On The Move - Never Judge A Book By Its Cover
Intimidation might be the first word that comes to mind when you meet Hector Atreyu Ruiz. His bald head, tattoos and athletic physique could make anyone think twice about messing with the Mexican raised in the hood of Los Angeles. But on the contrary, although Hector’s past does include gang activity and even a stint in jail, he has turned his life around and can now add college graduate and actor to his resume. With a role in the straight to DVD release of Death Sentence starring Kevin Beacon, this is only the beginning of what could be a promising career in acting.
Let’s start off by talking about Death Sentence. How was it working alongside a
veteran like Kevin Beacon?
First and foremost
it was a dream come true. I grew up
as a kid watching him in Footloose and as I
got older I saw him in A Few Good Men. It
was kind of like surreal like wow I’m just a
kid from the neighborhood in LA and here I
am working with Kevin Beacon. But yea he
came through and he was so sincere and so
simple. He’s just an actor and I mean that in
a complimentary way. So on one hand it was
surreal but on the other hand he was just
such a nice exceptional human being.
Is it easier to land gang roles given your
background?
Yes and no. I mean certainly
growing up that way I can identify with that
lifestyle and I can bring a certain element of
reality, of realism to an audition or to the set.
But then again as an actor, and not to get
all artsy on you, but you still have to make
choices. And you definitely have to separate
yourself from all the other actors and then
use your imagination. So yes I can relate
to those roles but at the same time you still
have to bring it nonetheless.
Do you feel casting agents may pigeon
hole you into gang banger roles?
Absolutely.
That’s a very good question. What I
do when I go in to meet with a casting director
I go UFC on them and what I mean by
UFC is that I go all college and I try to use
these words that they wouldn’t expect for
me to use as someone with a shaved head,
tattoos and muscles and they’ll say something
like ‘in this scene you’ve been robbed
and you got jacked’ and I’ll respond with
something like ‘oh so you mean I’m more
like discombobulated by what’s going on?’
The reason I do that is because the majority
of casting directors are Caucasian or Jewish
and with me being a Latino, shaved head,
goatee and tattoos, already they put me in
a box. So the least I can do is the minute I
step into that room I’m really cool and I smile
and I try to sound as educated as possible
so that they see there’s more to me I’m not
just a bad guy.
From gangs to Shakespeare is a huge
contrast. How did you adjust?
It was difficult
at first. When I got out of jail back in the
mid-90’s I checked into a junior college out
here in LA and it was my first time I was really
around Caucasian people because I grew
up in the inner city and really the only white
folks we had were the cops or the teachers
that were willing to drive to the hood, if you
will, to teach us. But for the most part it was
a culture shock to go to this school where
everyone wasn’t Latino or African American.
Having said that, doing Shakespeare was
like ‘Wow! What am I doing?’ A few weeks
ago I’m behind bars and now I’m wearing
tights and slinging a sword on stage. So it
was a big time adjustment but just as a human
being I tried to relate to what was being
said in the story. I tried to say to myself ‘Hey
man right now it’s a time for change and a
time for adjustment. It’s a time to step up
and let your past go and try to just grow as a
person.’ It wasn’t easy. It was not easy.
Do you feel like it was a challenge for
people to take you seriously as an actor
coming from where you came from?
Yea most of them thought I was selling out.
Most of them still feel that way, they feel like ‘oh you forgot about us, you forgot about
the neighborhood. He’s Hollywood now. He
went to school and now he thinks he’s this
he’s that.’ But there’s those few that were
proud and were always there to support me
and they said ‘Go for it! This life here in the
neighborhood isn’t want you want. Go for it.
Go be somebody.’ I have to surround myself
with positive people, productive people who
are going somewhere. I can’t waste time
and I can’t succumb to that lifestyle that I
grew up with. I know too much now and I
have way too much to lose.
How do you respond to the negative reactions?
You know Zayda these people don’t
even love themselves so I don’t expect them
to love me. I guess my revenge, if you will,
is my success. I’ll never forget where I came
from and I certainly will never forget those
that are still there because they are the reason
that I do what I do. The whole purpose
of making it in Hollywood is for me to put
myself in a position so that I can change
their lives. But all these negative people who
feel I’ve sold out, I can honestly care less
about them.
What are your other loves besides acting?
I love to stay in the gym working out. I love
music. I love poetry. I write a lot of poetry. I
like to go hiking. I have a lot of passions. I
don’t like to put myself in one category and
just stay there.
When did you start writing poetry?
I grew
up in the 80’s and back in the day I use to
breakdance and pop lock so I was this little
breakdancer called Kid Fresh. I use to carry
my little radio and my cardboard box and
battle people. From there I made the transition
into rapping and I was really into hip
hop and I’d write my songs and then go in
the studio and record my songs. Hip Hop
and rap is very much like poetry so it was
easy to make the transition.
Express to me how you feel about the artistic
creativity of acting.
I think it’s limitless.
Man, woman or child, if you really use
your imagination I think you can go where
most don’t dare to go. Most actors I feel
aren’t satisfied with just an emotion as opposed
to really doing their homework and
really saying to yourself, I’m this person. I
feel like as an actor I’m not afraid to really
go all the way whether I’m a good guy or a
bad guy.
If there was any role to fall across your
lap right now, which would be the most
challenging?
I have this guy, this kid, he’s
actually 38 but he’s autistic so he has the
mannerisms of a 10 year old. I always
thought if I played him it would be like Sean
Penn in I am Sam. I think that would be a
hell of a challenge because I’m not disabled,
thank God, and I don’t know what its like to
be autistic. That would be a challenge.
Were any of the tats you wore in Death
Sentence your own?
Yes all the tats on my
arms are my own and I also have another
one and its not in the film but I got it maybe
4 or 5 months ago. But as far as 
my stomach,
the back of my head, my back, those
were all Hollywood made.
And what is that airbrush?
Well they’re
more like stick ons. What they do is rub
some hot water and alcohol on the skin and
then they put the tattoo over it and center it
and once they center it they just rub it and
then it’s on there.
Did you have to do that every time you
were on set or did the tats last awhile?
Every single time! (laughs) They last like two
or three days but that wasn’t enough I had
to do it every single time and it’s so cold out
there too.
What’s next for you?
What do you have
coming up? Right now I have this game,
believe it or not, this is funny, for XBOX and
Playstation. It’s a game called Boxing 2K0, a
new boxing game with Don King and Mario
Van Peeples and myself, I play Jesus Silva,
the Heavyweight Champ of the World so
the kids are gonna have to beat me to win
the game. So that’s like a dream come true.
That’s gonna be out in April.
ULM Podcast