Actress Raquel Welch recently spoke to reporters on Saturday, June 27 prior to receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.

The Associated Press reported that Welch discussed her journey to embracing her Latino heritage and the few regrets she has pertaining to her Latino culture.

Welch recalled the time that her classmate called her Jo instead of her full first name. As a young girl, Welch wanted to embrace her Latino name and told her mom to tell the school that she wanted to be called Raquel.

Later on in life, Welch experienced another similar issue with her name. Welch recalled the time that Hollywood executives tried to persuade her to change her name to Debbie, but she refused.

"People didn't like my name and they said it was too ethnic, too difficult to pronounce, too exotic," she said. "They wanted to change it and I was not happy at all. I did really feel like Raquel."

And though Welch embraces her heritage and actively shows Latino pride, she feels a bit disconnected from the culture because she cannot speak Spanish fluently.

Welch explained that her father Armando Tejada chose not to speak Spanish at home because he didn't want his children to be scrutinized if they developed an accent.

"He wanted to spare us some of the difficulty and, he felt, prejudice against people who speak with an accent," she said. "I really wish that he would have spoken in Spanish at home so I could have it as second nature."

Looking back, Welch says that she feels language plays a big part in one's identity.

"I think language is very important to your identity and not having that ... I sometimes feel isolated from that part of me," she explained. "Yet I still feel very, very Hispanic. The essence of who I am is a Latina."