Randy Vasquez

Randy Vasquez: (On landing his role on JAG) When the fall '99 TV schedule came out, there were no minority characters. Donald Bellisario responded by creating this character, and I was fortunate enough to get the part.

Randy Vasquez: In the 80s when I studied theater, I played Irish guys and Jewish guys. I played everybody, and I loved it. But whenever auditions came up, it would be for gang members, valets and drug dealers. It was such a conflict in my mind. But it's important to develop a relationship with the camera, and I took that stuff for experience.

Randy Vasquez: If you put on a cowboy hat, six-guns and boots, you can't help but feel like a cowboy. The Marine uniform makes you stand up straighter and act tougher.

Randy Vasquez: You can definitely fall in love, but who knows how long it's going to last?

Randy Vasquez: It's interesting dealing with Southern culture and Latin culture. Down South, we are in each other's face. In L.A., it's more laid back and stoic. We laugh, but not as loud.

Randy Vasquez: (of his role in The Love Boat) It's another Latin stereotype, you know, there's the Latin hunk, the Latin gardener, the illegal alien ... But (my character) is assimilated. I think that's a step forward for the image.

Randy Vasquez: (About the film La Ciudad) That film was revolutionary to me. I think it was trying to bring awareness to people. It was trying to make the world a better place. There is something about that struggle when it is captured on film. That is what film should be used for. It is good for entertainment, to forget your problems. That is good too. But I think films like that can have an influence over young people and inspire people. I guess that's what art is all about.

Randy Vasquez: I started doing [volunteer work] a few years ago when the self-centeredness of being an actor started getting to me, and I looked around me and I saw everyone else being that way. I thought, I've been doing this for so many years, this acting thing, just trying to get work and worrying about myself. I just got this point where I wasn't working. I was a frustrated, angry actor. So I decided to step out of the bounds of the entertainment industry. I started volunteering a lot in South Central where they needed volunteers, helping tutor, and with homework.

Randy Vasquez: I think I fall into that category of people who like to see the underdog win...A sympathetic character is always effective - a well written character also. Actors like to work, but we salivate at good writing because there's so little of it. It's all about story... If someone asks me for advice in show business or acting, I tell them to learn how to write or perhaps own a property - may be a novel. Get the rights to it because once "they" want your property, then you have some power and control.