Alumni hit the big time in Hollywood

Lydia Blanco in “The Terminal”

Just like the slogan of the fast-food restaurant she works at in the movie “The Terminal” suggests, A&M-Corpus Christi alumna Lydia Blanco is determined to have it her way.

In the summer blockbuster starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Blanco has a small part as a Burger King employee who waits on Hanks’ character, a homeless man living in an airport terminal. It’s an early career highlight for Blanco who has her sights firmly set on making it big in Hollywood.

“It’s not the biggest role but I’d rather have a small role in a great film than a leading role in a bad film, said Blanco. “I was on cloud nine. It felt like a dream, like how did I get here?”

How Blanco got there was through sheer willpower and determination. After graduating from the University in 1995 with a degree in communications with an emphasis on theater, she moved to Austin where she found work in independent films and even did voiceovers for Japanese cartoons. In February 2001 she headed for Hollywood with just $3,000 and a carload of confidence. To avoid being typecast, she shed 100 pounds and soon began landing parts on network television shows like “The Practice” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

“Losing the weight was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it proved to me that the power of the mind is not to be underestimated,” said Blanco. “At the University I learned the value of perseverance, of not giving up… It gave me the confidence and tools to conquer what’s out there in the world.

Patrick Wheeler and “The Simple Life”

Patrick Wheeler graduated from A&M-Corpus Christi in December of 2001 with a communications degree and headed for Hollywood with stars in his eyes.

But those stars were shaded with the sobering knowledge that breaking into show business, even in the production side, took determination, hard work and persistence that many find daunting.

Wheeler, who now makes a career working in the production of reality TV shows like MTV’s “Real World” and Fox TV’s “The Simple Life” with Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, credits Bill Huie, professor of communications and film, with offering both encouragement and a dose of reality.

“Dr. Huie was a real big help,” said Wheeler, 26. “He was just a really good professor and just told you how it was and didn’t make it easy for you.”

Wheeler moved to the Los Angeles area a month after graduating and a got a job with Bunim/Murray Productions, an independent production company run by Joey Carson, another Corpus Christi native.

Wheeler’s first job was as a production assistant on a reality show called “Who Wants to Be a Playboy Centerfold” in which women competed for the chance to appear in Playboy.

“So for my first job my office was at the Playboy mansion for five weeks,” Wheeler said.

He next worked as a personal assistant on “Battle of the Sexes” Jamaica working 15 hours a day, six days a week.

“You end up getting one day off a week if you’re lucky,” he said. The work includes preparing breakfast, helping film crews set up at each location and rigging lights and cameras.

Wheeler then moved up to technical coordinator of “Simple Life,” where he was in charge of all shooting equipment and also rigged the cameras for shots like those of Richie and Hilton driving.