All Photos: Alan Mercer Make-up: Rudy Calvo
I met Lupe Ontiveros in 2001 at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles at an event where she was being honored along with James Cameron. I was already a big fan of her acting work. I had seen her play Rosalita in ‘The Goonies’ and Yolanda Saldivar in ‘Selena,’ not to mention Nora Manning in ‘As Good As It Gets’ and Beverly Franco in ‘Chuck and Buck.”
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Lupe told me she loved playing a character named ‘Beverly’ since many of her characters names were ‘The Maid.’ Lupe had one of her most memorable roles in ‘Real Women Have Curves’ playing Carmen, the mother of America Ferrera’s character Ana. This is the time when I became friends with her.
I had just moved to Los Angeles and was so excited to meet Lupe this evening. I told her I was a photographer who was new in town and I would love the opportunity to photograph her at some point. It turns out she was in need of new photos and already actively looking for a photographer. Her assistant called me a few days later and asked me to meet with Lupe and him regarding this possibility. They told me they were talking to a few photographers and would let me know shortly. I kept my fingers crossed and soon got the phone call telling me I had the job!!! I asked Lupe why she chose me and she told me not only was my work remarkable but the fact that I was so passionate with my desire to photograph her that she knew the photos would turn out great. She needed some photos that showed her looking more glamorous instead of the maid.
Lupe was very pleased with our end results and the photos were everywhere. She took me to lunch a few times and kept in touch with routine phone calls. I was always happy when an opportunity came up for me to hang out with Lupe. We talked last at the end of 2011 when she told me she would be needing some new photographs soon. I told her we had to talk for my blog and she said of course we could. Unfortunately that was not meant to be. So now I remember her on my blog as a warm, gentle and funny woman that I loved very much. Farewell my beautiful friend......
