#214 The Unforgettable Journey of Patricia Rae

CTS Announcer 0:01

If you're a pop culture junkie, who loves TV, film, music, comedy and other really important stuff, then you've come to the right place. Get ready and settle in for classic conversation, the best pop culture interviews in the world. God's right, we circled the globe so you don't have to. If you're ready to be the king of the water cooler, then you're ready for classic conversations with your host, Jeff Dwoskin.

Jeff Dwoskin 0:28

All right, Maria, thank you so much for that amazing introduction. You get the show going each and every week, and this week was no exception. Welcome, everybody to Episode 214 of classic conversations. As always, I am your host, Jeff Dwoskin. Great to have you back for what's sure to be a super classic episode for the ages. With me today is actor artists healer Patricia Ray, you know of her Maria follow Grace swim fan, the big wedding All rise. Patricia is here. We're chatting it up. This is an amazing conversation and I can't wait for you to hear it. And just a few seconds, and in a few seconds. I want to remind everyone of episode 212 with a hilarious Mitch Faye tell, check that episode out. That was an amazing deep dive into the ups and downs of show business. But now without further ado, my conversation with Patricia Ray. We're talking healing the power of community inclusion. This is an amazing chat and I can't wait to share with you enjoy. All right, everyone. I'm excited to introduce you to my next guest star of Maria fala. Grace, the big wedding currently starring in all rise a million other credits. We'll get to all ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show, Patricia.

Patricia Rae 2:00

Hey, thank you for having me. Jeff. I was very pleasantly surprised when you invited me to come on the show?

Jeff Dwoskin 2:08

Well, I mean, it's safe to say it's would share with the audience. I mean, technically we're like best Twitter friends, right?

Patricia Rae 2:15

Absolutely. Yeah. All these years of hashtag games, you know,

Jeff Dwoskin 2:23

I've always meant to have you on and so here we are. Let's do it. I'm excited. All right. So part of my exploration as I prepare is sort of just to kind of dive in. There's some interesting things I found on your Wikipedia page.

Patricia Rae 2:44

I know I have one of those. I don't know if anybody reads it. But I have one.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:50

Wikipedia pages are the best. They have all the great. They have lots of great little tidbits. So one thing that popped out at me is when you were young you grew up speaking Spanish, but it says you learned English from Sesame Street.

Patricia Rae 3:06

I did. My I'm first generation American. My parents are from Colombia, South America. So they didn't speak any English. And they were very, you know, like tribal. Like they we all lived in the same house. And so there wasn't anyone to teach me English. But you know, we had TV so that's what I kind of immersed myself in and and that's really where my spark and my joy for comedy and acting was ignited was watching. I Love Lucy and The Carol Burnett Show later on. But definitely Sesame Street, you know, taught me my ABCs and my numbers in English. By the time I got to kindergarten, at least I knew something. And then eventually, like, I guess in first and second grade when I started to master the language, I would not even speak to my parents in English and Spanish anymore. I'd be like, just English.

Jeff Dwoskin 4:04

So did that help your parents learn English? The more you talked English?

Patricia Rae 4:08

I don't think so. I think that they really learned English at their jobs. You know, my mother was a waitress for a long time. And my father worked that below via the watch the big Watch Company in Queens. That's where I was raised. And then later on he managed the parking garage and then he eventually ended up working at the great gorge one of the original Playboy clubs in New Jersey. I thought it was critius grew up to be a bunny

Jeff Dwoskin 4:39

when it popped out to me the Sesame Street learning English from Sesame Street, you know it's it's a thing in movies sometimes people come and then the they always have those scenes where they're watching and then they pick up English from just staring at the TV. I think splash might have even been done at the movie splash, right? Oh, yeah, amongst a million others, but I'd never met anyone who actually had said that So I was just what was it like you're quoting like, quote, near far?

Patricia Rae 5:05

No, right? I think that that's exactly what the show was created for, for children who were children of immigrants, parents, who didn't, you know, English wasn't their first language. I mean, you don't need to teach American kids to speak English. But you didn't need to teach all the children that were coming from other countries. It worked. It's amazing. It was the for its but like babble for children.

Jeff Dwoskin 5:38

Just supposed to say how important that type of programming is,

Patricia Rae 5:41

of course, and the electric company, that was another one, those shows also reinforced the fact that I could see people of my culture and my skin tone on television, because they were like the first shows that actually really represent Latinos, and you know, African Americans and Asians. So there you go. I said, Well, if I could see her on TV, I could be on TV.

