about the trials of inmates, lawyers and those who fi ght for rights in a women’s prison in Mexico City. As corruption runs rampant, those on both sides of the bars hope for redemption and rehabilitation.



Santa Muerte
Discovery en Español takes viewers inside the dark world of Mexico’s growing cult—that a female grim reape they have dubbed Santa Muerte. Airs Suday, October 12 at 10 PM ET/PT





Quarantine
Firefi ghters including Jay Hernandez respond to a call only
to discover a terrifying scene. Fearing an infection, offi cials
quarantine the entire complex, with reporters, fi refi ghters and residents trapped inside




Mondays In the Sun
Javier Bardem stars in this drama about a group of fi ve unemployed men who band together in the hope of fi nding work, love and courage to hope for better days ahead. On DVD.





Objetivo el Norte
Original program on Discovery en Español examining all sides of the fi erce immigration debate, from those who risk their lives in the hot Sonora desert, the thousands who protest their presence, and the policy makers in between. Airs Sunday, October 12 at 9 PM ET/PT.