 Raised in South Gate, California, 27-year-old Walter Perez was always eager to express himself artistically.
Doing Mexican folk dance at the age of 7, and then acting in and filming his own home movies, the up-and-comer never had any doubts about being a performer.
When he first went in to audition for a role in the highly anticipated re-imagining of Fame, Walter Perez didn?t even realize what he was auditioning for. By the time he got a call-back and then had to go in for a screen test, he had rented the movie and researched it, so that he was prepared.
As Victor Taveras, he is the aspiring music producer from Spanish Harlem and, even though the actor didn?t have the same type of high school experience as his character, he did understand the desire to reach your goals. In this exclusive interview, he spoke about sharing this once-in-a-lifetime movie-making experience with his Fame co-stars.
Q: How did you get interested in acting? Did you just always know that you wanted to be a performer?
Walter: Yeah. Ever since age 7, I was already on stage, performing for my elementary school, doing Mexican folk dance. And then, I did acting at home, recording my own videos and dressing up like Charlie Chaplin and Jim Carrey. I did films at home and edited them myself. Then, I got to high school and did this program called Colors United, which was a performing arts group that was aimed at helping inner city kids with acting, singing and dancing. So, I knew that I wanted to do it.
Q: Did you have a specific moment where you realized that this was what you wanted to do as a career?
Walter: I think it happened when I was a kid. At some point, when I was a kid, I decided that that?s what I wanted to do. I don?t think I ever had any doubts, growing up. Just watching Charlie Chaplin, and what he did and how he did it, was something that always made me want to become him. It made me want to be in the industry and be in that profession.
Q: How were you exposed to Charlie Chaplin, at such a young age?
Walter: My parents had these two videos of Laurel & Hardy, and then they had this other video of Charlie Chaplin, for Gold Rush. That was the only video that I had of Charlie Chaplin, but I loved Gold Rush. I would always watch it. And then, as I got older, my uncle, who was also really into Charlie Chaplin, started buying other videos and books about Charlie Chaplin, and I was just as interested in him. But, it started from that one VHS tape that my parents had. I have no idea why they even had it. I think they might have gotten it at a thrift store, or they got it for free. I don?t know where it came from, but they had it in this drawer full of VHS tapes and, one day, I just pulled it out and popped it in and started watching it. It was crazy.
Q: How did you get involved with Fame? What was that auditioning process like?
Walter: Fame was just like any other audition, for me. I?ve been doing the acting stuff for about eight years now. I just got a phone call from my agent that I had this audition. When I first got the breakdown of the movie, I didn?t really remember it. I had seen Fame, the movie, but awhile back. So, when my agent called me and said, ?Hey, you have this audition for Fame,? it didn?t hit me, right at that moment. I was like, ?Okay, cool!? He emailed me the sides, so I checked it out, and I still didn?t really realize it until I got to the audition. I was like, ?Oh, my God, are you serious? This is Fame?? It was kind of crazy, but that?s just the way it worked out. When I first had to audition, I just got the sides, I didn?t get the script, so I didn?t realize what it was.
I went to the audition and the casting director liked me and called me back to meet with the director and the producer. Obviously, for the callback, I knew it was Fame and I had rented the movie to see it again. I did more research on the movie and the character, and then went and met the director and producer. Two weeks later, I got a call to do a screen test with a couple other actors. And then, two weeks after that, I booked the job.
Q: Why do you think people have responded so strongly to the original film, for so long now?
Walter: It?s a masterpiece. It?s Alan Parker?s masterpiece, and it holds true to performers. It?s the greatness and the reality of what performers go through. People love that. Back in the day, the movie was a very realistic view of what performers went through. It?s hard. It?s not like you?re acquiring that 15 minutes of fame so easily, like through YouTube and all these different Internet websites.
Q: For younger people who might not have seen the original film before, what can you say about Fame and how this version is different from the original? How does your character fit into the story?
Walter: This new version is pretty much the exact same thing. It holds true to the reality and the goodness of the original, but it?s just a contemporary version of it. It follows the lives of these 10 kids, who are all dancers, singers, actors, musicians and composers, from freshman year to senior year. My character?s name is Victor Taveras. He?s this kid from Spanish Harlem. All these kids come from all over the country to this prestigious school in New York City. Only 450 people get accepted a year, and they get over 14,000 applications, so these are the best of the best. My character is a musician and he gets accepted and goes to this school. He?s an aspiring music producer, and he goes to the school to collaborate with some other kids and create some sort of group.
Q: Was your school experience anything at all like this experience?
Walter: Not really. Outside of Colors United, no. But, Colors United was an after school program, and then on Saturdays we would get together. It was similar, except that I wasn?t surrounded by professional students, who were really into their thing. The program I was in was a bunch of inner city kids who were broke, who were just given an opportunity to do their thing and express themselves artistically. So, I was surrounded by people who were artists and that did want to do it and were passionate about it, but it was just a completely different level. I wouldn?t compare my experience with the experiences of these kids that go to these performing arts schools in New York.
Q: How much of you did you bring to this role, and how much were you just playing a character?
Walter: In general, when you get cast in movies, most actors are very close to the characters that they?re playing. I think that?s why they get cast. But, with this movie, for sure, this character was like the east coast version of me. This kid comes from Spanish Harlem, and I come from the city of Southgate, which is in South L.A. It?s not a ghetto or anything, but it?s a low to middle income community that is predominantly Latino. This character is Puerto Rican, and I?m actually Mexican. But, there are a couple things that are very similar. This character is an aspiring music producer, and I?ve always been an aspiring actor. It mirrors my life. The character comes from the ghetto, from a low income background. Obviously, he has his struggles within his community, getting out of the ?hood and being punked by other kids in the community who hang out on the street. He?s one of those kids who is always about his music, and he?s a success story.
