RENZO SANTIAGO DEL RIO is TWENTY-SEVEN years old. He is a BAR OWNER and is portrayed by JASON MOMOA
( B I O G R A P H Y. )
By an insane stroke of luck, Renzo was born in Hawaii to Mexican parents that desperately wanted to move to the U.S. and had happened to win a raffle for a week-long trip to the tropical state. This immediately awarded him dual-citizenship, and his parents used this to keep their little family in Hawaii for as long as possible, ultimately moving there permanently - the United States couldn’t leave a baby there without his parents, after all. And so, that was where he’d grown up, in a little house just outside the large, tourist city of Hilo. His parents fit in well, his mother becoming a landscape architect and his father as a translator, and as he grew, Renzo found the small, urban environment well-suited to him, though it had its problems. His white classmates constantly mocked his mother’s job, saying that it was fitting for a Mexican to be a gardener, no matter how steadfastly he denied it. They thought his long hair was weird and girly. He disagreed. The feeling of isolation plagued him throughout most of his school years, and once graduation came around, he wasn’t about to stick around.
Renzo arrived in Portland later that year, saying his goodbyes to his younger sisters and brother, his father and mother, and immediately took up a business management major at Portland State University, working at bars first as a bouncer, then as a bartender himself, once he was of age. Classes at the Culinary Institute taught him the finesse of a good drink and a better meal, and with this basic knowledge and considerable talent, he found himself slipping right into place in Portland, establishing a bar in the Pearl District, on 11th, just after graduation. Two years since, and business is booming, along with his commanding, cheerful voice in his multi-cultural inspired business, though this is due to a particularly positive review in Portland Monthly. Renzo’s a hard-worker, and now completely independent, he’s hoping he can just keep up with the young crowd.
( P E R S O N A L I T Y. )
Despite his deep, accented voice that’s none too quiet, Renzo is a bit on the introverted side, in part because of the bullying he experienced, but mostly because this is his natural disposition. He’s a good listener, organized, but has trouble with spontaneity and prefers his structured schedule to much else. He can be sweet and devoted, as well, but has trouble with attentiveness to partners and friends. A little on the lonesome side, he adopted a Samoyed called Mochi once he started up his business and now uses her as an excuse to avoid uncomfortable interactions, of which he is none too fond. When faced with an argument, he often becomes distant and cold, out of a desire to avoid it.
This character is TAKEN.
