So I grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I grew up in the projects, a single mom. And, you
know, it was funny. My mom used to say to me, when I was a kid, I used to sit by the
window and say, "I don't want to be here anymore."
She'd laugh, she'd be like, "Haha, where do you want to be Papa?" And I'd be like, "I
don't know, I don't know." I had dreams for myself that I couldn't
actually, like, vocalize. I couldn't say the words. I felt like I was just locked
in this box, and I needed to be free of this box that I I feel like I was in. I
always enjoyed singing, I would sing at the family events, I'd sing a Christmas, I'd
sing at Thanksgiving. But in my junior year, I went in auditioned for what I
thought was a talent show. My director, her name is Sarah Steinweiss.
She said, "Hey, what are you singing for us?" I said, "I'm singing Ordinary People by
John Legend." She said, "Okay, go ahead." I sing my song I'm like, "Okay, great. Thanks!"
And she's like, "Hold on, you didn't do the lines." I said, "I'm sorry miss, I don't do
lines." And she's like, "What? Do you know what this is?" And I'm like, "Yeah, a talent
show. She's like, "No, it's a musical." I said, "Whoa, hold up. I didn't sign up for a
musical." She's like, "Well, since you're here, can you do these lines?" And I'm like,
"Alright, cool, whatever." So the next day, I was selected to play the character of
Zeus. Fast forward, I get on stage. I get this overwhelming feeling that came over
me. And I'm like, I couldn't define it, but later on I realized that it was this
sense of joy and this sense of belonging that I hadn't felt in my entire life.
You know, you see in the movies, like, you see the superhero getting their powers, like,
spider-man. Like how a spider bit him and all of a sudden he's, like, spitting webs
from his wrists. You know, like, I'm not saying I turned into spider-man, but I felt
like I became a superhero on stage. Fast forward, I'm ready to apply for
colleges, but my grades weren't that good. All of my applications had gotten
withdrawn from every single school I applied to because I didn't get my
financial aid forms in in time. Unfortunately, my family was going through
some hard stuff and we just couldn't get the forms in in time. So I had no school
to go to. I was doing a community theater show at the time. Sara Steinweiss, my
director in high school, comes to rehearsal and gave me a pamphlet. She says,
"You need audition for this school." I'm like, "I can't. This is not a school that a
kid like me can afford." I don't really have any actual formal training. She's
like, "I don't care, we're gonna go for it." I was like, "Alright, let's go."
And then I do the audition and I get the call - I get into the school. I'm like,
"Thank you so much." Fall to my knees and I'm, like, praying, "Oh my god, wow, thank you,
thank you, thank you." Next thing you know, I get the Welcome
Packet and then I see the magical page with the numbers. I was gonna have to
take a loan for more money than I could ever afford. And my reality set in - you're
poor, from the projects, you didn't get a scholarship, and this is where your dream stops.
Then Sara Steinweiss comes to our rehearsal. She says, "Hey, I gave your name
to the Jerry Seinfeld Scholarship Foundation and they want to meet you." So
I have this meeting with this amazing woman named Kate Fenneman. I said to Kate,
"You know, I don't need anybody to give me a handout. All I need is someone to give
me a shot. If someone can just give me a shot, I'm gonna give it all I got."
I'm crying, she's crying, I'm like, "Peace, I gotta go."
Kate calls and says, "Hey, we're gonna pay for your school for all four years." And
immediately, my life changed. My mother and I, I'll never forget, we were in the
living room when we both fell to our knees and we both cried because we knew that,
in that moment, that was a chance for me to do something that was beyond anything
that any of us could have imagined or have ever experienced before. And fast
forward, I end up going to musical theater school. I studied and worked my
tail off. I kept going and I worked hard. Today,
I can gratefully say that I have lived some dreams out and I still am that I
could never imagine as a kid. From being in the biggest musical in the history of
Broadway in "Hamilton," to working on a movie that seems to be changing people's
lives with "A Star Is Born," to now starring in "In The Heights" - the movie version - to
playing the lead role, when I never thought that there'd ever be a lead role
for me, because there weren't many lead characters that looked like me, that were
Latin, who came from where I came from. But I thank God that when you dream big
enough, your dreams sometimes become bigger than reality.