Jeff Dwoskin 6:12

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. But you're right, is you look back. It was such a Yeah, Rita Moreno. It was such a diverse cast. I mean, as I no one's and wait, and then we still those of us that grew up with it still close to our hearts to absolutely. So seeing people that represented you. What is that impact? Exactly? I mean, I have a little bit being Jewish and seeing things but it's not as I don't think of it as the same. Like it's I always liked it when it was a Jewish thing I would see on TV, but I don't know that it was just nice to have, you know, I mean, I you know, I'm saying like for me,

Patricia Rae 6:45

you take it for granted. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Jeff Dwoskin 6:49

Because there's a lot of talk about that even now, right, and how important representation is and, and I totally get it, I totally understand that how important it is. And once you kind of step back from the privilege of always having to see someone who looked like me, you realize, Oh, you're right. You're right. There is there's so many other stories and people stories to tell.

Patricia Rae 7:06

Absolutely. Like I didn't, I always wanted to be an actress. And even in grade school. I mean, I was an A dwarf and the little marching parade and kindergarten of the, you know, one of these, like seven dwarfs. That's no white story, right? So I was always in the drama club. And it wasn't until I got to college. Well, it started in high school. But I never realized that there was such a thing as typecasting until I got to high school. And then I realized my teacher would constantly cast the Caucasian actresses over the Latina actresses in the lead roles, like I wanted to play Helen Keller. I didn't get that role. However, I did get to play Maria and West Side Story. And then when I got to college, the same thing started happening to me was, I would audition for their plays. And then I get you know, if they were doing a Greek tragedy, I'd be in the chorus. I never got a speaking role that set a tone for me to really push myself beyond that limitation, because I didn't realize there was colorism enacting I was like, oh my god, isn't that the point of acting to put on someone else's skin and, and their feelings and their journey from your perspective? And I was like, I can't I'm not allowed to do that if I'm not another nationality other than the one I was born in. So I quit. I started going to Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the United States, it's supposed to have the fountain of youth. And that's where I realized that you know, it wasn't a gonna behoove me to get a degree in like a bachelor's in acting or arts because I was just going to go out and counter the same kind of colorism and racism and typecasting. So I said, I'm just gonna go to a really great acting school, and just start working to start looking for jobs auditioning, so I quit college and I went to New York, and because I was living in Florida at the time, and I went to Lee Strasberg, because that's where my favorite trips Marilyn Monroe went, I was like, I'm gonna go study where Marilyn Monroe is when you know and be immersed in that and then I that's when I encountered like method acting, which really changed my life and gave me a

Jeff Dwoskin 9:38

craft. Tell me what method acting is exactly.

Patricia Rae 9:41

So method acting is to use a lot of sense memory, using events from your life to re invoke emotions similar to what the character is going through. So I was really good prior. And it was because I had a very tumult She was upbringing my mother remarried very often, we moved a lot. And I always felt like a fish out of water everywhere I moved. So I was like, Oh, now we're living in an Italian neighborhood. So I would act Italian, or I were living in a Jewish neighborhood. And I would be like, I want to be Jewish, you know, so that do remember those things. And so a lot of sense memory, you know, remembering what hot is or cold is or what it's like to be in a tropical, you know, forest, if you're doing a movie where you're in the tropics or a play, you know, it's easier to do since Maria on stage because you have to use your imagination. But the thing that that does is it really makes you kind of dredge up a lot of emotions that you actually don't want to live through anymore. So it can be really traumatic, especially if you're playing characters that have been abused or go through a lot of mercy, emotional turmoil. So in acting school, I realized that I had a lot of trauma in my past, and it sent me on the journey of healing myself, and healing my inner child that was very, like, della can bruise. So basically, Lee Strasberg sent me to therapy. That's what I like to say, after acting school, I needed therapy.

Jeff Dwoskin 11:25

So when you're doing method acting is, what is it like when, when they talk about Jim Carrey being, you know, the character, the entire movie, you know, like, is that method?

