Actor Raul Casso’s success in film and television came from obsession, tenacity, and resilience. 

Acting is in Casso’s blood. His great aunt, Ana Maria Majalca, was featured in Giant, starring James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor. Raul grew up with stories about her working with the legendary actor.  

Casso’s improbable dream started in childhood. His eighth-grade yearbook notes he wanted to act. A teacher even gave him an Actor’s Award, probably just to make him feel good, and he still has it. 

Growing up, Casso didn’t abandon acting. “Laredo then,” he recalled, “didn’t have a lot of appreciation for the arts.” He considered a business degree, but while working for his tío, he found Sanford Meisner on Acting. “That book changed everything,” he said. 

His family wanted him to study something stable. “But acting spoke to me,” and my seriousness earned my family’s support. “Once your loved ones see your passion, your resolve, they’ll back you,” he said. Casso went to Austin to audition for New York City’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was accepted, but sadly he couldn’t afford it. He returned home, enrolling in Laredo Community College, where he met drama instructor, playwright, and Meisner method practitioner, Floyd Reed who took him under his wing. A semester later, Reed fell gravely ill. At Reed’s deathbed, Casso said his father preferred him to go to Mexico City, but Reed demanded, with all his dwindling  strength, “Go to New York!” 

“Floyd changed my life,” Casso said.

His goal was the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, following idols like Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Benecio Del Toro. Though past the deadline to audition, Casso was allowed the opportunity, if he got to NYC. He booked a two-day flight, auditioned, got accepted a week later, and moved by the end of the next month. 

Casso found a good omen on the flight to NYC, Laredo actor Audrey Esparza. He caught up with her once they landed at JFK. She moved to New York for acting, and in her, Raul saw a Laredoan living out her dream. 

The three-year program was intense. “But Laredoans are forged in fire,” Casso joked, Though the curriculum and weekend jobs were tough, he thrived. “I’m stubborn,” he said, calling it a “familial trait.”

The program was “like Hogwarts — so wild, so out there,” he said, comparing the professors to “wizards.” He said being around other actors showed him how to “live life the way it should be lived.” 

A year out of the program, Casso guest starred in an episode of Blue Bloods, and his acting journey never stopped. He’s appeared in movies — Girls Against Boys, Sweet, Seven Cemeteries, and That Awkward Moment — and in television as a regular on Taxi Brooklyn, Powers, Fear the Walking Dead, and the Emmy-winning Deutschland 86 and Deutschland 89. 

Casso said the “mega milestone” of his career is his upcoming short film, The Death of Billy the Kid, a reimagining of the outlaw’s death. It has allowed him, he said “to share something so special with my close family.”

The spontaneous passion project was “a blessing” that showed Casso the possibilities of independent film. While Hollywood was undergoing a metamorphosis after the pandemic, the actor/writer strikes, and the LA fires, Casso called his brother to do something, anything. “The film snowballed from there,” he said. After some advice from current and accessible film technology they shot the film themselves. 

“When you share who you are with people close to you, that’s really special,” he said, adding that the film is dedicated to his late father. He said that working with family and close friends was a gift that allowed him to utilize his perspective, experience, and abilities.

Casso and his brothers created The Little House Productions and promises more projects to come. Currently, he plans on showing The Death of Billy the Kid at film festivals. Casso also wants to get Laredo into the movies.

“Laredo has a lot of talented people who embody the duality of border culture. It has been the biggest source of inspiration for me, whether in acting or behind the camera,” he said. He has written a screenplay about the border, but is unsure if it will become a series or a film. 

Casso has advice for young artists. He urges them to live the life they choose. People might want different for you, “But you’ll cherish the reality you chose.” Next, “Find community, because it’s hard to survive in the wilderness alone.” 

Next, “When creating who you are out of thin air, harness your fear because “that’s what courage is. Insecurity and instability, those are opportunities for growth.”

And lastly, he said, “Be humble enough to do hard work. Hardships are part of humanity’s beauty, and rather than reject them, embrace them.”  

Chicana actor Minerva García referenced “the challenging circumstances of the poverty” of her childhood as she began the narrative for how being a theater geek” in middle school and high school were the first steps to a life onstage and in television and movies. 

