Original subtitles

(speaking in foreign language)

Welcome.

Thank you, thank

you so much for

having me.

My name is

Melissa Dupre.

I'm an actor,

comic producer,

playwright

from Humble Park,

Chicago.

beautiful,

I am so honored to

have you.

here in Un Chín

We had a

connection a

while ago

and finally this

happened.

Finally, so proud

of the work

that you're doing

highlighting

artists.

Talk to me.

How did

you start?

Well, I am degree in theater

and I started

doing work at solo show

because I just didn't find my place.

I didn't have the

opportunities to

be on stage

with someone with

my intersections,

especially being a black Puerto Rican,

being black,

being Latina.

People wanna put

you in a box.

So I said,

I don't want the box, I want the stage.

So I made my own

work, I made my

own stages

and sometimes I

did it in bus

terminals

and platforms

outside in parks,

but I told my

stories

wherever I could

and then

eventually I built a platform

where I was being

invited into theater.

Then I was being

invited into the

audition rooms

and then I

started making

the roles I

was getting

a little bit more

mind, colorful,

authentic

and I wanted to

bring my identity

into

everything I do.

That's beautiful.

I wanna

congratulate you,

but it's a little

congratulations,

but it's a little sad.

Yeah, but it's

me. Talk to me.

So I booked a role, Tamika,

who is Afroboricua

written as such

to a show called

about a woman,

Natasha Rothwell,

named Melissa,

who comes by a

near-death

experience

and discovers

that she's lived

her life in a way

that would let

her die alone and

wants to

reclaim it.

And I support her

in that, and it

was really

beautiful,

wonderful

representation.

We won a Film

Independent

Spirit Award for

Best Ensemble,

but three months

on streaming and

we were canceled

and it's not

uncommon to have

black and brown

narratives

be cut short

before they get a

chance to live,

before they get a

chance to

breathe,

and that's the

problem that

we're having

in the industry

right now.

I know that it's

a tough solution,

but what do you

think we

have to do

to start changing

with America?

Well, we need

more independent

funding.

We need to have a

complete

autonomy, just

like Puerto Rico,

just like

anything that we

need to liberate

ourselves from.

If we wanna

remove that model

of oppression,

we have to have

it from the

ground up.

We need the

writers, we need

the producers,

we need people

who are gonna

back us,

we need the Eva Longorias,

we need the John Leguizamos,

we need the Tyler Perrys

of the world that

is saying,

you know what,

we've got

our own,

we're gonna make

our own and we'll

have the

say in it.

Talk to me about

all your craft a

little bit.

Well, I mean, I

dream in Pisces

and I do in Aries

and I think being

a

multidisciplinary

artist,

you have to know

how to do a

little bit of

everything,

right?

If you wanna make

the work,

you have to learn

how to produce

the work.

You can't just

always be

the artist,

you have to be a

little bit of the

creator,

producer,

logistics,

and I love being

a

multidisciplinary

artist.

I feel like

there's no other

way I can be,

so I can't just

have like one

inspiration,

everything

inspires me.

I love doing

comedy, I love

doing drama,

I love doing a

lot of the

creative arts, I

love education,

and I think that

I wanna

teach people

how to have

multiple plates

spinning at once,

how to be able to

dream the thing

and then

get it done,

how to partner in

community,

how to be able to

say, well, we

need this funding

and how can we

barter, how can

we work together?

I think it's not

enough to just be

an artist.

You have to

firmly believe in

the ability

to do it and

create it, and

that just

doesn't happen.

Nobody's gonna

give you the

opportunity.

You have to go

make it and you

have to be in

community

with people

that's gonna help

you make that

dream future.

It's amazing, I'm

a Aries,

piscis, Cuss.

so am i

No way.

So am I.

March 24th.

March 20.

Oh my God, this

probably was,

people are gonna

think that this

is, this

is yours.

No, we just found

that out

right now.

But Chani Nicholas does not

believe in Cuss.

What time were

you born?

Let's do the

first try.

I was born at

seven o'clock in am

That's a

respectable hour.

That was a

respectable hour.

I'm gonna be

turning 40 on

March 20th,

and I just feel

like this is

the chapter

where things

start to open,

you know?

Things really

start to open,

and now

everything is a

blessing.

Once you have

your dreams and

you have walked

the life,

I feel like I'm

walking

purposefully,

the next chapter

is all a blessing

because it's all

a surprise.

No, listen, thank

you for giving us Un Chín

Un Chín

Un Chín

Thank you for

your time.

Thank you for

your space.

Thank you for all

the work you do.

cheers