In 1980, he founded Olmos Productions and has produced a number of feature films and documentaries. Olmos was asked to produce the crime drama “Water & Power,” which premiered in May at CineLatino Film Festival. He’s been happy to do it but, surprisingly, he said, “We don’t need a Hispanic Heritage Month, and we need to eliminate Latino film festivals.”

When I asked, “Why?” he replied, “Because there is only one race, and that’s the human race.”

Is he active on social media? “Yeah, but I don’t really converse that way. I just post about things happening like I do on Facebook about my concern for our waterways and beaches. Once in a while I’ll be reading something and respond, but people freak out if I befriend them,” he said with a laugh.

His Twitter bio reads, “Had I followed my first love, I’d have been a professional baseball player, but a friend told me someone with a flair for the dramatic, should consider acting.”

I’d like to thank that friend of his. Olmos has entertained me since I was a kid via TV shows like “Hill Street Blues” and “Miami Vice” and later, “Battlestar Galactica.” And I gobbled him up as the insane Professor Gellar on the 2011 season of “Dexter.” He’s great at doing creepy.

But this is a man who has also dedicated his life to a number of causes including UNICEF, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and children’s hospitals in Miami and L.A. He is an activist and advocate for Latino culture, and it was an honor to sit down to talk with this icon.

Dorri Olds: I loved seeing you in “Go For Sisters.”

Edward James Olmos: That was probably one of the greatest movies I’ve ever made in my life. John Sayles did a fantastic job.

I met with him for an interview when it came out.

Did he like “Go For Sisters?”

Yes! He was very proud of it. Where do you find the scripts for Olmos Productions?

Different places. Through friends. I do a lot of the writing, too. I produced a lot of my own pieces like “American Me” and “Walkout.” Also “Stand and Deliver” and “Selena,” “Mi Familia” and “Zoot Suit.”

What was it specifically about the writing in “Water & Power” that touched you?

The intellectual stimulus of words. The way they are put together. “Water & Power” was a play, so the language is different. It captures you. It’s the story of two brothers nicknamed “Water” and “Power” told like a poem, and it’s a tragic tale with comedy and drama. It has all of the ingredients that make people feel. This is a very powerful piece whether you saw it on the big screen or you see it digitally. It comes out Jan. 20 online. I’ve got to tell you, man, a lot of people are going to watch it. It’s not your normal filmmaking. It’s very Richard Montoya culture-wise. He’s part of a group called Culture Clash.

What’s Culture Clash?

It was founded on Cinco de Mayo [May 5] in 1984. It’s a Mexican-American performance troupe. It’s great. You’ve got to go online and check it out!

What are some of your favorite movies?

“Nothing But a Man” with Ivan Dixon, which was produced by Robert M. Young in 1964. It was the first African-American film ever made where an African-American man and woman were just normal human beings. They weren’t slaves or being abused; they were just regular people. I also really appreciate David Eick’s work and Robert M. Young’s “Saving Grace” and “Caught.” Young is the father of independent films in America. He invented documentary filmmaking in the ’50s. He was one of the first men to ever go underwater with a camera. Also, David Lean who did “Doctor Zhivago,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” These were all master storytellers.

Are you working on any new documentary projects?

Yes, if you go online at Latino Public Broadcasting, you’ll see the amount of work that I’m doing now. I created Latino Public Broadcasting back in 1998. We create public television programming that focuses on issues affecting Hispanics to give diverse perspectives in public television. “Exile Nation: The Plastic People” is a film that just became available. It’s about what happens to people that are deported from the United States and sent back to Mexico, and they’re left out on the border. Oh my god. It will shock you.

You do so much for others. Do you ever try to recruit other celebrities to use their fame for good?

No, I lead by example, but there are a lot of us working for the betterment of humanity, like Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie and all of the celebrities who give great support to UNICEF.

Is there anything I haven’t asked you that you want people to know about?

No! I think you’ve done the best job of anyone in a long time. [Laughs]

Watch “Exile Nation: The Plastic People” trailer:

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The hunky Wilson clearly works out and his dentist is most likely quite proud of the star’s perfect white chompers. But aside from being easy on the eyes and closely resembling Paul Newman, Wilson had a lot to share.

Dorri Olds:  Can you confirm the rumor that your wife Dagmara Dominczyk will be in your upcoming movie, Ward’s Wife?

Patrick Wilson: Yeah! We just finished. It’s a black comedy that my brother-in-law Scott Foley wrote, directed, and stars in. He’s married to my wife’s sister Marika, who is also in the film.

There’s a third sister in the movie, right?

Yes, Veronika. Our friends Donald Faison and Amy Acker are also in it, and Nicollette Sheridan.

What other upcoming projects can you talk about?

