My grandpa was one of the most
admirable people I know.
Almost every single time I saw him,
he would say, "Ita,
you've got to give it a hundred and
fifty percent." And it wasn't
about just giving the hundred, it
was about the extra fifty.
Hey there, I am Victoria Moroles.
I'm an actor.
I'm originally from South Texas.
My grandpa came over from
Apodaca, Mexico when he was eleven,
met my grandma in Corpus Christi and
proceeded to have my mama
and then she had me.
What's really specific about my
grandpa, is that
he never really felt like he
was out of place.
He was really about his inner
confidence and how that translated
to his outer appearance.
He actually had this belt
buckle that said Joe, his name.
He had one little
hair that would be slicked back
and his mustache
and his big smile.
He was always
about seizing every opportunity.
When I was twelve, I was like,
"I want to go out and work
in TV and film."
We had some family friends of ours,
and the daughter had her
first big movie premiere in Austin
and they invited us.
So we invited my grandpa
to come with us.
We got to the Four Seasons,
and I've never been
to a place like this.
This was one of the most beautiful
hotels I've ever been to.
And I
felt immediately this sense
of fish out of water, being in this
environment that immediately felt
so busy.
I wasn't really used to
the cast and the crew and
all the guests gather around in
this big ballroom.
We're in the corner.
I'm trying to find
a way to fit in.
By the way, this was like a
children's film.
It wasn't my grandpa's type
of film, let's just say.
And I'm just like, "oh, my God,
she's talking to these people.
We don't know who they are."
I wasn't comfortable with the
situation, but I was very aware of
who was there because there was this
very famous director who was
really well known for like bringing
up the Hispanic community in
South Texas and in Austin.
He was over in the middle of
the room and everybody was,
you know, surrounding him.
He's got this hat on and
his glasses and he's kind of tall.
It almost seems like in my mind,
there's almost like a little light
shining on him.
My grandpa, he didn't know who
this director was, but
he knew that a director was
important in a film.
He said, "I'll be right back."
Proceeds to walk over in
the direction of the light shining
director, tapping him on
the shoulder, the director turning
around, and he's a lot taller
than my grandpa.
So he's kind of looking down on him
a little bit. And he opens
his blazer, pulls
out this manila envelope.
I'm like, "what is that?"
And he hands
it over to
the director.
So in this manila envelope,
he had my headshot,
my resume,
a letter that stated,
"hi, my name is Joe Moroles.
My granddaughter, Victoria Moroles,
is just starting out her acting career
And hopefully you take
an interest and work together soon.
Kind of like what I guess you would
send to an agent or
something like that, but definitely
not handed off to a director
at his film premiere.
My grandpa,
is over there talking to the light
shining director, and I'm
just like, "no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
What is he saying to him?
This is going to be the
potential ending of my career
before its even started?"
But the director
was actually so kind to
take five or so minutes with him
and hear him out and have
a genuine, nice conversation.
He shook his hand again, kind
of did a little of this,
said his goodbyes, walked back over
to me with all his pride and
his glory.
And that is
actually the beginning
of my career, essentially.
No , I'm just kidding.
Nothing ever came from that.
But I did eventually make
my way the hard way, not
going directly up to every single
director, but finding the way
that I could make it and having
success in it.
He came back over very pleased with
himself, and I was like,
"what did you just do?"
And he's like, "Ita
you've got to go for what you want."
So he was the best agent I ever had.
I don't think that I
would have made any progress
had it not been for my grandpa
and his go-getter mentality.
Even though it was was a super
embarrassing experience for me to go through,
if he felt like
he did something, that makes
me feel super good.
One little hair that would be
slicked back and his
mustache and his, big smile.
Great, lets cut!
That's a cut.
OK.
You know, what is it?
What is that?
I want to go out and work
in TV and film, but I'm...
Perfect!
Let's get one last one,
do whatever you want to do.
This one's all yours.
I keep forgetting that I can say it
out loud.
It's very strange, okay.