Ángel Manuel Soto is a cinematographic rebel with a cause–a visionary who sees many similarities amidst his background, before the fame, and the protagonists that he has brought to life on the big screen with films such as Blue Beetle (2023). The success story behind this story-teller has been shaped by a litany of risky decisions during his upbringing as a poverty-stricken teen on the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Instances like trespassing onto reggaeton music video sets for a BTS look at professional film production and shoplifting a novel written by Robert Rodriguez called Rebel without a Crew from Borders bookstore (Soto and Rodriguez would go on to share a laugh about this incident years later upon an introduction) are standout moments from his ascension over the years. But perhaps the most career-defining gamble he has made thus far was when he chose to permanently alter the pigment particles on both of his hands with microscopic drops of ink. Soto procured a tattoo on his right hand from an artist named Juanky (Employed at Senzala Tattoo & Body Piercing) back in 2010. Three years later, he enlisted the services of Juan Salgado (Owner of Color Conspiracy Tattoo Gallery) to complete a tattoo design on his left hand.
“I got my hands tattooed as a guarantee to myself thinking, ‘Now you have to make it work because nobody’s going to hire you now,’” Soto recalled. “’Nine to five jobs in an office? You’re not going to get that because you have tattoos that are visual.’ It was a motivation to keep me from conforming [because filmmaking] is all I wanted to do.”
Eventually, Soto’s riskiness paid off. Subsequently, nearly a decade and a half of hustling as a freelance director in the Caribbean and stateside resulted in his independent film La Granja (2015) landing on the radar of Tim League (founder of the Fantastic Fest), who then offered him a premiere at his annual film festival in Austin, Texas. The critically acclaimed sports drama garnered attention from Javier Alvarado, an agent with CAA who went on to become his manager.
Years after relocating to Los Angeles, the Puerto Rican native returned to his home island in May of 2022 to make his breakthrough film, Blue Beetle. The full-circle moment added $20 million to Puerto Rico’s economy while also manufacturing nearly $76 million worth of jobs, some of whom included friends and crew members from his arthouse film La Carta (2010). Now, the same hands that used to slap basslines for the ska-punk band known as Los Chéveres in the late 1990s are writing scripts, roll cameras, and closing clapperboards for a wide variety of Hollywood’s biggest motion pictures. You cannot depict Soto’s timeline as an aficionado in moviemaking without conveying his passion for tattoos because they go hand in hand.
At first glance, Soto looks like more of a rock star than a filmmaker who spends much of his time out of the limelight. His long hair and black fingernail polish are supplanted only by the tattoos that cover nearly half of his upper body. Soto’s introduction to tattoo needles and round shaders occurred during the year 2000, when FIBZ, an artist from Wizz Tattoo, inked a Dave Quiggle-styled crucifix on his right forearm. Nearly twenty-five years later, the 41-year-old from the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan frequents a pair of his countrymen named Javier “Che” Rivera (Owner of Tattoos by Che) and Juan Salgado (Owner of Color Conspiracy Tattoo Gallery) to conduct the long tattoo sessions that he compares to therapy. The theme on his body carries a traditional Caribbean undertone with engravings, Catholic Nautical sensibilities, and random patches throughout his arms and upper torso. Soto and his wife also frequent Sashatattooing Gallery Co-Owner and Artist Nora Lyashko when he is stationed in L.A. for filming.
“I think I’ve done all of [my tattoos] around the island,” Soto said. “The biggest ones have been with Che and Juan Salgado, who has already called dibs on my back (laughs). I don’t have anything there yet. I’m trying to do something with that Juan Salgado style, but I want to do it with black and grey…My left arm is all patched with an engraved aesthetic…the theme is mostly about letting go of things that keep you from growing while moving onward with what gives you strength. And my neck tattoo is from Nora. My wife has a sleeve from her.”
Nora tattooed a peony flower on Soto’s neck shortly after Charm City Kings (2020), starring Meek Mill and Jahi Di’Allo Winston, wrapped filming during 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. Additionally, Soto, his Director of Photography Katelin Arizmendi, and the camera operator Stewart Cantrell all inked themselves with friendship tattoos, inspired by the 12 O’Clock Boys, the dirt bike riders from their movie, during the production phase. Soto’s tattoo is a Molotov cocktail that says, “12XII.” Around that time, he also procured an inner lip tattoo of the word “help.” In a recent interview with Inked Magazine, Soto revealed that it was a light-hearted response to his wife, whom he says is already starting to outnumber him in tattoos, for playfully encouraging the concept after he floated the idea.
Soto’s most elaborate tattoo is a chest was completed by an artist named Omar Velazquez in 2013. It includes a script that reads, “Honor, Lealtad, Respeto.” Like many ink enthusiasts, he’s also the owner of a “drunk tattoo.” The whimsical memento was completed by José Guerra at the Harisumi Tattoo Studio in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Guerra inked the word “true” just above the fingers on Soto’s right hand. It may take a while for his filmography to surpass his growing tattoo collection. However, Soto has indicated that he would like to add anime, romantic comedies, Western movies, and horror movies to his repertoire someday.
Soto is currently in Los Angeles, preparing for Wrecking Crew, a buddy-comedy starring Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. Although pre-production has kept him busy, he is already thinking of his next tattoo.
“The next one is a face tattoo, but my wife is like, ‘no’ (laughs); I’ve always wanted something little [on my face], like the 787 area code of Puerto Rico next to my eyebrow,” Soto said. “Or my mom and father’s initials.”
He added, “There are a couple of things that are very iconographical from our Puerto Rican revolutionary legacy. But what I like the most is a native name for Puerto Rico besides ‘Borinquen,’ and it’s ‘Oubao Moin.’ That means ‘Island of Blood.’ It was a name that the Taínos (the indigenous people of the island) called it. I’ve always liked that way of honoring our ancestors.”
