NOEL G
Interviewed by: Angela

I would honestly say that this is the BEST interview I have ever had the honor of doing. Noel G is HILARIOUS. A very REAL, DOWN TO EARTH individual. People need to learn his name if they don’t already know it because he is here to stay and doing HUGE things for Latinos in the entertainment world. Indie Street Latino wishes Noel the best of luck in everything he does. “Keep doing your thing, it’s working!”

NOEL: Hi Angela, It’s Noel.

ANGELA: Hello Noel. What an honor. We have seen you on several movies, TV shows and commercials. What are some of the projects that you are working on now?

NOEL: Well see that’s what it was because I got tired of being in the highway speed chases all the time so I was like What’s up? Can a Latino get a legit job or what? Always putting me on the news and stuff. I was like damn man, can a homie get in a movie or something? Community service, let a homie work. Na Na, I have been in a couple things. I have been on Cops, Americas Most Wanted, All that.

ANGELA: *Screams*

NOEL: You know how we do it.

ANGELA: Not recently? *Laughing*

NOEL: *Laughing* No, no. Not recently. The last time I was on Cops was about an hour ago. I got away. I got away. I got away.

ANGELA: *Laughing* Just in time to do this interview.

NOEL: I have been on a couple things here and there. I try to spread it out. I was kind of happy because I did this one movie called “If I Only Was A Genius” and it was a comedy. It’s with Sharon Stone and Whoopi Goldberg and Tara Reid and it’s actually one of my first movies ever where I don’t play a Mexican Gangster.

ANGELA: Wow!

NOEL: Yea Yea. They were able to switch it up finally. I put in a call to Steven Spielburg and said what’s up homie, check this out…. No. *Laughing* so he hooked me up in this one movie and I play a CostCo worker. I just play a regular average guy at a CostCo store, working a 9 to 5. I got the apron on and the nametag, it’s the real deal, legit and that’s what’s up, so…..

ANGELA: Ahhhhhhh. Is that what you are working on right now?

NOEL: Yea Yea Yea. I just got finished doing that. I just got finished so I worked on that and so now, you know, the life of an actor. Sometimes we work, then we go back to being unemployed again and then we work and then unemployed. So right now, I am on playtime. Right now I don’t have any jobs lined up. I have some things that are pending but nothing is ever legit until you slap some paperwork to it or whatever so..

ANGELA: Of course.

NOEL: Now I am just kicking it. Chilling. Partying. Being a fool. Smoking Chronic. Drinking. Hanging out with the hunnies, you know.

ANGELA: Of course.

NOEL: Got to, it’s mandatory. It’s right there in the GANGSTER PAMPHLET.

ANGELA: *Laughing* Uh Oh. Who wrote the pamphlet?

NOEL: That’s classified. I can’t tell you. *Laughing*

ANGELA: *Laughing* When can we expect to see that movie in theatres?

NOEL: Probably not for a while because we just got done filming it about a week ago.

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: So it takes them a while to edit it, throw some music in there and put it together, so probably not for a minute. Ummm. Some of the new things that you will be able to catch me in coming up are….. I just did a movie called “Harsh Times” and that was pretty tight. That one was with Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives, Freddy Rodriguez from 6 Feet Under (the hit television show on HBO that he has), Christian Bell (the guy that plays Batman on the new Batman Begins), some pretty powerful names up in there. The guy who is on Everybody Hates Chris (the guy who plays Chris Rocks dad). Terry Cruz (he was in White Chicks - the big buff black guy or whatever). He is not as buff as me but he is getting there.

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: So I just did that movie. That is one you will be able to catch soon, it’s called Harsh Times. The Writer/Director of that is the one that did Training Day so that is how the hook came into play. I think you will be able to see the previews for that some time soon. I just did another one with Billy Bob Thornton and the guy who played Napoleon Dynamite, it’s called “School For Scoundrels”, Directed by Todd Phillips, the guy who did Old School, Starsky and Hutch. He got a little name behind him or whatever. So you know, I am trying to get some things cracking.

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: She’s like damn man, I didn’t even ask a question.

ANGELA AND NOEL: *Laughing*

NOEL: Who’s interviewing who here? Know what I am saying?

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: So Angela, tell me

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

ANGELA: *Laughing* No way.

NOEL: She’s like, ok now I can’t reveal too much. It’s all good. It’s all good.

ANGELA: I am your friend on myspace that is what matters.

NOEL: Oh you got me on there?

ANGELA: Yea.

NOEL: Oh ok. That’s right. That’s right. I put you on my favorites. I put you on my favorites. You are right there on the top 10. Don’t trip.

ANGELA: Cool.

NOEL: I got you. I got you.

ANGELA: What do you do in your off time?

NOEL: This is my first interview, that’s why I am kind of nervous. That’s why I am a little choked up. You know?

ANGELA: No no.

NOEL: *Laughing* Nah. What do I do in my off time?

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: In all honesty I am just a fool. I am just a fool. I don’t really care. I am from the streets, so honestly when I am not filming a movie or interviewing for another movie or whatever.

ANGELA: *Laughing* Or being on Cops.

NOEL: *Laughing* Yea Exactly. You can catch me at the clubs. You can catch me at a house party. You know what I mean. I am everywhere. I am just in it, you know? I just like to party, hang out, and be a fool. Just chill with the homies and kick it, you know?

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: So that’s what’s up. I mean, I am fortunate; I am really blessed for what I have and for what is going on in my life. I am fortunate on the point that, I don’t have to work a 9 to 5 like most people and stuff like that. I do have a lot of free time in all honesty, you know? I thank god for that but the downside to that is you get kind of bored because sometimes you are kicking it at the pad and you want somebody to chill with and you have nobody because all the homies are working. Then you start hating the world. Nobody likes me, nobody loves me *fake cry*

ANGELA: Awwww.

NOEL: *Laughing* Nah I am kidding. So then I am home alone just kicking it and I am like damn man, what’s a homie to do so yea I just keep the networking flowing or whatever, partying, hanging out, whatever, I don’t know.

ANGELA: Nice Nice.

NOEL: That’s in the GANGSTER PAMPHLET too. It all explains it all on page 2.

ANGELA: Damn. Where’s mine. I need that pamphlet. *Laughing*

NOEL: *Laughing* I am gonna get you one. I am gonna get you one. Don’t trip. I am gonna send you one in the mail. You gonna be aite.

ANGELA: What has been your favorite project that you worked on so far?

NOEL: Ummmm. Probably this last one that I just did. That would be the movie “If I Only Was A Genius”, the one that I was just telling you about. I would say probably that one just for the fact that I am so stereotyped, I am so locked into (you can only be a gangster, a thug, whatever, whatever) and this was actually a movie to show, hey check it out I can be something other than a gangster, other than the streets, a little deeper than whatever you see out there. That would honestly probably be my favorite movie that I have ever worked on because other than that and Bruce Almighty because I was able to show, Oh Wow! This guy is funny too; you know what I am saying? Not only can he be the thug or whatever, so that would probably be my favorite project that I did ever, to be real.

ANGELA: Do you watch movies that you are in several times or do you get sick of it after a couple?

NOEL: In all honestly, on some real shit…. I don’t even watch myself, really. I will watch it one time and that’s it. At the screening, the premiere or whatever and then I will leave it alone after that because eventually if I keep watching it over and over again I start judging myself. Like damn, I could have done that better. I should have done that. What’s already done is done and you can’t take it back, can’t bring it back so I prefer not to watch myself, just because. I just let other people judge it, whatever. As long as the check clears at the bank I don’t care about it anymore, we are good.

ANGELA: *Laughing* Ummmm Your voice is featured in Grand Theft Auto’s San Andreas. Do you ever play the game?

NOEL: Nahhh. You know what is funny. Ever since they updated like I get confused. Man, I am still Nintendo know what I mean? I am old school. Nintendo, Super Nintendo, ever since they made the Playstation and X-box and they got like 30 buttons on one control I ain’t trying to mess with it. I am just going to leave that one alone. I am gonna let the little kids play. I am good. I will watch. Shit, I am a spectator when it comes to that. I am still old school. I am still Street Fighter and Pacman. Know what I mean?

ANGELA: Uhhh Ohh, some Frogger.

NOEL: *Laughing* Yea Yea, exactly. So it’s like whatever on that one. I really don’t care. I got my own video game out that’s badass. I don’t know if you checked it out or what but it’s called “187 Ride Or Die” and it’s funny because the whole video game actually is you have to beat me in the game. I am like the last level. I am the guy you are trying to kill throughout the whole game or whatever, that’s why nobody can pass it but that’s a whole other story.

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: I did this video game with Lorenz Tate and Guerilla Black and it’s called “187 Ride Or Die” and what’s funny is I haven’t even played that game. I got the game, brand new, still in the package and haven’t even opened it yet.

ANGELA: What is the craziest experience you have had while making a movie?

NOEL: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Man. Besides making a baby in the trailer?

ANGELA: *Screams*

NOEL: I am kidding. I am kidding. I am kidding.

ANGELA AND NOEL: *Laughing*

NOEL: Nah. I don’t even know ey. There have been a lot of crazy experiences, you know. It’s like, you are on set and it’s just. Wow. I don’t know. That’s really a hard question, to be real with you. I get on set and a lot of crazy shit happens. You have a lot of down time. When they are setting up the cameras, when they are setting up all the shit and they are trying to get this together, that together. We are sitting around for 3 hours like, ok what am I going to do? You are going out of your mind. I don’t know because I am usually the man on set. I am usually the one that they are like, hey Noel, calm down, what’s up man, you are too hyper. I have like ADD and shit. I cannot sit in one place at one time. I am all over the place, you know?

ANGELA: Uh Huh.

NOEL: That’s what’s up. That’s what’s up. Dang you are getting deep huh?

ANGELA: We are just getting started. *Laughing*

NOEL: Damn this is just the beginning. I am about to make a sandwich, some food.

ANGELA AND NOEL: *Laughing*

NOEL: Alright, go ahead. What’s up?

ANGELA: Ok well we were talking about your classification earlier and

NOEL: Hey hey, don’t be talking about me behind my back

ANGELA: *Laughing* you are Italian, Mexican and Puerto Rican but are always portrayed as a Mexican Character in your movies.

NOEL: Yea

ANGELA: How do you feel about that classification?

NOEL: Well you know what, in all honesty I will put it to you like this, it’s like you can’t help what you are, you are just born and you are what you are. It’s just how it goes down and whatever. I mean if I got to choose what I could be I would wish I was white. I would be lucky. Every time I was in court I wouldn’t be busted. *Laughing* Nah I am kidding. Nah I am Mexican at heart, know what I am saying? It’s a trip because my dad is 100% Italian. He is not mixed with anything and my mom is actually Mexican and Puerto Rican. My mom’s mom is Mexican but my mom’s dad is Puerto Rican. So my mom is mixed, she is Mexican and Puerto Rican. So the way I tell people, is like I am 25% Mexican, 25% Puerto Rican and 50% Italian. But the thing of it is I am 100% Mexican at heart because that is all I grew up around.

ANGELA: I got you.

NOEL: So I don’t even really consider myself Puerto Rican and Italian to be real with you because I don’t know anything about those cultures anyway. The only thing that I ever grew up around were, Latinos, Mexicans and that’s it. I knew the Americanized Mexican culture because that’s how I grew up. Know what I am saying?

ANGELA: Right.

NOEL: So even when somebody asks me off the back I don’t even get into detail unless they are like FBI or some shit. They just ask me “What are you?” and I am like “I am Mexican!” That’s what I say all the time.

ANGELA: Ok

NOEL: Because that’s what I feel, you know?

ANGELA: Of course.

NOEL: So I grew up in the hood and all that. Not that it means anything. I am just saying that I have been around Mexican’s my whole life and that’s where it’s at for me. I consider myself Latino South Side or whatever.

ANGELA: *Laughing* Well I have had the honor of reading your bio which is on your website www.noelgonline.com

NOEL: See I haven’t even read it so, it’s all good. What does it say?

ANGELA: It says a lot and I must say that you have had quite an interesting life. Your parents left you to live with one of your friends when you were 13 to go sailing?

NOEL: It’s a weird story you know. Like according to the bio, you have to smash as much as you can into 1 page because you are not going to get into detail on it, you know?

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: But, my life is kind of weird because I started off a little differently you know, like there are a lot of people that say “I started off poor”, and then they started slanging drugs and blah blah blah. Well I didn’t really start off poor to be honest with you but I wasn’t rich either. I started off middle class. The first 13 years of my life I lived in a 3-bedroom house. I had my own bedroom. I had toys. I had clothes in my closet. I had everything a kid would ever want or need. I never thought that I would go from that to what happened, you get what I am saying?

ANGELA: Yes.

NOEL: See my dad though; he just lived a miserable life, straight up. My dad was a fuck the world, hates the world kind of guy. His life was literally like work – television, work – television, work – television. That’s all he ever did, period. He was just so miserable with life, you know? My mom didn’t really work. She had the job of a housewife. So her job was just, you know, have the house cleaned and dinner on the table when he comes home. My dad’s hobby though, on the side, other than that was fishing. He loved fishing. He was a fisherman. So he had a millionaire best friend because I grew up in Orange County. He had a millionaire best friend out of Newport Beach who owned a yacht. One day this guy asked my dad, “Do you want to go sailing around the world on this boat? But if you come with me you can’t bring your kid.” So one day just fucking out of nowhere, my dad came home one day and just out of nowhere, it was the weirdest thing in the world. He came home and was like “I am leaving, I am going to pack all my shit and I am going, and that’s it”. He told my mom “You can stay or you can go with me but either way I am going”. He was just kind of like “I am leaving, and that’s it”. So I don’t blame my mom for shit because my mom, well you know how it is when you are a kid and they are like “Go to your room”. So I am in my room and I hear them arguing and shit, my mom begged him, back and forth. It was the most discomforting, hell week. I was 13 years old. I was confused. I ain’t going to lie, I was a little kid. I was crying and shit. I didn’t know what the fuck to do. I was just whatever, you know? Anyways, jumping to the end of my story. They ended up leaving. I don’t blame my mom though because honestly my mom didn’t have a job at the time because my dad was the breadwinner of the family at the time so she never had to work. In all honesty if my mom would have stayed there would have been 2 homeless people instead of 1. I gave my mom the impression that I had a friend’s house to stay at, that I was living with or whatever so she would leave at least somewhat comforted. I made my mom believe that I had a place to stay but really in all honesty, I didn’t.

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: So my parents sold the house, put everything in storage, gave me $500 dollars at the age of 13 and pretty much said “Good Luck”. So I went from all that to having nothing but the clothes on my back. I lost everything. Fucking, my house, everything was just gone. I had a bag of clothes like in Eighth Mile, I swear to God it was literally like that. I had a bag of fucking clothes and $500 dollars, which I spent in like 2 fucking days because I didn’t know what the hell to do. That is when I started gangbanging. I started slanging drugs. I moved in with my older homeboy. I was living on his couch for a while. He had me slanging drugs for him, you know? Do whatever I had to do to eat and survive at the time. We used to steal cars and drive them over to TJ’s and tell them over there. We did all kinds of crooked shit. Rob houses or whatever. It’s not that I was hardcore. It’s not that I was not the guy to fuck with.

ANGELA: You did it to survive.

NOEL: Yes, I did it to survive. That’s what I did to make money so that I could have a meal in front of me, you know?

ANGELA: Of course.

NOEL: Then I met this girl. It was kind of funny because I met this girl at the age of 15. There was even times where I didn’t have a place to stay. There were times where I didn’t have a place to crash at, like I would literally sleep in a laundry mat, fucking donut store, sometimes I wouldn’t even go there, I would just walk around all night. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I met this girl one time at the age of 15 years old and she asked me one day “What’s up? Where do you live? Why have I never been to your house? Why do you always wear the same clothes?” She was my girlfriend at the time, and one day I just broke down and I started crying to her and I told her straight out. Her dad came out onto the porch and he ended up being a Christian Pastor for a Church.

ANGELA: Oh wow.

NOEL: He took me in as a family member. So, whatever happened I was living in this house and I was literally like this girl’s pet because I was homeless for like 2 years, doing the couch tour. Homeless meaning, there were places that I had to go sometimes but that ran out. You stay at a friend’s house for 3 weeks and then it’s like “Get the fuck out”. So I did the couch tour for a while or whatever and then there were times where I ran out of friends, like “Oh shit I ran out of friends, I have nowhere to go, I am under a tree with shade”. So what happened was I was living with this girl and I was just so happy and so excited to have a roof back over my head that I literally did whatever this girl said. Like, if she would have went to the bathroom and said, “Wipe for me” I would have been right there wiping for her. I always thought if I got her mad I would be kicked out of the house again. So I literally did, I kissed ass because I loved having a place to stay. I loved having a roof over my head. I felt like I was part of a family again. So I literally did whatever the fuck she wanted me to do. Now, SHE was the one with the dreams of being an actress and a model and the whole deal.

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: I didn’t give a fuck about that shit. I never ever thought some shit like this would ever happen to me. One day she asked me to go to an acting class with her. So I never thought about acting a day in my life. I never thought that I would be doing the shit that I am doing today. So I went with her to this acting class and would you believe I was just at the right place at the right time. I just got lucky. I don’t know how it happened. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know.

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: I was in this acting class and I am sitting there I am just this ‘Don’t Give A Fuck’ type kid and they are doing shit in this acting class like close your eyes and picture you in a jungle or reach for the stars and grab a candy bar and I am sitting there like “What?” I am talking shit to the acting teacher because he is having us do all these relaxation exercises. So, he tries to put me on the spot. He said “Hey you have a lot to say during the class, why don’t you try to get up on stage and do what these other kids are doing? And, blah blah blah”. So I was like, “Fuck it”, because I had that attitude, so I got on stage and started acting a fool. I started saying stupid stuff and made the whole class laugh. Well there was a producer who was sitting in class that was scouting out talent.

ANGELA: Wow

NOEL: So this guy comes up to me after class and says “Hey you are funny and I want to put you in a Taco Bell commercial”. I said “Oh cause I am Mexican”. Nah I am kidding. So the first thing I ever did in my life was this Taco Bell commercial for Super Fish Tacos at the age of 15 years old. Now a lot of people don’t know this but the way that they pay you for a commercial is every time the commercial is shown you get paid again. Know what I am saying?

ANGELA: Of course.

NOEL: So, I didn’t know that shit at the time. I thought it was like a regular 9 to 5. I thought you worked 1 week and got paid and then you had to work again to get paid. I didn’t know you make money like this in fucking Hollywood. I was like “God damn, that’s how you get paid?” So, I did this Taco Bell commercial and I kept on getting all these checks.

ANGELA: *Laughing*

NOEL: I thought it was like a computer fuck up. I didn’t know what the hell was going on so I kept cashing all these checks. Every time I went to go cash a check at the bank I honestly thought that I was breaking the law.

ANGELA: Awwww.

NOEL: I even had my story. “Shit they kept on paying me, I didn’t know”. One day I called up the producer and I said “Hey, ummm I keep getting all these checks for this Taco Bell commercial. What’s going on? Why do I keep on getting paid?” He explained it to me; he goes “That’s how actor’s get paid, every time they show the commercial”. I go “What????” So I start seeing my commercial like 10-15 times a day for like a year straight. I worked one day of my life and I was getting paid for a year. How ridiculous is that, know what I am saying?

ANGELA: Mmm hmm.

NOEL: So I was getting paid all this money and stuff and I was still just a little kid at the age of 16, you know. A little baller on a budget, brand new car, got rims, let’s go here, let’s go there, don’t worry about it, I am paying. I did not care. I was just straight parlaying it. I was making that money on top of my crime money so I was straight. Know what I am saying?

ANGELA: Uh huh.

NOEL: So then after that he hooked me up with an agent and so for the first 4 years of my career what I did actually was funny. You know like when you get hired for like Burger King or Taco Bell or like Carl’s Jr or something and you have to watch like an orientation video?

ANGELA: Yea.

NOEL: Like, this is how you wrap a hamburger. This is how you use the cash register. That’s the stuff I did for the first 4 years of my career. Like if you were to go get hired in Burger King or like Target or a job like that, you know? I worked at Kmart before the acting started going so strongly. I was working at Kmart for 2 years and stuff. So what I am saying is when you get hired for a regular job they have like orientation videos, you know? Cheesy ass videos that you go in and watch, like this is the proper procedure for dealing with someone stealing from the store, this is the proper way to use the cash register, this is the improper way to use the cash register.

ANGELA: So you made those? Or they made you watch those for acting?

NOEL: Yes, I made those videos. I was the actor in those videos.

ANGELA: Oh ok.

NOEL: You get what I am saying so I did all that cheesy shit for a while, you know? It was funny though because every time they put me on the fucking video I was the guy who showed you the incorrect way to do it, then they would show the white boy doing it the right way, you know?

ANGELA: Oh no.

NOEL: It was funny, so like I got jobs where I was stealing like Cd’s in the store and they would say ok so if you see a criminal stealing in the store get him like that, you know? Like that was me, I was the one pretending to steal Cd’s or equipment from the store and then I would get caught and they would show the proper procedures about calling security and what to do if some shit like that goes down. It was funny so he started hooking me up with jobs, now I am at the end of my story and I am done. What happened was my agent called me up and she said “You know what everybody thinks that you are funny and they like you, you are getting all these acting jobs”, like all those cheesy videos for the first 4 years of my career and she said “I know a manager in LA. I think you should go to LA and I think you should meet some people out there and I think that you should try to pursue this as a career”. I was like “Ok, cool”. So I went to LA and I met this manager and before you know it, that’s how I started doing television and movies and stuff like that.

ANGELA: So whatever happened to the girl that you were staying with? Did she end up ever making it?

NOEL: Yea yea. She has my kid. *Laughs*

ANGELA: Oh ok but she didn’t ever end up being an actress?

NOEL: Nah nah nah nah nah. She ended up just doing her own thing.

ANGELA: Oh ok.

NOEL: Yea it was just a relationship that got bad, didn’t work out. Not so much because of her, it was actually more me. I wasn’t ready to settle down and once I got into the position of making money and I was good again, on my feet I kind of had that feeling where ok now I am cool and don’t need anyone anymore. That’s where I backfired on my part and because I was into the party scene so much the relationship got ruined.

ANGELA: Ok

NOEL: So you know I do have my beautiful daughter out of it.

ANGELA: Awww.

NOEL: We are still friends. We keep it as grown up as possible between each other.

ANGELA: Did your parents ever come back?

NOEL: My mom did, my dad didn’t.

ANGELA: Oh ok. Do you have any advice for up and coming actors?

NOEL: Yea man I say just keep at it. Honestly I tell everyone straight out, one big part of it “Up and coming actors if you can not take rejection then this isn’t a business for you to be messing with”. A lot of people don’t understand that the rejection might not even be because of you. It might be because you were too short, too fat, or too skinny, you didn’t look the part. You could be the best actor in the world but if you don’t look the part they are not going to give it to you. So I always tell young and up and coming actors “If you can not handle rejection so well, this is not a game for you to get involved with because they reject people without blinking an eye. They just do not care.” What people have to understand is there is 500 other people in line waiting to do the same job you are. They even have a saying in this business because they want people to quit because there are so many people trying to be actresses and actors and rappers and singers and comedians and all this other shit that they want people to quit. There is so much competition out there. They are overfilled with it and it’s ridiculous. They want to stop being bothered. Like in Jerry McGuire they said, “The key to this business is personal relationships”. Sometimes you could be the best singer or actor in the world but if your daddy ain’t the fucking president at Paramount you ain’t getting the part, you know? It’s like they want people to quit. I would say, “Don’t let none of that discourage you though, I would say keep at it, keep strong, let rejection make you a stronger person”.

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY INTERVIEW WITH NOEL G. I hope that you all have gained a deeper understanding for who he is and SHAME ON YOU if you ever forget his name!!!

~Angela