She grew up in El Trece neighborhood, attended L.J. Christen, and graduated from Martin High School.

“Our middle school teacher, Mike López, built our skills and confidence as we prepared for UIL competitions. When I was at Laredo Junior College in Upward Bound college prep classes, Carlos Morton, who taught drama there, cast some of us as chorus members in a Laredo Little Theater production and later in García Lorca’s Blood Wedding and Medea. Back at Martin High, my senior year drama teacher, Mrs. Karen Hewell, directed us in Horton Foote’s A Trip to Bountiful, which won regionals in UIL competition and for which I was named Best Actress,” she recalled.

On a drama scholarship at UT-Austin, García completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater. Being in the audience of a UT production of Noel Coward’s Design for Living, fomented her choice to become an actor. “It was witty and funny, inspiring and glamorous. Thereafter, the stage would be my first love,” she said, adding “Theater is the actor’s medium, Your instrument is your body and your voice.”

After graduation from UT in 1991, García was one of twelve young actors selected nationally for the summer stock company of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Berkshires. “Watching Olympia Dukakis and Frank Langella work was like being in one of the best acting schools,” she recalled.

She moved to San Francisco and completed an MFA in drama at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). “I was cast right away in Nilo Cruz’s play, Night Train to Bolina, my first professional production. It played at the Magic Theater where Sam Shepherd began his career,” she noted.

She relocated to Los Angeles, where her first big break in film came via director Mike Nichols, who gave García her first union job in What Planet Are You From? and with it, the opportunity to work alongside Annette Bening, John Goodman, and Gary Shandling. “I have worked steadily and with some truly great people, but nothing compares to the first time you work with heavy hitters,” she recalled.

She has been cast in film in Real Women Have Curves and Beautiful Boy. Her television credits include The Big Bang Theory, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, This is Us, Dexter, Euphoria, Flaked, NCIS, NCIS-LA, and Criminal Minds.

Los Angeles, she said, made her “happy to be among Chicano intellectuals in art, film, theater, and music. I hit the ground running, auditioning for commercials in Spanish, a very competitive market that is a way to get a foot in the door.” 

She continued, “I love L.A. This is my home. Aside from being a professional actor, I am a grant writer for the Frida Kahlo Theater, where I have acted, directed, and taught acting classes. I have portrayed the lead role of Frida for nine seasons.”

García describes herself as a “journeyman” actor. “We are not the highly paid stars, but we are an important part of telling the stories in film, television, and theater. Supporting actors bring sharp relief and shadows and shades to a story. Entertainment professionals need to be flexible and find diverse avenues of income. We stay in our field, but do other jobs to get through the fallow times,” she said.

“Hollywood has a long way to go to see Latinos in our complete humanity. There is not a lot of work for Latinas of a certain age, for how we are seen or seen not at all. I usually audition for roles that are maids, nannies, and workers — those are important real work jobs that merit dignified representations. When they can only be seen in subservient roles, that’s when there is an issue of stereotyping. Sometimes that is the only work available to us, and it is a hard choice when you’ve not booked anything in a while. Older Latinas audition for parts as abuelas. I see racism and ageism at times in a casting notice such as this one for a narco TV show: ‘Mexican woman – late 40s, squat, half-troll,’” she said.

“I’m a feminist who wants to produce theater and film about women for women. I support the work of Latinas and all women of color. I’ve completed a script that centers on the journey of two women navigating divorce. It’s a comedy that I wrote for myself. I’m figuring out the financing, so that I can shoot it and be the leading role to prove to myself that I can carry the entire project. I have done this in theater, but want to challenge myself to do it in another medium,” García concluded.

Before appearing in The Walking Dead, Triple Frontier, and other productions that brought him wider recognition, actor Gustavo Alonso Gómez grew up on the border between two cultures — born in Laredo and raised in Nuevo Laredo. 

“I grew up moving between both worlds pretty naturally,” he said.

That constant movement from a very young age developed a habit of observation, something he would later carry into acting. “I was constantly around different ways of speaking, expressing emotion, and connecting with people,” he said. “Now, it helps me pick up on the small details that make a character feel real.”

