Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Francisco J. Rodriguez

Francisco J. Rodriguez has always known he had a knack for the arts and entertaining others, but he didn’t realize how strong that passion was until life threw him an unexpected curveball. It was in that moment that he came to the realization that this was his purpose in life. We caught up with the rising actor to learn more about him, that aha moment, and the highlight of his career so far.

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Francisco: I discovered it from an early age. I was very, very much into theater when I was growing up. I remember during Christmas, my family would do these shows and they wouldn’t organize it. I remember I would pull in my cousins. I would pull in my family members. We would do these little scenes and storylines regarding Christmas, or we’d sing songs. I would force my family members to perform. [laughs] Of course, I would force them to watch me perform because, as a kid, you have that power and most children don’t realize that. [laughs] As I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten a lot more clear. It’s become less of a choice and more of a need.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Francisco: It’s an interesting but slightly complicated answer. I’ve always been involved in acting in some sense. I have had a very rocky relationship with it. It’s a love-hate relationship sometimes. Sometimes you’re all about it; it’s all you want to do. Then other times you have to essentially deal with the realities of what it means to be an actor or an artist. You don’t always have the money for it. You don’t always have the easiest life at times.

All that being said, I wanted to highlight the back and forth I’ve had with it. There was a long time that I was living in Austin, Texas, where all I dedicated myself to was theater. I would write plays. I would act in them. I was very driven. I had my own theater company. But I was unsatisfied. I was quite unsatisfied and I couldn’t figure out what it was that was bothering me because I felt like I had everything I wanted. I was able to express myself creatively, but I wasn’t necessarily acting all the time. I was able to kind of satisfy my desire.

But then one day I was at the office and I had a stroke. My legs gave out from underneath me. I was in my boss’ office at the time at my day job. I collapsed on the floor. They all panicked, They called the paramedics. I was trying to get up and they were like, “No, stay down.” I felt totally fine. At most, I had a headache. I kept trying to get off the ground and they were like, “No.”

The paramedics came and one of them essentially started checking me out. He put his two fingers out and he was like, “Grab my fingers.” I grabbed them and he was like, “Squeeze.” I was like, “Okay.” I began squeezing. He was like, “You’re grabbing both of my fingers. I want you to squeeze both.” I thought I was. He was like, “You’re only squeezing with your right hand.” He looked at me and he said, “You’re drooling from the side of your face.” I remember thinking, “Am I?” Then he asked if I could hear myself. I told him I couldn’t. He was like, “You’re talking with a lisp.” Sure enough, I was, and I was drooling on the side of my face.

They helped me onto a stretcher. While I was in the back of the ambulance, I was like, “Holy sh-t. I don’t get to be an actor. I’m now incapable of using my body fully. I’m going to be speaking with a lisp.” I remember trying to move my fingers and the wrong finger would move. I was like, “This is really screwed up. I’m not going to get to do what I love.” The next thing that came to my head was, “Whoa. I didn’t know I cared so much.” It was an aha moment for me. I was blown away. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to type on a keyboard. I didn’t know who would want to date me at that point. I wasn’t thinking of any of that. The first thing I thought about was I can’t be an actor.

It blew me away. Thankfully enough, I went to the hospital. I was diagnosed, and I got better. I got a hundred percent better. It was an amazing recovery. This was about eleven years ago. When that happened, I had a clear sense of what I wanted to do, what I needed to do for me. I basically worked at that job for the remainder of the year. I began applying to grad school because I thought, “Well, I know I want to be an actor, but how good am I? I could be better.” This is what I’m going to do with my life. I threw myself into my craft. Then once I’m done, I’m going to give it all that I got. It was clear this is what mattered to me.

PC: You’ve had a lot of notable roles and projects already in your career. Is there one that stands out to you?
Francisco: The most recent role was definitely my favorite TV role thus far. It was playing Ernesto in Curb Your Enthusiasm. I never dreamed I would work with someone like Larry David. The man’s a comedy hero of mine. I’ve watched pretty much every single season of Curb since it came out. I was such a fan of Seinfeld, and one of my favorite characters was George Costanza. So to even begin to think that I had the pleasure of sharing the screen with someone like that, it’s amazing.

It’s such a lesson, really, to have a front-row seat to watch how his process works. The script itself isn’t scripted; it’s just story beats. The way the guy would work was so interesting because you’d get the story beats and you’d have a chance to very briefly talk to Jeff Schaffer [director]. Jeff would be like, “This is where your character comes into play. Larry’s doing this and he’s doing that. Run with it.” I was like, “Okay. All right. Sounds good.”

We’d get a couple of passes, and if there weren’t any laughs, we’d do it again. Larry would go over to his corner. He’d start thinking about his lines and the story. He’d be like, “What’s missing? It’s not funny. It’s not working.” At some point, what was one of my favorite moments was Larry brought in Jeff and myself and we were all facing each other. Larry was slightly touching his chin and he was like, “What are we missing?” Jeff would be like, “You could try this.” Larry would be like, “Let’s try it.” It was like watching a creative negotiation in the moment.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Francisco: Like everyone else, Game of Thrones. Though I don’t feel guilty about it. I’m rewatching BoJack Horseman, but also again, I don’t feel guilty about it. It’s a cartoon on Netflix.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Francisco: I would say a Marvel film, probably. Thor: Ragnarok, but that’s not really guilty, huh?

PC: Favorite book?
Francisco: S. Morgenstern’s The Princess Bride.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Francisco: I really enjoy a play called—and not a lot of people have heard of it—Men of Tortuga by Jason Wells. Yeah. It’s a fun conspiracy play.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Francisco: I love Lauv.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Francisco: I would love to be played by like a younger Matthew Broderick or Ben Stiller.

To keep up with Francisco, follow him on Instagram.