Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Nothing like Freddy Rodriguez
by Richard Knight, Jr.
2008-12-10

This article shared 5849 times since Wed Dec 10, 2008
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


Chicago native Freddy Rodriguez—familiar to audiences as Gio, the love interest of the lead character on TV's Ugly Betty and from playing a variety of film roles in Bottle Shock, Grindhouse, Bobby, Poseidon, and others—now stars in Nothing Like the Holidays, a warm holiday dramedy opening this Friday. The movie focuses on an extended Latino family returning to their parent's Humboldt Park home for what may be their last holiday together and stars John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Pena. Rodriguez plays an emotionally scarred war vet who has just returned from Iraq. The movie, filmed entirely in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago, also features his debut as an executive producer. The 32-year-old, married father of two young sons chatted with Windy City Times during the city's first snowstorm of the season—the perfect time to talk about a holiday movie—just hours before the film's Chicago premiere.

Windy City Times: It's nice to tell you that I was in Humboldt Park just today.

Freddy Rodriguez: Oh, what were you doing there?

WCT: [ Laughs ] That's where I live.

FR: Okay. I'm sure you didn't live there in the '80s, when I frequented that area.

WCT: No, probably not such a good idea for a middle-aged gay man to hang out there in the '80s.

FR: [ Laughs loudly ] I think you're right.

WCT: Can you talk about that incredible cast that you assembled for the film?

FR: I feel so blessed to have gotten everybody that was in it. In Hollywood it's kind of like in real life. When you assemble good credit, which is done by the work that you choose and the quality of the work that you do, so when you call people like John Leguizamo or Debra Messing or Alfred Molina they go, "Oh Freddy? Oh yeah, sure, I'll come and play" because they trust you. They know you're going to bring the same quality that you have in your past work to the job you're doing now.

WCT: Now Debra Messing plays the outsider in the film, in a manner of speaking and, of course, because I'm a gay man I watch every movie from a queer perspective; I can't help it. [ Rodriguez laughs. ] I assume, as a Latino, you watch every movie from a Latino perspective?

FR: Absolutely.

WCT: So I'm wondering how the mother character who keeps nagging Debra all through the movie about having a baby would react to the news that one of the sons or daughters coming home for Christmas was gay? Would it have been World War III?

FR: You mean in Latin culture? It's hard to make a general statement …

WCT: From your perspective.

FR: I think so. I think the mentality toward that is so old-school and, especially when its first-generation Latinos, I think [ they ] would react the way you just described. I think second- and third-generation Latinos are more accustomed to that and would be more receptive to that information. I think it depends on the person or how Americanized they are.

WCT: I'm part of a gay couple living in Humboldt Park so I'm very much a part of the gentrification that's going on there. I'm just curious: Having come from Bucktown, a neighborhood similar to this one in Chicago, what are your thoughts on gentrification?

FR: Well, I think it's good and bad. I lived on the borderline of Bucktown and Humboldt Park since 1979-1980, and I've noticed that when the gentrification started happening is when the area really started to get cleaned up and become safer. The gentrification helped push the bad element out. So in that sense it's good. I feel like it's bad when the gentrification overpowers the area, especially an area that is labeled as "Little Puerto Rico" because, when that happens, the area loses its identification and it no longer is Little Puerto Rico. So as long as it's balanced, it's fine.

WCT: You play such a great diversity of roles—what draws you to a particular role? Is it that you want to just try everything?

FR: Yeah, I think wanting to be diverse is definitely a factor in my decision making but first and foremost, it needs to speak to my soul. There's something inside of me that needs to tell me, "Yeah, you can do something with this character" or, "This is a project you need to be a part of." If it doesn't speak to me then I can't do it because I will do an injustice to the character. As tempting as some of these roles are financially or just to be part of a cast that is of big notoriety, there's been times that I've passed just because I don't feel it.

WCT: I've got to ask you about Ugly Betty, which has a big gay following.

FR: I've been told that.

WCT: Any hints on the upcoming season? Will your character, Gio, be back?

FR: As far as I know, I'm not coming back but I was talking to someone on the show and he said, "Look, you didn't die so there's always a possibility that you'll come back" and I enjoyed myself very much on that show so we'll see what happens in the future.

WCT: This movie has to be like coming full-circle: You left here almost 15 years and now you're back as an executive producer, starring in a movie filmed in your hometown. How does it feel?

FR: It's surreal, to be honest with you. That's the word that pops in my mind. It's been a surreal experience and I don't think it's really hit me yet. Maybe after the premiere tonight and when the film comes out when I see people's reaction it will hit me. But it's been truly a surreal experience. It's the first time that I get to bring a movie back to the neighborhood that I frequented as a kid, to get to see people in these neighborhoods that I haven't seen in 20 years. I mean, it's the first time any of that has ever happened—that I've integrated my personal life with my business and it's been wonderful.


This article shared 5849 times since Wed Dec 10, 2008
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

Leather Archives & Museum announces 2024 Fetish Film Forum 2024-01-27
--From a press release - CHICAGO, Illinois—After a wildly successful inaugural year, including a 10-film series at the Leather Archives & Museum and a 5-film series at FACETS, the Leather Archives & Museum is thrilled to announce the continuation of Fetish ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.