Actor, screenwriter, and director are among the many of Adam Rodriguez’s titles, but when you ask him what is most important, father and husband are top of the list. We sat down with Adam to discuss his hopes for the future and what makes him feel the most alive.
Vintage Crewneck in Palo Santo
Elijah in Helios
Can you think of the moment that inspired you to start your career?
You know, there were a couple of things. I played baseball my whole life, and I always thought that baseball was going to be the thing that I was going to do, and there was a moment where I realized that the feeling I got when I performed in front of a crowd as an actor for the first time, which happened to be in a class, and I got that same thrill, that same jolt of electricity and excitement that I felt when something great would happen on the baseball field. I felt that in this room and I realized, like, this excited me, this made me want to dedicate myself to becoming, you know, good at it, if not great, and making it the thing that I wanted to do with my life.
And I was in a community college I was going to, in an acting class, and that was sort of the moment where I realized, like, I need to do this, I need to dedicate my life to doing this, and that was a great feeling.
And I think as time went on I realized the power of being a part of telling story and how much that could help other people, how much it could inspire them, how much it might help them grow in some way, and I think that all of those things coming together just made me fall in love with, you know, with acting, the pursuit of actually being a part of telling stories.
What is one thing you wish you would have known before becoming an actor?
I think I wish that I would have understood more, more about just being free as an actor, not feeling confined to any rules or any of these things that you think exist when you start doing something, you know? You feel like you don’t want to mess up, and I think if I would have known anything before that, that the magic oftentimes happens in the mistakes, it happens when you just let go and let things happen, and you’re just surprised and excited by it, by things you couldn’t even imagine or plan for.
Vintage Cewneck in Palo Santo
Elijah in Helio
What label in your life are you most proud of? Why?
For sure husband and father. I’ll put those two together, because I could never be the kind of father I am without my wife, and she inspires me to be the best husband I can imagine being, so without question. I mean, I don’t care about any other label other than those two.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
You know, parents, they tell you so many things all the time, and something my father used to say all the time that really did stick with me is that…and I know, I don’t think it’s his quote, but it stuck, and it’s a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others so as not to make his own, and you know, I think really it’s just a lesson in humility. You know, if you don’t ever think you’re better than somebody else, you can watch them and see them make a mistake and know that you’re capable of making that same mistake, so if you humble yourself and pay attention in that way, you’ll keep that in mind and not make those mistakes, hopefully save yourself the time and the pain.
What is the best advice you have to give?
In addition to, you know, my father’s advice to me, I would say the best advice I could give is just so simple, the golden rule. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have done to yourself, and somehow, I don’t know, I just feel like it’s so hard for people to slow down enough to keep that in mind, unfortunately, and I would just, yeah, give me a mountaintop and I’ll shout that one out any time.
Everyday Tee in White
Adler in Dark Age
What label in your life are you most proud of? Why?
For sure husband and father. I’ll put those two together, because I could never be the kind of father I am without my wife, and she inspires me to be the best husband I can imagine being, so without question. I mean, I don’t care about any other label other than those two.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
You know, parents, they tell you so many things all the time, and something my father used to say all the time that really did stick with me is that…and I know, I don’t think it’s his quote, but it stuck, and it’s a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others so as not to make his own, and you know, I think really it’s just a lesson in humility. You know, if you don’t ever think you’re better than somebody else, you can watch them and see them make a mistake and know that you’re capable of making that same mistake, so if you humble yourself and pay attention in that way, you’ll keep that in mind and not make those mistakes, hopefully save yourself the time and the pain.
What is the best advice you have to give?
In addition to, you know, my father’s advice to me, I would say the best advice I could give is just so simple, the golden rule. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have done to yourself, and somehow, I don’t know, I just feel like it’s so hard for people to slow down enough to keep that in mind, unfortunately, and I would just, yeah, give me a mountaintop and I’ll shout that one out any time.
Everyday Tee in White
Adler in Dark Age
Isles Jacket in Anorak
Everyday Tee in Heather Grey
Adler in Sedona
"There’s nothing else I need to accomplish other than just continuing to be...the best at that that I can be...which means making a lot of mistakes and learning from them, and being willing to admit to those mistakes and better myself..."
Isles Jacket in Anorak
Everyday Tee in White
Adler in Sedona
When in life do you feel the most at peace?
Anytime I’m around my children and my wife. I just…that was my lifelong dream, was to be a father and a husband, and so any time I’m with them, I just feel like I made it. I made it. There’s nothing else I need to accomplish other than just continuing to be, you know, the best at that that I can be, you know, which means making a lot of mistakes and learning from them, and being willing to admit to those mistakes and better myself, you know, by examining them, which is not easy to do, but yeah. I’m always the most at peace when I’m with my family.
When do you feel the most alive?
You know, it could be at any given moment, and when I first started acting, it was, you know, preceding any kind of performance or any challenge. I mean, maybe even before that, school. I loved getting into trouble because there was this thrill to it, these butterflies that I got in my stomach, and I think, you know, now as I get older, I have no interest in getting in any kind of trouble, but I feel really alive any time I’m going to do something that I am unsure of but I know I need to do, I feel compelled to do. I mean, it could be bungee jumping or it could be stepping in to help somebody and not knowing, you know, what kind of reaction you might get. I mean, anything that gives me pause but that I know I have to push through, I feel alive in those moments.
Classic Jacket in Wilkes
Everyday Tee in White
Adler in Dark Age
What is something you want to do, but haven’t done yet?
I haven’t gone skydiving. I would like to do that. I haven’t surfed a 100-foot wave, but I think I might save that until the end of all of this, I mean, at least what I can think is the end.
Something in the world you hope to see change in your lifetime?
I hope to see this disconnection from our minds and bodies as a society, you know, I feel like, I don’t want to go off the deep end here, but I mean, I just feel like if we were more connected to ourselves as people, our physical bodies, our minds, then we might dig in a little deeper and connect with each other better, and in turn, our natural environment and the way we treat the spaces that we live and the people in them, and if I could change any of that and help people get more connected, I think that might eliminate some of the things that are destroying us as a planet, as a people, the greed of it all, people’s obsession with money and having to have all of it I think is…man, if I could change that, yeah, I mean, it’s such a broad question, but yeah, I’d start there, see where we get to. I think that just leads us right back to the golden rule, right?
Something that makes you optimistic for the future?
You know, if I’m lucky enough to witness some random acts of kindness, you know, or perform a random act of kindness, or you know, receive it, those things give me hope. It reminds me that I think people do, you know, for the most part, want to help, they want to take care of each other, and it’s hard to be optimistic, to be honest, but those things and those moments, they do, whether it’s just children being nice to each other, or you know, or adults, you know, and seeing them, seeing them just care for something more than just themselves, and taking the time to do that, stopping whatever it is they’re focused on in a moment to do something for someone else. Those things give me hope, I mean, as hard as that is to have hope these days, yeah.