NICE BOY OF THE WEEK: Rudy Martinez

This week our Nice Boy is Rudy Martinez. Born and raised in Los Angeles he got into acting at a young age. He also studied puppetry, plays the ukulele and is a fan of Harry Potter – which makes him our favorite kind of Nice Boy. Rudy has guested on a number of shows including Jane The Virgin and can currently be seen on Heartbeat which airs Wednesdays 8/7c on NBC

We were lucky enough to ask him a few questions – see what he had to say below

Q. What is Marty’s best quality?
I think Marty is really brave! Other interns and even nurses are kind of intimidated by Dr. Panttiere, but she takes Marty under her wing because she sees that he’s really got some grit. He’s determined and he’s got some spirit to him.

Q. How hard is it to remember and correctly recite all the medical jargon?
It’s quite hard actually! I think a hard one for me to say was “pericardial disease.” It doesn’t seem that hard at first, but try saying it 10 times really fast with a bunch of other medical terms. It’s difficult. Luckily we have some great medical consultants on the show and when we film scenes in the operating room, we have actual scrub nurses in there to help us.

Q. Favorite Harry Potter Character?

Photo Credit: David Muller

I really love Mad Eye Moody! I have a feeling he has a really cool back story and I hope JK Rowling gives us a little bit more detail about that in the future. I also really love Professor McGonagall because she doesn’t take sass from anyone. She’s one of the most powerful witches out there and she held down the fort at Hogwarts when Dumbledore couldn’t be there. She kept fighting until the end. She even battled Voldemort!

Q. How did you get into puppetry? Any chance you will be doing more plays in the future?
When I was little, my aunt would babysit my brother and I, and we would raid her sock drawer and make sock puppets. I feel bad because she probably came home to an empty drawer with no socks! But much later I studied puppetry in college and started designing and making much more intricate puppets. I absolutely hope to do more plays in the future. That’s how I got started – by doing plays.

Q. I saw ukulele playing in your bio – how long have you been playing?
My dad bought me a ukulele for Christmas about seven years ago and I’ve been playing it ever since. It’s a hobby and I play it for fun. It’s great to have a skill like music, even if you’re just learning. It’s come in really handy as an actor because I’ve played the ukulele on stage a few times.

Q. Charity you are most passionate about?
I recently participated in a 5k to support PANCAN, which is a national organization that provides support and hope for people fighting pancreatic cancer. Actually Dr. Nick Nissen, who is the inspiration for one of the characters on Heartbeat, encouraged me to get involved. One thing I learned from Heartbeat is that you don’t give up hope.

Q. What’s the nicest thing a fan has ever done for you?
Fans of Heartbeat have been so kind by reaching out directly to the cast on twitter. We host live-tweets and every week we connect with people all over the country who are watching along with us. I love getting tweets and messages from people who are enjoying the show and it’s so much fun to see their reaction when stuff happens. I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has done, just being there with us and enjoying the show along the way.