Paul Rodriguez Interview

Being a Hollywood star’s kid seems like an easy road if you want to become an actor, but if you want to be a pro skater no matter how many fans Dad has, it will not help your board skills. To get to where Paul Rodriguez has gotten takes talent, dedication and a love of skateboarding. Look out Hollywood, after what P-Rod has already accomplished acting will be an easy street.

(All Photos: Herman Jimenez)

A few years ago Rob Dyrdek had this idea about making a real movie about the life of skaters, using real skaters as the actors. Dyrdek hoped the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree when it came to acting skills with P-Rod, so he cast his skater friend as the lead. Then he added in Ryan Sheckler who is no stranger to the camera with his MTV show Life of Ryan and he got Ryan Dunn of Jackass fame in there as well. The result is Street Dreams, a full-length feature film that hits the theaters June 12. Surprisingly it’s legit from the acting to the skating to the storyline. FUEL.TV caught up with P-Rod to find out how he felt about making putting real skateboarding on the silver screen.

FUEL.TV: Did growing up with a Dad making movies inspire you to take a stab at acting?
P-Rod: Yeah definitely being on set with my father was always fun. Being around other actors made me want to pursue a career in that.

FUEL.TV: Is that something you’d like to take farther?
P-Rod: If the opportunities arise I would love to. I would like to finish what I gotta finish in skateboarding, but when I retire it would be nice to make that transition and become a real proper actor.

FUEL.TV: What were some of the similarities and what were the differences between yourself and your Street Dreams character, Derrick Cabbrera?
P-Rod: There are a lot of similarities. I didn’t necessarily have every scenario happen to me that happened to him, but the whole slacking in the school department, not being so focused in that region. Maybe having some arguments with my father, maybe not as intense. I wouldn’t say my father and I butted heads, but he didn’t think skateboarding was gonna take me anywhere and I had to prove it to him.

FUEL.TV: It’s hard to predict that skateboarding will work out for someone as it has for you.
P-Rod: Yeah it is, but my argument to him was always “What did your parents think when you told them you wanted to be a comedian? It’s hard to envision that.” So, he couldn’t really say anything cause he had gone through the same thing I was going through.

FUEL.TV: How does it feel to be the first crew to try to portray real skateboarding on the silver screen?
P-Rod: It feels good because there has been plenty of movies out there that had to do with skateboarding, but were not anything about what a real skateboarder’s life is like. Just being sick of having what we love to do portrayed in such a weird way, it’s awesome that these guys, mainly Rob and Nino, have taken it in their own hands and put their money where their mouth is, and it’s great to be a part of it.

FUEL.TV: You just put out a new video, Proof, which is kind of along the lines of your last video Forecast, a bunch of fresh faces, all of which impressed. Who were some of the stand out parts to you?
P-Rod: I feel that every part in the video was very strong. Obviously the guys who are more well known such as Darrell Stanton, Terrel Robinson, Torey Pudwill. All those guys had amazing parts. But the standout parts I love are Keelan Dadd, Stevie Perez has got a good style, Josh Grossguth is real good, he does unique tricks. I can’t forget Sammy Baptista, he’s a vet, he has a great part and this is his first part in a long time. I just feel like we had a real strong cast. I was proud of all the guys for working so hard. We’ve had a strong buzz and things are going well.

FUEL.TV: Plan B recently put out one of the most impressive promos I’ve seen, at over 14 minutes long. Do you guys have a full length in the works?
P-Rod: That’s my number one focus right now, the Plan B video. I can’t tell you when the date is it will be out, at least another year. We’re steadily working on it I’m filming every day trying to hit the streets and get some moves.

FUEL.TV: Tell me a little about your shoe store, Primitive. Where did the inspiration to start your own shop come from?
P-Rod: My partner Andy, he’s the one with the vision. He was my team manager over at the skateshop, 118, when I was a kid. His dream was always to open up his own store. He’s a real big sneaker head. When I was 19 he was like, “Hey, let’s open a sneaker shop.” I wasn’t ready for that type of responsibility at that age. He was really persistent. He had been thinking of ideas for a sneaker shop for 10 years, so it was really well thought out. It all came together, all went as planned and I’m so happy he got me to do it. He’s really working hard to make Primitive successful.

FUEL.TV: Do you have a lot of input when mapping out a pro model shoe with Nike? What are the most important aspects in a shoe for you?
P-Rod: Yeah, for me I like to have a lot of input as far as the function and the feel of the shoe. I would love to help with some of the designs, but that’s not where my gift is, you know what I mean? I work with the designers who are really gifted guys, real creative and smart as far as the look. My whole thing is, I tell them how I need it to feel, I got to have certain materials that I like to skate in. I just let them know what I need the shoe to have to function. Then they go from there and they create the look until we have a shoe that we’re all happy with.

FUEL.TV: I heard you were out doing some green screen type work for the next Tony Hawk game. Is that something you can talk about yet?
P-Rod: Yeah we we’re doing some green screens and some interview, just getting the game ready to come out. I’m gonna be back in the Tony Hawk game this year. It’s gonna be a different kind of video game. You don’t play it by controller, you stand on a board, and you move the board with your feet to do the tricks. It’s pretty cool, new technology I’ve never seen before.

FUEL.TV: That's it, thanks Paul.
P-Rod: Alright, cool.

-Tal Roberts

Follow Proof Skate Video Twitter @ProofSkateVideo and follow Street Dreams @StreetDreamsMOV

Don't miss Paul and the Street Dreams crew on The Daily Habit, Friday, June 12th.