Patricia Rae 11:36

Yes, that is method. So what he'll do is that because when you're, when you're on, you're playing a character that's very structured, like an elf, or like the Grinch, and you have to change your voice, and you have to drop it, and you have to change your energy and you have to do an accent, it's hard to get in and out of the accent. So if you cut because they have to set you know, redo it a take, an actor will stay in their character so that they don't have to, like warm back up into it. And I kind of used to do that when I started my first season of all rights, because I never played it a judge before. And that character was very contingent on the tone of her voice, because that's what gave me my authority. As Judge, I would drop my voice. And I really pushed the energy through my eyes and kind of the way that I pursued my lips. And every time I did a job, I know an episode, I would panic that I would not find that character again. And I'd be like, Oh my God, they're gonna be like that, not judge Delgado. So I would start preparing and vocalizing and warming up my lips, I would recite lines from my previous episodes that I've done. I've watched myself and kind of get myself into character. So when I met that actor stays in character, that's what they do. They just kind of living and breathing in the character and not breaking the fourth wall, you know, not engaging as their real self from their real energy.

Jeff Dwoskin 13:15

So in some cases, like you said, it could be it could be an unhealthy exercise to depending on on the role to immerse yourself in Oh, yeah,

Patricia Rae 13:22

for sure. If you're doing like a role, where you know, you're being traumatized or you know, you're somebody got killed in your family or you're, you're being raped or whatever to constantly be in that state of mind is your body can't tell the difference between real trauma and manufactured trauma, a good actor. And so you're actually are reliving that trauma. That's, that's one of the things that I started to move away from in method acting, is that I realized that I didn't have to stay in the trauma, I could recreate a trauma for this character that wasn't my personal trauma so that I wasn't emotionally connected to it all the time that I wasn't constantly dredging up things in my past. So that's more like a Stella Adler or there's another method that my husband studied that I saw, I kind of mishmash different techniques of acting so that I don't have to constantly be like in a state of method act. You know,

Jeff Dwoskin 14:27

I tell my family all the time.

Patricia Rae 14:28

My isn't there is the other mice. But I tell my family all

Jeff Dwoskin 14:32

the time, you know, when they worry, because I know you mentioned the body doesn't know the difference between manufacture trauma, not that goes for anything. I tell my family all the time when you worry about something that's going to happen. You're putting your body through it, whether it happens or not. And so and I totally get that it's I tried to like avoid that as possible. I'd be the worst method actor.

Patricia Rae 14:53

Well, and that's so much a part of like healing journey is to remind yourself to Do not let your cells and your organs and your body day in that state of trauma or that state of fear or angst or anxiety, because that lowers your defenses. And that is an opportunistic place for disease.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:17

Sorry to interrupt, but we have to take a quick break. I want to thank everyone for their support of the sponsors. When you support the sponsors, you're supporting us here classic conversations. And that's how we keep the lights on. And now back to my incredible conversation with Patricia Ray. And we're going deeper into Reiki healing and we're back

Patricia Rae 15:36

and that's my Reiki healer talking.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:39

I was just gonna ask you, I know you're into yoga and Reiki healing and my sister in law is is a Reiki healer. Oh, wonderful. And so I was introduced it, I was introduced to Reiki through her. You know, I was one of those skeptics, but then she did something to me once with my arm. And I made it stopped hurting and never heard again. And it was something that I've been dealing with a long time. And it's energy healing is is something I absolutely will not pretend I understand at all. I have come to respect that was a to it, and will will seek it

Patricia Rae 16:14

and give it its props. Well, I always tell my clients because I have, you know, healing or clients that I heal that you have to remember that a lot of healing is faith. That's why prayer is so effective, especially when you're praying for someone to get through some kind of illness or faith and prayer is energy. It's focused energy on a specific manifestation that you are sending into the universe and the way the same way that our body and our mind responds to negative emotion. It also responds to positive emotion, positive thought, positive energy. And that positive energy helps your cells vibrate at the optimal level to keep your body in balance and healthy and healing itself. Many healers that throughout history very famous healers, Mother Teresa, she was an energy healer. Christ was an energy healer, a Buddha was an energy healer. Mahatma Gandhi was an energy healer. They didn't call it Reiki, but they understood tapping into Universal energy and universal healing. And then using yourself kind of as like an antenna to then stream it through your hands. The easiest way to pass energy. That's why hands on healing is so effective, why children who are traumatized because they've never been touched or held or, you know, have felt any kind of love or compassion. The body is like a plant. If you don't give it water, air light for photosynthesis, we die. Our cells start to deteriorate. I agree.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:03

100% Yeah, it's a great message to and it's a great reminder to I mean, I'd say I think a lot of us kind of, especially with the pandemic kind of introverted, a lot and it's

Patricia Rae 18:14

well, yeah, look at all the people that have been suffering now from mental health and so many issues because of that lack of contact that lack of sharing that empathy and joy and feeling connection and bonding South Thank you Coronavirus.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:33

Alright, so, let's get back to your career. When your early jobs was Miami voice.

