How well do you know the man who brought Napoleon Dynamite’s Pedro to life?
It turns out that nowadays, he's living exactly the way he wants to: as an actor, producer,
musician, and reality TV star.
Let's take a look at where Efren Ramirez’s many skills have taken him.
Ramirez wears many hats, but it seems that his DJ one might be his favorite.
He’s traveled the globe in this capacity, performing at all kinds of private parties,
festivals, and public gatherings.
His prowess as a DJ and entertainer is also aided by his wide and varied repertoire, which
includes everything from frothy disco favorites to grinding electronica.
Believe it or not, his music career actually predates his film career.
Nocturnal Rampage, a collective of musicians he co-founded, began in 2000 and has a long
history of throwing raves and parties based in Austin, Texas.
His original mixes are available on YouTube, and are well worth a look-in from fans and
Napoleon newbies alike.
Ramirez isn't just a devotee of digital sound, however - he's also an accomplished player
of more than a few traditional instruments.
Though he's been known to play the violin and use his voice for everything from rock
ballads to rap, he's perhaps best known as a harmonica-player, and is often eager to
bust it out for an impromptu jam session.
No matter where he may be, Ramirez always seems ready to throw down the musical gauntlet.
As he started so early, appearing in such '90s gems as Kazaam and Tammy and the T-Rex,
it's no surprise that he's so comfortable switching it up as a performer.
His mother had a hand in that, putting him in performing arts classes from a very young
age - a practice he later continued in order to expand his social life.
It's hard to remember nowadays how unlikely a hit Napoleon Dynamite was.
An oddly deadpan protagonist with a hairstyle at least twenty years out of date?
Jokes centered around Jamiroquai, obscure tiger-lion hybrids, and tater tots?
It's a movie that could only have come out of the independent film scene - undeniably
fresh without visible effort, perfectly bizarre without ever feeling calculated, and, above
all else, indefinably addictive.
It's no surprise, then, that Ramirez has continued to keep at least one foot in the world of
indie movies.
Since his turn as Pedro, he's starred in everything from short films like Tomorrow's Yesterday
to searing biopics such as Endgame.
But he's not too proud to show up in some good old-fashioned popcorn blockbusters either,
with action thriller Crank and goofy comedy Employee of the Month as notable additions
to his filmography.
Ramirez seems to be an actor who keeps his eyes on the stars — without ever forgetting
where he came from.
Name an actor who's gained any ounce of fame, and you'll name a collector of some kind.
Guillermo del Toro has a house full of horror paraphernalia; Nic Cage is so devoted to Superman
that he named his son after the Man of Steel himself.
Efren Ramirez, meanwhile, is devoted to cars - so much so that it long predates his fame.
In an interview with Motor Trend, Ramirez set out his long-held interest and participation
in the California racing scene.
He started with a "Frankenstein car," one bequeathed to him by an older brother that
contained more pieces from other cars than its original body.
Though it wasn't much to look at, it was the first of what eventually became a vast collection.
He went on to note that his love of speed doesn't just confine itself to cars - he also
loves to throw his mountain bike in the trunk and take it to wherever he can cycle freely.
“You ever take it off any sweet jumps?”
Actors in this day and age often find it advantageous to diversify their audience.
It's not enough to appeal to only the rarefied indie connoisseur, the excitable fanboy, or
the swooning romcom fiend.
Nor is it enough to stick to only one screen, large or small — and with the growing prestige
of channels like HBO and Showtime, there's no shame in television any longer.
Yet even within the small sphere of television, maybe sticking to one genre or format isn't
enough.
Ramirez, having conquered the worlds of indie film, action beat-em-ups, HBO, animation and
more, has also dabbled in reality TV - and appeared to have had great fun doing it.
His most notable appearance was as a judge on cycle eight of America's Next Top Model,
on which he fostered and assessed the contestants' performances during an acting challenge.
Appropriately enough, the episode was entitled "The Girl Who Impresses Pedro."
Ramirez doesn’t seem particularly content to sit on the sidelines of his career, nor
to rest on his laurels in only one type of job.
In 2006's Employee of the Month, he played a limp-spined "box boy."
“You’re the lowest of the low.”
“Yeah, the lowest of the low.”
“Aren’t you a box-boy too, Jorge?”
“Yeah, but he’s my box-boy.”
“Yeah, I’m his box-boy.”
He followed that up with a role in 2012's Casa de mi Padre, a ludicrously over-the-top
parody of Latin soap operas.
Then he was a janitor in 2016's Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.
All of this, however, stands in stark contrast to his boldest move yet: founding his own
production company.
Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment is a joint project with Chris Barrett, a director, producer
and author.
A company which aims to produce across various platforms and media, Powerhouse has long been
affiliated with After School, a documentary exploring the story of Debra Lafave, the American
teacher who was arrested in 2005 for lewd and lascivious battery of one of her 14-year-old
students.
Clearly Ramirez is looking to spend more time behind the camera as he moves on to the next
phase of his quirky career.
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