Actor Richard Cabral turns tragedy into art with short film about losing his home to Eaton Fire
ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) — Actor Richard Cabral is one of thousands who lost a home in the January fires. We first shared his story last year.
As we commemorate the one-year mark of the tragedy, we learned Cabral’s journey is not over.
He’s now using his artistry to help heal, re-living his experience after the place he called home in Altadena was taken from him and his family by the devastating Eaton Fire.
MORE: ‘Mayans M.C.’ star Richard Cabral shares loss, healing from Eaton Fire
East L.A native and “Mayans M.C.” star Richard Cabral is building his life back following the devastating Eaton Fire.
He’s written and directed a short film he calls “Fuego.”
“I wanted the people to know, like, what we really went through up there. And it’s trauma,” Cabral said.
Those words, all from a man who is very open about his early life. From 13 to 25, he was involved with gangs, violence, addiction and incarceration.
“I have seen some real stuff in my life, but I think all that was preparation for this, to see your home consumed, to see your city consumed,” he said. “I was born and raised in this city, Angeleno through and through,” he added.
While Cabral has seen success in his career, the loss of his home hit hard.
“Yeah, I’m an actor. I’ve had an amazing career, but like you just can’t bounce right back to life,” he said.
To help with that process, Cabral decided to take the experience, use his storyteller skills and make his first film. The 10-minute short has been a healing experience for the family.
“And I think for Richard and for me, this is a story that is almost a time capsule of that moment when you are at that point when you see your house has gone and you’ve lost everything. And to know that there’s resilience in that, that you can be resilient, that you can move through that, you can move through fires, you can move through floods, and your family can come together at the other end stronger,” said his wife and producing partner, Debra Moore Munoz.
Cabral used poetry to help tell the story with a tough of gentleness. In the film, over still images, you hear his voice saying, “We heard the sirens. We seen the chaos. We heard the alarms. We seen the fight. We felt the panic.”
He says poetry is his love language, and it “was going to be the segue of being able to tell the story but not it being overwhelming, because this was definitely an overwhelming experience.”
Also overwhelming — searching for their next home.
“And the first place we went was in Glendale to look for our new places to stay,” he said. “And I remember we were in between some canyons and me and my wife both started feeling it. And so we’re never going to look at things the same but I think this is the first step in the process of healing.”
Cabral said as horrific as this has been, it was beautiful to see how Los Angeles came together as a community.
He and his wife are now lining up some screenings here in L.A. and they also plan to take “Fuego” on the festival circuit. Cabral says he’ll post any information about his movie on his Instagram page, @richardcabralofficial.
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