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Before creating his own Comedy Central sketch series, Arturo Castro could be seen in various roles across “Broad City,” “Narcos,” and “Silicon Valley.” But “Alternatino With Arturo Castro,” a variety show based on his many experiences as a Latino millennial living in America, is the first time he’s brought all his impressive talents to the fore. Castro (next seen in “The Broken Hearts Gallery”) jumped on Instagram Live with Backstage as he quarantined from Los Angeles to chat about the series, his humble beginnings, and his advice for other creators to get started.
“Alternatino” started as a web series before its Comedy Central pickup.
“ ‘Broad City’ was the first [time] I was able to play on TV where I felt like a three-dimensional person. My first character on TV before that…I played this character called Dishwasher Juan on ‘The Good Wife,’ and I’m like, How many Juans were there in the episode that you have to be ‘dishwasher’? Is there Firefighter Juan? Just call me one or the other. Besides ‘Broad City,’ the picture of Latinos that I saw on television, I just didn’t really identify with because I suck at dancing, I don’t like spicy food because it hurts my very sensitive tongue. And so I just had this idea to write down something that would make me laugh and maybe put a message across. It started in my basement in Brooklyn with my buddy Brendan. It was a slow process, but I just loved producing. Even at the beginning, getting people together that you admire to go make something funny all day is [the] closest thing to magic that I can come up with.”
Castro used Backstage to book jobs!
“Backstage was my center for jobs for many years. I don’t know if right now there’s a direct-submit thing, but before, you just get an email and I’d write these submission emails. They were so heartfelt. It was such a cool process.”
How to Create Your Own Content His No. 1 piece of advice for other creators? “Get to know yourself.”
“What is your voice? What is your perspective? Because there are so many people trying to do what you do, the only way you’re gonna stand out is by being completely yourself. If you are going into every room wondering what they want from you, then you’re gonna fail every time because you’re not gonna be bringing your fresh perspective. So really get to know yourself, lose that fear of creation. The fear of creation is the same fear of standup, that you’ll fail or that it will look ridiculous. Everybody wants you to succeed. Nobody’s out there trying to make you fail. If you just have that perspective shift, it’s such a freeing concept. If you are not a writer yourself, get somebody who can write, and come up with the concepts together. Just do the thing. I’m telling you, if I started doing that many years ago I would be Wilmer Valderrama by now.”
Want to hear more from Castro? Watch our full Backstage Live interview below, and follow us on Instagram: @backstagecast.
This story originally appeared in the July 9 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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