Unlike most actors, Gómez’s earliest exposure to performance wasn’t in movies or theater. He once went to the circus and became fascinated by it.

Along with his sister, he would put on small shows at home using bed sheets as curtains. “Our big finale was putting Uno cards on the ceiling fan and turning it on, so they’d fall like confetti,” he recalled.

At Harlingen High School South, that informal interest started to take shape. He landed the lead role in High School Musical, and later joined an acting club that took him to competitions every weekend.

In his freshman year at Texas A&M International University, he performed in Man of La Mancha. A former teacher alerted him about an open casting call for which he auditioned and months later, received confirmation that he had booked his first professional role in All She Can, a film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.

 “That experience is still one of the most memorable for me, as it was my first time on a real set,” he said. “For the first time, I truly believed this dream was something I could achieve.”

Gomez continued balancing school with commercial work for brands,  including McDonald’s and H-E-B. The early stage of his career was full of uncertainty, but things began to settle when he moved to Austin after graduating from Sam Houston State University in 2013 with a degree in musical theater.

Gómez landed a role on ABC’s American Crime, with a one-episode appearance turning into three. “That gave me a lot of confidence and ultimately pushed me to take the leap to move to Los Angeles,” he said.

His most widely recognized role came with The Walking Dead, in which he played Marco. The audition process was tightly controlled but moved quickly, and a few days later he was traveling to Atlanta to start filming.

“They asked if I was comfortable around horses,” Gómez said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I immediately went and rented one for 30 minutes just so I wouldn’t look completely lost on set.”

Despite the scale of the production, the experience felt grounded. He said it wasn’t until the episode aired that he fully understood its reach, hearing from people around the world.

Gómez has credits in more than 25 film and television projects, including Triple Frontier, Acapulco, Little America, The Starling, and La Quinceañera.

Like many Latino actors working in Hollywood, he has encountered limitations in the roles available, though he does not position those challenges as the defining center of his work.

“I try not to get distracted by what I can’t control and instead stay committed to growing as an actor, so that when the right opportunity comes, I’m ready for it,” he said.

Despite this limitation, he sees signs of progress in the industry, with more space for complex Latino characters and growing collaboration among actors with similar backgrounds.

Recently, he completed a film project he described as especially meaningful, though details remain undisclosed. The film is expected to be released next year.

Gómez credits his mother as the most important person in his journey, supporting him despite the uncertainty of the path.

He also highlights actress Patricia De Leon, whom he met while filming in Canada, as a key source of guidance and advice.

For Gustavo Gómez, his work ultimately comes down to connection. “The idea that a story can make someone feel seen, or understood, or even just give them a different perspective, that’s the part that sticks with me.”

Timing is everything — one of the first lessons I learned as a plucky 17-year-old, eager to join the magical world of live theater. I was determined when I impulsively volunteered on a school night for an upcoming production at TAMIU. 

Boda de Sangre by Federico García Lorca was set to open the following week. I was aware that the cast included a Hollywood actress with roots in Laredo, but I knew hardly more than the play’s title. 

I sat in the foyer as the cast arrived, waiting for the Hollywood actress to make her entrance. I imagined her to be a tall, twenty-something brunette with tan skin, long legs, and pin-straight hair; not someone who looked like me or anyone I knew. 

“That’s Julia,” said Beto, the theater facility manager. “She came all the way from LA to be in this play.” 

He pointed to a woman on a bench across the room with a script in her lap, rehearsing her lines in a hushed voice with her eyes closed. Sunlight trickling through the windows illuminated her silver hair, warm complexion, and features reminiscent of the women in my family. 

This was Julia Vera, the Hollywood actress from Laredo — a collection of words that seemed like a paradox until that day. 

Over the next two weeks, I observed her transformation into La Madre every night, never tiring of her electrifying portrayal of a prideful matriarch hellbent on preserving her family’s honor after the titular wedding goes awry. 

Her journey in acting began when teachers at Macdonell Elementary noticed a little girl with a loud voice. She was frequently selected to sing in recitals and posadas, accompanied by classmates on guitar. 

“They had me sing as loud as I wanted,” Vera said, noting that it wasn’t coincidence that drew her to the stage. It was the unrealized dreams of her mother, Juanita Zambrano Vera, a classically trained singer from Encinal. “She dreamt of being an actress and passed that on to me.”

