He's a samurai, a warrior, very principled and loyal. But there's also the dark side -- the ninja -- in him. He knows he can use his powers in negative ways. His voice is very Zen.
-- Edward James Olmos on Miami Vice's Lieut. Martin Castillo
The entertainment program at the penal institution for youth outside Los Angeles is nearly over when the emcee introduces the show's biggest attraction. "We now have the man who plays Lieut. Castillo on Miami Vice," he begins, and a few of the couple of hundred so-called wards, most of whom are in their teens and early 20s, start to applaud. As Edward James Olmos, award-winning actor and star of the film Stand and Deliver, walks down the aisle, some of the men reach out to shake his hand, while others stare stiffly ahead. Dressed casually in a black leather jacket and pleated pants, Olmos gazes out at the sea of mostly brown and black faces, appearing taller than his 5 ft. 10 in.
"How many of you guys think I'm smarter than you?" he asks. Half the wards raise their hands. "I ain't smarter than anyone here, man," says Olmos, suddenly injecting street slang into his normally impeccable English. "I may have developed my brain a little more in high school, but I think we're pretty equal. I grew up in East L.A., just a few miles from here. You might say I was lucky. And I was. But I made a choice. I chose to start acting. I didn't come out of my mother's womb saying" -- and now he introduces a heavy Spanish accent -- " 'To be or not to be . . . that is the question.' "
Olmos pauses to let the laughter die down. His jive, cajoling pep talk has begun to win the men over, but more important, he has convinced them that he really cares. The impression is no public relations put-on. Deeply committed to helping the down-and-out, Olmos for the past ten years has taken his rap to hospitals, schools, Indian reservations, detention centers, libraries and veterans hospitals across the country. "It's addictive," he explains. "A few hours of energy come back in waves for years. It's a wonderful feeling to make people forget about themselves. It's real soul food for me."
Olmos, who is 41, is getting plenty of nourishment these days. Nine years after he earned a Tony nomination and L.A. Drama Critics award for his portrayal of the streetwise El Pachuco in Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, he is being touted for an Oscar nomination for his riveting performance in Stand and Deliver. Based on a true story, the film depicts three years in the life of a Bolivian-born math teacher named Jaime Escalante, who in 1982 helped 18 of his students at East Los Angeles' gang-ridden Garfield High pass the Educational Testing Service's advanced placement test in calculus. After the ETS suggested that the students had cheated, Escalante protested. He was vindicated when all the students who retook the test passed with comparable or better scores.
Stand has grossed $13 million, more than nine times as much as its initial cost -- not spectacular, but more than respectable for a movie that probably would not have been made five years ago. The film never dilutes its simple, tough-love message. Olmos, by turns funny and bold, is utterly convincing as Escalante, a stubborn optimist who refuses to compromise his ideals or lower his sights, exhorting his charges sotto voce to put two and two together and learn their way out of the barrio.