Edward James Olmos has “Seen” the future with Nick Barili for The Academy

“Stand and Deliver” legendary actor Edward James Olmos has set his sights on The Academy’s “Seen” series of candid interviews on culture, identity and representation. He lights up the metaverse, or specifically YouTube mostly, with some eclectic, as well as influential, Latinx filmmakers and artists. 

Finger-walk on over to the Academy’s YouTube, for other episodes, or watch here for Episode 2 that spotlights Edward James Olmos. You’ll remember he was nominated for a 1988 Best Actor Oscar® for his role as Jaime Escalante in “Stand and Deliver,” but his body of work is an easy search engine hop away. On YouTube for this “Seen” episode, Olmos is in conversation with journalist Nick Barili, the series host (scroll below to watch). 

Olmos and Barili to meet-up at the Bell Gardens Intermediate School, site of Olmos’ Youth Cinema Project, to find out how the program encourages students to tell their personal histories via film. 

The 74-year-old provides a look-back to the East Los Angeles of his formative years. Turning 75 on Feb. 24, 2022, the revered actor recalls his experiments in baseball and rock ’n’ roll, before he finally landed on acting as a life path.

As far as the discipline and craft of acting, Olmos stresses the importance of collaboration, but also creative control. He discusses roles from “Zoot Suit” to “Stand and Deliver,” and their wider meaning in his life as well as for the culture.

A Cultural Change-maker, the Angeleno also spells out the factors that make his pass on projects.

Here are some poignant highlights

“The story itself, the truth of the story itself, is powerful.  A hundred years from today, that movie will be seen and understood and be appreciated.  All we wanted to do is just document the behavior of this man.  And we did it, and I was very fortunate I was able to do it.” – Edward James Olmos on “Stand and Deliver”

“To me, trying to understand your life and then your culture, and your heritage, and the roots that make you the tree that you are, and the human being that you are, sharing it so that others can understand it, makes everybody stronger.” 

“Out of a necessity to stay alive in this industry, I had to learn the full usage of storytelling, whether it be in songwriting, filmmaking, or theater.  If we weren’t creating it, we weren’t gonna be able to do it, because nobody was creating it for us.” 

Edward James Olmos is an Oscar-nominated actor (“Stand and Deliver”), director, and producer; series how Nick Barili is a journalist, director, writer, and producer.

Watch it here

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For more information on this episode of “Seen” and others in the series, please click here.

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