Over a year ago, Iwrote a columnabout how muchI loved writing. I

wrote about answeringthe question ofwhat I wanted todo with my life, thedifficulty of figur-ing out what to saybecause eventhough I know theanswer —I want towrite — it’s not athing easily ex-plained.

A year later Istill have troublewith the question.It’s impractical, I knowpeople think, to enjoy thenotion of a creative ca-reer if I don’t put muchthought into the reality.

It’s not, of course, that Idon’t think about the re-ality — I just can’tarticulate it. I have thesame issue trying to de-scribe the things I write.A silly problem to havewhen words are what Ido, but it’s like trying toimagine what an Ameri-can accent must soundlike to a British person.It’s so familiar, you can’t

distance yourself from itenough to say.

Because what I writeisn’t about the plot andform of the stories I tell.

It’s about theideas that drivewords onto thepage and the feel-ings that givethem shape.

Writing fiction,for me, isn’t justsomething that Ilike to do. It’ssomething thathappens. I’m notairy-fairy enoughto say it’s beyond

my control. Only, it is astrong compulsion tocommunicate.

For me, it’s not aboutwriter’s block or difficul-ty coming up with ideas.It’s about listening forthe moment when I knowwhat needs to be said,and catching onto thewords with the tips of myfingers before I losethem.

The singer Paul Simoncame out with a new al-bum this year. He’s

‘Immortals’ a hyper-stylish, unrealisticversion of Greek myth

Immortals,” a tale of Greek heroTheseus, apparently decidedAncient Grecian history simplywasn’t exciting enough for to-

day’s audience. So instead, itjettisons the hero’s established vita,and in its place unleashes a lush, vis-ceral mashup of“300” and Greekmythology, strikinglyresembling ZackSnyder's “300” inboth style and over-the-top violence.Sadly, it bears asmuch resemble tothe myths of Theseusand the Minotaurand the Titanomachyas “300” did to theBattle of Thermopy-lae.

For fans of the musculature andslo-mo, gore-ridden action of “300”and its ilk, “Immortals” will beright up your alley. Decapitations,eviscerations and gold lamé splat-ter the nightmarish landscape at analarming rate, and bloody battles

break out every few minutes. Butfor those who enjoy plot and charac-ter development to go along with

their hyper-violent Greek history —or even a semblance of historicalaccuracy — you’d be better offwatching 1963’s “Jason and the Arg-onauts.”

In this version of Greek myth, thestory begins with a slapdash narra-tion about the Titanomachy, the

At the Movies

DOMINICBAEZ

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Photo by Relativity MediaHenry Cavill, as the Greek hero Theseus, is shown in a scene from“Immortals.”

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This! Is! ... Well, it’s kind of like SpartaMOVIE REVIEW YOUTH

Writing: It just happens

See IMMORTALS/3C See WRITING/3C

Child of migrant farmfamily finds happinessin Hollywood’s lights

By KATHY ANEYEast Oregonian

Actress and talk show host Kikey Castilloknows the glitz and glam of Hollywood, butshe’s also intimately familiar with the not-so-glamorous life of a migrant farm worker.

Castillo as a young child spent time in thefields outside her native Hermiston, whileher single mom, uncles and aunts harvestedcrops.

“Migrant farm workers don’t have moneyfor babysitters,” Castillo said. “They take youwith them.”

As a teenager, she sweated alongside herfamily, harvesting onions, cherries and oth-er Eastern Oregon and Washington crops.The labor was backbreaking and difficult.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is a lot of hardwork,’” Castillo said. “I realized I was goingto do everything in my power to change myenvironment.”

These days, Castillo has left the migrantlife behind. She acts in movies, commercialsand live theater and hosts a Los Angeles tel-evision show called “Let’s Talk!,” a Latinoversion of “The View.”

Castillo talked about her life during a re-cent Skype interview. The animated actressexudes an infectious joie de vivre that beliesher complicated and sometimes-difficultjourney.

She described herself as an ambitious stu-dent-athlete at Hermiston High School. Sheserved on student council, played tennis andvolleyball and captained the cheerleading

squad: a typical American teenager.“I remember enduring teasing from my

cousins because I was so Americanized,”Castillo said. “I got ribbed because I steppedout of the traditional box.”

Her cousin Jose Navarro said Castillo, whograduated from HHS in 1993, broke some bar-riers.

Determined to succeed“If you were Hispanic, you didn’t partici-

pate in those things,” said Navarro, now anelectrical engineer in Beaverton. “For her tobe a cheerleader...there were no Mexicancheerleaders.”

Castillo’s best friend and fellow cheer-leader, Amy Hoffert, remembers her as apopular and confident dynamo.

