A year ago, Belissa Escobedo noticed posters for television shows like NBC’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” plastered on the bold walls of a New York City subway station.

“I wish,” he would say to himself as he went to his bartending job, hoping that one day his face would appear on stage.

Working behind a bar counter is a revered rite of passage for a hard-working actor, but for Escobedo, it was a reality that felt incongruous after starring in 2023’s “Blue Beetle,” a $104 million project from Warner Bros. Take your acting career to bigger and better things.

But no matter how twisted the timeline seems, it wouldn’t be long before his dreams would ironically come true in another tavern gig.

In the multi-camera NBC comedy “Happy’s Place” (premiered Oct. 18), Escobedo plays Isabella, a spirited college graduate who inherits a Tennessee bar from her recently deceased and unknown father.

Warning? It’s shared ownership with her new half-sister Bobbie, played by country singer Reba McEntire. Together they tackle the bar’s upkeep and their newly formed brotherhood, often confronting generational divides and the backlash of parental wounds and absence.

“My face is now in the subway station,” Escobedo said via Zoom, her voice exhausted from filming back-to-back episodes.

“When she came to read for the role, we immediately clicked and hit it off,” Reba McEntire said of her “Happy’s Place” co-star. “He really holds his own and is impressive at only 26.”

(Casey Durkin/NBC)

But it’s on the walls of the subway platform that the self-praise stops for the actor, who speaks cautiously about his new role, subtly shifting his tone between concern and humility.

“I try to honor myself, the work I put in to get here, and any doubts I had,” he said, pausing subtly between each word.

The call to action came early for the Los Angeles-raised talent, who fell in love with the craft after starring in an elementary school production.

“That’s what made me feel good from then on. “When I’m on stage, I feel like myself,” Escobedo said.

After a brief stint at the New School in New York, this self-proclaimed “proud college dropout” returned to Los Angeles to try and succeed as an actor and hone his talents. Boyle Heights’ Casa 0101 theaterAn organization founded by writer Josefina López.

“He actually went to the same performing arts high school that I went to, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts,” Escobedo said. “I knew her through the movie ‘Real Women Have Curves’, which was the first time I saw myself on screen.”

Then came his television debut; In the Latina ABC romantic comedy series “The Baker and the Beauty,” she played Natalie, the youngest daughter of a Miami chef family who navigates her traditional gay sexuality. Cuban house. Next came her role as spunky friend Izzy in Disney’s “Hocus Pocus 2,” the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 film.

“I’m lucky that I love and care about all the projects I do,” he said. “I was never satisfied with any story I was told.”

This sentiment rings true when it comes to the Latino live-action superhero movie “Blue Beetle”; here she plays Milagro, the smart little sister of protagonist Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña). He gains superpowers through an ancient scarab.

“Even though I played the role of his older brother in the movie, he took me under his wing and was very kind throughout the whole process,” said Maridueña, who also starred in Casa 0101 but did not meet Escobedo until “The Blue Beetle.”

Their bromance proves to be a blessing on screen, as Milagro’s perfectly timed comedic relief complements Jaime’s sensitive and serious personality, bringing some of the film’s funniest moments to life. In a scene early in the film, Milagro’s insistence on taking her bathroom break in a billionaire’s bathroom not only results in the siblings being fired from their custody duties; it also triggers the chain of events that leads to Jaime becoming Blue Beetle.

“I’m lucky that I love and care about all the projects I do,” Escobedo said. “I was never satisfied with any story I was told.”

(For Sarahi Apaez/De Los)

“This shared kinship and bond (which exists in real life as well) also came from emotionally and mentally dealing with everything that could come from the movie,” Maridueña added.

Promoting ideas about corporate greed, displacement, and the volatile conditions of working-class people, the film would foreshadow negative consequences in the entertainment industry. Not knowing what to expect, Escobedo moved to New York after production wrapped to pursue other acting opportunities.

“I was just working and I didn’t know when I was going to be back on set or anything,” said Escobedo, who took bartender shifts to earn extra money.

Then came the duo Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA attacks Completely shutting down Hollywood in the summer of 2023. Actors and writers took to picket lines and were banned from promoting their work, leaving much of the promotional duties to the “Blue Beetle” director. Angel Manuel Soto.