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Rudy Youngblood
Passionate about his work, his people, his culture, & his
role as Jaguar Paw in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto
Photos: rudyyoungblood.com
by La Diva Latina
Rudy Youngblood
He’s gorgeous, speaks Spanish, looks Mexican but … he’s
not Latino? He’s Indio- as in Native American. He’s passionate
about his work, his people, his culture, and about his role as
Jaguar Paw in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto. Did I mention – he’s
gorgeous?!
Originally from a small town in Texas, Rudy Youngblood came to
Los Angeles to start a Native American dance troupe. As fate
would have it, he was in LA for only about 3 months before he
got the role as Jaguar Paw. He went for the audition and he got
a call from Mel Gibson himself. “He calls me and says, ‘This is
Mel Gibson’. I thought it was a joke, so I hung up on him. Mel
Gibson then called my manager and my manager called me.”
He called Mel Gibson back and Youngblood left to Mexico the next
day, early in the morning, to start on the movie. He still did
not understand that he was going to have the starring role.
“Everything happened so fast. ‘Starring role’ in a movie? I
wasn’t sure what that meant. I would ask my friends, what does
that mean, ‘Starring role’? Is that the ‘main guy’? It’s crazy!”
I asked him, “Your life is going to change once this movie comes
out. What do you think about that?” “I don’t even think about it.”
He laughs. “I’m just a country boy from a small town in Texas.
It is just …” His dark piercing eyes seems to search for words.
“It’s surreal. …. I don’t want to stop to think about it. I want
to just be me.”
“You are Native American. It must be great that the first big
role you get is representing one of your own.” He points out
that he is not Mayan. “I am Comanche.”
“I understand, but to represent and play an indigenous role, a
Native American, must be really amazing.” He agrees, “I wanted
to do the role right. I wanted to learn the language well. I
decided that the whole year I was only going to do 3 things:
study, stay focused, and work out." I wondered to myself whether
it was in that order! :) He continued, “I’m representing a Mayan
person. I wanted it to be natural- as natural as possible, so I
studied a lot. Day and night. I love the Maya people. They are
gentle, giving, very intellectual and a beautiful people.”
I asked him how similar is the culture to Comanche. He said it
is very similar but that “to learn the script was not enough. To
learn to speak Mayan was not enough. I wanted to learn about the
culture.”
“What about the Mexican culture? I mean you were in Mexico for a
whole year. I imagine people thought you were Mexican, no? Until
you opened your mouth and they found you didn’t speak Spanish.”
“I also speak Spanish, gracias. And yes many people thought I
was Mexican when I was there- not all but - true people thought
I was Mexican. I learned a lot about the Mexican people too. I
learned Spanish while I was there.”
I’m thinking- did he just tell La Diva that he speaks Spanish?
Does he not know then that I need to test him? But hey, let me
not put a Hollywood star on the spot.
“So, the movie, if I’m not mistaken, because I haven’t seen it
yet, is about a young man who is somehow separated from his
family and it’s about the journey back to his family.” He
explains that he doesn’t want to give it away but how, "It’s
about 2 different ways of life clashing and how man wants more
and more without giving anything back. And yes I do run back and
have to find my family.”
“OK, don’t give any of it away – because I want to see it.” He
laughs. “Of course! But you should know it is a fictional story.
A fictional story based on a historical era.”
“Talking about history, ss you know, being a Latina means being
a part of a history of 3 cultures. One of those cultures being
Native American -our indigenous roots. For Mexicans for example
that is pretty simple. It’s very evident. But for Puerto Ricans-
like myself – it is a little more obscure- shall we say? I
interviewed the President of the United Confederation of Taino
People and he mentioned it was time to ‘reaffirm our culture’.
So Rudy, what would you say to someone that is trying to
re-connect to their indigenous ancestry? What advice would you
give to them?”
He sighed and said, “Wow. They have to breathe it…” Then he says
in Spanish, “Mira, tu eres Latina y…” “Wait! You DO speak
Spanish!” He smiles. “¡Seguro! I told you. We can do this
interview in Spanish if you’d like.”
I’m thinking- a challenge for La Diva? No he didn’t! He goes on
in Spanish. “Sí. Yo aprendí español en Méjico. Y yo puedo hablar
español. Las mujeres mexicanas son muy bonitas y muy lindas. ¡Me
encanta Méjico!”
I’m blown away! Gorgeous and speaks Spanish! “When did you learn
Spanish?” “While I was there. I was there for a whole year and
language to me – well, I find it easy to learn a new language –
I mean it comes easier for me than most, I guess. I immerse
myself in culture. And so to answer your question I think that
you have to be passionate. Whoever is trying to learn about
their indigenous roots, I would tell them that it has to come
from the heart…. It’s spiritual…you know? It has to be a family
thing – get everyone involved if you can."
He stops long enough to gather his thoughts. "What you are is
very important. Who you are. If you don’t know who you are then
you’re like a… like an empty vessel. So it has to come from your
heart. You have to grow as a person, as a man, as a woman, from
within and it … it really has to come from within to really
understand. It’s like reading a poem. You can just read it but
then you don’t understand its meaning. But if you read it from
your heart and soul then you can really understand the message
in the poem.”
Gorgeous, speaks Spanish, passionate and he has a way with words!!!
What more can I say? “Listen, Rudy. All the Diva Latinas out
there have asked me to ask you one more question… Who are you
taking to the premiere???”
He laughs. “I don’t even know what I’m going to wear!” I said,
“Oh, you don’t need to wear- I mean- worry- about anything! You
are – I mean be- you’ll be- fine!”
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