Savages Movie Sandra Echeverria is Latest Latina to Reach the Hollywood Spotlight : World : Latinos Post

By David Salazar | First Posted: Jul 05, 2012 08:03 AM EDT

Mexican actress and cast member Sandra Echeverria arrives at the premiere of the film "Savages" in Los Angeles June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Sandra Echeverria is excited for her new film "Savages" directed by Oliver Stone. Until last year, Sandra Echeverría's young career was as an honorable one as she had the opportunity working on the award winning Mexican TV soap opera "La Fuerza del Destino." With this soap opera she won an award for Best actress on the prestigious "Premios Telenovela."

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A year later, Oliver Stone cast her in his latest film, "Savages." With the new role the 27-year-old's career has turned around as she is now on the Hollywood radar. According Echeverria who spoke to the Daily News, "it's all happened so fast." She stated that "One day, my agent told me that Oliver saw my material and wanted to meet me in person. When I showed up, the first thing he said was, 'I thought you were taller.' That made me nervous, but then he started talking to me about my filming schedule and that's when I realized that I had the role."

She added that the minute she got the role she was "so excited I called my mom and dad and couldn't stop screaming of joy."

Ecehverria added that the preparation for the role of Magda were not that difficult as she was used to crying on set, thanks to all her experience on Soap Operas. She stated, "I'm used to shooting 32 scenes a day and I could be crying in almost 20 of those scenes. We have to cry in an instant. So when I started filming 'Savages' and I just had to cry in two or three scenes a day, it was easy."

Sandra Ecehverria was born in Mexico City where she attended a bilingual school and learned to speak English. However despite her fluency, beauty and Mexican fame her acting career never took off north of the border. According to the actress the lack of success occurred because "at the time they wanted actors with a perfect American accent...But I didn't have that. And I was being told, 'We love your acting, but we need you to talk like Eva Longoria.'"

Thanks to actresses Sofia Vergara, who speaks with a distinct Colombian accent on her hit show Sofia Vergara, as well co-star Salma Hayek, and Penelope Cruz times have changed. Echeverria stated that "Salma and Sofia and Penélope Cruz have changed everything. They opened those doors for us. We now have more opportunities. I guess people are starting to realize how important the Latin market is."

Ecehverria also added that her Mexican co-stars Demian Bichir and Salma Hayek were inspirational to her. She stated of her former boyfriend Demian Bichir that "I saw Demián struggle to get to where he is right now... He never got frustrated and he worked so hard to achieve his dreams. Of Salma she added that "Salma, too, was also very inspirational. One day she said, 'You don't have to be afraid of dreaming big ... And here I am working with all these actors. It's like going to Disney World!"

"Savages" tell the story of two hotshot California marijuana growers (Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson), who face off against the Mexican Baja cartel. She plays Magda, a powerful drug kingpin's (Salma Hayek) daughter held for ransom by the SoCal guys after their ladyfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped first. The film opens nationwide Friday July 6^th.