John Leguizamo called out Hollywood for its historic lack of onscreen diversity.
Introducing himself as “one of Hollywood’s DEI hires,” the Latinx actor and comedian explained that the acronym stood for diligence, excellence and imagination (an acronym that traditionally refers to diversity, equity and inclusion) and that everyone in the room had dedicated themselves to those first three attributes. The Encanto actor then celebrated the diversity he saw in the audience tonight.
Leguizamo shared that when he was growing up in Queens, N.Y., he “didn’t know that people like me could be actors.”
“At 15, I didn’t know the word ‘representation,'” he said before adding, “Actually, there were a lot of words I didn’t know back then.”
But, he said, “I saw a lot of brownface” before noting white actors who had portrayed Latin characters, including Marlon Brando as a Mexican in Viva Zapata! and Natalie Wood as a “Puerto Rican beauty named Maria” in West Side Story.
“Everybody played us — except us,” he explained. “I didn’t see a lot of people on TV who looked like me.”
The comedian also listed roles that have been given to Latinx actors over the years, like “the spicy sexpot,” “the Latin lover,” “the maid” or “the gangbanger.”
“And that’s how we saw ourselves because that’s all we saw of ourselves,” he said.
“I used to watch Star Trek and think, wow, in the future there ain’t gonna be no Latin people,” he quipped.
He then pointed out how far Hollywood has come, noting nominations for actresses Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building), Sofia Vergara (Griselda), Nava Mau (Baby Reindeer) and showrunner Issa López (True Detective: Night Country), in addition to the win for Liza Colón-Zayas for The Bear.
Leguizamo detailed how he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times in June, calling out the industry, and how it started an important conversation.
“Tonight makes me almost happy and certainly less angry,” he said, “because tonight is among the most diverse list of nominees in Emmy history.”
He added that “we need more stories from excluded groups.” However, he noted, “This show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress.”
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
