Raúl Castillo
| Raúl Castillo | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Raúl Castillo, Jr. August 30, 1977 McAllen, Texas, U.S. |
| Residence | Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2000–present |
Raúl Castillo, Jr. (born August 30, 1977) is an American stage and film actor and playwright, known for his roles in Amexicano, Cold Weather, and for his role as Richie Donado Ventura in the HBO series Looking.
Castillo was born to father Raúl H. Castillo, Sr. and mother Adela "Adelita" Rodriguez de Castillo. He has an older brother, Tony, and a younger sister. His parents are Mexican immigrants from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, who later moved to McAllen, Texas, where he and his siblings were raised. Living so close to the U.S.-Mexican border, Castillo's family would often visit family members who still lived in Reynosa, affording him an upbringing that he describes as "very much bicultural". He was raised Catholic. His childhood nickname was "Gordo" ("fat", in Spanish), due to being chubby.
He first became interested in acting in the third grade, after seeing his older brother in a school production of The Wizard of Oz as the Tin Woodman. He auditioned the next year for the school play "about a mouse and a clock", but couldn't stop giggling during his audition and was cast in a non-speaking role as a guard. While in 6th grade at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School, he met and befriended future Mutemath bass guitarist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas. With their friends Nick Trevino and Robert Vleck, they started underground punk-rock band IPM (short for "Influential Phecal Material") in high school. Mitchell-Cárdenas played drums while Castillo played bass guitar. Before he became involved in acting, he thought he would pursue a career as a rock musician.
Castillo states that he started acting when he was 14. Seeking an elective when entering McAllen High School and a way to make friends, he turned to theater, which was popular in his hometown school. He became deeply involved in his high school drama department, which he says looked fun. His background playing music for audiences since age 11 made performing on stage feel natural for him. His first acting role was subsequently in high school in a production of Paul Zindel's play The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild. It was then, at age 14, that he met and became friends with future staff writer for Devious Maids, Girls and Looking, Tanya Saracho, who also attended McAllen High School. Saracho influenced Castillo greatly, introducing him to playwrights and encouraging to develop his own tastes in drama. Castillo cites the 1993 film Carlito's Way as the film that "changed everything" for him. He was inspired by the performances of John Leguizamo, John Ortiz, Viggo Mortensen, and Luis Guzman in particular. After graduating, he went on to study playwriting as an undergraduate at Boston University College of Fine Arts at age 17, though he continued to act, and majored in theater. During his studies, Castillo felt that the most important skill he developed there was learning how to produce his own work. He would regularly put on plays during the school's student-run playwright's festival, including a trio of one-act plays called Border Stories, about life on the U.S.-Mexican border in Reynosa. He graduated from Boston University in 1999. Castillo viewed himself as more of a writer, despite his performing abilities. It was not until after college, while performing the lead role in a 2000 production of Santos & Santos at the Nushank Theater Collective in Austin, Texas, that he felt encouraged in identifying as an actor as well. He eventually moved to New York City in 2002, which he describes as the smartest decision he made for his career.
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