Patricia Rae 18:41

Oh my gosh, actually. If you go on, like Netflix, a you could see that was the episode I was on. But I'm not gonna tell you what it is cuz it's got my old nose in it and I don't like it.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:56

I know how to find everything

Patricia Rae 18:58

you'd like Jack I know how to find that I can find you.

Jeff Dwoskin 19:01

The buyer every time I see my advice. Anytime I see that I always kind of smile because Crocs and Todd I mean like that. I had like one of those suit. I like you had a dress purple. I don't know it might have been like more white or you know, but Where you've been Where the ridiculous t shirt underneath it and

Patricia Rae 19:21

so I'm sure you looked.

Jeff Dwoskin 19:24

I was very dashing.

Patricia Rae 19:28

Oh, that was that was a great, great experience for me. Remember I said that going back to the racism colorism typecasting, so, Miami Vice was the first job I had ever been on a professional set. Like I never done anything, no TV, no commercials, nothing. And I went as an extra. And they said you know, it was a big casino scene. They said like bring 10 options of clothing to wear and all kinds of stuff. So I'm on like, you know, I'm on set, I'm looking and absorbing all this commotion going on, then I start to notice this woman who I didn't know at the time was the casting director of the show. And she's tapping certain women on their shoulder saying, I'd like you to read for this part. It's a one day guest star, and we haven't cast it yet. They're casting on spot. You know, ignorance is bliss. I was like, Well, I wonder why she's only asking the blondes in the red heads. You know, that's weird. So I went up to her. And I said that I don't care. You know, I'm always I'm always I am of the philosophy that if you don't ask, you know, get, right. Absolutely. People say no, well, whatever, It'll sting for a minute. But if they say, yes, it changes your, your, your career or your journey, you know, so I tapped her on the shoulder and said, Can I read for that? She looked shocked. You know, she was like, well, but I think that shock also allowed her to drop her guard and say, Yes, so I read for it. And I ended up booking that job.

Jeff Dwoskin 21:05

And that's how you became Sally on Miami Vice. Yeah. Didn't you I don't met.

Patricia Rae 21:14

High tech hooker. Yeah, and I got sag off of that job. And I would never do that non union job. I didn't get that because that didn't even turn out to be non Junior union jobs. I've never done non union work. It put me into kind of precarious positions. Number one, I was now sag with absolutely no experience and no resume. I had Miami Vice guest star and nothing else. And it forced me to be in the union. So now I couldn't even do non union work where I could kind of learn how to be on set. I didn't know what marks were or what the positions were first position. Second position. First Team second team, I didn't know any of the lingo of being a working actor. Except for stage because I was raised on the stage. It actually took me a really long time to book another job, another television job almost 10 years because of that predicament that it put me in where I was afforded this opportunity to do this great thing, but not with the right experience yet, or the knowledge of what to do with knowing the casting director and making a connection with her and then following up and then you know, I didn't even have pictures and resume that that. So

Jeff Dwoskin 22:36

what did you do to survive during that? 10 years employment wise? I mean,

Patricia Rae 22:41

oh, God, boy, there's lots of waitressing sales clerks, cashier, I went back to New York. I was I lived in New York. After I shot that Miami Vice episode, I went back to New York. And I just started working, working, working and trying to find an agent. The agent that had sent me on that job was a non union agents, then he couldn't even send me on work anymore. I had still I couldn't work with them anymore. So then I had to find an agent who was already sag signatory. So that took me maybe like two or three years of like taking classes, going to kind of little theatre companies enjoying the Puerto Rican theatre Traveling Theatre Company, and just keep asking people, I'm reaching out to somebody, somebody finally said to me, you should reach out to this woman named Wendy curial. She's at this agency, and she signs Latinos to do commercials. And that's how I broke back in I started doing commercials. Because once you start to do commercials, work brings work, right, right. Because you start to you start to be on a set with working people, then I because I was union, I had to make sure that my meet my eligibility so I could have insurance. So I started doing lots of extra work. extra work was my saving grace, because I could be honest that I could watch professional actors working, and I could absorb everything that they were doing so that I could prepare myself to book when I booked the next job. And that's, you know, that's what happened. So I kept working and working and then I finally booked this American Most Wanted. That's kind of like my first you

Jeff Dwoskin 24:24

weren't the focus. You were just dying. I wasn't there was a victim on tonight's episode.

