No Wonder Xolo Maridueña Is So Talented — His Parents Both Have Creative Backgrounds

People who have made it big in life, whether as an actor, musician, or Fortune 500 business owner, often credit their parents for providing the support they needed to succeed. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and some defy difficult or unsupportive upbringings to become successful on their own.

In the case of Xolo Maridueña (born Ramario Xolo Ramirez), best known for playing Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai and Jaime Reyes in the Blue Beetle DC Comics movie, he had quite the supportive home base, particularly when it came to his parents. So, let’s meet the people who helped Xolo get to where he is today.

Xolo Maridueña's parents are Carmelita Ramirez-Sanchez, a Mexican American, and Omar G. Ramirez, a Cuban Ecuadorian American, according to the LA Times. During a 2021 interview with Hispanicize, Carmelita explained that she came up with the name "Xolo" after the constellation linked to the dog star, or "Xolot," which is considered the North Star for many. As for his real name, Ramario, it’s a blend of her father's and brother's names.

It’s no surprise that Xolo found success in entertainment because arts and creativity were a part of both his upbringing and his parents’ backgrounds. When Carmelita was younger, she was a DJ on the radio, which was Xolo's first introduction to the world of entertainment.

"Radio is something I've been doing my entire life. I've been doing radio since 16 years old," she shared. She’d crawl out of her bedroom window to do the 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. shift at a local college radio station, then sneak back home to bed, only to wake up an hour later and head to school.

While traditional Latino culture doesn’t always embrace careers in the arts, Carmelita says she "was super fortunate" because her dad supported her dream when she told him at just 8 years old that she wanted to be "the voice that comes out of the radio." To encourage her, her father bought her a Fisher-Price tape recorder with a microphone and urged her to record her voice and practice being on the radio.

Carmelita also revealed to Hispanicize that when Xolo was just three days old, she brought him to the radio station. "That's where he got acclimated to hearing a lot of noises around him, hearing creative aspects of sound and music, and that's kind of what surrounded him because that surrounded me."

By age 10, Xolo was ready to start acting, and Carmelita was there every step of the way. She supported him throughout his entire life, giving him the confidence he needed — even when he didn’t pass an audition.

Beyond radio, Carmelita worked in the record industry, and it was during a job at a label that she realized the need for career development when a top artist entered her office asking for money to buy diapers. It was only a few days later that she left her job to embark on an endeavor to teach artists about financial literacy.

She eventually joined forces with two friends and became the Executive Director of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory.

Xolo's father, Omar, is a muralist and Chicano artist, as he described himself during a 2023 interview with Design News Now. He explained that muralism is something he began learning while in college in the early '90s. Omar also works at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, where his title is listed as "Restorative Cultural Arts Restorative Justice Dialogue."