She performed one act plays throughout her school years. Despite her standout talent, the need to support her family influenced her to join the Army after graduation in 1959. “I was the oldest of fourteen kids, and my dad was the only breadwinner,” she said of Juan Vera. 

She trained at Fort McClellan in Alabama before transferring to Houston to study nursing. Six months after enlisting, an accident left her injured and brought her military career to an abrupt end. Vera was granted a medical discharge with honors and returned to Laredo and enrolled at Laredo Junior College. 

Two years into her studies, she married Andrew Andrews, and they welcomed their first child, Pembrooke Andrews, in 1961. Four more children were born in short order by 1965, when the young couple faced an exciting opportunity.

“My husband came home one day, and he said he had gotten a job offer in Los Angeles. I went crazy,” Vera recalled. “All I could think about was Hollywood.”

Once there, she attempted to find work as an actress. She secured an agent, but struggled to attend auditions or book roles without sufficient childcare. “I had to give it up,” she said.

She decided to wait until her children reached adulthood to resume her acting career. She continued living and working in Los Angeles, where interactions with actors were commonplace.

“I met a couple of actresses, and I told them I was going to be an actress,’” Vera said.

“It’s never too late,” one of them responded. 

“That was from Jane Fonda,” Vera revealed. 

By the late 1980s, all five of her children were fully independent. With her husband’s blessing and two years’ worth of savings, Vera enrolled in acting classes. 

Her acting instructor quickly recognized her talents and referred her to audition for a production with Nosotros, a Latino arts advocacy organization founded by actor Ricardo Montalbán. The lead actress had withdrawn after opening night due to scheduling conflicts. Vera was overwhelmed at the prospect of replacing her. 

“The Nosotros Theater was untouchable. Only the best of the best were accepted there. I didn’t have a resume,” she said.

She cast her doubts aside and agreed to audition. She arrived at a locked theater to find the director standing outside, waiting for her son to drop off the keys. 

The director auditioned Vera on the sidewalk in front of the theater. Vera was cast on the spot and promptly sent to rehearsal. 

“Everybody contributed to learning my lines, learning the character,” she said of her castmates. “They would take turns, walking me up and down the sidewalk.”

Vera made her theatrical debut the next night in Los Angeles. Impressed by her performance, an agent offered representation. She began working “nonstop on commercials” before working in film and television. 

Forty years later, her resume boasts over 100 stage, film, and TV credits, notably Speed, The X-Files, and This Fool. The latter earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Imagen Awards. 

She said she is semi-retired, but remains vibrant as ever, looking after her infant great-granddaughter, writing short stories and plays, and enjoying the well-deserved fruits of her labor. 

“I’m very happy with the results of my life,” Vera said. 

Although we were not in the same class year, I remember Dyana Elizondo Ortelli from our school days. Laredo schools were much smaller then and everyone seemed to know each other or one or more of their siblings. That was the case with us. 

Dyana and her sister, Amparo, were wise-cracking jokesters who always kept us (silently) in stiches. While Amparo was a quieter character, it was clear, even then, that Dyana was itching for a larger audience. 

I was happy to reconnect with her after many, many years for the purpose of this interview. 

Margarita Araiza: What was the path from Laredo to the West Coast? 

Dyana Orteli: I had two friends I had worked with on Carrascolendas in Austin, who had moved to L.A. to pursue acting. They encouraged and inspired me, so I followed, took a giant leap, and moved to L.A. 

MA: At what point did it occur to you that you wanted to act? 

DO: I was 12 or 13, already loving movies and wanting to perform and be an actress someday. As a teenager at Ursuline Academy, I was cast in theater productions and comedy skits. At the University of Texas, I joined Teatro Latino and was cast as the lead in Antígona Perez. 

MA: What about growing up here informs your work? 

DO: Everything. I’m fortunate I was raised speaking Spanish well. I was able to be cast in radio and TV commercials en español, and later in TV and films because I could deliver dialogue in English or Spanish. That’s a huge advantage. 

MA: What was it like to leave the familiarity of life here? 

