All Photos: Alan Mercer
It’s one thing to arrive here as a youngster from a foreign shore and seek the American dream… but the simplicity and smoothness of succeeding as Roberto Sanchez has in Hollywood, is pure magic.
Before catching the attention of a Hollywood director, Roberto Sanchez, distinguished himself in the Navy as a Desert Storm veteran, was a Virginia Beach military police officer and competed professionally in the highly touted European league as a Naval basketball player. He then became a successful runway and print model—all before he became an actor.
Roberto recalls how in 2002, he was working as an armed officer for the Miami Metro System, when he received a call from his agent. Apparently, film director John Singleton had cast him as one of the leads in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the second installment of the hugely successful The Fast and The Furious franchise. To say Sanchez was overjoyed is an understatement, because he had just won the acting lottery with relatively no acting experience. Sanchez went on to co-star along side of actors Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson and Eva Mendez.
Today, Roberto is one of the busiest Latino's in the industry having worked in over 90 projects. His roles include work on TV pilots, recurring roles in series such as The Night Shift, Gang Related,The Young and The Restless, Days of Our Lives, and The Bold and the Beautiful, along with countless episodic guest appearances, from Desperate Housewives to Castle, The Bridge, Prison Break, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rosewood, Criminal Minds, and Training Day. He co-starred and was impressive in Lifetime’s recent movie, ‘Below The Surface.’ In 2015, he starred in Mike Ott’s hit indie film, Lake Los Angeles, where Sanchez and the film won multiple awards, including Best Actor and Best Film.
Currently, he is in a recurring role on USA Network’s hit series, Queen of the South, working alongside of Veronica Falcon, Alice Braga and Joaquim de Almeida.
Roberto has worked consistently since 2003 – a natural born actor
It is my pleasure to interview one of the most down-to-earth and talented artists I have ever met!
Alan Mercer: Roberto, you were in the military before you entered show business, right?
Roberto Sanchez: Once I graduated from high school, I went straight into the military. I was there for eleven and a half years. The last three years I was a police officer.
AM: What was being a military police officer like?
RS: Back then it was something I wanted to do. However, my oldest was born around the same time and when you have kids your perspective changes. I realized it wasn’t anything I wanted to pursue. I also started messing around with modeling. That progressively took me out of the military and the law enforcement world.
AM: Was it your idea to try modeling or did someone say you needed to be a model?
RS: I had a female friend who was in the military with me and she was doing some modeling. She suggested I come with her to an audition for a fashion show. So, I went and tried it and they liked what I was doing. They helped me out and I got my first taste of being a runway model.
AM: That’s hard work.
RS: I enjoyed it. I started working.
AM: Where did this all happen?
RS: I was in Virginia, which was not even a good market for modeling but because it was small it helped me learn the business a little bit before moving on to a bigger market, which was Atlanta.
AM: How long did you model before you started acting?
RS: I was in Atlanta for six years modeling. I did commercials as well. I got to a point where I was asking myself ‘What else can I do here?’ This career is good but it’s not really going anywhere. I decided to go back home to Miami where I continued to work as an armed officer for Miami Metro and tried to find my way. Then I got my first audition for a film and it happened to be ‘2 Fast 2 Furious.’
AM: Did you go through a routine audition process of narrowing down the actors?
RS: All the main actors were from L.A. I was the only actor to be cast locally. For the role I played, they were casting out of L.A., New York and Miami and I was lucky enough to get it.
AM: Sometimes I have talked with actors who got a part like you did and then they don’t book another role for five years but that didn’t happen for you did it?
RS: Well actually it did but not for five years. I didn’t have any experience. My experience was limited to three and a half months on set. My commercial agents told me that I might as well go west to Hollywood and try to capitalize on this because there wouldn’t be the same opportunities in Miami. She told me to go to L.A. and ride that train. So that’s what I did. I moved to Los Angeles, landed a manager but it took awhile to get another role. Everybody kept saying I only had one credit and the movie hadn’t come out yet. Finally, the movie came out and it helped a little but I still had nothing else. It took about a year and a half before I got a couple little parts and slowly I started progressing.
AM: What have you been filming recently?
RS: I have been shooting a couple of episodes of different shows. One was ‘Training Day’ with the late Bill Paxton and the other is an episode of ‘Rosewood.’
AM: Do you have an ultimate goal for your career or are you open minded about the future?
RS: At the end of the day, it’s up and down. You have to be realistic about what your goals should be. For me it’s just to continue to work. I don’t want fame and money to ever be a motivating factor. Ultimately, I want to be able to work.
AM: You didn’t initially start out to be an actor. What did you think you were going to do with your life?
RS: I didn’t know. That’s why I went into the military. I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go but I had enough sense to know if I got in the military at least I’d be doing something positive and I’d be able to figure out what I was doing with my life. That took me into modeling and acting. I’ve only known what I want to do for the past five years.
AM: It seems to be working out well for you.
RS: I’ve been blessed.
AM: So it’s turned out to be fulfilling for you.
RS: You have to love it. Especially at those times when you can go months without working. You go for so many auditions and you don’t get the parts. You gotta be able to love it or you’ll go crazy.
AM: How do you deal with all the rejection?
RS: You have to understand what the business is. It’s amazing to work at all. For one particular role for a Latino my age, they can have 300 submissions. They can’t see all 300 so they will bring in 25 they like. Then from that 25, they will cut it down to five and finally the one. When you look at the sheer numbers it’s surprising to work as much as we do. Once you understand this and you learn not to put a time limit on things, you will be fine.
AM: Is there a particular type of role you desire to do?
RS: The smaller roles can be more rewarding because you get to delve into a character. I did an independent film a couple years ago called ‘Lake Los Angeles.’ It’s a deeply touching film with a wonderful director. It was a film where I was actually able to act. I really worked on it and the film ultimately ended up having success. It won some awards and I won some awards and that’s the kind of work I want to do. The big budget Hollywood stuff is a blessing because that pays the bills.
AM: Would you like to be in more TV series?
RS: In a heartbeat! Yes, of course. Every year you gear up for pilot season and you hope to land one but if not you have to understand the journey. There are years that I work a lot and years that I work a few times. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t let it pressure me.
RS: In a heartbeat! Yes, of course. Every year you gear up for pilot season and you hope to land one but if not you have to understand the journey. There are years that I work a lot and years that I work a few times. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t let it pressure me.
AM: You seem to have a philosophical outlook to your career.
RS: I think I’m a logical person. I am analytical and I try to learn as much as I can so that I’m prepared. Just like in modeling, I was never formally trained but I could learn by watching other people. I read books and watched videos and did everything I could to learn what I needed to know. I think it’s something that comes from age and maturity. I have the confidence to know that I will always work.
AM: You finished filming a movie too, didn’t you?
RS: I have a couple of films that are in the can. One is called ‘Gringos’ that is an interesting take on the immigration system. It’s a horror film and I’m looking forward to that one coming out.
Thank you, Roberto!
Roberto Sanchez is repped by Amsel, Eisenstadt, Frazier & Hinojosa Talent Agency (AEFH), his theatrical agency; L.A. Talent, commercial agency; and The Herrera Agency, publicists.