It’s been a busy year. There’s been a ton of things—very interesting and different stuff. With films, just like in comedy, you can’t just keep doing the same jokes over and over. You have to change it up. Working on lower budget films gives you much more freedom to do what you want. I just wrapped Stretch, an action comedy that Joe Carnahan wrote and directed. It stars Chris Pine, Jessica Alba, Ray Liotta, and Brooklyn Decker. North of Hell is a dark comedy with Katherine Heigl, Jordana Brewster and Jim Belushi and it’s super funny and crazy.

What can you say about The Conjuring? Is there going to be a sequel?

Oh yeah, I don’t mind furthering the gossip, there is definitely going to be a sequel. There’s one case about two sisters in London that were possessed. There are thousands of cases, though, so there may be more than one in the film. I don’t know yet. I haven’t read the script.

Did you read about the London case with the two sisters?

Yeah, if you go to “The Demonologist,” [book about real life ghostbusters Ed and Lorraine Warren] in the latter half of that book, it gets pretty intense and insane.

Do you believe in any supernatural stories?

I did a lot of research for The Conjuring. There is definitely another world or force out there. But I’ve never really seen or heard things myself. I’ve had some unexplained things happen. The Conjuring scared a lot of people. It might have to do with whether or not you grew up with religion. That’s part of whether you believe it or not.

Do you have any theater work on the horizon?

Not immediately. I say this every time and it really is true, I’m constantly looking. A lot of actors leave the business because they can’t stand not knowing what their next job is. I don’t care. It’ll work itself out. I’ve also been very fortunate that I’ve been working a lot. With theater you have to plan it so far in advance. It’s very hard for me to go, “Next Spring, I want to do so-and-so for eight months.” It’s very difficult. I’ve been looking for musicals to do but it’s hard to find a good role in something that I want to do that I would want to sit in for a while. Especially with Broadway, you’re going to be there for at least six months and that’s a haul. I’ve shot four films in six months. I came up doing a lot of theater where I would do roles for a year, a year and a half, and that’s fun but it also means putting my kids to bed for only one night a week for that time. I love doing theater. I did theater for a long time. The reason that my wife and I still live here is to do theater but it just takes a lot of planning.

In many of your films you’ve worked with child actors. Do you enjoy that?

To be honest with you, I keep my distance from kids onset. I’m a dad, I have two boys, but when working on a film it’s a fine line. I want to surprise them so I don’t want to tell them exactly what I’m going to do. That little bit of fear is probably good. I mean not in a child abusive kind of way, I don’t want that. I mean, if you’ve just terrified them during filming, you have to then go make sure they’re okay. You have to know that if you’re their buddy the whole time, then when it comes time to work, they’re still joking around and you’re like, “Yeah, but, I need to work now.” Child actors need to know that they are there to work even if it’s all fun and games onset so you’ve got to know how to reign them in. My tagline is always, “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to work.” [Laughs] That really is terrible to say but it’s true.

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A Dangerous Method is a new film by David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, Crash) starring  Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Vincent Cassel. The screenplay was written by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons). With all of those big names and the intriguing subject matter I expected more.

The central characters are Carl Jung (Fassbender), Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) and an 18-year-old extremely disturbed woman named Sabina Spielrein (Knightley). The film begins with strength. Spielrein is thrashing about as only the unbalanced would and Jung, who takes her on as a patient, decides to try Freud’s new experimental treatment for the first time: Talk Therapy. The story is based on true events, gathered from letters and Speilrein’s diaries. It spans the decade of connection between these three founders of psychoanalysis—a term coined by Freud.

The relationship between Jung and his patient Spielrein becomes inappropriately steamy. Knightley gives an Oscar-worthy performance and for that reason alone it is worth seeing. A lesser actress would’ve looked comical as the face twitching, body writhing, troubled young woman who’d been abused by her father. Spielrein confused pain with sexual arousal—which meant a couple of uncomfortable spots in the film that I almost looked away from.

The film dragged in parts. That’s what comes of too much talking. I give it 2.5 stars based on its other riveting moments, and for the cinematography which is as colorfully composed as Manet paintings.

The close friendship, and then the falling out, between Jung and Freud made for high drama. The forbidden love and the shame of not being able to fight temptation made Jung intensely interesting. I would’ve liked to know more about him like how he became the man he was. A childhood flashback or two would’ve been helpful.

I will say that for anyone who is particularly interested in the subject matter of psychoanalysis I’d throw in an additional half star. If I hadn’t seen Cronenberg’s other films, full of action and originality I might not have held the bar as high walking in. There were parts of the film where he may have gotten bored himself—it seemed that way.

Mortensen proves his acting chops once again. He is virtually unrecognizable as the subtly-played Freud. Cassel has a small part but he captivates in the time he’s on screen. He seemed to enjoy the heck out of playing a self-indulgent, hedonistic over-sexed and morally bankrupt high-on-cocaine guy.

My regard for all of the talent in this film remains intact and I will surely see all of their future works but this flick sadly fell short of it’s potential.

Rated R. 99 minutes. View Trailer

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