John Leguizamo (‘Leguizamo Does America,’ ‘The Power’) on Latinx representation: ’We’ve been virtually invisible for 500 years’ [Complete Interview Transcript]
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During a recent Gold Derby video interview, news and features editor Ray Richmond spoke in-depth with John Leguizamo about his work over the past year in the MSNBC series “Leguizamo Does America,” in the limited series “The Power” on Amazon Prime and on Showtime’s “Waco: The Aftermath.” All three series are eligible at the 2023 Emmys. Watch the full video above and read the complete interview transcript below.
When he was brainstorming a way to showcase the greatness of Latinx culture across the United States – from Puerto Ricans to Cubans, Mexicans to Colombians, Central Americans to South Americans – John Leguizamo hatched a plan. “I wanted to find Latin excellence across America and disguise it in a travel/food show,” he says, “smuggling in content and important facts about the culture that’s sorely missing.” The result was the six-part MSNBC series “Leguizamo Does America,” the title a takeoff on “Debbie Does Dallas” in which he set out to “do something to America that’s very similar to what she did.”
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In fact, the show found the Emmy-winning comedian, actor and performance artist visiting Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami and New York City to explore Latinx theater, culture, cuisine, representation and activism. “Why did I do this? Because we’re the largest ethnic group in America, the oldest ethnic group in America, and we’ve been invisible for 500 years.”
Leguizamo, a Colombian American, has been a vocal activist for Latin representation for decades, standing up for a culture he believes has consistently gotten the short end of the stick. “That’s why I did this show,” he offers. “It was about finding out what’s going on in the Latin communities. We talked to Republicans, we talked to Democrats. We didn’t pick one side. I wanted people to be as honest as possible about what’s going on so we could get a real picture.”
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One reason for Leguizamo’s intense interest in the subject, besides his own ethnicity, is his belief that Latinx cultural attention has been shamefully underrepresented in its numbers and impact. “The system has largely excluded us, but luckily we have the digital revolution and finally have the data and facts. That’s what’s fostering all of this change we’re starting to see, because we can keep track. When I first came on the scene, there were zero Nielsen boxes in Latin homes (to measure TV viewership). So every TV saw from the 1950s on, they weren’t counting Latin households. And obviously there was no representation in front of the camera for the longest time except for Desi Arnaz. It wasn’t for lack of trying or lack of talent, but we were less than 1% of the faces in front of the camera.”
Here is the full transcript of that interview.
Ray Richmond: “Hi everyone. I’m Gold Derby News and Features Editor Ray Richmond. And I’m here today with John Leguizamo, the impossibly versatile actor, comedian, and movie producer who is featured in three projects at the moment. The six-part MSNBC travel series ‘Leguizamo Does America,’ the nine-part Amazon Prime limited series ‘The Power,’ and the Showtime five-part series, ‘Waco: The Aftermath.’ John, welcome.”
John Leguizamo: “Thank you for having me. What a pleasure, Ray.”
RR: “Oh, of course. It seems like you’re not having a lot of trouble finding work these days. And let’s dive right into. Let’s talk about your projects starting with ‘Leguizamo Does America,’ which seems like a show promoting Latinx culture and Latin communities kind of masquerading as a travel vlog.”
JL: “Yes. It was a sleight of hand that I was allowed to perpetrate on the public. It took the title from ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ back in the day.”
RR: “I am old enough to remember that.”
JL: “And I’m doing something to America that’s very similar to what she did. And I wanted to find Latin excellence across America and disguise it in a travel food show, but smuggle in content and important facts about Latin culture. That’s sorely missing all across the country because we’re the largest ethnic group in America, the oldest ethnic group in America, and we’ve been virtually invisible for 500 years.”
RR: “That’s so true, John. And I know you’ve been something of, obviously an advocate and an activist for Latinx representation on both sides of the camera in entertainment in Hollywood. Why does it seem like Latin representation has lagged so far behind, say, African American representation and been such a struggle for you guys?”
