The New York-born Puerto Rican veteran actor, with more than four decades of career in theater, film, and television, can't help but get emotional when he recalls how he met the legendary Santurce actor and the mark he left on him as an artist and compatriot.

“I say that, for me, Raúl was like a father, because when I met him I was 18 years old. I had just graduated from high school and I got my first role in Shakespeare in the Park, as one of several performers of Ariel in ‘The Tempest’. Raúl was Prospero, the main character. I grew up without a father figure and my mom was opposed to me going into acting. That's why, at that time, meeting Raúl and seeing him as the center of that production inspired and motivated me. I learned from watching him, from his work ethic, his discipline, his energy,” recalls Morales, who spoke with El Nuevo Día from London, where he is filming his second starring role in a film of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

“For me, Raúl was like from another planet. He was special, he was older than me. He came from Puerto Rico; he grew up in its atmosphere, he was not an immigrant, or the son of an immigrant like me, in New York, we were the 'outsiders', he didn't have that. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico, well-educated, he was not the story of the one who came from struggling out of nowhere. He was not what people in New York saw or wanted to see from Puerto Ricans; he was comfortable in his own skin. He even had his accent, but he didn't let that detract from it,” Morales reflects.

From that meeting on the stage of the Big Apple a friendship was born and Esaí keeps unique anecdotes.

“There is an anecdote that I always tell and it is that once Raúl invited me to eat and I was a very shy boy to eat and I said I did not like seafood, because I had not eaten it, maybe some shrimp. But Raúl took me to Chinatown to one of those restaurants that are in the basements and they served us a bucket of crabs and I told him that I didn't eat that and he answered me with that deep voice and with the face of a boss: 'You are going to sit down, you are going to eat it, and you are going to like it'; and the fact is that I ended up eating the bucket of crabs,” he recalls with a laugh.

As time went by, the careers of both actors took different paths. Juliá continued to combine his Broadway performances with ventures into film. Meanwhile, Morales moved to California to establish his career in both television and film. By a twist of fate, they reunited once more in what would become Juliá's final leading role, the acclaimed television production “The Burning Season”. The film is based on the true story of Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper who protests against the government and developers wanting to cut down part of the rainforest to build a road.

“One night, during a break in the filming, I took out a guitar because I was learning to play, and I started playing the parts I knew of 'En mi Viejo San Juan' and Raúl started singing it with that voice and he sang it so beautifully that I kept accompanying him as best I could. They were going to record it, but he didn't want to, so that's a memory that only those of us who lived it have,” he emphasizes.

That second professional encounter with the actor led him to confirm those details that made Raúl Juliá unique.

“Art, talent, is not something that can be measured with numbers; it is measured with the heart, with feeling. He was an artist who did not allow his surroundings to lower the level of quality or technique, you had to be at your highest point, ready in all aspects to give life to a character, to tell a story. It requires dedication, it requires intelligence and a discipline that cannot be faked, and he had all of that,” Morales said.

From Raúl Juliá, Esaí embraced an additional lesson: to use his voice and the attention his name could provoke in the public to serve causes for the benefit of humanity. The well-being of the Latino community, with its particular needs, found allies in both actors.

“There is a responsibility to the Puerto Rican community and to my Latino people in general because I am an honorary Chicano. Most of my Latino characters have been Mexican, and I represent them with pride and dignity. I also believe that the best way to represent my people, the Latino in general, is by doing the best job and being the best person possible; instead of talking about it, doing it, you have to live it. My pride is not an explosive one, I am more shy, my pride is inside me, but if you scratch me, you find the ‘mancha de plátano’. I am proud to be Puerto Rican. In that sense, Raúl Juliá did what I want to do: open doors through my work. And he as an activist dedicated himself to the welfare of the human race, to fight hunger, and he did it without publicity, without fuss. He was always a dignified figure. That is why it is important to keep his memory alive. That young people learn who he was, what he did,” he stresses.

Thinking that it has been thirty years without Juliá's physical presence, Esaí confesses that he feels his departure was premature.

“Over the years, I've worked on projects where I've thought, 'Look, Raúl would have been great in that role; he could have come back to act with me, be my friend, my uncle, my father.' I also thank him that, when I was already established in Los Angeles, he was kind enough to visit me at my house. For me, it was as if an older brother had come to see me,” he says.

Finally, when speaking of the relevance of remembering Raúl Juliá and his legacy, Esaí affirms: “Any opportunity to pay tribute to Raúl, his figure and his work, is an honor for me.”