Back To One with Ivonne Coll

Remember the kiss in Godfather Part II where Michael tells Fredo, “I know it was you.”? Ivonne Coll recalls it as the moment she was inspired to become an actor.

“Four o’ clock in the morning ... Al came out of his trailer, Coppola giving him notes. Then action, music, and Al turned red as he walked toward John Cazale. He became flushed. Then the kiss, and I [think] 'What the hell just happened?' I had the script, but I hadn’t read it — I only knew my part, right? I was very young and had never done anything. It was amazing. He did it in three takes!”

Wait. So, you’re on the set of a major motion picture before deciding to become an actor? Is that how they do it in Puerto Rico? Never been in a movie, yet there was Ivonne, playing a role which Frances Ford Coppola wrote for her.

Coll is a director, teacher and award-winning stage and screen actor who calls herself a Latina “of a certain age.” “All I ever wanted was to be a working actor. If you are a character actor, you can work forever.“

It wasn’t as though Miss Puerto Rico had no experience. Hosting her own TV variety show, she heard through the production grapevine of this American movie director scouting locations on the island, and ended up club-hopping with Coppola and Fred Roos. Then, saying goodnight, she told them to check out her show. Three months later, the news. “He told me to bring my own wardrobe, so there I was in my red dress watching Pacino’s famous kiss.” Take-home: Never underestimate the power of your network, and say yes when opportunity knocks!

Instinct and Craft

A secondary benefit to Ivonne’s story: Lee Strassberg was on Coppola’s set and later became her teacher. “Strassberg always said to trust your instinct,” she said. Instinct led her to audition for her first Broadway role, even against friends’ advice. “Learning to trust your instinct in life serves your character work. Working in the theater gave me time to explore. Strassberg would say, ‘Don’t just drink the water, experience the water.’ Learning to create something real from an empty cup, that is the craft. It takes time. It takes work. People would become emotional and scream at him and he would just say, ‘This is not the place for that. Do your work’.”

Coll’s triple minority demographic (age, gender and ethnicity), coupled with her ability to gracefully cross formats from film to TV to theater, gives her a unique position in the expanding U.S. Spanish language market. When she was called to audition for the “energetic grandma” in the Spanish version of a national brand commercial, the client asked on the spot if she could age up 20 years. She followed her instinct, kicked off her high heels, pulled out a character from her theater repertoire and booked it. That’s some serious craft right there. Strassberg would be proud. Likewise, she easily glides into dark territory in her recurring role as a werewolf hunter gang leader in MTV’s Teen Wolf and a corrupt governor in The Portrait’s Secret (Planet Films). Energetic grandma, right!

The Business

Of her young television co-stars on Glee (Fox) and Switched at Birth (ABC Family), Coll says that staying grounded in this business is no accident. “Like my girls on Switched, it’s being mindful of who surrounds them, not a little chorus of ‘you’re so fabulous,’ etc. That can make you dizzy! I believe in strong mentoring.” She advises young actors to join SAG-AFTRA as soon as they see the opportunity. “They need to ensure their futures, and parents need to be educated too. I just shot Endgame (Avila Entertainment) in Texas with Rico Rodriguez (NBC’s Modern Family) and we will stay in touch. Rico’s family was right there on set during Endgame. They’re investing his earnings so he’ll have something real.”

In the interest of preparing young people, Coll offers coaching. “Kevin Hernandez has studied with me for years. Now, at age 15, he just landed his first series. He’s serious. He’s been a union member since he was a kid.”

So, from her vast experience, what is her basic advice to actors? “Never, never give up. Acting is a vocation. Meisner said it takes 20 years to become a good actor.”

Special thanks to Ivonne Coll for serving on the SAG-AFTRA National Spanish Language Media Committee.

This item was originally featured in the July 2014 local newsletter.