McAllen actor rolls with Taye Diggs' vampire gang

>>> Festiva's "Hometown Hollywood" tracks down the big names that have emerged from the Rio Grande Valley, as well as the rising stars who are bound to make us proud in the future.

In a pseudo-foggy graveyard in Louisiana, Eric Cepeda leaned against a headstone and gave his iPhone camera his best vampire brood. It was the best way he could think of to pass some time. Even members of a vampire posse are subjected to "hurry up and wait" every now and then.

He was on the set of Dead of Night, a movie adaptation of the Italian comic book series Dylan Dog. The movie, slated for release late this year, follows the title character in the course of his life as a supernatural private investigator. In the movie, Cepeda stands among a band of bloodsuckers led by Taye Diggs.

Dead of Night isn't his first taste of big-budget movie action. He played a background soldier in 2004's The Alamo and worked as a location manager on A Scanner Darkly.  He's had a lot of luck finding work in the area between Austin and Louisiana.

Cepeda left the Valley to pursue acting in 2001. Instead of relocating to Los Angeles as most people looking for a career in the movies do, he headed for the smaller market in Austin to gain some footing and build a résumè.

But at the time things were different. Movies were being produced in the area. A few years after he moved to the city, productions started moving elsewhere in pursuit of film incentives. A bill signed by Gov. Rick Perry in May is meant to reverse that trend and bring film projects back to Texas, but meanwhile the slowdown has hurt actors like Cepeda. He's spent the years since then tracking opportunities on the back roads between Texas and Louisiana with his miniature dachshund, Lowe Ryder, along for the ride. His black Jeep has 91,000 miles on it.

Cepeda says he's not afraid of the hard work it will take to get the career he's looking for. In the summers since he was 8 years old, he would spend time on construction sites alongside his father and grandfather. But he never saw it as a bad gig. Building house frames helped him build character, he said.

And growing up in South Texas has been a benefit in more than one way. It helped him construct a support system of high school friends, with whom he still keeps in contact, even more than 10 years after graduation.

"I think without that base to start from I wouldn't be doing it as much," he said. "It feels like I'm doing the right thing. It helps to have them behind me," he said.

All About ERIC CEPEDA
Job: Actor
Where I live now: Austin, since 2001
Graduated from: McAllen Memorial High School, 1996
Movies he's worked on: Dead of Night, Road House 2: Last Call, The Alamo, A Scanner Darkly
Long-term goals: Score a major role in a big-budget feature
Favorite movies: Scarface (1983), Three Amigos (1986) and Loverboy (1989)
Director he'd like to work with: Robert Rodriguez

• Click here to watch one of Cepeda's national commercials on YouTube. Viewer discretion is advised.

On the type of actor he wants to be: I would love to do comedies just because I think that's one of the hardest things to do, like pull off the comedic timing. A romantic comedy would be great.

Benefits of working behind the scenes: Working behind the scenes I get to see a lot of them before they go on camera and see how they prepare. It gives me more of an idea of what I need to do.

His A Scanner Darkly experience: I got to work on that film from start to finish. ... I'd watch these guys sitting in their chairs and they'd say, '20 minutes till call' and you'd see Keanu Reeves get up and walk and start getting into character. And the others would kind of be (hanging around). Then, Robert Downey Jr. would start getting ready. Then at 10 or 5 minutes till call you'd see Woody Harrelson just snap it on. It was cool to see (someone of) that level just be able to say, ‘I have to do this now.'"

Celeb encounter: "I've never been star struck on set. But I was working at a Hyatt in Austin waiting tables and I went up to this table and the man says ‘What do you recommend?' And I point to the menu and say ‘Well, this is really good.' And when I look down, I see it's Kenny Rogers. And I just went (in a high-pitched, shocked voice) ‘The prime rib is really good. I'll be right back.' ... That was the one and only time I've ever been star struck."

Moment in the sun: When the newest batch of promotional photos were released for his upcoming film Dead of Night, Cepeda was excited to see a familiar, blurry face of one of the vampire posse in the background of one picture. Can you spot him second to the left?

Click the links below to read more Hometown Hollywood profiles:

* SANDRA AVILA: Latina showbiz exec got her start in an Edinburg bakery

* LEE PEREZ: Edinburg man now lives in 'House' with Hugh Laurie

* STEVEN ESCOBAR: TV editor went from Edinburg to Emmy Awards

* NOEL GUERRA Brownsville boy is behind your favorite TV shows

* MIKE ZEPEDA Former Mustang got his big break in 'Prison'

* LAUREL ST. ROMAIN 'Gossip Girl' makes McAllen fashionista the talk of the town

* DR. NOEL OLIVEIRA: Edinburg physician finds 2nd career on primetime television

* JOSH WISE: Mission actor starred in films, TV with Hilary Duff, 'Gossip Girl''s Penn Badgley

* SHELBIE BRUCE: Valley girl in 'Spanglish' is now an L.A. woman

* LINDSAY GRAHAM: Sharyland grad helped cast Oscar-nominated film The Wrestler

* REGAN JAY LICCIARDELLO: She's been on prime time's Prison Break, starred with Sally Field ... and she's only 8

* CARLOS MORENO: San Juan actor had roles in Transformers, ER

* ENRIQUE CASTILLO: A South Texan who wrote music in Will Smith's new film, Seven Pounds

* VERONICA LOREN: A McAllen actress and singer who's sweeping 2008's indie awards

* LIZ RAMOS: A McAllen dancer who taught Brad Pitt to tango

* ERIC HAHN: A clown at the Nolana IHOP who did stuntwork in 'Platoon,' 'Delta Force'

* MANDO ALVARADO: San Juan actor shared scene with strippers, Doogie Hauser

* RICK DEL CASTILLO: A Brownsville rocker who found a knack for screenwriting

* RAUL CASTILLO: A McHi grad who has acted and studied with Philip Seymour Hoffman

* TANYA SARACHO: A Valley playwright who is hot in Chicago

* DAVID BARRERA: A San Juan native who was in an NYPD Blue episode everybody saw

* MICHAEL RAY ESCAMILLA: A writer, actor, director and producer from Pharr

* MARISA QUINTANILLA: A McAllen Memorial grad who was in Road House 2

* FAUSTO CUEVAS: A Brownsville drummer who has toured with Britney Spears and Stevie Wonder

* GABRIEL PENA: An Edinburg North grad who does Matrix-style stuntwork