Patricia Rae 24:35

Sure, sure, Ray. Then after America's Most Wanted, I've finally booked an episode of Law and Order where I played a bartender and that changed my trajectory again, where I started to book co star co star co star and then eventually I booked a guest star and then I started to book movies. And then I decided this took like 10 or 15 years. And then, you know, I'm raising my daughter at this point I got married, I helped my ex husband run a restaurant. And I got to a point where I was like, Okay, I want to do more, I want to do more. And so I started dreaming about California, you know, how am I going to get to California because that's where all the acting was in my eyes, you know. So I finally get to California. It takes me years to save money as a cocktail waitress, a champagne wages, bartending and all kinds of stuff, I get to California. And then I realized, I have to start all over again, add to make all new contacts, new agents, new pictures, get to know all the casting directors on the West Coast and go through the same thing. typecast

Jeff Dwoskin 25:46

during this 1015 20 year period. What was it that kept you motivated? Like, you know, I mean, like, Why did you keep telling yourself like, because once you successfully reestablished yourself in California, and it was boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, but 15 years is a long time. It is a lot of years to say, yeah, maybe Miami Vice, maybe my role soundly at Miami Vice was I flew and yeah, you know, maybe, maybe it's just not meant to be you know, so what's the message that you would give someone of not giving up and and what kept you so motivated and driven on your goal,

Patricia Rae 26:20

I think, number one, my love of acting, my passion for it. Every time I get on the stage or on a set, I feel like someone put me back in water. Like when I'm not on the stage, I'm gulping for I don't live so freely. I'm always waiting for that next moment. I mean, I live my life I raised my daughter, I've been married, I've been unmarried. I live with a wonderful artist, my partner, Matteo Roboto. He's the writer director. And I'm always creating but creating is my joy. It's my, it's my life force that I didn't study anything else. So I didn't have a lot of things to fall back on besides the service industry. So I knew I wasn't going to be a professional waitress, even though I wanted to be a bunny when I was a little girl. But I knew I didn't want to be in the service industry that really pushed me and drove me and I just always had faith. I just knew that the universe, or God or Buddha, or whatever your higher power is, or my higher power is that he didn't give me these gifts, to not use them. So you have to have that faith in yourself in your talent and your creativity in your journey and your light. Right. Every time I work. I touch someone, I connect with someone and that reminds me to keep going that reminds me that I was put on this earth for a purpose. That's

Jeff Dwoskin 27:55

wonderful. That's awesome. Those are great words. Alright, so now you're in California. I'm in California making all these connections here and there and then wait, you were on another show with you did an episode of Mary Tyler Moore there was something where there was a couple app a couple of reoccurring characters you got in the series got cancelled. One of them was Mary Tyler Moore,

