At age 19, Donald Roman Lopez came from Colombia, S.A. to Los Angeles with a Cal Arts scholarship in hand, searching for the American dream as an actor. In the process, he discovered classical dance and his life took a detour.
In NYC, he trained with The Joffrey Ballet School and later joined the Ballet Hispanico and Metropolitan Opera Ballet companies. Ten years later, he found himself acting off-off Broadway and in indie cinema and doing commercials, as well as making his own independent films.
Relocating to Los Angeles five years ago, he has written, directed and produced, with his creative partner Veronica Diaz, Project Quantum, a sci-fi espionage web series about a new breed of top secret agents with unusual powers. The first webisode is a tight two minutes of story set-up and exposition that makes the pair seem like natural storytellers.
When asked for a quick sketch of the series, he says, “Secrets? National Security? Protecting the truth? Sounds like our government. Now that’s scary!”
Your web series, Project Quantum, is pretty creepy. Do you have any favorite scary movies inspiring you?
Of course any Vincent Price flick when I was growing up, or Frankenstein movies, or Dracula, but my favorite of all times has to be Rosemary’s Baby.
As a child in Colombia, how did you celebrate this time of year?
There was not such a thing as Halloween in Colombia before I was born, but TV and the 1960s did wonders. In the ’70s when I was a child, my little brother and I used to love going trick-or-treating. We were dirt poor, so that forced us to get very creative with our costumes.
What do you love about Halloween in Los Angeles?
I love going to West Hollywood. People get crazy creative. It’s energizing. However my favorite thing has to be the next day, “El Dia De Los Muertos” at Hollywood Forever. It’s quite a unique cultural experience.
Any costume and party plans for this year?
Not yet. But I want to do something crazy this year.
What’s the scariest thing about LA?
The Industry. Boo!!
Photo: Colin Nena
