James Roday Rodriguez Reclaims His Birth Name: “I Sold Out My Heritage”

James Roday is reclaiming his birth name, Rodriguez. The Psych actor opened up about his heritage and identity in an interview today with TV Line, where he explained why he changed his name and how his Mexican roots affected his career in Hollywood.

Rodriguez, who will now professionally go by James Roday Rodriguez, was prompted to dig into his heritage following the death of George Floyd and after having conversations with his relatives about his Mexican-American ancestry, which “blew up my own relationship with my race,” he said. Two decades after he changed it, he’s returning to his original last name.

Rodriguez was pressured to change his name after some early auditions in his career while he still an undergrad at New York University. Both experiences were “highly informed by the fact that my name did not match my skin tone,” he explained.

In the first audition, which was for Primal Fear, Rodriguez lost out on the role to Edward Norton. “The casting director said to me, ‘You’re so great, but I don’t think I can call you back because your last name is Rodriguez. But I can call you back for this four-line role of a gang member,’ which I ended up reading for,” he recalled. “But they said I wasn’t right for that either because I didn’t look Latino enough. They basically didn’t know what to do with me.”

In the second instance, which came just before he graduated from NYU, Rodriguez was considered to play a series regular in a DreamWorks TV pilot. “Their only concern was that the role wasn’t written for a Hispanic or Mexican person,” he said. “They were worried that casting a white guy with a Mexican name could be construed as their version of ‘diverse casting,’ and there could be a backlash. They said, ‘You might want to give some real consideration to changing your name.'”

Rodriguez, who was unsure what to do at the time, called his dad, an Air Force veteran and “proud Mexican-American man.” After getting his father’s approval, Rodriguez switched his middle name from David to Roday. Now, with years of experience and knowledge, he looks back on the decision with an entirely different perspective.

“I realize I essentially perpetuated an institutionalized element of what’s broken about this industry, which is, of course, a microcosm of the world we are living in,” he said. “I can’t excuse the decision because of youth or naiveté or ambition. The bottom line is, I sold out my heritage in about 15 seconds to have a shot at being an actor.”

Rodriguez’s full name will officially appear in the Psych reboot film, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, which debuts on Peacock July 15. After declaring his name change, Rodriguez says he’s “never felt so activated in my life.”

“I want to be the best, most honest ally and amplifier that I can be for my own community and for my friends of color,” he said. “I don’t think any of us could do that if we’re not even putting the truest versions of ourselves out there.”

Where to watch Psych