Watsonville High graduate Sedrick Cabrera never planned on being an actor.
He describes himself in high school as a “three-sport athlete” who was considered by his teachers to be “a little too social at times.” He constantly brushed aside stage teacher David Scott’s entreaties to join a theater production after he took an acting class.
“[My teachers] would always tell my parents at open houses, ‘you should really get him involved in some drama classes or something like that,’” he says.
Now, 14 years later, Cabrera has several stage productions on his résumé, and a handful of film roles, including a small part in Gone in the Night, a 2022 thriller starring Winona Ryder.
But his latest role is significantly bigger.
In Freaky Tales, which hits theaters on April 4, he is cast alongside actor Pedro Pascal, who is known for several films and shows, including The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.
Cabrera attended Hall District Elementary School, Pajaro Middle School and Watsonville High School (class of 2011).
He then moved on to San Jose State University to study communications—“I liked to talk”—but when he tried to play sports there, he realized he was out of his league.
“I got to college and I very quickly realized there was no way I could hang with those athletes,” he recalls.
And knowing that he had to take an elective, he once again signed up for an acting class, where his professor recognized his talent.
When he missed a critical assignment, the professor offered a deal: try out for the spring play. If he got a callback, he’d get an A.
He decided on a dramatic reading from Zoot Suit, and tried it first for his classmates and professor, all of whom were astounded.
“I’ll never forget it,” he says. “When I finished the room was super silent.”
That moment, he says, sent his life down an unexpected road.
“I felt like I had unlocked a super power,” he explains.
Then he went for the audition, where he was asked to provide the requisite headshot and résumé that actors give during auditions. He had none of these things.
He also had no experience.
But when he went onstage and auditioned for the play Emma, he got a similar reaction.
The director told Cabrera, “Wow, I’m looking at your résumé—you’ve never done theater?” Cabrera recalls. “You are like a real raw talent.”
He got the role, and realized the director created a role just for him so he could join the cast.
“My first play, I was on stage moving tables and chairs,” he says. “I was basically a stage hand in a costume. But I loved it. It was one of the coolest things ever.”
Still, Cabrera had a steep learning curve.
“I was super out of my element,” he says. “Just like a fish out of water. We were playing with movement and tempo and viewpoints, all of these terms I’ve never heard of before.”
He went on to do several more plays at SJSU, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Macbeth and The Swimmer.
Then, in his senior year he played the lead role in Zoot Suit, a full-circle moment in his still-burgeoning career.
He went on to do a post-grad residency with Teátro Campesino, the San Juan Bautista-based company founded by Luis Valdez (the creator of Zoot Suit).
Cabrera now lives in San Francisco and is part of San Francisco Bay Area Theater Company (SFBATCO).
“I love the Bay Area, I love the vibe of it,” he says. “For me, I love how the Bay Area respects the heart of the hustler. It really is an independent artists’ playground. It’s a place where you go to not to be a part of something, but to create a whole new movement.”
He describes Freaky Tales, which was filmed in Oakland, as “a beautiful mosaic that’s really a love letter to culture and film as a whole in the Bay Area.”
Read the Good Times companion piece for more about Freaky Tales
