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‘Bobby’ premieres at Fox
Emilio Estevez speaks on his new film and connection to the UFW
| Monday, Nov 20 2006 10:56 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Nov 20 2006 10:52 PM
In the 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy traveled to Delano and joined Cesar Chavez in his struggle for farmworkers’ rights.
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During the 1986-1987 school year at UCLA, a young Dean Florez, who was student body president, met actor Emilio Estevez at a student rally.
Who would have thought then that the now-Democratic state senator from Shafter and the actor/filmmaker would become friends and one day put together an event to honor the memory of two icons who worked so hard for social change in America?
Monday night closed that circle with a special, invitation-only screening of “Bobby,” Estevez’s movie about Kennedy and his legacy, which was held at Bakersfield’s Fox Theater. Though the film does not touch on Kennedy’s connection to Chavez, it was because of the two men’s special relationship that the film was screened here, in the UFW’s backyard.
“We needed Bobby Kennedy in Kern County in 1968,” Florez said. “We need Bobby Kennedy again in the year 2006.
“I truly believe there is a Bobby Kennedy out there,” he said. “He is sitting in a movie theater today. He is someone in his or her early-20s.”
The event, attended by close to 1,000 people, was sponsored by the office of Sen. Dean Florez and the Weinstein Company.
Invitees included students from Bakersfield College and Cal State Bakersfield, locals who worked on Kennedy’s presidential election campaign in 1968 — the year of his assassination — farmworkers’ advocates like Dolores Huerta and United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez, and local Democratic and Republican leaders.
“There’s a lot of respect between our union and the Kennedy family in general,” Rodriguez said, “but especially for Bobby.” Rodriguez called Kennedy a “champion” of the poor and the under-represented. He said standing up for farmworkers’ rights as Kennedy did was “something bold” and “not an in thing to do back then.”
The film, which packs an emotional wallop by successfully combining Kennedy-era film footage and sound bites with moving performances from an all-star cast, was followed by a question-and-answer session led by Florez and Estevez.
The Californian talked to the film’s actor/writer/director before the screening. Estevez had much to say about his film, the Bobby Kennedy-Cesar Chavez connection, America then and now, his activism as an entertainer, and the future.
Q: Here’s the burning question that’s on everyone’s mind: Why Bakersfield, why is this special screening happening here?
A: This is something that Senator Florez and I had been talking about for some time, to connect the film with the Latino audience and to bring the film back to where Bobby made the effort to connect with Cesar Chavez. We thought that it was appropriate. In fact, I had always wanted to have the premiere of the film in Bakersfield and Delano. That was my original instinct. But those decisions were beyond my control.
Q: Can you talk a little about the genesis of the film?
A: In 2000 I was at a photo shoot at the Ambassador Hotel for another picture that I directed. And in between the photo setups, they asked if I wanted a tour of the hotel and I said of course, and they took us downstairs through the kitchen and then into the pantry. And I remember standing in that place where Bobby was shot and it was truly hallowed ground.
And in that moment I remembered my entire childhood. I remembered where I was the morning that Bobby was shot. I remembered waking up my father and watching him weep. I remembered the following year, 1969, when we relocated from New York to Los Angeles, the first stop we made was the Ambassador Hotel. And I remember holding my father’s hand. I was 7 years old and listening to him explain that “this is where it happened, this is where the music died.” And I understood the significance of it even at that young age.
But I came from a very politically aware household. In 1972, during the Nixon-McGovern election, I remember getting in a fistfight on campus, on the school grounds, with someone who was a Nixon supporter. At 10 years old! And you try to imagine young people, especially in grade school, being as involved nowadays and it’s impossible to fathom.
Q: Can you talk about Bobby Kennedy and the Cesar Chavez connection? He came to Delano and he met with the United Farm Workers during the farm worker boycotts and the protests in the 1960s. Did you do a lot of research on that in preparation for the film?