He mirrors my life because I actually went to school in the ghetto, in the city of Watts. Going to school, I had to walk down the street, and there were gang members who would always start trouble. I encountered that, pretty much every day. But, I strove to get out of the ?hood and left that school and continued on with my ambitions and goals. Now, I?m doing the acting thing, and here I am.
Q: Can you talk about working with such a young, talented ensemble? Did you do anything to bond with each other, prior to filming?
Walter: It was this very natural, organic feeling. Everyone just clicked, right at the beginning. It all started at the screen test. There were a few of us that actually ended up getting cast. There were a few others that didn?t, but for the most part, the group that I was with at the screen test all pretty much clicked, at the same time. It was crazy, and you have to have that.
They put us into this room, right before we went into the screen test. It was the first time we were seeing the other characters, and we had to do a scene in front of the producers and director, and we had to click on the spot. And so, we took that opportunity, in that room, to click and it just happened. The chemistry was just there, from the beginning. But then, on set, there were people that I hadn?t seen at the screen test. Everyone just clicked. We?re all young, and the director did a very good job with everyone. We had these meet and greets before filming. He just put us all together, and had us just sit down and chat and talk about what was going to happen in the next year. But, it was a good experience. Everyone was really cool!
Q: What was Kevin Tancharoen like, as a director?
Walter: He?s actually younger than me. When I first found at that our director was 23 years old, at the time, I was like, ?What the hell? Does he know what he?s doing?? So then, I did my research and I was like, ?Oh, my God, he?s a whiz kid!?
Q: Did it ever feel like you were working with a first-time feature director, or did he just seem really confident and self-assured?
Walter: Oh, he was very confident. I didn?t feel, at any moment, that this was his first film, at all. He?s been directing music videos and stuff, which is kind of the same thing. With the actors, we just clicked with him. I don?t know if he?d had any experience directing multiple actors, at the same time, but he was just perfect at it. I think it helped that we were all young and we could all understand each other. He?s a very smart guy, and he was really cool with all of us. The way he worded things, it was that same lingo we all use and it was very easy. The chemistry between the actors and the director was perfect. It was like a party, every day.
Q: What was the most enjoyable thing about making this project, and what was the most challenging thing about it?
Walter: For myself, the most challenging thing was learning the instruments. I?m a musician in the movie, so two months before we started shooting, I had an instructor for piano, one for keyboard, one for the organ and one for the drums. So, I had to learn all these instruments before production started. That was the most challenging thing for me. Everything else just fell into place. It was very easy to do, and very organic. That was the biggest struggle for me.
The best times I had were in New York, being able to do my scenes. When I first got the script, I read the scene between me and my love interest. We were standing outside Central Park and we?re doing this really nice scene, and it?s supposed to be winter with snow coming down. When I first read that scene, I was like, ?Man, that?s going to be crazy, when that actually happens.? I read the script months before we even shot that scene, so then, when it built up to that, at the end of the production, it just felt very surreal. I was like, ?I?ve been waiting for six months for this, and now I?m here, doing this scene. Everything is just the way I imagined it and the way it?s scripted.? It was a very surreal experience, but one of the best experiences I?ve had.
Q: Have you done any other projects since Fame, or do you have anything else coming out this year?
Walter: I have this other film, called Emilio, that is coming out sometime during the summer. It?s a movie I did about four years ago. We shot it in ?05, and it?s just now coming out. It?s an independent film. The writer/director is named Kim Jorgensen, and he?s finally coming out with this movie. It?s all about funding. It?s been hitting up film festivals, and it?s done really well. So, now he?s finally found a distributor and it?s going to be a limited release around the country.
I play Emilio, and the movie is about this kid whose sister gets kidnapped. He?s actually living in Mexico when it happens. His little sister, who is 12 years old, gets kidnapped and she?s brought to L.A. to work at a massage parlor. And so, he drops everything he has and goes on a needle in a haystack search for his sister. The movie is about me looking for my sister, but at the same time, it?s also a portrait of what L.A. is like. The movie shows every possible corner of L.A., from some of Watts, East L.A. and downtown L.A. to Beverly Hills, Venice and Santa Monica. It?s crazy how everything changes in the movie. You?ll be like, ?Wow, this is all L.A.?? If you?ve never been to L.A. and you saw this movie, you?d get a good idea of the variety of cities within L.A. County. I?m so excited about that film.
Q: If the attention you get from Fame brings you more film opportunities, are there specific types of roles or genres that you?d like to do, but haven?t had the chance to do yet?
Walter: I?ve done a lot of dramas, and I kind of want to stray away from that. I love drama, but I?ve just done so much of it. Sometimes it just takes a toll on your body and your mind. Emotionally, it just takes so much out of you, and you leave the set just feeling like crap. It?s hard. And, Fame has a little bit of drama in there, but there?s mostly happy moments, which is good. I loved that. I rarely get the opportunity to do stuff like that. My other role that was like that was Friday Night Lights, where I played Bobby ?The Bull? Reyes. He was this normal kid that grew up in Texas, and there were very happy moments, with nothing too dramatic. So, I?ve actually been wanting to do either comedy or some sort of action film. Comedy is something that I?ve really been looking into. So far, I?ve been on a few auditions for some comedic roles, but nothing?s hit. But, that?s the genre I want to focus on.
FAME opens on September 25th
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