Mission Flower Vendor Soon to Showcase Acting Chops in 'La Mission'
 |
| Photo by Francisco Barradas |
Now that's a face a casting director would love. After years of crossing the border, Leonardo Medrano moved to the Mission for good from Sonora, Mexico, in 1977. After 14 years working as an airport janitor, Medrano started his career selling flowers outside the La Victoria bakery on the corner of Alabama and 24th streets. Now in his seventh year there, Medrano is a 24th Street fixture who most just call Don Leo.
The 79-year-old Medrano has even been immortalized in a mural (perhaps the official stamp of approval in the Mission) on a electric box a few blocks up the street.
 |
| Francisco Barradas |
Don Leo plays a man who, like himself, has lived in the neighborhood for generations. Yet unlike Leo, who's out selling on 24th each day, his character fears leaving his house because of the hood's violence. Coincidentally, the house used as his character's home is right across the street from Leo's actual house on York Street.
Leo says he stars in two or three scenes, and serves as a link to the neighborhood's past. "The important thing is to understand how the Mission was before -- more orderly, safer," he said Sunday after making a flower sale. "Now it's more dangerous. I'm scared for it now."
While Leo says he doesn't rule out future film appearances ("It depends on the role," he said) for now he just wants a ticket for the premiere at the Castro Theater on April 23. He's lost touch with the movie folks, and hopes they'll remember to invite him.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
