Bolivian Actor Reynaldo Pacheco: Rising Hollywood Star

Works in Progress: In Search of Artistic Freedom by Jim Amadon: Something seemed odd to Reynaldo Pacheco when he was cast in the role of the Piano Tuner in Dwight Watson’s The Newton Project during his freshman year. For the first time in his theater career, his only responsibility was to focus on his own performance.

"I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have to make my own costume, hustle props, adjust the lights, or do the publicity for the show," the native of La Paz, Bolivia recalls. "I just had to worry about my part."

"He worked hard at that part," Dwight Watson says, recalling the native Spanish speaker’s determination to get his pronunciation in English—then a recent language acquisition—just right. "He’s a very persistent young man."

Pacheco’s parents would no doubt agree. They had hoped he’d attend college in La Paz to become an economist or politician like his father. Actor and singer were way down the list of their aspirations for their son. Pacheco did take economics classes at a La Paz university for a year, but he spent most of his time working in theater, the most formative moments with a gypsy street theater troupe.

"We performed where ever we could," Pacheco recalls. "We didn’t have a building or many costumes—we had a mat we’d lay over the floor to keep from getting splinters. But I learned more about theater there than anyplace else. Theater is about imagination and ingenuity. You have to be passionate, you have to love it."

Against his parents’ advice but not without their blessing, Pacheco applied to Wabash, earned a scholarship, and graduated from Wabash as one of the College’s most celebrated and versatile artists in decades. He credits Wabash with helping him find his voice.

"I didn’t have an artistic voice when I came here," the theater/French double major explains. "I had tools, but I was still exploring art and topics that interested me. Wabash gives you so much freedom for exploration; it’s what the liberal arts is all about. I took a political science class on globalization and I wrote a play for my final paper. That’s the kind of artistic freedom I needed in college."

Pacheco has reveled in that freedom. He has been a photographer, painter, actor, singer, dancer, and director; he has written short stories, poetry, and even a couple of screenplays. "Mixing everything, combining all of my interests, is my process of creation," he explains.

He was the first Wabash student ever to read his poetry at the National Under-graduate Literature Conference. He has published non-fiction in Wabash Magazine and fiction in the Wabash Review. His play, The Doll, was performed on the Wabash stage. His works of visual art have been exhibited at the cultural center at the Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador and France. He has sung songs in English, Spanish, and French in concerts at Wamidan. He has mentored children in Crawfordsville’s community theater, and directed many shows for the Philharmonic of La Paz.

He spent two summers in Chiapas, Mexico, a semester in Paris, and split last summer between Ecuador and Boliva. In Ecuador, he co-directed two short films, one an introduction to the College’s Ecuadorian Studies Program, and the other based on one of Wabash Professor Luis Aguilar-Monsalve’s short stories.

So what does Pacheco want to be when he grows up? He’s looking for a graduate program that will provide him the same degree of freedom that Wabash has. "I definitely want to go to a place where I can continue to explore," he said.

But he knows he’ll have a difficult time remaining as versatile in graduate school. He went to Chicago to audition for a half-dozen master’s degree programs. He spent hours performing for representatives from Julliard, Harvard, and the University of Southern California. Displaying the full range of his talents, he wrote a monologue to perform. He was surprised to find that such original performances are usually discouraged. But his creativity paid off: he was the only person to get a call back from Julliard and he was one of two actors who were flown to USC for additional interviews for spots in the school’s famed acting program. Offering the financial package Pacheco needed, USC’s acting program was the next step for Pacheco.

"I had hoped to be in Los Angeles," he says. "I’ve done theater—in streets, in bars, huge musicals, small independent plays in black boxes—but I have no experience with film-making. Los Angeles is certainly more oriented to film."

He breezes over his theater resume as if it was a thing of the past. His fondest memories, though, come from his work with the Mayan theater group, Sna tz’ibajom, in Chiapas, Mexico. He learned about the group during an internship there in political science and economics. He returned the next summer on a Dill Internship Grant to direct the Mayans.

"The group is now traveling and doing a lot of outreach, teaching the indigenous language and re-telling old stories," he says proudly. "These people do theater in streets, in the jungles, anywhere, just to express themselves and their culture. It’s very important work. In fact, they were just honored by the president of Mexico."

Pacheco’s pride in Sna tz’ibajom recalls his own roots in street theater, where everyone collaborated on every aspect of the production, where theater is about "imagination and ingenuity."

Dwight Watson says those words capture Pacheco well.

"He has that youthful enthusiasm for trying many different things at once," Watson says, "but graduate work will give him the particular training he still needs, and bring him into contact with people in the business."

Asked what obstacles stand in the way of this man with movie star looks, an American Idol voice, and immeasurable creative energy, Watson thinks back to the first time he directed Pacheco and smiles.

"Nothing he can’t overcome."

Pacheco's latest credits

. Pacheco is currently on CSI: New York. He plays Miguel Martinez, a club promoter who is found mysteriously dead. STILLS

· TIGO commercial. Directed by famous Bolivian Director Juan Carlos Valdivia. The commercial will be aired on National Bolivian TV.

· Reynaldo plays Julio in the film Without Men. It is an adaptation of Colombian-born author James Cañón's award winning debut novel Tales from the Town of Widows. The film stars Eva Longoria Parker as Rosalba viuda de Patiño and Christian Slater as Gordon Smith, with Maria Conchita Alonzo, Kate del Castillo, Monica Huarte, Fernanda Romero. Directed by Argentinian award winning writer-director Gabriela Tagliavini.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Without_Men

· Reynaldo is cast as Victor Gordon in the play 1951 - 2006. "From world-renowned playwright Donald Freed comes the World Premiere of his latest work, 1951-2006, a 50-year love story that takes place on the 4th floor of an East Side Brownstone. Riveting dialogue, psycho-sexual musings and historical revelations populate this illuminating time capsule of America. Cast includes Debra DeLiso, Christopher Fairbanks and more. It was nominated for an Ovation Award.

http://thelatc.org/seasons/east-of-broadway-2010/1951-2006/

· Gardel, table read by Kevin M. Smith. Saturday, Feb. 27th at the Jim Henson Studio. Carlos Gardel was performed by Reynaldo Pacheco. " Dear Reynaldo, To say your performance at the "Gardel" table reading was brilliant would not be doing you justice. You were absolutely sensational! You were courageous, confident and truly transformed yourself into Carlos Gardel. It was an honor working with you and having you turn my 2-dimensional words on the page into a living, breathing person. Thank you. You're interpretation of Carlos Gardel was exactly what I had hoped for from the moment I put the first words on the page" Kevin Michael Smith.

www.inspiredbyfilms.net

· Pacheco cast in feature film Beginners opposite Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer. They are teaming up with Mike Mills, the director of "Thumbsucker". Reynaldo plays Juan, Christopher Plummer’s nurse. The film is in production until the end of the month in Los Angeles California.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1532503/

· SEARS commercial. It will be shot at Universal studios studio in the legendary stage 28 where the phantom of the opera was filmed in 1924. It is the oldest set in Hollywood. The commercial will be aired in National Spanish TV.

www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/1542398244