John Leguizamo criticized Hollywood for its historical lack of diversity on screen.
The Latin American actor and comedian introduced himself as “one of Hollywood’s DEI hires,” explaining 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 committed to those first three characteristics. Enjoy The actor then celebrated the diversity he saw in the audience tonight.
Leguizamo said that when he was growing up in Queens, New York, he “didn’t know that people like me could be actors.”
“When I was 15, I didn’t know the word ‘representation,'” he said. “Actually, I didn’t know a lot of words back then.”
But, he said, “I saw a lot of brown faces,” before noting that white actors had played Latin American characters, including Marlon Brando as a Mexican in Long live Zapata!and Natalie Wood as a “Puerto Rican beauty named Maria” in West Side Story.
“Everybody was playing against us — except us,” he explained. “I didn’t see many people on TV that looked like me.”
The comedian also mentioned roles that have been given to Latin American actors over the years, such as “the spicy sex doll,” “the Latin lover,” “the maid” or “the gangster.”
“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 will be no more Latin people,” he joked.
He then went on to point out how far Hollywood has come, mentioning nominations for actresses like Selena Gomez (Only murders in the building), Sofia Vergara (Griselda), Nava Mau (Baby reindeer) and showrunner Issa López (Real Detective: Nightland), in addition to the victory for Liza Colón-Zayas for The Bear.
Leguizamo detailed how he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times in June attacking the industry and how it sparked an important conversation.
“Tonight I’m almost happy and certainly less angry,” he said, “because this is one of the most diverse nominees in Emmy history.”
He added that “we need more stories from excluded groups.” But he also noted, “This show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress.”