A: What’s interesting is that he was the first white politician of stature that stood up for people of color ... and I believe that his voice is very strong in the film and especially in the scenes in the kitchen. There’s a scene in the film where Laurence Fishburne’s character explains to Freddy Rodriguez and Jacob Vargas, the Latino kitchen workers, about how to navigate the white man’s world. And it is a very political scene and you never hear Bobby Kennedy. There’s nothing on television talking about the campaign. There’s nothing on the radio. Nobody wears a campaign button. And yet Bobby’s voice is very, very strong through the other characters. And that’s really what I tried to achieve with this film: that the politics of the film would speak subtly through the characters rather than be hit over the head.
Q: What strikes a chord with you as a performer of Hispanic descent about the Bobby Kennedy-Cesar Chavez connection?
A: I will tell you just an interesting story and it all connects in a way that will make sense to you but it may not at first glance. And that is, 25 years ago, when I started out in this business, there were a lot of people that counseled me to change my name because they said I don’t look Latino. And I said, “Well, what does a Latino look like?” We come in all shapes and sizes, my God — and colors for that matter! So it was very unpopular to look the way I do and have a Latino name, a Hispanic name.
And so my father said to me, “You know, don’t make the same mistake I did. 1958 was different than what you’re dealing with now,” which would have been 1979, 1980 when I was having these discussions. And he said, “Don’t make the same mistake, and honor your heritage.” And I’m thankful that I did and when the movie (“Bobby”) premiered here in Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles’ mayor, introduced the film and I was so proud that he was there to honor the film and that he’s our mayor. And in many ways that is the legacy of Bobby Kennedy and Cesar Chavez. The only thing that I believe would have happened is that we would have had a Latino mayor a lot sooner if Bobby Kennedy had lived. You know what I mean? And so that’s what I mean by bringing this all back around.
Q: Can you talk about your father’s relationship with Cesar Chavez and also your father — well, he appears in the film — his influence in your life through his work and also his politics?
A: Well, you know, my father is one of my heroes and he introduced me to Cesar Chavez ... I’m going to hazard a guess but I think it was 1988 when Cesar was on another fast for the grape boycott. My father asked me to participate in some of the picket lines and I did and I was actually in Delano when Cesar broke the fast. And I got an opportunity to shake his hand and he was bedridden at the time, but I remember coming by the bedside and shaking his hand and receiving a blessing in many ways.
Q: Your film, “Bobby,” is so different and so much more personal than a lot of the films you’ve done in the past, especially the comedic films. Does this mark a turning point for you in your career?
A: I’m not sure, there’s a lot of stories that I want to tell and I feel that this was certainly a story that spoke to me and a story that hadn’t been told but I don’t want to be that guy, you know? Oliver Stone, whenever he veers from what’s expected of him, people are disappointed. People were disappointed when he didn’t take a conspiratorial slant at “World Trade Center.” So I don’t want to be hamstrung by people’s expectations of what I should or shouldn’t do next time out or the next three times out. I want the flexibility to tell whatever story I feel like engaging at the time.
Q: Similarities between the Estevez dynasty in Hollywood and the Kennedy dynasty in Washington?
A: We have a lot less money. (Laughs) Right?
Q: But that’s not a similarity, that’s a disparity.
Estevez: I know. I had to interject that because it’s true. We are a tight-knit family, like the Kennedys. We are very tight. Catholic. We have certainly the Latino angle, but we also have the Irish angle.
Q: Many Californians admire the Kennedy family because they’re liberal and progressive. But today, the closest member of the Kennedys that we have is Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger. Do you find any irony in that? Do you know her personally?
A I’ve met her a couple of times. I don’t know her personally. I don’t know what those conversations between her and Arnold are like and I would never speculate on what their dinner conversation is, but I imagine it’s very lively. (Laughing) I’d love to be a fly on the wall. But I believe in his heart that Arnold is a Democrat. You know, I believe in his heart he is. He just doesn’t know it yet.