“She was fearless,” said Hoffert, of Her-miston. “If there was something she wantedto do or try, she’d do it.”

When the cheerleading coach wantedsomeone to learn back handsprings, Castil-lo borrowed a gymnastics mat, practiced untilshe had mastered the move and performedback handsprings at every game.

From fieldsto footlights

Photo by Araldo di CrollalanzaKikey Castillo said growing up as a member of a migrant family in EasternOregon helped make her who she is today as an actress and talk show host.

Photo courtesy of Kikey CastilloKikey Castillo was captain of HermistonHigh School’s cheerleading squad.

Photo courtesy of Su-ECastillo laughs as she and co-host Dyana Ortelli (right) interview a guest.

Photo courtesy of Kikey CastilloActress Castillo stands in front of a theater billboard for a live theaterproduction.

Photo courtesy of Kikey Castillo“Desperate Housewives” actress Eva Longoria answers questions for Castillo.

See KIKEY/3C

almost 70 years old and has been makingmusic since before my parents were born.I heard an NPR interview with him inApril in which he talked about the natureof inspiration. He said, “I think I have noright to assume that some thought is goingto come.” Even after a lifetime of writingmusic, after each album Simon still isn’tsure if he’ll be able to do it again.

I’m no Paul Simon. But that is how Ifeel about writing. It’s no big mysteriousthing; you sit down at a computer — or,sometimes, with pen and paper — andyou write words.

All the same, I have found that oftenwhen I get to the end of a story I feel as ifI’ve written myself dry. I think that any-thing creative is a little like that. If you

love it — if you really love making wordsor pictures or music or anything thatflows from your brain to become reality— then it’s scary to feel as if you’ve comedown to the end of it.

When that happens, it seems like itcould be days, weeks, months — years be-fore I’ll be able to pick up my pen again.But that’s why I write. Because, like PaulSimon, I don’t know precisely whereideas come from or why they go away, buteven though I don’t always believe they’llcome back, they always do.

�Brynne Haug is a senior at Whitman Col-

lege in Walla Walla, majoring in history, andin her free time she enjoys writing, cooking,constructing languages and sewing. She andher family have lived in Pendleton since2002.

battle between the Titans and the im-mortals who would become known asthe Olympians. We’re then immediatelythrown into the life of Theseus (HenryCavill, “The Tudors”) — although noone with any Grecian knowledge wouldrecognize it. Here, the hero is a peasantseeking revenge for his mother’s mur-der at the hands of an invading king,while along the way deciding to leadthe Hellenes in a fight against the samesadistic king. (In Antiquity, Theseuswas a founder-king of Athens and sonof Aethra and both mortal Aegeus andgod Poseidon.)

Cavill, while lacking any emotionaldraw, fits the role of muscle and angst,and it looks as though he’ll be a well-built Clark Kent when “Man of Steel”is scheduled to released in 2013. Frie-da Pinto plays the prophet Phaedra, aconsecrated virgin who seems to notunderstand the meaning of celibacywhen around Theseus. The two shallow(if good-looking) characters race acrossGreece in a effort to stop King Hyperi-on of Crete (Mickey Rourke, “TheWrestler”) from locating the legendaryEprius Bow, a weapon powerfulenough to fell the immortals them-selves and capable of releasing theimprisoned Titans. Rourke, at least,seems to enjoy his role as a monstroustyrant causing pain and mayhem wher-ever he goes.

But in the end, as moviegoers atWildhorse’s new cineplex said Fridayafter the first showing, “Immortals”

isn’t really about the myth, or even theacting. What counts is the look — and“Immortals” has this in spades.

Director Tarsem Singh, well-knownfor his music videos, may lack in thestorytelling department, but he is giftedwith a horror-inducing imagery, evengoing so far as to have Hyperion cas-trate a defecting Hellen. The 3-Dworked wonders — “Immortals” usesReal D 3D and Digital 3D formats —working to enhance this dream-likeworld.

Still, it’s disappointing there’s noth-ing more here than the obscene amountof violence, the ridiculous costumes(apparently the Greeks were impracti-cal with their wardrobes) and theamazing view. Even when we’re takento Mount Olympus, the gods fail to im-press, seeming more like Abercrombie& Fitch models than battle-hardenedwarriors of old. And the Minotaur? Aguy in a barbed-wire bull mask.

For a movie about Greek myth, you’dexpect something more ... mythical. Butif you’re ready for two hours of “300”-style action with a dash of sadism and alot more gore, you’re in for a bloodytreat. Just don’t be surprised if youdon’t remember anything but the bloodafter you leave.

