Reynaldo Pacheco talks about Platino Prizes, life in Hollywood

Bolivian actor Reynaldo Pacheco, who recently participated in the Platino Prizes, discussed his career in a wideranging interview with EFE.

The 29yearold Pacheco made the leap from acting in school productions and touring with theater companies to performing with Oscar winners like Sandra Bullock and Christopher Plummer.

Pacheco told EFE that “in this long 10year process,” he learned that an actor cannot accept “either rejection or success, because they are very ephemeral.”

The key is to hold on to the experiences, Pacheco, who traveled to La Paz to discuss the July 24 Platino Prizes ceremony and his upcoming projects, said.

The 3rd Platino Prizes for IberoAmerican Cinema awards gala, held in the Uruguayan resort city of Punta del Este, drew some 500 cinema professionals, executives and journalists.

The prizes were organized by the Spainbased Audiovisual Producers’ Rights Management Association, or EGEDA, and the IberoAmerican Federation of Audiovisual Producers, or FIPCA.

“I’m really thankful for the incredible experience that I had. I’m focused on doing things, I want to make music, I want to produce stories for Bolivia, I want to write, I want to direct, I want experiences that help me grow as a human being and, hopefully, will inspire other people to follow their dreams,” the actor said.

Pacheco started his career at La Paz’s La Salle school and later worked with different theater troupes, “always trying to grow because there was no (acting) school” in Bolivia.

He went to the United States on a scholarship from Wabash College in Indiana, a move that opened the door to performing in Mexico, Ecuador, London and France.

Pacheco earned a master’s degree in drama at the University of Southern California and began to audition for roles in Los Angeles.

His big break came in 2010 with a role in the independent film “Beginners,” which helped Christopher Plummer win an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Pacheco’s career took off and he was cast in “The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez,” with the late Ernest Borgnine, and “Without Men,” which starred Eva Longoria, Maria Conchita Alonso and Christian Slater.

Pacheco has also had roles on television, including “CSI: New York,” and done commercials.

His biggest role was in “Our Brand Is Crisis,” a film starring Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie and Joaquim de Almeida that told the story of Bolivia’s 2002 presidential election.

For his performance in the film, Pacheco was nominated in the Best Actor category for the Imagen Awards, which will be handed out on Sept. 9 in Beverly Hills.

The Bolivian actor is competing against Edgar Ramirez (“Joy”) and Lou Diamond Phillips and Rodrigo Santoro (“The 33”) for the award.