Suave and suited in his role as Pinky in the hit Apple TV+ series, Palm Royale, Roberto Sanchez gives a star turn as a sophisticated gangster out to make a quick buck. But when it comes to working out, the fit 59-year-old has been investing in his fitness for a lifetime. M&F sat down with the accomplished actor to find out how he likes to workout, and soon found out why he is skipping into his 60s.
Life as a Hollywood star kicked off for Roberto Sanchez when he landed his breakout role of Roberto (yes, same name!) the henchman in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). Before that time, the Cuban had been landing gigs as a model and appearing in commercials. But at the advice of others, Sanchez decided to go into acting. Still, he was working as an armed guard on the Miami Metrorail when his agent called to tell him that he would become part of the biggest ever motorcar movie franchise of all time.
“It was a big deal in that, out of all the main characters, my character was the only one that was cast out of Miami,” he shares. Sanchez had been working his shift at the train station for about fifteen minutes when he received the welcome call. By that time though, he was already dealing with an unruly passenger who was refusing to stop smoking. “Something said, answer this,” recalls the star. “I’m looking at this guy, and I said ‘you know what, hold on a second.’” After hearing that he’d got the part, the would-be actor walked up to the troublesome smoker. “And, he squared off because he thought I was gonna actually wrestle, and I just walked up to him and I said, ‘man you can smoke that whole pack for all I care.”
Moments later, Sanchez was handing in his two-week notice to begin shooting on 2 Fast 2 Furious, and he’s never looked back.
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Roberto Sanchez believes that workouts should evolve as we mature
While Sanchez didn’t follow in his father’s Olympic level judo footsteps, he has always been a fan of sports like basketball, and is also a lover of Bruce Lee, so he caught the fitness bug early on. The actor has a tattoo on his chest emblazoned with the legendary line; ‘Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
Fortunately, the star never shies away from his own challenges, and he’s happiest when getting a sweat on but also understands that workouts should evolve just as we do. “As we get older, and I’m hard headed sometimes so it’s been an adjustment, you have to make adjustments in your workouts,” says the star, who has picked up a passion for jump rope. “You can do it anywhere,” he explains. “I’ve got the digital (version) because sometimes you are in a gym, and you need to find space.”
Digital skipping ropes are convenient because they are cordless and tangle free. The handles have weight attachments on them to recreate the rope’s load. And, like with traditional skipping, you can burn up to 20 calories per minute, meaning that just 15 minutes of jump rope can torch 300 calories.
Sanchez explains that skipping has become such a staple part of his regime that he adds it between other exercises to reduce rest times. “It’s been great man, I love it, and I feel like my heart feels good, I’m still in shape.” A quick check of Instagram reveals that Sanchez is in awesome shape, and he’s ripped and ready to go for any project. The star says that in recent years he’s also added intermittent fasting to his lifestyle, generally not eating after 8pm and going until around 11am the next day.
In addition to Palm Royale, Sanchez is starring in 6 Hours Away, available on Hulu and Prime Video, and is also returning in the new season of Black Mafia Family. The actor notes that while he loves to play ‘bad guys,’ he does so by adding an element of humor, adding a “lovable rogue” element to many of his on-screen personas. Creating positive representations of his culture is important to Roberto Sanchez, who is an inspiring illustration that hard work pays off.