Oscar-nominated actor/director Edward James Olmos has been wowing audiences for decades on both the big screen and small screen, breaking barriers and paving the way for other Latino actors.

He's known for his memorable roles as William Adama in the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica," Lt. Martin Castillo in "Miami Vice," math teacher Jaime Escalante in "Stand and Deliver," patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film" Selena," Detective Gaff in "Blade Runner," among many others.

The stellar Mexican-American actor/director's spotlighted Latinos in film, and in 1988, Olmos was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his unforgettable performance in "Stand and Deliver."  The film is based on the true story of Jaime Escalante who becomes a high school math teacher in Eastern Los Angeles and inspires his students to excel in academics and overcome adversity.

While Latino production companies, like Pantelion films are on the rise, Olmos started his own in 1980 called Olmos Productions, which "creates culturally diverse programming for feature film, television, documentary, and new media focusing on the full tapestry of human experience."  His documentaries have highlighted violence in America and its impact on youth, touching upon gang, date and gun violence.

When asked how he feels about the shift in focus toward Latinos in Hollywood and movie production studios, Olmos said: "Fantastic, it makes you feel like we're maybe getting a way to have our culture become a stronger, understood and valued culture in the American society as a whole," he told The Huffington Post. "We have contributed so much and yet our stories aren't being told, and when they are told they do what they did in 'Argo.' Nobody even knew that Tony Mendez was a Mexican-American from El Paso, it was so subtly played that there was no cultural dynamic in the character whatsoever."

Olmos stars in John Sayles' ("Lone Star") latest independent film, "Go For Sisters," which was recently released in Los Angeles. In the film, Olmos brings that "cultural dynamic" through his character, a retired detective named Freddy Suárez.

"Go For Sisters" is about a probation officer, Bernice (Lisa Gay Hamilton) whose son goes missing across the border in Tijuana and her quest to find him.  In fear of her son's safety, she turns to an old friend, Fontayne (Yolanda Ross) who ironically is an ex-con and one of her parolees.

The two women reunite and mend their friendship and seek the aid of Suárez (Olmos), a disgraced ex-LAPD detective. Throughout their journey, the encounter the dangers of Mexico's drug culture as they "race against the clock to find her son before he's killed."

Defying Latino stereotypes in his roles has been very important for Olmos and he's thrilled he is able to continue acting and directing.

"I've been very fortunate, it's been a privilege to be inside of this art form and I'm very grateful that I've been able to survive and move forward. I know that things have happened since I've been here, some things have changed and others have not changed. I [also] know that we have a long way to go before we ever see real strong presence in...motion pictures and television," he told The Huffington Post. "And in all of these different venues of storytelling we must have parity in this country for the indigenous, for the Asian-Americans, for the Latinos, for the African-Americans and of course the Caucasian/European stories and storytellers also. We just need to have an equality that we still do not have."