Patricia Rae 28:16

New York news that well I played a the My favorite character named ghetto mom. That was my credit on IMDb. I played this woman whose son fell down an elevator shaft. And it turns out that she pushed them so she that character was going to, you know, recur, but the show got canceled. So that was my first experiencing booking something that never never came back. And that happened that happens a lot. You know, that was my first time that you know, I was on recurring check. I was supposed to get married to Big Mike and you know, I was in three episodes that second season, and then the show or third two and then the show got canceled. So it's a lot of that doing that. The one day guest star and then becoming the top of show guest star where you work three or four days like this series with Kiefer Sutherland, my four No, the other one was the other one. The other one after that was Maria Bello. And then I did The Mentalist where I was a top of show guest star and then so once you become like Tapper's show guest star that's when you realize you could start pushing for like a recurring you know, keep pushing for the recurring but you have to be really selective like I've played a lot of victims for a long time. Always the mother and someone something always happened to my child or my husband they got murdered, they got kidnapped they got raped they got shot by shot and and drive by you know that that close the closer episode My My son was in prison. So at some point, I kept telling me agents, okay, that to me has now become like my, my, my day job, right? I don't want to play those characters anymore. I rather waitress because if I keep taking those characters that I don't leave the door open for the doctor, the lawyer, the judge, because when I started acting, that's all we were written as you know, victims, hookers, people very low income, uneducated, they always had to have an accent. But I always had, like, someone I looked up to, you know, role model. So I would see a Latina TV and I'd be like, what she doesn't have an accent, and they're letting her play to some American, you know, character. She's a detective, she's this, she's that I would watch the shows that they did. And I would look at their pictures on the internet and see what kind of pictures they use and how they they push that agenda for themselves. And I kept telling my agent, okay, that's great. She can be the victim, but is she the lead is the story about her. If she's just affecting other people, then I don't want that, you know, I don't want that job. And I would literally turn down jobs until I started to play in the nurse like in swim famine, played a nurse. And in Maria, full of grace, the story was so much about that character and how she influenced the journey for the other characters, even though the character them film was all in Spanish. My character had a job, you know, she was integrated into American society, she was trying to better herself. So I always try to portray characters that they are here, but they're struggling to get there. They're struggling to better their lives, like the character in Chicago home with Jennifer Beals, her son gets killed in the first episode. And so will the episode that you see me in the second episode is all about the funeral. So they had the director of that episode. could think his name was Carl Franklin is very good actor, and he's very great director. He fought to cast me because the producers thought I was too young to play this actor's mother. And he was like, Well, why can't she be a beautiful woman? He's a beautiful man. It's she could have a beautiful son. If she was a beautiful woman. Why does she have to look bigger, you know, dredge down, and like, you know, like, at the end of her life, she could be at the beginning of her life. So I had this conversation with him. And I said, Well, maybe she did this cleaning jobs, or she sold tacos or whatever. But she decided she want to go to school and educate herself. And that's where you find her in her journey. And that changes everything because it changes her wardrobe. It changes the way they do her makeup, it changes the way they do her hair. So when you meet that character, she's not in the beginning of her journey anymore. She's already like expanding herself into this better life. Why? How did her son become a cop? Because she forced him to go to school, she forced them to finish high school, she forced him to go to college, so you can influence your character's journey. And that's what I tried to do, especially with characters that are saved from another country. Like in the big wedding. My character was, originally she was from Ecuador, and the young girl that they cast on a euro to play my daughter, she's Colombian. And I'm Colombian, I was like, well, we're both Colombian. And nobody really knows the difference between Colombia and Ecuador when you're watching the TV show. So I said to the director, why can't they just be Colombian? Why do they have to be from Ecuador? He goes, Okay, so then when I started to have conversations with the costume designer, I said, Well, this woman is from Colombia, but in Colombia, women take care of themselves. They're very vain. And they were prideful, and they like to look beautiful. She can be modest because she worked for church, but she doesn't have to be like homely. It's just like, yes, of course. So all the clothes that and all the things that they picked, for me really supported that journey, that she was an educated woman that worked for the church, and she was religious, and she was a faith, but that she was a woman who had again, elevated her status because she was able to send her son to America to be adopted by this white family who was now having this big, beautiful wedding. So that's what I'm trying to do with my journey as to expand my characters into a better part of their journey and life and education so that I'm not constantly playing the drug addict.

Jeff Dwoskin 34:59

No, it's not too Just to kind of tie back to what we're talking about earlier, so it's not even just about representation. It's how that representation is being played out. And it sounds like you do a lot of amazing things to make sure that people not only have role models of the same skin, but we it goes beyond that, like it can actually people can, they can connect to those characters, much more than just seeing someone that happens to look like that. They can then be inspired by those characters as well

Patricia Rae 35:27

as exactly to inspire young woman to go out and study or become that thing that she dreams up. You can do that with the your journey as a character, but you have to bring that because it's not always in the script, especially when the script is not written from that character's point of view when it's written by, you know, a Caucasian male who was, you know, never lived that journey. You know, the other thing that I realized I'm in California, there's only one Latin race, Mexican, they don't see Colombians and as well as Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Argentinian Chileans, only Mexican, so I really had to hone in on the Mexican accent.

Jeff Dwoskin 36:16

That's funny, you know,

Patricia Rae 36:17

eventually I started to branch out

Jeff Dwoskin 36:19

Well, it sounds like your personality as has helped you a lot. Because it's like even just going back to this story from Miami Vice where you put yourself out there to get the role that would delay your your career for 20 years, but But later, once you made it back to California, it was that same kind of go get 'em attitude that allows you to probably have the confidence to say, no, no, we should all just be Colombian. No. Why do we, you know, that's let's do this dress this way, this journey. So

Patricia Rae 36:50

the one thing I have to say is that I've always first I booked the job, then I start trying to make changes and enforce influence, you know, the characters journey, you can't do that if you no book the job. So you kind of have to give them what they want. So then you can ask for what you want

Jeff Dwoskin 37:11

the difference between difficult and helpful. It's when you're sorry to interrupt, but we have to take a quick break. And we're back with a delightful by Tricia Ray.

