HispanicBusiness

For more than three decades, classically-trained actor Tony Plana has portrayed characters who couldn't be further from his real self and has successfully built a career along the way in an industry where only a handful of Hispanics have thrived.

Today, the 54-year-old actor appears as Ignacio Suarez on the hit ABC show,Ugly Betty. It's a role Mr. Plana says is like "coming full circle."

"My wife says that this character, of all the characters I've played in over 30 years of making films and television shows, is the closest to who I really am," Mr. Plana says.

Despite a system that does little to promote Hispanics, Mr. Plana has carved a successful career as a film, television and stage actor. Considered one of the pioneering Hispanic actors – alongside Edward James Olmos, Cheech Marin and Hector Elizondo – Mr. Plana has helped pave the way for other Hispanic artists, especially through his 15-year-old East L.A. Classic Theatre.

Still, his ascent has often been frustrating.

"I remember looking at myself in the mirror practicing my lines. I was playing a gang member and I was wearing this hair net and had a tattoo on my face," Mr. Plana says. "I remember thinking, 'I'm so sick of practicing with an accent.'"

He attributes his success to several things: "God-given talent, getting the education I felt I needed to fulfill that talent and then continuing with a high level of work ethic and commitment to getting better and better and better."


In his latest endeavor, Mr. Plana plays the father of the show's star, Betty Suarez, played by America Ferrera. Like his character Ignacio Suarez, Mr. Plana has two children. Both men are foreign-born, but with one notable difference – Betty's father is an undocumented immigrant and on the verge of being deported.

"When they introduced this whole idea of immigration I thought, 'Are these guys crazy? This is the most controversial issue in our country right now outside of the Iraq war,'" Mr. Plana says. "I didn't expect to play an immigrant. I was a Latino dad in Queens who has two daughters and a grandson."

In the end, he says, the story line turned out "pretty well." The show's fans and critics also thought so.

Ugly Betty, adapted from a Colombian telenovela, "Yo Soy Betty, La Fea," has received numerous accolades, including two Golden Globes, and is drawing more than 14 million viewers, with ratings that generally fall within the top 25 shows. Outside the U.S., the show has been broadcast in 40 countries. It has been very popular in Australia and a smash hit in the United Kingdom.

Playing an immigrant, Mr. Plana says, is a role he is "eminently qualified to play. I'm very close to that experience."

Born in Cuba, Mr. Plana and his family moved to Miami when he was 8. Two years later, the Planas moved to Culver City, Calif. Mr. Plana attended Loyola Marymount University. His initial plan was to become a lawyer, but acting stole his heart and would become his life-long "passion and focus."

"I was fascinated by law and the practice of law, but then I realized I didn't want to be a lawyer. I wanted to play one," Mr. Plana says.

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he studied Shakespeare and other classics.