DO: It was a big adjustment — intimidating and exciting. There was lots to discover in L.A., but getting used to driving on freeways in a huge city took patience and bravery. Learning the ropes about breaking into acting was also challenging. 

MA: Talk about portraying Lupe in the famous Seinfeld episode. 

DO: How lucky can a girl get? The role was a Latina hotel chambermaid, but I had a scene with two comedy giants — Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander, and my scene still lives on YouTube and other platforms as one of Seinfeld fans’ favorite.

MA: Re: Coco – what is it like to be a voice and not a face? 

DO: Only the luckiest actors in Hollywood get to do voice-over work, especially animation. With Coco I saw Tía Victoria on the big screen so my voice could match her personality. The director, Lee Unkrich, hand-picked me from a group of actors to voice her. You never know what they’re looking for. It’s magical how it’s all put together. I couldn’t be happier with how Coco turned out. 

MA: What was the role that informed casting directors of your abilities?

DO: A theater director told me that he knew I could act when he saw me playing a Tijuana beggar woman in Born in East L.A. It was certainly a stretch, and I loved the challenge. The role that allowed me to really shine and be remembered was in Luminarias. It holds a very special place in my heart. 

MA: What role has given you the greatest satisfaction? 

DO: Irene in Luminarias. I had mostly played Latina maids and hookers up to that point. The brilliant Chicana writer, Evelina Fernández, gave me the opportunity to play an outrageous fashion designer who gives up sex for Lent.

Irene is a hard-core Chicana who wears the love and orgullo of her Mexican culture and heritage on her sleeve, and on her mini skirt, too. I even designed my own wardrobe. 

MA: Did you become an actor by instinct and ganas, or did you study acting? 

DO: I always had the instinct and ganas. When I got to L.A. I discovered Latino theater groups that were doing productions in English and Spanish. Theater was my acting school.

MA: What’s ahead? 

DO: Constantly auditioning. Our industry took a big hit with our last actors’ strike, so TV and film are just starting to pick up. I still keep busy doing voice over work — radio spots for Disneyland and voices for interactive media, waiting for the next big role. 

I have three independent films streaming now — The Answer to My Prayer with Luis Fonsi; a campy horror-comedy, Martinez, Margaritas, and Murder; and a gritty immigrant story, Free Dead or Alive.

MA: What is it like to visit back here when you have been away for decades? 

DO: I love Laredo’s unique personality, energy, and voice. Reconnecting with old friends is always a treat. So is the amazing Mexican food. I am filled with nostalgia when I visit. 

MA: Do you have any advice for young aspiring actors from Laredo? 

DO: Be in theater — a great way to learn the craft. More skills make more opportunities.

I was cast in Zoot Suit, my first job in L.A., in large part because I had dance training and had done theater in Laredo. Thanks to my Laredo dance and theater teachers — Altagracia Azios García, Sylvia Flores Jones, and Sammy Johnson. Practiquen su español si quieren trabajar en el mercado hispano! Technology has made the industry more accessible. Casting opportunities are posted on-line, and you can submit via a self-tape on your smart phone. It’s a very competitive industry, so it’s important to find what you have to offer that will make you stand out from the rest. 

Follow me @dyanaortelli on Facebook and Instagram. I engage with a lot of casting directors and producers, and share casting opportunities whenever I can. Como dijo Dolores Huerta, “Sí se puede!”

MA: Any other artists in your family? 

DO: My mother’s older twin sisters, born in Nuevo Laredo, were known as Las Cuatitas Herrera, recording artists in Mexico and actors in both Mexican and U.S. films in the 1940’s — Luna Criolla, for example, and Down Mexico Way with Gene Autry in the U.S. My mother and her twin sister had beautiful singing voices, but they chose to raise families instead of singing careers. My oldest brother, Oscar Elizondo, was a professional dancer with the Berlin Ballet, dancing with Rudolph Nureyev at some point. My prima, Polly Peña, also from Nuevo Laredo, is a professional actress/singer in Mexico City. 

“I’m a delusional optimist,” actor Julio César Ruiz joked about his humble beginnings in Laredo. 