Patricia Rae 37:25

What I like to say is when I when it comes to a set, I tried to be an asset, how can I be a team player? How can I make this about how I add to this production to this story, I never make it. I try not to make it about my character because I'm serving a bigger picture, especially on television, when you remember that you're serving a bigger picture and you're there as an instrument to tell the story, then you become an asset. And people hired people that are assets, people hire actors that are part of a team player, part of a community. You know, that's why they kept asking me to come back on all rise because I was hired as a one day co star. And I turned that into a recurring guest star and three seasons, which is a really incredible journey. And doesn't happen a lot. Oh, that's

Jeff Dwoskin 38:21

amazing. That's I've heard other people tell similar stories like Nick from family ties, Scott Valentine was on same thing, one, one episode. And then he became, you know, one of the main characters of the show, you know, is it always it's a good lesson, I think for anyone who's in your profession to kind of take that and go it's never one job. It's only maybe one job right or one episode and it's and to give what you give and to always be the best and and and then you never know what can happen. It's a great, it's a great lesson. I have a question for you, though. Yes. Has anyone come up to you and said, you know, recognize you and kind of said, Oh, I love seeing you on screen. I saw myself through you.

Patricia Rae 39:01

Oh yes. I've had many especially mareel Full of Grace has really touched a lot of people and affected a lot of people i i get lots of people reaching out to me through through social media even they used to write me and people used to write and send fan letters. They don't do that so much anymore. That kind of DM you now.

Jeff Dwoskin 39:24

Everyone right now is like what's that letter?

Patricia Rae 39:27

I know how letter so I did this episode of The Mentalist with this lovely actress. I can't remember her name right now, but it'll come to me when we were doing the wardrobe fitting for that episode. And I said, Oh, hi, um, my name is Patricia Ray. And you know, we're gonna play sisters in this episode. She goes, Can I tell you something? And I said, Yeah, she goes, I studied your Colombian accent and Maria full of grace for an audition that I did like a while back. I was like, and to me that was so touching, you know that another actor would use me to emphasize their work to make their work better. Matt was like, Well, I hope you booked a job that I did.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:14

How amazing. I mean, doesn't that like make it everything or that up to that point? I mean, just like, I can't even imagine the glow you felt inside. I mean, it must have just been so amazing to hear that.

Patricia Rae 40:24

It definitely gives you that little extra cushion Dickie floating through the hard times, you know, to remind yourself that your work matters to people that you do touch people, and you connect with them. That's awesome. I remember her name, Leila Ren, who went on to do wonderful work. She was on a Netflix series. She was in the original. I gotta look her I'm gonna look her up while you asked me question our power. She was in the original power.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:56

That is, it's really cool. I must say we're like looking for a portrait. I don't think we're looking for our Patricia Ray type. And they're like, wait, no.

Patricia Rae 41:06

I don't think that's happened yet. But I'm still waiting.

Jeff Dwoskin 41:11

Then you know you've made I can't afford the real one.

Patricia Rae 41:16

Oh, for real lipstick.

Jeff Dwoskin 41:18

The big wedding. That was Robin Williams, Robert Janeiro. Diane Keaton lotto huge names in that movie. Was that was that fun? Just to kind of be in that.

Patricia Rae 41:27

Wow, that was just an amazing experience, and not in the way that you would think because that movie actually does not do a lot of things for my career. It was a flop. It wasn't received. Well, the critics didn't like it. The studio kind of dropped. It didn't do a lot of png. So they didn't push it a lot. They didn't have a premiere for it. But I got to work on a really amazing level and watch people like Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, I had scenes with Diane to be embraced by Robert De Niro and, and Robin Williams, who was such a kind human being to me, the same that we do in the confessional key really helped work on the rhythm with me because he kept saying, Well, if you do, if you put a little pause here, it'll really make funny. So he was so gracious and so generous about allowing me to be funny, allowing me to shine and not like upstage me. So a lot of moments like that, that I got, that I was blessed with. And just to be on that stage, you know, to be to go up to a level of, you know, that was like the first big budget film that I'd done, because I'd done a lot of independent film, but that was our like, a really big budget. I worked on the show for eight weeks. So it was a really beautiful journey. I learned a lot of things on that show.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:53

Talk about all rise like this Your biggest reoccurring character today, right? Yeah, like 15 episodes. So in this, this series is still going strong. We're waiting

Patricia Rae 43:04

for our season for pickup. We dropped the first 10 episodes. So we did like a midseason break. So we have another 10 episodes to air. We were on CBS, we got canceled, we got picked up by own, this journey has been the pinnacle of everything. I've been here for 20 years. This is the job I was waiting for, for 20 years to walk onto a stage as a woman, an educated woman of color to work with people of color, directed by people of color. It's just like full circle for me every year and every disappointment was all worth it to get a job like this.

