JENNINE CAPÓ CRUCET: So one of my greatest inspirations growing up and even now is my grandmother. Her name was [INAUDIBLE] Capó. And she was just the best storyteller in the family.
And what I admired about her was that whenever she would start to tell a story, it would sort of trickle through the room that that was happening, and people would sort of come over. And I make it sound like this big-- oh, not like the room hushed and stuff. But it was more that she allowed participation. And people would sort of jump in and add their own little spin to some moment in it.
But she was a very animated storyteller. She would use voices. And she just had a great-- I didn't know how to explain it in these terms at the time, but she had a great sense of pacing and tension. And now I can recognize those things as a writer, that she was using techniques that I see myself using on the page to sort of build a story. But for her, it was just so natural. And it was her way of making friends and making people feel at ease.
And the other thing that was great about her is people always thought she was drunk. And I know that sounds weird. But she was just so-- having such a great time all the time. And she didn't drink. But people always thought, oh, she has to be drunk, because she's having so much fun, and she's so animated. She'd tell a story, and she'd go like this. And it's like, oh, she's got to be on something. But no, that was just how she was. And so I take a lot of inspiration of not just how to tell a story from her but how to be in the world-- sort of living in that way.
But the more super professional answer-- Sonia Sotomayor. She is an inspiration as well. She's awesome. And Big Pun was great, too. And they're both Puerto Rican, which is-- that's probably the only thing they have in common.