Enrique Castillo
Actor | Director | Producer | Author
Enrique Castillo
Enrique Castillo was nominated for a SAG Award for his stand out role in Showtime's wicked series Weeds where he plays the lethal Cesar.
Enrique is most recognized for his film role of Montana in Taylor Hackford Blood In Blood Out where he played the inspirational (albeit terrifying) leader of the Mexican prison gang. When the film was released, The New York Times singled out Mr. Castillos’s performance in their review. “Mr. Chapa, Mr. Bratt and Mr. Borrego are excellent, as are the members of the large supporting cast, notably Enrique Castillo, who appears as the leader of San Quentin's Chicanos.” In Japan a film critic said of his performance of Montana “He plays the role with the wisdom of Torquemada and strength of a Sandinista warrior”
An accomplished actor/writer/director, Enrique began his career with Luis Valdez’s Teatro Campesino in 1969. As part of the Teatro, Enrique participated in workshops with English theater director Peter Brook’s theater group which included now Academy Award winner Helen Mirren. In the early 70’s Enrique traveled with the Teatro to Paris when they represented the U.S. at the World Theater Festival.
In 1978 Enrique made the move to Hollywood and was cast in the hit play Zoot Suit, also created and directed by Luis Valdez, where he played the lead role of Henry Reyna opposite Edward James Olmos. Since then he has appeared in over 50 television shows and feature films, working with such notable film directors as Tony Scott, (Déjà Vu) Taylor Hackford, (Blood In-Blood Out) Stephen Frears (The Hi-Lo Country) Wim Wenders (The End of Violence) Gregory Nava (My Family and El Norte) Oliver Stone (Nixon) and Tim Burton (Mars Attacks).
Mr. Castillo was one of the founding member of The Latino Theater Company in the mid 80’s, where he starred in a variety of the company’s productions and was also was a writer on two of the company’s plays, Stone Wedding and the multi-award-winning play August 29.
In the mid 90’s Enrique adapted and directed the award-winning play The Last Angry Brown Hat, written by Alfredo Ramos which toured to rave reviews for over four years. He then wrote and directed Veteranos: A Legacy of Valor, a theater piece honoring the military contributions by Latinos in America’s defense which had two national tours to standing ovations and much critical acclaim. Veteranos was awarded a special recognition by the Hispanic Congressional Caucus at and received the prestigious Imagen Award for Best Live Theatrical Production in Los Angeles, CA.
Discover His Projects
"[Castillo is] not just a writer, but a very good writer:
A writer who can handle heavy material with huge
landscapes and involving characters. And plot.
The maestro can plot."
-Luis Alberto Urrea
Best Selling Author : Into the Beautiful's North, Devil's Highway
״Embracing Vulnerability:
The Path to True Strength״
It was in the dead of summer, the hottest on record when it came to “Comal del Diablo” The Devil’s Griddle, a two building remote desert hamlet near the California/Mexico border in the Imperial Valley. It was also the summer that brought the most violent sandstorm in the previous one hundred years. It was the summer when Jack cast the final link in the chain of events that turned into an incantation and evoked the deadly wrath of the centuries old legend that pursued him to Comal del Diablo, and exacted its revenge. Daylight eventually grasped the meaning of the signs and visions she was having that pointed to who the unearthly killer was and how it connected to Jack and she tried to convince Gabe. Only fate would tell if it would be too late.
In the Press
The story of La Llorona (“The Weeping Woman”) is an old traditional spooky story that has been passed down to Chicano / Latino children for generations and is equivalent to the boogey man. Castillo’s new book creates a unique version or parallel of this folktale that one might hope for.
Mr. Hackford has cast the film well. Though they must play at a fever pitch most of the time, Mr. Chapa, Mr. Bratt and Mr. Borrego are excellent, as are the members of the large supporting cast, notably Enrique Castillo, who appears as the leader of San Quentin's Chicanos
See the Documentary Taking Film Festivals by Storm
The story behind the film, The Ugly Little Monkeys, is five decades in the making.
It’s the true story of Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson, a group of kids who grew up in the 1960s, in the working class barrios of Tucson, Arizona
Catapulted into the international spotlight as world class musicians.
