Marco Sanchez Online Chat

OnlineHost: Your host tonight is CSEmcee1 (Lou MD).

OnlineHost: Ahead of its time for the 1960's "Star Trek" assembled a truly international crew, brogue-heavy Scotty, Riley and Checkov. Thirty years later, Steven Spielberg brought television NBC's "SeaQuest DSV" with Marco Sanchez as Cuban sensor chief Miguel Ortiz.

OnlineHost: The son of Cuban immigrant parents, Sanchez earned his first acting work in "Knots Landing" and he co-starred on "In the Heat of the Night" and "Flying Blind." Sanchez provides the guest voices for two animated series "Captain Planet" and "Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" and has acted in numerous stage productions in Los Angeles. Please welcome Marco Sanchez!

CSEmcee1: Good evening, Mr. Sanchez! We will be taking questions now!

Question: Do you have a girlfriend?

MarcoSanchez: I am dating my best friend for the past 4 years.

Question: How much are you like Miguel Ortiz, and in what ways?

MarcoSanchez: I am very much like him I guess. We are both college educated and of Cuban decent. We are both Cuban. His sense of humor is pretty much the way I joke around. It has to do with our educational background. His job would require an expertise in math. That's where we differ. I graduated in TV [UCLA].

Question: Have you signed to return to "SeaQuest DSV" for a third season?

MarcoSanchez: As far as I know, yeah. There was an unofficial phone call and that's the way it was last season.

Question: Do you plan on doing a movie?

MarcoSanchez: I have every intention of working in film. However SeaQuest demands almost all of my time. I hope to make that transition once "SeaQuest DSV" has run its course.

Question: Have you ever done any stage work?

MarcoSanchez: Quite a bit. I am a co-founder of a theater company in Los Angeles called Buffalo Nights. My training has all been theater and I have been in a couple of shows here in LA.

Question: Do you have a fan club?

MarcoSLive: No, although I do receive fan mail through the studio [Universal].

Question: Hi Marco. I read in a profile that you paint? What's your medium?

MarcoSanchez: I work with colored pencils and pastels. Actually I don't paint at all! I can be more precise with pencils than with a brush. My art tends to be real and morbid!

Question: What recent movies have you starred in?

MarcoSanchez: As of yet, no feature films. "SeaQuest DSV" has been my life for the past 2 1/2 years.

Question: What is it like to work with the cast of "SeaQuest DSV?"

MarcoSanchez: A lot of fun. We all get along great. We've all become friends and look forward to working together again next season.

Question: Hi Marco! I love the show. But this season some of the stories were a little weak. How did the cast like the writing this season? Also, who will be on next season to the best of your knowledge? Thanks!

MarcoSanchez: As far as I know, the identical cast will be on next season with the exception of Roy Scheider. His replacement is undetermined though he will do a few episodes. As for storylines, some of them were a little far out. They're indicative of what "SeaQuest DSV" is all along - an ongoing experiment! Next season promises to be a marriage of the first and second season - fiction and science fact.

Question: How do you feel about the episodes this season?

MarcoSanchez: Some were hits and some were misses!

Question: Which set did you enjoy working on more, the first or second?

MarcoSanchez: They're almost identical. My preference is for exteriors or locations. The bridge is a very confined space with a lot of people and tensions can run hot over a 12 hour day.

Question: What do you like to do in your spare time?

MarcoSanchez: Aside from drawing, I like to spend time with friends. I don't enjoy going to clubs and/or dancing. I enjoy playing pool and hanging out.

Question: What gives you greater satisfaction: live performances on stage or doing film/TV work?

MarcoSanchez: Live on stage, although it's risky. When you put on a play, you spend weeks in the rehearsal process and don't know if it will pay off, but when it does it's most satisfying.

Question: Do you see yourself as a role model for other Hispanic youths?

MarcoSanchez: Yeah, I guess so. Ortiz is the first Hispanic character in Sci-Fi TV and it's nice that he doesn't have to affect some cheesy accent, that he's educated and liked. BUT I am a little leery of being called a role model because my desire is to be a professional actor, not a professional spokesman. In order to grow in one's life, profession or art, one must be allowed to fail from time to time and that freedom doesn't exist if you're considered a role model.

Question: Has everyone moved back home or are you all still in Florida?

MarcoSanchez: We're all back in Los Angeles until July.

Question: Do you get along with the other cast members? Are they kind of your best friends in a way?

MarcoSanchez: Yes, I consider them all very close friends. It's common for the cast of a TV show to say "Just like a big family," which is quite true of this one. There are no petty tensions between us. We all click very well.

Question: Because of your ethnic background are you worried of being stereotyped (playing only Hispanic characters?)

MarcoSanchez: It's always a concern; however, things are getting better in the industry. There's a growing awareness of the Hispanic community in the US. The character of Ortiz is an example of a new trend in TV for Hispanics.

Question: Marco, will "SeaQuest DSV" ever return to earth?

MarcoSanchez: Earth? Tune in next season!

Question: Some people think the show is moving to the strange side with aliens and the like. How do you feel about the show's progression?

MarcoSanchez: As i said earlier, "SeaQuest DSV" is an ongoing experiment, and I think that the third season will come a little closer to reality without losing its action-adventure appeal.

Question: Who do you hang out with from the cast?

MarcoSanchez: Ted Raimi, Peter and Michael DeLuise... actually, everybody! I speak to Ted a lot - in fact, we are hanging out later tonight, and Don Franklin and I traveled around Spain for a week during this hiatus.

Question: Marco, are you married or dating, because I am in love with you!

MarcoSanchez: Not married, I am dating; however, I am very happy that you are in love with me.

Question: Earlier this year did you and the cast sign an autographed picture for a girl through The Wish Foundation?

MarcoSanchez: Quite possibly, we've signed quite a few. It's difficult to keep track. We are certainly big supporters of The Wish Foundation.

Question: How old were you when you realized you wanted to act?

MarcoSanchez: I have been a student of acting since Jr. High. I was in theater throughout high school, but it wasn't until college that I decided to do it as a profession.

Question: How do you feel about having your likeness on an action figure? Do you feel they "captured your essence," and did you have any input into it?

MarcoSanchez: I had no input into it. The figures are based on photos taken of us. As to how I feel... it's great! The idea of children playing with a doll that is of me is pretty cool.

Question: I always imagined you as a cute kid with the girls kissing the ground you walk on. Is that true?

MarcoSanchez: Actually, as a teenager I was a chubby kid. I wasn't big man on campus. I was shocked when I got to UCLA to meet women who found me attractive. I still saw myself as the chubby kid. Though I no longer think of myself as a "dork"[!], women certainly don't kiss the ground that I walk on!

Question: I understand that "SeaQuest DSV" has become more sci-fi than last season. Do you feel this has affected the popularity of the show?

MarcoSanchez: I think it's improved the popularity of the show. If we've put off some of our original following, the third season will be the best one yet... for sci-fi fans of all kinds.

Question: I love Darwin and was hoping you'd give him a kiss on the nose for me.

MarcoSanchez: I'll certainly try, although he bit me the last time I tried to!

Question: Do you spend any time at all actually in a submarine?

MarcoSanchez: At the beginning of the first season, I took a tour of a nuclear sub and learned quite a bit about the realities of living and working on a sub. However, "SeaQuest DSV" is shot in soundstages. A submarine is too confined a space to fit the equipment and crew that the show requires.

Question: What's your favorite sport to play?

MarcoSanchez: To play, I would have to say volleyball; to watch, basketball.

CSEmcee1: Mr. Sanchez, thanks for being our guest in the Bowl tonight. This was an exciting conference.

MarcoSanchez: It's been a pleasure!

MarcoSanchez: Next season is going to be great, so be sure to watch. I look forward to doing this again! Good night.

OnlineHost: Our thanks to Marco Sanchez for appearing in the Oldsmobile Celebrity Circle to discuss his career on "Star Trek" and, currently, on "SeaQuest DSV." Be sure to stop back tomorrow at the same time when another celebrity will take the spotlight. Thank you, and good night!

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