Movie Reviews
A Conversation with Elizabeth Pena, One of the Garcia Girls
Armond Richards |
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 I recently had the privilege of having a phone conversation with a highly accomplished actress whose career path had fortunately crossed my own. It was 11:30 a.m. on a Friday and I was extremely anxious seeing as this was my very first phone interview. I didn’t know the protocol, what to ask or even how to ensure that I could somehow record the answers that I received. A million questions of self-doubt began running through my head. What if my phone has bad reception? What if I can’t think of anything to say? What if I say the wrong thing and upset my interviewee? And then I came up with a question that trumped all the rest. What if I just try my best? Resolved, I sat by my phone and waited for the call. Honestly, when the phone did finally ring, I jumped a little in my seat. I even waited a few seconds to pick it up while I prayed to a God I haven’t spoken to in quite some time.
“Hello? This is Elizabeth Pena looking for Armond Richards.”
I responded not really sure if the interview had started yet, so I just utilized the good manners I received from my more youthful days.
“This is Armond. How are you today, Ms. Pena?”
It was her very wise answer to my question that coaxed all the fear out of me and pretty much instilled a fair amount of confidence inside of me. It made me respect her so much that I couldn’t help but to call her Ms. Pena.
 “I’m in Austin, Texas and I’m melting like an ice cream cone.”
Thus began our conversation which, much to my dismay, lasted all too briefly. Even in the short time we had to talk, it was apparent that Pena is a woman who knows exactly who she is both on-screen and off. After having roles in such films as La Bamba, Rush Hour, The Incredibles and Transamerica, this Latina Hollywood actress should feel very accomplished in her profession, yet she isn’t.
“I don’t think I ever feel fully accomplished,” she said. “I always feel like ‘God! Why did I do it like that?’”
These are not the words of an ungrateful actress. It is more like the wise advice of a person who fully comprehends the uncertainties of life.
“I think it is all a part of the roller coaster ride that life is,” Pena said. “The day you feel like you’ve got it down, that’s the day you go down.”
 Of course! Life is so simple when one understands its basic nature. However, I believe Pena had an advantage in her firm grasp of the notion of life. She has had complete knowledge of what she wanted to do ever since she was eight years old. She went to go see a play her uncle was putting on and at its conclusion, she erupted into tears. Her parents rushed over to her to see if she was hurt and she said no. Her parents then thought that maybe the play had moved her so profoundly that she couldn’t help but cry. She explained that this wasn’t the reason either. What could it possibly be, they wondered. She then pointed to the stage knowing that for the rest of her life, she wanted to be an actress.
“It was a revelation that brought tears to my eyes,” explained Pena.
Her latest role is that of Lolita Garcia in the film How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, the feature directorial debut of Georgina Garcia Riedel. Lolita Garcia is a lonely, single mother in her 40s trying to raise a daughter well on her way to womanhood and take care of a mother trying to finally live her life at 70 years of age. All three women find themselves exploring the possibilities of love that could finally break them of their enduring romantic drought.
“There are two things I look for in a role: the character and the director,” Pena said.
While the character proved enticing to Pena, the director had no credentials to speak of. All she had was a script that she sent to Pena and crossed her fingers. Fortune smiled on Riedel, though, because Pena read the script and absolutely loved it.
 “What I loved most about the script was here you have a movie that has the daringness to truly express a woman’s sexuality,” Pena explained.
Let me say that there were many times in the movie when I felt like I was doing something wrong. It was as if I was learning the secrets of womanhood that no man had even knew existed. The entire film is a window into the lives of women when a man is not around.
“It is a movie that functions as a long, private moment,” added Pena.
There were three scenes in particular that really illustrated that the woman you see everyday on the street is nowhere near the same as the woman behind a closed door. The first scene is that of the grandmother, played by Lucy Gallardo, experiencing a kind of rediscovery of pleasure. The second scene is of Lolita as she retrieves and utilizes a tool to simulate sexual relations. The final scene is that of Blanca Garcia (America Ferrera) after losing her virginity, constantly checking her underwear to make sure that her menstrual cycle was still cycling. Each separate scene sort of irritated something inside of me that I can’t explain. If I had to call it anything, I would say it was fear of the unknown.
“I love the fact that none of these scenes were done for shock value,” stated Pena. “It was done as women do.”
It became clear to me that truth was indeed stranger than fiction.
 Our time together was up. Fifteen minutes to have an interview. That hardly seemed like enough time and I suddenly became worried that I had not gotten enough to write about. I hung my head in defeat and abruptly came face-to-face with a solid page of notes, more than enough material to crank out a story. My defeated spirit quickly experienced a fresh surge of pride. This sincere, friendly actress had given me more than I had even hoped for.
“Thank you, Ms. Pena,” I said. “And thanks for making my first time memorable.”
“You are very welcome,” she responded. “And good luck on all your future endeavors.”
I hung up the phone and sat in my chair going over the entire conversation in my head. I thought about what Pena said about life being a roller coaster ride. Well if life is a roller coaster, then I should probably get in line.
How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer opens in theaters May 16.
For more information, visit garciagirlsmovie.com.
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