Exclusive interview with Roberto Aguire

PT: Tell us about your background… Where did you grow up?

I grew up most of my life in Geneva Switzerland, but I was born in Los Angeles California and both my parents are Mexican. I guess you could consider me some crazy Mexican/Swiss/American mix. It’s a toss up whether you’ll catch me eating a Hot Dog, munching on some Toblerone, or throwing back a Tequila.

PT: Tell us about your education and what inspired you to become an actor?

The one thing that was very different about my high school experience was how international it was. There were over 130 different nationalities represented in my school so you can imagine how many different languages, cultures, religions, etc we were exposed to. I was given a true perception of just how vast and diverse the world really is. What surprised me was that every culture I was exposed to had a form of art that they used to convey experiences or evoke emotions. That was one thing all of the nationalities had in common, and also something that began to spark my interest in acting. I started to realize the universal effect an actor could have to help people from anywhere experience almost anything. As an actor you get to help people laugh, cry, let go, forget, escape, love, etc, and you don’t even have to speak the same language or be from the same place to do so. It’s a remarkable responsibility, but one that can cause a lot of good.

Once I had settled that I wanted to be an actor, one of my top choices for college was NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. I went to their summer program the year before applying just to make sure that it was where I wanted to be and ended up falling even more in love with it than I had been before. It was a phenomenal place to work on your craft as an actor. I was given the language with which to understand what acting was and a safe environment in which to make mistakes and become a better actor. And you learn a lot of discipline and work ethic when your schedule from 9am-6pm three days a week for four years revolves around acting. I feel like my experiences at Tisch will continue to help me throughout my career.

PT: You’re staring in the film Struck by Lightning, how did your meeting with Chris Colfer go and did he give you any advice about playing Emilio?

My meeting with Chris was amazing but I remember being pretty nervous. I was sitting in a room waiting for him to arrive, when I saw this ominous shadow through the semi-opaque glass wall slowly walking towards the door. I swear he must have planned it to make me even more nervous. Two seconds later though he walked in with the biggest smile on his face and immediately we were laughing and having a good time. During that meeting, we actually spoke about the character I was originally going to play, a Hungarian foreign exchange student called Emile. But after spending some time with me, Chris decided to alter the character slightly and create the new and improved Emilio. His advice for playing Emilio was to make him passionate and lustful.

PT: Tell us about your character in the movie?

Emilio is the school’s resident foreign exchange student and womanizer. In other words he’s the movie’s Latin lover and as such he’s able to seduce all the American girls in his high school with his sexy Spanish phrases and beautifully coifed hair. No joke, it takes him about an hour in the mornings to create that masterpiece that sits on his head.

PT: What was it about this character that really inspired you to play him?

I thought it would be really fun to play a guy who’s made himself into the person that he believes is THE guy that he always wanted to be in school. But the scary thing is that it all hinges on an enormous secret, and if anyone were to find out, that would basically be the end of Emilio.

PT: What Actor or Actress would you like to work with?

The list is way too long! I can tell you it includes actors and actresses like Meryll Streep, Daniel Day Lewis, Robin Williams, Cate Blanchett, and Sean Penn.

PT: What Latino Actor or Actress do you look up to?

I really admire Gael García Bernal. He always fully immerses himself into his roles and he doesn’t seem scared to let the character take over. And there’s a delicate subtly to his acting that I find tremendously captivating.

PT: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Hands down Good Will Hunting. That movie is one of the reasons I’m an actor today.

Photo by Sierra Prescott

Interview by Susan Ameri