Esai Morales, who starred as Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue and had a recurring role in the hit PBS drama American Family, delivers another commanding performance in his role as a restaurant manager in Fast Food Nation. When we sat down with Esai recently, he told us how important it was to him to be in this film, both because of his deep concerns about the way animals are treated in the meat industry and because of the film’s opportunity to highlight the mistreatment, worker rights violations, and starvation wages that so many slaughterhouse workers—many of whom are Latino immigrants—are forced to endure.

Check out our exclusive interview with Esai.