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Six Feet Rico
Background:
"There will always be barriers when your name is Rodriguez and the role is for
Jones, and they only see you for your ethnicity. But Hollywood doesn't want to
keep back Latinos, African-Americans or anyone. It's all about money. If you can
earn them money, they could care less what your ethnic background is." Freddy
Rodriguez.
Prolific Puerto Rican-American thespian Freddy Rodriguez was widely recognized
as the ambitious mortician Federico “Rico” Diaz (2001-2005) on HBO's popular and
critically acclaimed drama comedy "Six Feet Under." TV viewers also remembered
him while playing Mark Espinosa (2003-2004), the brother of Nurse Carla Espinosa
(played by Judy Reyes), on several episodes of NBC's sitcom "Scrubs," and as
teenaged superheroes Más and Menos (2005-2006) on Cartoon Network's animated
series "Teen Titans."
Moviegoers could catch Rodriguez in Dead Presidents (1995), Can't Hardly Wait
(1998), Poseidon (2006) and Lady in the Water (2006). Lately, his career hit the
fast track, thanks to his two films in theatres this month (November 2006):
David Ayer's directional debut Harsh Times (with Christian Bale and Eva
Longoria) and Emilio Estevez's star-studded biopic Bobby. The 5' 6" tall actor
has also signed to star in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' upcoming
two-segment suspense-horror, Grindhouse.
Puerto Rico Blood
Childhood and Family:
The youngest of three sons of first-generation Puerto Rican immigrants, Freddy
Rodriguez was born on January 17, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate
of Lincoln Park High School in Chicago.
"I like curves. I like hips and a big butt. That's the first thing that
attracted me to my wife." Freddy Rodriguez.
For 11 years, Freddy has been married to his high school sweetheart, Elsie. His
son, Giancarlo Rodriguez, played Freddy’s son Julio on HBO's “Six Feet Under.”
His second son is named Elijah Rodriguez.
Freddy, who was just shy of 20 when his first child was born, once said: "Having
kids will make you grow up quickly. But I've been blessed. I've done well in the
professional film world and have always made a living."
Harsh Times
Career:
"As long as there is truth, there's going to be stereotypes in films, and actors
who are going to play them. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But
I always felt like my game plan was different. There just needs to be somebody
who stands up and says, ‘I'm going to take a stand and not be that dude.'"
Freddy Rodriguez.
Bitten by the acting bug while studying at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago,
Freddy Rodriguez frequently headlined his high school’s plays, including "To
Kill a Mockingbird," "Twelve Angry Men," "The Crucible," "A Midsummers Night's
Dream" and "The Lottery." At the age of 14, the theater-trained actor starred in
the pilot production of Chicago's Whirlwind Performance Company. He was later
awarded a two-year scholarship to the summer arts program at Chicago's Center
for the Gifted and went on to star in many local theater productions.
Soon after graduation, 19-year-old Freddy made his feature debut as the younger
version of Billy Wirth's prison parolee Terry Griff in Peter Pistor's sobering
and gritty 1994 drama The Fence. He followed it up with a role as Anthony
Quinn's son, Pedro Aragon, Jr., in Alfonso Arau's lush romantic melodrama set in
1945, A Walk in the Clouds (also starring Keanu Reeves), and a co-starring role
alongside Larenz Tate and Chris Tucker in the Hughes brothers’ action-thriller
Dead Presidents (both in 1995).
The next years saw Freddy in Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont's romantic teen
comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998; starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ethan Embry;
Freddy played as an obnoxious jock named T.J) and in Brian Helgeland's remake of
John Boorman's 1967 noir-classic Point Blank, Payback (1999; starring Mel
Gibson). Meanwhile, he also gained popularity on television, thanks to his many
appearances on hit TV series, which include a recurring role as Albert, the man
who mugs Sarah (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) and later rips her off, in
several 1999 episodes of Fox’s soap opera “Party of Five.”
In 2001, Freddy nabbed his most famous role to date, as Federico “Rico” Diaz,
the extremely skilled restorative artist who later became a partner in the
business, on HBO's popular and critically acclaimed drama comedy "Six Feet
Under." In 2002, the role earned him an Emmy nomination for best supporting
actor. For 62 episodes, Freddy worked on the show, until his character was
killed in its fifth season in 2005.
“I thank God that I was doing “Six Feet” for so long that I knew the character
inside out. It was easy for me to switch to that character if need be.” Freddy
Rodriguez.
Throughout his five-year run in "Six Feet Under," Freddy continued acting in
films like Beyond the City Limits (2001), Victor and Eddie (2003), Chasing Papi
(2003) and Dallas 362 (2003). He also had a recurring role, as Mark Espinosa
(2003-2004), the brother of Nurse Carla Espinosa (played by Judy Reyes), on
several episodes of NBC's sitcom "Scrubs."
From 2005 to 2006, Freddy lent his voice to teenaged superhero characters Más
and Menos on Cartoon Network's animated series "Teen Titans." During that time,
he played Hector, a vicious inner city drug dealer, in Barbara Kopple's movie,
Havoc (2005; with Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips and Shiri Appleby). He also got
busier when he was cast in several 2006 prominent features, including Wolfgang
Petersen's remake of the 1972 Irwin Allen disaster movie based on a novel by
Paul Gallico, Poseidon (with Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss), and
in M. Night Shyamalan's seventh feature, the thriller/fantasy Lady in the Water
(starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard), in which he played Reggie, a
strong-arm athlete who later revealed as the Guardian.
“Harsh Times (2006) was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. I was
still doing “Six Feet Under” at the same time. What I mean when I say I was
doing “Six Feet Under” at the same time, I literally mean still doing it at the
same time. I was doing “Six Feet Under” on Thursdays and Fridays and I was doing
Harsh Times (2006) on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and just
kind of repeated that cycle until the duration of the film.” Freddy Rodriguez.
Lately, Freddy’s career hit the fast track with his two films in theatres this
month (November 2006). He co-starred in screenwriter David Ayer's directional
debut, a gritty drama set on the streets of South Los Angeles, Harsh Times, in
which Freddy portrayed the best friend of an ex-Army Ranger (played by Christian
Bale) struggling to cope with postwar life while hoping to make it into the LAPD
(Eva Longoria also appeared as Freddy’s long-time girlfriend). He also appeared
in Emilio Estevez's star-studded docudrama on the assassination of presidential
hopeful Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Bobby (with Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore,
Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan and Elijah Wood), playing José, the busboy present
at the Ambassador Hotel when Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
"Emilio was trying to take a different approach to the biopic. He wanted to show
how this man affected people, and the things they were thinking and doing at the
time." Freddy Rodriguez (on Bobby (2006)).
Freddy has also signed on Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' upcoming
two-segment suspense-horror, Grindhouse. Freddy will star in the segment “Planet
Terror,” a zombie film by Robert Rodriguez, as the martial arts-wielding
character Wray who teams up with Rose McGowan's character to take on a town full
of zombies.
"It's gonna be cool. I'd never seen myself run up a wall and do back flips. It
was the longest and hardest I've ever worked on a film, but Robert knows what
he's doing. He's created his own little Hollywood in Austin, and it was great to
be a part of that." Freddy Rodriguez (on his next film with directors Quentin
Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, Grindhouse).
Awards:
