Rubén Carbajal, on Broadway and with his sights on Hollywood

Rubén Carbajal felt like a fish in water as an actor. Since he was little he got work in commercials and parts in television series; But when he started high school, his mother told him that he could no longer audition, that the school had priority.

Rubén paid attention and put acting aside, but not for long . While he was in high school he participated in plays, reaffirming that his was this art. So when she had to decide what to study in college, she chose – at the suggestion of her teachers – to enroll in a career in acting and drama. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a major in musical theater.

“That foundation of stage performance It’s what has made me successful in this career, ”said Rubén, who was born and raised in Los Angeles and now plays the roles of John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton in the hit musical Hamilton, which is currently playing at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. . “Many actors who are in Hollywood do not have that, and I, since I like movies, I have both options [de poder actuar en musicales y en filmes]”.

In fact, it is not common for a person raised in Los Angeles to have an interest in Broadway, as is the case with Rubén; the most common target is Hollywood. But in Rubén’s case, various circumstances led him to musical theater.

“My mother put me in the church choir and in folk ballet classes from the age of 3 years, ”he said. “I’ve danced and sung my whole life.”

So when they auditioned in Los Angeles for Hamilton, Rubén was there. Then he traveled to New York for another round of auditions until he got the role in this company that has traveled to several cities in the country and to Puerto Rico, where Lin-Manuel Miranda, author of the play – and whose parents are originally from that Island–, offered functions to raise funds for those affected by Hurricane María.

When his contract with Hamilton ends, Rubén wants to continue looking for roles in Hollywood, where he has already worked in several television projects, including Kingpin and Zoey. Her mother, originally from Tecolotlán, a town in Jalisco, Mexico, is no longer a problem.

“She thought that acting was not a safe career,” said the artist from 28 years. “But once we talked and I said to her, ‘Mom, you know that I respect you a lot, and if you respect me, I promise you that I am going to make you feel like it and I am not going to let you down.’”

To date, he said, he has kept his word.

In detail

What: Hamilton

Where: Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles