Start Small, Dream Big, Work Hard: The Keys to Success with Ted Lasso’s Cristo Fernández
Known for his optimistic outlook on screen, Fernández reveals it is his optimism off camera that led to Lasso, Transformers and now Sonic the Hedgehog.
Former athlete turned actor, Cristo Fernández has a look about him that seemingly is just synonymous with joy. You can see palpable happiness in his eyes, and his smile gleans with a brightness of winter’s first fallen snow. Top it off with a head of hair reserved for mythical lions, and you have a man who was made to be in a telenovela.
“Um… funny enough, I auditioned for telenovelas. I never got the roles” Fernández admits.
Yet, for some people the world just opens up and provides. Fernandez made a name for himself as the perpetually optimistic Danny Rojas in Apple’s tremendously successful Ted Lasso, but in the years since he was introduced to an international audience, he’s appeared in some iconic properties. In the Hollywood system, Fernandez has snuck into the MCU and the Sony Venomverse, as well as voiced Wheeljack in the massive Transformers franchise. South of the border, he’s even played Zorro. In the opinion of this writer, there’s no greater hero, and there are old Halloween costumes somewhere in a dusty basement to prove just how big Zorro can be to some little kids.
To watch the complete interview with Cristo Fernández, click below. Or continue scrolling for the remainder of the article.
In his most recent stint in a major cinematic franchise, Fernández joins Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in the dual role as Juan and his evil twin Pablo. The twins are part of a fictional telenovela entitled ‘La Ultima Passione”, a personal guilty pleasure for the villainous Dr. Robotnik (played by Jim Carrey). Fernandez, despite being turned down for real soap operas and telenovelas in his career, flashes that million dollar smile, seemingly recognizing the humorous irony of the situation.
“For me, work is like doing your push ups and going to the gym and improving your passes and having discipline. Doing it every day, every month, every year, little by little, step by step.”
“It’s all a dream come true.” Fernandez continues. “Here I am finally achieving the telenovela role, and most importantly it’s in a comedy and here is Jim Carrey watching me on the screen, and the fact he knows about my existence makes my day, my week, my month, my year.”
Fernández elaborates on just how much the Canadian icon, Carrey meant to him growing up, not only stating that Carrey influenced his comedic sensibilities, but it has also shaped Fernández in terms of his priorities as an entertainer, as the actor simply states that comedies are his “biggest passion”.
Fernández, much like his on camera persona in Ted Lasso, is a man that literally exudes passion and vigor, so how does one focus all that creative energy? Earlier in his career, it was football (soccer for us less evolved North Americans), but an injury sidelined his professional athletic aspirations. At that exact moment, Fernández knew he had to channel that vitality into his own creations. The actor for years has worn a different hat, that of producer. He has produced several short and independent films, and it is this constant cycle of creation that Fernández thinks is the secret to success.
“My opportunities as an actor came out of creating my own work” Fernandez says. “I auditioned in Mexico and outside of Mexico. I never got roles. I auditioned for soap operas, for telenovelas, for indie films, big films, and never got a role. What gave me my opportunity is Ted Lasso. Ted Lasso comes out of Jason Sudeikis and Brandon Hunt and Joe Kelly. They created this, and they had to pitch around for a long time until they combined forces with Bill Lawrence, and they created something cool, something that people love”.
In fact, Fernández looks to many of his Lasso costars for that same work ethic and inspiration. “Brett Goldstein is also someone that comes from creating his own work. Nick Mohammed is someone that comes from creating his own work, and I am just following their example and reinforcing that if Ted Lasso came into my life, it is because I created my little things that no one saw, but kept me working.”
“I hope I become an inspiration for people out there, whether you're young or old. There's no age limit for having dreams, but your dreams sometimes don't work the way you want it. I failed as a football/soccer player, but here I am succeeding in other stuff. For me, work is like doing your push ups and going to the gym and improving your passes and having discipline. Doing it every day, every month, every year, little by little, step by step.”
As mentioned, that optimism he’s portrayed in his most famous role to date hardly seems like acting for Fernandez, as he is genuinely an optimistic guy. The world could learn a lot from him in terms of attitude and work ethic, but he is also an extremely grateful individual (which is sadly another rarity in today’s world). In fact, in going back to his cameo in Sonic 3, it’s not about the size of the opportunity, the project, or the film, it’s simply how much joy you can get out of it, and how you can use that opportunity in the future.
“My mother jokes around because I went to watch Sonic with my nephews, and my mother asked if I remembered when I was a kid, I rolled around pretending to be Sonic. So I never imagined I was going to be part of something like this. It’s brief, but there's so much about just this cameo that means so much to me in my life, and I'm so grateful.”
And at the very least… we can be grateful for Fernández’s work on screen.