JL: “I mean, obviously the system is broken in some ways that excluded us, but luckily we got into the digital revolution now and we have data and facts and I think that’s going to make the big change. That’s what’s fostering all this change because we can keep track. Before, when I first started, came on the scene, I thought we had Nielsen homes, boxes and Latin homes and weren’t, we were zero representation. So every TV show you saw from the Fifties on, you weren’t counting Latin households, which was the largest ethnic group in America. Totally sorely missing and obviously representation in front of the camera except for Desi Arnaz, he was the only mogul and executive and star, and then Freddie Prinze. So it’s been very few and far between, and it’s not for lack of trying, it’s not for lack of talent. We were not accepted.”
RR: “Is that really true, that there weren’t any Latin Nielsen homes back in the day?”
JL: “None. And then in ’94 when I came on the scene with ‘House of Buggin’,’ we had a small number and people also were the small numbers, we weren’t equal to our population size.”
RR: “That’s just astonishing. Wow. I’m not easily stunned, but that’s pretty stunning. But in terms of ‘Leguizamo Does America,’ I know you go into a lot of different Latin communities and study the culture and the cuisine and everything else and it’s just an incredibly charming show, but it’s again, a backdoor way into really showing the vibrancy of the community.”
JL: “Yeah, I wanted to get content. I wanted to find out what’s going on in the communities in Chicago, Florida. We talked to Republicans, we talked to Democrats. We didn’t pick one side. I wanted to hear it all. And I wanted people to be as honest as possible about what’s going on so we could get a real picture of Latin culture across America, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Colombians, Central Americans, South Americans that get everybody in there, all the Caribbeans too. And we did.”
RR: “How much change have you seen in Latin representation over the past 20 years? I mean, because we hear that word diversity a lot, it gets tossed around Hollywood a lot, but it seems like they saying it more than doing it.”
JL: “There was a lot of good talk for optic’s sake and before we were less than 1% of the faces in front of the camera. Forget about behind the camera. But these past few years since COVID hit and #BlackLivesMatter, I think things have really changed. I think our representation is up to 6% this year, which is great, in front of the camera. It should be 20% because that’s our population size. Plus, we over-index in terms of our representation at the box office. Because we’re 30% of the U.S. box office, sometimes 33% of the box office and four billion in streaming. And we’re a third of sports fans. So we over-index in terms of the money we spend in entertainment. We don’t get our money’s value, but I think things are improving slowly. They need to catch up to our 20%, then I’ll be happy.”
RR: “Still not a lot in terms of the boardroom and in the executive ranks in Hollywood, though, I’m sure even less than 6%.”
JL: “Oh yeah, and then corporate-wise as well, we’re very underrepresented because we add $2.8 trillion to the GDP every year. We’re not represented that way in corporate, and then boardrooms and as executives.”
RR: “Well, let’s change gears here for a second, John. What was it about ‘The Power,’ the show on Amazon Prime, that drew you? What grabbed you about the script?”
JL: “Oh, I loved the script. I thought it was so unique, very different. It’s called speculative fiction because it’s very realistic. It’s not so highfalutin as sci-fi, not so out there, very natural. And it’s all grounded in real science research, but obviously it’s still made up. But I thought Naomi Alderman’s novel was so brilliant in talking about feminism and women’s problems and getting power and attaining power and males, the patriarchy, blocking women from attaining their rightful place. And I just thought it was so charming and powerful and aggressive and I thought it was a wonderful, wonderful series.”
RR: “For those unfamiliar with ‘The Power,’ it’s, I guess you say speculative fiction kind of thriller set in a world where teenage girls develop the hereditary power to electrocute people at will and then that spreads to older women as well. When I was the father of a teenage girl, I can tell you that it seemed like my daughter had the power to electrocute people.”
JL: “They’ve definitely got powers. They may not be electric, but they definitely have an effect.”
RR: “Oh my God. I’ll say. So a lot of, there’s a lot metaphorical stuff going on even with that premise.”
JL: “Yes.”
RR: “But tell me about your character in the series.”
JL: “Yeah, I play Rob Lopez, and I’m Toni Collette’s husband. She’s the mayor of Seattle, and I’m her scientist-doctor, stay-at-home dad, Mr. Mom, while she’s the ambitious leader of the family. And it was a great role. Here’s a chance to have a mixed race family, Latin children, and my daughter, played by Auli’i Cravalho. She plays my teenage daughter who gets the power, who develops the scheme that can give the electric charge. And some girls, it’s like static electricity. Some girls it’s like a nuclear blast and the powers that be become afraid of women and they start corralling them. And then the women, the girls, they escape. Yeah, it’s a wild metaphor for what’s going on in America in terms of abortion rights, trans rights, critical race theory, book banning, I mean, all the crazy things that are happening here.”
