When he says something like “Criminals are the vomit of society, and we’re the sawdust,” you can’t help but love Carlos Alazraqui’s politically incorrect character Officer James Garcia from Comedy Central’s Reno 911. “It’s shamefully wrong,” he jokes about his show. As for his wacky character, Officer Garcia, Alazraqui explains: “He’s angry and lonely, but I don’t think he knows it.” Sounds about right.
To create such a believable dysfunctional character, Alazraqui says he observes “guys with … false bravado” for inspiration. He has to since, in real life, Alazraqui seems to be as humble and unpretentious as they come.
Alazraqui became an actor “by attrition,” he explains. “I knew I could never have a real job, and that I could not be a professional athlete, so I just started mimicking people when I was young, just to fit in and be funny.” His need to fit in led him to a career in stand-up comedy, which eventually led him to “on camera acting.”
The Argentinean actor has starred in his own half hour stand up comedy special on Comedy Central, and still performs stand up comedy. In terms of his film work, he has recently completed shooting on a horror film with Lou Diamond Philips currently titled Dark Portal and is starring in Reno 911 the movie.
Alazraqui is also an established voiceover artist, giving life to Mr. Crocker on Nickelodeon’s Fairly Odd Parents, Rocko on Rocko’s Modern Life, and Lube and Winslow in Cat/Dog. In fact, Alazraqui also stars in two new cartoons for the Cartoon Network – as Munroe, the Scottish Pug dog on Juniper Lee and as Lazlo on the Cartoon Network’s number one series called Camp Lazlo. “I do a bunch of cartoon voices, in different dialects in stuff,” he says of his voice over work. Then he adds: “I may be one of the few experienced voice over people to happen to have a Hispanic surname, and can do a Spanish accent. And I can speak in Spanish if I need to. That’s a real added bonus.”
But he says he wasn’t known as a Latino voice over guy until he played “the Chihuahua.” Yes, he’s referring to the most famous talking Chihuahua in pop culture: the “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” dog. “I’m an icon,” he laughs.
He's also a real life top dog. He lives in the San Fernando Valley with two dogs he rescued and adopted: Max Bear Jr. (a former stray) and Jacky O (an abandoned rescue). When asked who he prefers playing, the Taco Bell pup or shameful Officer Garcia, Alazraqui is quick to answer: “It’s more fun playing a cop, because. I’m not hiding behind a four-legged animal. People get to see who I am … and Chihuahuas can’t hold night sticks.”
Officer Garcia would be proud.
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Entertainment news
Click here to visit Officer Garica's MySpace page, and for more information on Reno 911:Miami, the movie!
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Bonus Profile
Click here for a CATALINA profile of Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.
