Oscar Torres: from civil war to cinema marquee

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, June-July, 2004 by Albert Sgambati

We tracked down the talented and tenacious 32 year-old screenwriter Oscar Torres as he took a breather from his non-slop schedule. He was fresh off the plane from Los Angeles. Torres, en route to Mexico City's Studios Churubusco where he is in the post-production stage of a soon to be released feature film, explained to Latino Leader. "I've always primarily considered myself an actor, but when life throws you an unpredictible curveball ... well, now I'm also a write."

Torres, with his Hollywood good looks and relaxed, gentle manner, doesn't look much like the protagonist of his autobiographical script, Casas de Carton, an extraordinary childhood tale of the success of a young boy caught up in the ravages of the El Salvadoran civil war. The film is directed by Luis Mandoki.

Torres's own climb to the top is no less astonishing, from the dusty and dangerous roads of his childhood and adolescence to the shining lights of the cinema marquee. Casas de Carton, which in its earlier versions received kudos from Torres's peers, passed through various hands and eventually found its way to producer Moctezuma Esparza. Esparza immediately saw potential in the piece and eventually guided Torres in shaping and developing the screenplay.

The task moved on to finding the right director. "In 2002 I got cast in a commercial Luis Mandoki was directing, and at the shoot I approached him, knowing that I had two minutes or less to tell him my story." Torres laughs, recalling the super-fast version of the script he had to relate to the director on that day, two years ago. "Incredibly, he asked me to drop it off. Then about a week later, I got a call from him telling me he wanted to direct it."

With acting credits that include ER, CSI: Miami, and Any Day Now, the multi-talented Torres takes the role of his own father in Casas de Carton, and he does voice-over narration for the movie as well. Shot in the verdant, coffee-harvesting region of Veracruz, Mexico, the story, by Torres's account, "Tells us about a family's smuggle to maintain a semblance of order and innocence within the context of a war."

Leaving his home in El Salvador at fourteen for political reasons is by no means the only difficult choice that Torres has had to make. Once accustomed to life in the US, Torres decided to enter the Latin American studies program at the University of California at Berkeley. The only problem with his chosen course of study, as Torres tells it, was that "Instead of doing my homework I found myself going to the movies daily."

Never one to shy away from risk, and having found his calling within the dark recess of the local movie house, Torres made up his mind. He promptly dropped out of school and hightailed it back to Los Angeles, where he worked his way up from the bottom--without ever looking back.

His first job in the industry was as a delivery boy. That the same company that he was delivering packages for (BBR) would one day become his commercial agent is just one more amazing twist in the winding path that Torres has traveled thus far.

After working a number of jobs, from agent's assistant to production assistant, he found himself assisting an actress who--if you're Oscar Torres--gave him a sound piece of advice. "She told me never have a plan 'B' to fall hack on. So I quit my job and jumped into acting fulltime. I was at the Beverly Hills Playhouse taking classes and working at it day in and day out."

And the rest, as they say in Tinsel Town, is history, though not in Torres's case. Somewhat humbled by his recent success, Torres is well aware of the hundreds of bit parts, seconds-long commercial shots, and lonely hours of writing that piled up before Casas de Carton saw the light of day.

Even now, in the midst of his current project, Torres tells us, "I'm pushing for my second screenplay, a romantic comedy, and I have a few more in the works. At the same time I want to continue acting as well as writing and producing screenplays. Co-producing this picture has taught me a lot about the process." Working side-by-side with Lawrence Bender, who produces for Quentin Tarantino, and Altavista Films, Torres has had his hand in just about every aspect of the film.

Torres's limitless drive, and even more, his genuine sincerity, has allowed him to forge more than a few valuable relationships. Maybe the most important among these is the one he has with the well-known director Luis Mandoki, who Torres considers "a great friend and mentor. He's a courageous man who knows what he wants and gets it done. He's been an inspiration to me, never compromising his Latin roots or his love and respect for the culture."

At this point, even before its release, Torres's film has something of a magic quality to it. Coupled with his very personal struggle for survival, which in fact is what the movie is about, is the unparalleled back-story of his young Latino's unshakeable belief in himself.

Therefore, it's only befitting that when the lights go out for the first time, Torres and his family, who eventually followed him to safe haven in Los Angeles during those chaotic times, will be able to recapture the past and watch it unfold, although this time it will be transformed by the lights of the silver screen, and the talent of this young artist on his way up to the top.