By Tio Louie Louis E. Perego Moreno
In the “glamorous” world of arts and entertainment, we – the consumer – often live in a bubble. The assumption is that when you have a leading role in a national television series entering its third season having garnered awards ranging from Golden Globe to Peabody that you’re set and top of your game ready to slay all dragons. Vulnerability is what describes Andrea Navedo who plays Xiomara Villanueva, mother of the show’s star, Gina Rodriguez in Jane The Virgin. When Rosie Berrido, a New York actor and acting coach who plays her mother in the play, Other People’s Money was asked to describe Andrea she quickly replied, “I am really impressed that she took on the role of Producer and female lead of the show that required a lot of preparation and a lot of study.” When I shared Rosie’s sentiments with Andrea, her immediate retort was, “I wish I felt that way.” But this is what fuels her artistry and contributes to her success in TV and on stage. She’s not satisfied resting on laurels, aiming for the next step on the road less traveled and challenges in order to grow professionally.
Andrea (top corner) l-r: Actress, Fatima Ptacek from the film, A Miracle in Spanish Harlem; her mother, Lucia Ptacek and TíoLouie (bottom, l-r), Actor & Producer, Elaine Del Valle holding a character from her HBO Latino series, Gran’pa Knows Best; Luis Antonio Ramos from A Miracle in Spanish Harlem and the Starz hit TV series, Power; and a celebration for Margie Velez, #1 Latina fan & supporter of Latino media and entertainment.
We’re both from the South Bronx. Proud as the day is long to have been raised within the borough’s Puerto Rican community. And coincidentally, we both attended through the Fresh Air Fund, a free summer camp for inner city kids that left an indelible impression on our lives. So what impresses me even more about this accomplished lady is that while also juggling a theatrical production as Co-producer and lead actor, she is keen on running a campaign to raise money for the Fresh Air Fund that has been running these summer camps for kids since 1877. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-play-about-wall-street-benefiting-new-york-kids – /
The play she is Co-producing, Other People’s Money is a comedy-drama written in the 1980’s, but equally relevant today in highlighting Wall Street greed and corporate raiders in gobbling smaller family-run businesses with the intent of dismantling them in spite of this one company being the primary employer in its small Rhode Island town. Here I interview the lead actor of this revival production, Andrea Navedo playing Kate Sullivan.
Andrea with Anthony Mendez, Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Narrator on Jane the Virgin as they attend the HOLA (Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors) Gala Awards ceremony in October 2015, for which Andrea won the 2015 HOLA Elizabeth Peña Breakthrough Artist Award
TíoLouie: You were honest in sharing that you were nervous undertaking a producing role for a theatrical production when your artistic career is defined mostly as an actor. It startles those who have seen you successfully carry out the role of Xiomara Villanueva, the show’s star’s mother in the hit series, Jane The Virgin. What drives those feelings? Is it just a safety valve to aim for perfection?
Andrea Navedo: For years I wanted to produce. I lacked the confidence and I’m not overly confident now. But I’m a little more confident because of the platform that Jane has given me as an actor. As actors, we are perpetually waiting for the next job. The goal given to my management team was to book me a film during hiatus as I was in between seasons. You want to always build on your career during down time. There weren’t as many auditions; opportunities or dates conflicted with Jane or there were postponements on projects. I hated the idea of waiting for someone to give me a job and wasting my creativity. So I jumped in for this opportunity.
Andrea and Rosie Berrido who plays Be a Sullivan, mother to Andrea’s character, Kate Sullivan in Other People’s Mon
TíoLouie: Jane the Virgin is a comedy-drama and so is this play. Does comedy pose a particular challenge for an actor or is it an opportunity to let off some steam artistically?
Andrea: I love comedy, though this play is more a drama. I did a few episodes for Más Mejor, Lorne Michaels’ digital comedy channel, and the humor was over-the-top and it was very liberating. It’s stretching me in a different way. I take to comedy. For me, drama and comedy kind of blend into one – comedy comes out of the drama.
TíoLouie: When you accepted your 2015 HOLA Elizabeth Peña Breakthrough Artist Award in October you made a very humble acceptance speech and admitted that it had taken you 20 years to get to where you are, while still feeling that you were not at the top. What was your message in those sentiments?
Andrea: My message to the actors, but to anyone indulging in a higher endeavor, Hang on. Like the NY lottery tag line says, You have to be in it to win it. I like people to see me as an approachable person who has attained. I am successfully making a living as an actor, which is not always common. A lot of actors performing for 20 years may have a more impressive resume, like Benicio del Toro who is an Oscar-winning actor. Though I don’t have that Oscar, I am still here.
TíoLouie: As a New York mother of two, Ava who is 12 and Nico who is nine, how are you raising your kids injecting culture, gender equality, morals and values?
Andrea: I take them to LA with me when shooting Jane in LA. I wanted a girl and in my first pregnancy I got one. I can relate to her. She’s a momma’s girl. Then when I got pregnant with a second child, I was like I will accept whatever God gives me. I got a little nervous when I found it was a boy. I fell into the stereotype about “boys,” fearing that he would be hyperactive. Then, in the process, I realized that there was a double standard that I was equally guilty of supporting the notion that boys are to be tough – if they cry they’re weak. I started to realize the norms I was imposing on my son. My husband is great. He has never ridiculed him or put him down for crying or showing emotion. This has been a learning lesson in appreciating males and what we impose upon them. Also, that culturally, coming from the Latino community, that males are kings and they don’t have responsibilities. That is not happening in my house. If anyone is going to be a king in my house, it’s me.
Marco Greco, plays the lead Lawrence Garfinkel in the play, Rosie Berrido who plays Andrea’s mother, Bea Sullivan and Andrea, playing Kate Sullivan in Other People’s Money.
TíoLouie: Like Sonia Sotamayor cited, as a Puerto Rican and a woman she brings her own perspective to her work. How have you injected that in your work as an enhancement feature?
Andrea: There’s something about growing up in the Bronx that is grounding – that is so real – that is easy to relate to. I love being back home from LA. My husband works in the Bronx and my father lives and works in the Bronx. I like to think that I bring to my work a realness. I have a really high work ethic and to be the best I can be. Being from the Bronx, this is what I bring to the table.
For the purchase of tickets:
http://www.actingstudio.com/chelsea-repertory-company/box-office
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY
Off-off Broadway Equity Showcase Revival
Friday, July 29 – Sunday, August 14
15 Performances
Chelsea Repertory Theatre at Shetler Theatre 54
244 W 54th St (between Broadway and 8th Ave)
@TIO LOUIE/Louis E. Perego Moreno
Louis E. Perego Moreno/@TioLouie
Founder & Executive Producer of PRIME LATINO MEDIA, the largest East Coast network of Latino multimedia-makers, actors and musicians in bilingual Latino and mainstream media, digital and entertainment. An interactive Content/Impact Producer and Educator who for the past 34 years has owned Skyline Features, a bilingual multimedia and educational production company developing documentaries, television programming and advertising commercials featuring Latinos, Blacks, Women, Urban Youth and LGBT.
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