His grandparents and four tios helped raise him while his mother worked two, sometimes three, jobs. He likened his tios to older brothers possessed of their own superpowers and talents in business, music, and art. He said his family was always artistic — his grandfather played in Nuevo Laredo’s Los Hermanos Ruiz, and his tios wrote and played music. “I can carry a tune,” Ruiz said, noting that music had always been a part of his life, but so was a yen for a career in acting since the age of six.

 “I was a dramatic kid,” he said, recalling watching telenovelas with his mother and grandmother. “The tío who worked at a video rental store used to call home to see what movies I wanted to watch. At a young age, I connected with  actors and characters,” he continued.

Ruiz attributed much of his early success to his coaches at J.C. Martin Elementary, Christen Middle, and Martin High School. Throughout football, shotput and discus, and powerlifting, Ruiz wanted to act in plays, but didn’t have time. 

“I don’t like letting people down,” he said, “and One Act Plays were commitments.”

 He said, “Everything happens for a reason,” as he recalled a particular career day when a makeup artist spoke to his class about working on Titanic – one of Ruiz’s childhood favorites. “Afterward, I wondered, “If he can do it, why can’t I?” 

His big push forward toward acting, however, was an injury.

At a powerlifting meet, his knee popped during wrapping. He lifted his personal best, but once the wraps came off, it became obvious that torn ligaments had ended his season. Around that time, the One Act Play’s director approached a dejected Ruiz about playing a sheriff in an upcoming production. 

Ruiz thought memorizing lines would be easy, but quickly learned differently. He lamented letting his team down, but he loved being on stage.

He moved to San Antonio to pursue teaching or journalism and took acting classes. His first audition was for the film Home Sweet Hell. To his amazement, he got the part. 

Today, Ruiz has acting credits for Bookie, Blue Bloods, Preacher, SWAT, Vice Principals, and Zoo. His longest television run was as Tex on Mayans M.C. In film, he’s acted in Thoughts and Prayers, an Amy Poehler short; 80 For Brady with legendary actors Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno; and The Suicide Squad with a cadre of stars like Margot Robbie, John Cena, and Idris Elba. 

Ruiz considers his roles “master classes” in acting. He said trusting his instincts has been an important lesson. In The Suicide Squad, Ruiz, who was cast as Milton — a regular guy thrust into an adventure with superhumans — felt out of his element among so many stars. 

After one take in particular, director James Gunn quickly declared, “Great! Let’s move on!” Accustomed to TV acting with  many directions, Ruiz worried he was so bad that Gunn just wanted to move on rather than go again. He realized, however, that Gunn’s words were a validation. Ruiz said he has “unwavering confidence in his abilities since then.”

He is proud of his work in Blue Bloods, in particular of a long interrogation scene “in which nothing was cut.” He recalled that working with J.J. Abrams on the Duster pilot pre-reshoots was surreal. He said that his run on Mayans M.C. evidenced his acting range with some scenes as a menacing tough guy, and others making silly jokes “like an excited 12-year-old.”  

Whether it’s sharing scenes with Walter Goggins, reciting Diary of a Mad Black Woman monologues with Shemar Moore, or being directed by Gunn, Ruiz cherishes his time on set.

Of late, he has taken on the role of an acting coach for students in first through eighth grades. The job, which began as a semester-long endeavor, is going on its second year. “The kids are magic,” he said, noting their productions of The Wizard of Oz, Beauty & the Beast, Newsies Jr., and (soon) Sing for big crowds. 

He said he likes inspiring people, not just through coaching but also in community outreach. 

Though his family has migrated up I-35, he still speaks at Laredo schools. He said he wants Laredo’s youth to know “they control what they do about their dreams. Don’t let failure shelve them. Be passionate. Continue even if you’re not an overnight success, and most of all, remember that it’s not only the big moments that matter.” 

Ruiz said the best advice for aspiring young actors are embodied in the words of Russell Crowe’s 2001 acceptance speech for the Oscar for Best Actor:  

“When you grow up in the suburbs of Sydney… or the suburbs of anywhere… a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings. And for anybody who’s on the down side of advantage and relying purely on courage, it’s possible.” 

“I  tell them ‘I believe this to be true, because I was just a kid from Laredo, just like you’ ” Ruiz concluded.