‘Society Is Looking for New Heroes,’ Actor Tells Chapman Students

The future has never looked better for aspiring Latino filmmakers and actors, Edward James Olmos told students at Chapman University on Thursday night.

“Society is looking for new heroes,” the Oscar-nominated actor and humanitarian activist said. “I personally think the future looks brighter today than it did last year. . . . It’s wide open.”

Olmos, star of the current film “Selena,” also exhorted the students to be tough with themselves.

“You have to discipline yourself to do things you don’t like to do,” he said, “like doing your homework or picking up your room, so you’ll have discipline to do the things you like to do when you don’t want to do them. Then you become the best that you can be.”

A capacity crowd of 1,000 filled the Chapman Auditorium, where Olmos appeared as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series.

His talk, which often was more of a give-and-take discussion with the wildly enthusiastic audience, was titled, “We’re All in the Same Gang.”

Though he softened his remarks with humor, the subtext was an acid commentary on modern society, multiculturalism and racism.

“No society in the history of this planet has ever bred this type of behavior before,” he said. “And this behavior is children killing children for no reason. We bred this behavior, and we’re exporting it in our art forms.”

Many who attended the talk said they felt a personal relationship with Olmos.

“I was honored to meet him,” said Richard Quiroz, 24, who added that Olmos’ portrayal of a math teacher in the 1987 film “Stand and Deliver” inspired him to become a math teacher.

Most recently, Olmos has been grabbing headlines for his bizarre troubles with a Mexican gang.

The gang reportedly put a price on Olmos’ head after his 1992 film, “American Me,” which was an unflattering depiction of gang members. Some gang members were charged with killing three unpaid advisors on the film.

But Olmos insisted Thursday night that journalists have exaggerated the gang’s reaction, and he proclaimed the picture “the most used anti-gang film ever.”