Jeff Dwoskin 43:48

That's amazing why you deserve that you've worked so hard. It was

Patricia Rae 43:52

it was a journey of pushing and falling and having disappointments and and resetting myself every year. I mean, I must quit acting like five times in those 20 years. But my partner were meant to say you're now going to quit acting number one, you don't know how to do anything else. Number two, is it You're too talented, I'm not going to let you quit. So I always remind actors who are struggling if you don't have the support system that it takes, you're not going to make it because you can't make it alone. This is an industry that is so cruel. So isolating so much rejection for very little reward. If you don't have a community you're not gonna make it emotionally you might be make it in career. You Hey, you know there's lightning in a bottle but all of those people that don't have a good support system to remind them to be gracious and kind, be compassionate and to stay grounded. They It also turned to drugs and alcohol. Because once you get to a certain part in your career, where you're famous, that doesn't mean you're working all the time, we see from a different point of view. But if you're in a huge movie, that's a success, and the movies done, you're unemployed again, you have to find another job. So now you're living at a different level, right? You have a Range Rover, you have a $6 million house in the Hollywood Hills, you have a maid you have a pool cleaner, you don't have a job that's dress drives people to drink, and to do drugs and to self isolate. And to start the loop in the head of I'm never going to find another job again, how am I going to do this? How am I going to survive? You know? So that's where family and friends come into the picture.

Jeff Dwoskin 45:49

That's a great message. And so it's an important thing to kind of remember. And it sounds like you have a really good support system. Could you work with Matteo, right beyond? paraNormals?

Patricia Rae 46:00

Yes, he is. He's a go getter. He's self like charging motor. He's like a hybrid. And he is my engine. You know, he fuels me He gives me my oil changes. He grounds me when I'm getting a little like, oh my god, I'm on solver. Don't be like, yeah, you still gotta clean the toilet, take the dog out, make dinner, be a real person, you know, connect, be compassionate, be nice. So I appreciate that. That's why we've been together for 17 years, because you can get you can when you when you get to a certain people like, Oh, let me carry your shoes, or let me let me dab the dew off your face. Let me brush your hair and let me dress you. It's very easy to fall into that. Well, you know, I'm more special than you. And I try never to be like that on set. If I'm working with an actress, or an actor who they're in this scene for just this one episode. I always welcome them. I always make them feel welcome. I always make them feel like they're, they're adding to the show that they're an asset that they're a part of this journey, and to be their best self. Because I've been on many sets where I was just a piece of furniture in that big machine goes on every day. And they I'm gonna leave and another person and then come on replace me, so doesn't matter to them. I'm just another lunch or snack. I don't like to treat people like that. I like to treat people with the respect that they deserve. Because if you can get on the set, then you had a journey. You had a struggle that got you here, and that deserves praise.

Jeff Dwoskin 47:46

Amen. Hallelujah. Yeah. So many great stories. And I this was an amazing conversation. I loved every second of it. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. Of course. Chad. Thank

Patricia Rae 47:56

you for having me. And where's your podcast? Where can we hear you so I can tweet and Instagram

Jeff Dwoskin 48:05

when it when I put it out y'all Now trust me. I will let you know. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

Patricia Rae 48:15

Thank you, sweetheart. You have been such a kind host. I appreciate it.

Jeff Dwoskin 48:19

My pleasure. Thank you. I'm gonna go and see if I can get my wife to like to do off my forehead. That sounded really good.

Patricia Rae 48:28

I've totally enjoyed this. Thank you so much.

Jeff Dwoskin 48:31

All right, everyone, the amazing Patricia Ray. How great was that? I got a lot out of that conversation. It was so great to connect with Patricia. We've tweeted together over the years. And that was the first time we ever actually connected in that way and had a conversation. So that was amazing. I hope you all enjoyed it so much. I can't believe the interviews over at the time just flies Is it me is a fly in flew. Oh, the interview over that means episode 214 has come to an end. I can't believe it either. I want to thank once again, my special guests, Patricia Ray. And of course I want to thank all of you for coming back week after week. You know, it means the world to me, and I'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 49:12

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Classic conversations. If you like what you heard, don't be shy and give us a follow on your favorite podcast app. But also, why not go ahead and tell all your friends about the show. You strike us as the kind of person that people listen to. Thanks in advance for spreading the word and we'll catch you next time on classic conversations.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai