How does a Latino in the role of Othello change the play?
Mr. Oritz: It takes the focus off the black and white [extremes]. I’m still of color, I definitely know what it feels to be the victim of racism, so I have that experience of some of the race issues with Othello being black. I think this focus really forces us—and hopefully the audience—to see more humanity, to see that issues of race and power and class are really complex. You mentioned seeing Raul Julia portray Othello in the early 1990s. What did you think when you saw a Latino actor in that role? I just thought, this is great. This is like, more power to Raul and to us, and we should be playing all kinds of roles and playing roles of importance and stature. So on a pride level, I was completely psyched. What’s it like to play opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman? It’s extremely intense, it’s intimate between us, we know each other really well, so when it comes to acting with each other, it’s challenging because we’re not easy on each other. A lot of times you work with people who will t