Two bloody stars out of five.�

Dominic Baez is the copy editor/filmcritic for the East Oregonian. Follow hismovie blog, Silver Screening, for the latesttrailers, clips and extras at silverscreening.wordpress.com. You can reach him atdbaez@eastoregonian.com.

After high school, Castilloheaded to college, the firstin her family to do so. Shestudied communications atthe University of Arizona.

“I was always very deter-mined to succeed,” Castillosaid. “I planned to go to col-lege, get a job, carry abriefcase, work in a sky-scraper and make tons ofmoney.”

She stayed on course un-til on impulse she signed upfor an acting class shortlybefore graduation. The act-ing bug bit hard.

“It really was a fever in-side me,” Castillo said. “Ibecame alive.”

She ignored it, thinking ofhow much her mother hadsacrificed to send her toschool, and secured a job ascommunications coordina-tor for a mechanicalcontractor. She climbed theladder, earned good moneyand had a serious boyfriend.She acted in communityplays and commercials onthe side and couldn’t stopherself from dreamingabout an acting career inHollywood.

Eventually, Castillo cameto a crossroads.

“I could continue downthe path or I could take aleap,” she said. “I leaped.”

Cutting room floorShe packed up her Miata

and headed for Hollywood.In the sports car with herwere her luggage and a“deep, immense dream.”

Life wasn’t easy after shearrived in California.

“I went on what seemedlike hundreds of commer-cial auditions here in LAwithout getting hardly anycallbacks,” Castillo said.

“I was beginning to thinkit was like winning the lot-tery,” she said, “darn nearimpossible.”

Her first job, a bit part inthe film “Alpha Dog,” hadpromise. The movie fea-tured Bruce Willis, SharonStone and Justin Timber-lake.

Castillo reveled in thelife of a feature film actress,drinking in every detail.The experience, however,ended in disappointmentwhen her performance end-ed up on the cutting roomfloor.

“It was back to squareone,” she said.

She eventually snaggedroles in indie films andcommercials. A Denny’scommercial features a mansalivating over a stack ofpancakes and Castillo as aspirited waitress. She onlyhas four words, but she saysthem convincingly. Castillofinds joy even in thissmidgeon of dialogue.

“I LOVE pancakes,” shesaid, grinning. “It was sofunny I got a commercialabout pancakes.”

That’s Kikey Castillo,something of a LatinoPollyanna who revels in thepositive and shucks asidethe negative. The attitude isessential, she said, becauseone can easily get chewedup in the acting business.

In 2008, Castillo connect-ed with “Latin Heat,” anonline Latino entertain-ment industry newsmagazine. She’s a red-car-pet fixture, interviewingLatino superstars such asEva Longoria, George Lopezand Andy Garcia at moviepremieres.

Castillo is the youngest ofthe four hosts of “Let’sTalk!,” another Latin Heatproduction. The show start-ed online, but now airs ontelevision. “Let’s Talk” haspotential, Castillo believes,to expand into more mar-kets.

In 2009, Castillo and the

cast of the live theatricalproduction “8 Ways to Say ILove My Life and Mean It”won an Imagen Award forthe show’s positive portray-als of Latinos.

Things will only get betterand better, she believes.She refuses to think of anyother life.

“I’m not a big fan of back-up plans,” Castillo said. “I’ma fan of living life and doingwhat makes you happy.”

No ‘what if’At the same time, she

knows this career isn’t foreveryone. She advises onlythe most confident buddingactors and actresses to pro-ceed.

“You hear millions of neg-atives. If you don’t have agood, strong character, yourself-esteem goes into thepits,” she said. “If you havethe desire, drive and guts,then do it.”

Navarro isn’t surprisedhis cousin forged a success-ful career in Hollywood.

“She just kept moving for-ward,” he said. “She knewwhere she was going.”

As for Castillo, she does-n’t regret ditching hercorporate career for acting.

“I’d almost rather fail atdoing this than say, ‘Whatif?’” Castillo said.

Her mother, AuroraMadrigal, now living inPhoenix and at first dubiousof Castillo’s crazy quest tobecome an actress, is nowsolidly on board.

Because of her humblebeginnings, Castillo spendstime helping youth believein themselves, often coach-ing children about actingand watching them emergefrom their shells.

“People probably would-n’t have placed a bet on medoing well in life,” she said.“I want to help kids realizethey don’t have to be peo-ple-approved.”

Continued From 1C

Sunday, November 13, 2011 East Oregonian Page 3CLIFESTYLES

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Continued From 1C

Continued From 1CWRITING: When the words come, it could take days, weeks, months

KIKEY: Because of her beginnings, she spends time helping youth IMMORTALS: Stunning visualsfail to make up for lack of plot