RR: “What’s the reaction to the show been?”
JL: “I feel like a lot of people are addicted to it. They can’t wait for the next season because it’s a slow burn. You’re following four teenage girls, so you know, they’re bringing four stories together and then three others, minor subplots. And so it all builds together. And then by the end of the season, you’re at the tipping point of women taking over the world. And then your payoff will be the next season.
RR: “It’d be interesting to see what women could do if they took over the world. Men have done a pretty good job of screwing it up.”
JL: “We’ve done a great job of that.”
RR: “Oh my God, an incredible job.”
JL: “An incredible job. Pat yourself on the back.”
RR: “We’re incredibly good at screwing things up. But speaking of… This is a bad transition-
JL: “Starting wars. Yeah, you name it.”
RR: “This is a bad transition though. You were also a regular, or maybe it’s a good transition, you were also a regular in the Showtime series, ‘Waco: The Aftermath,’ which detailed the siege and the trials of the surviving members of the Branch Davidians. I guess we just passed 30 years. I can’t believe 30 years has passed since that tragedy. And you received an Emmy nomination for your work in the original ‘Waco’ series on Showtime in 2018. What about this event continues to fascinate you?”
JL: “Well, because it resembles what’s happening now with white supremacists and all the vile shootings. And it was a similar time back then. There were these groups, the marginalized groups that had white rage and white fragility. And they started these different groups and the Davidians were one of them. And then Ruby Ridge, they all learned from each other. And then finally what happened in Oklahoma, the blowing up of the building… It was Oklahoma, right?
RR: “Yeah. Oklahoma City.”
JL: “Yeah, Oklahoma City.”
RR: “Yeah. Which God, that I think was about 20 years ago or more.”
JL: “Yeah, it was about 20 years ago.”
RR: “Twenty. Jesus. So do you feel like something like the Branch Davidians and Waco could, I mean, in the current environment of the country, could happen again?”
JL: “Well, you have the Proud Boys, you have QAnon, all these different factions and the Oath Keepers, there’s a lot of similarity going on right now. These groups that feel outraged and feel marginalized, but they’re aggressive and they train militarily and have weapons just like they did back then.”
RR: “It’s a scary time in this country. But one of the things that’s heartening is to see that you’ve been able to continue to be employed pretty much almost as much as you want to be. That you’ve been one of the few really hugely successful members of the Latinx community consistently for decades. Why do you think you personally have been so welcomed and successful as an entertainer? If you could step outside of it and not think about well, because I’m good, which is certainly part of that, but I mean maybe…”
JL: “Talent isn’t enough, unfortunately. You would think it would be that talent would rise and talent wins out. But it’s not that, I knew since I was in college at NYU and I was in classes with D.B. Sweeney and Andrew McCarthy and we’re paying the same tuition, I’m in the same class, I’m getting A’s, maybe they weren’t, but they had five auditions a day. I had one every five months. And mine were always for drug dealers, murderers and janitors. So I knew I didn’t have the same options. And even though I was idealistic and I believe in a meritocracy, it wasn’t a meritocracy. So I knew that I had to do other things to survive. So I started writing. I wrote my own material and to represent the way I saw Latin people and to portray Latin life the way I saw it, that was so sorely missing. And I found my audience with ‘Mambo Mouth,’ when the audience found me, they would scream and holler because they were so happy to see themselves represented. And that fed me. And that continued. Then I did ‘Spic-O-Rama,’ and I’ve done six one-man shows since, and I’ve always gone back to the theater and will always go back.”
RR: “You’ve been so unique, though, in the kinds of projects that you’ve done. Like you said, you’ve never done the janitor and drug dealer thing, and you’re not just the funny guy either. I mean, you’re really sort of a thinking-man’s entertainer, which is rare for any ethnicity, but incredibly rare for somebody of brown skin. So you’ve really made breakthroughs, I think, in what you’ve done and in being able to have the kind of versatility you have.”
JL: “Yeah, I was lucky. I had a lot of allies, producers and directors who saw my work and saw what I could do and championed me and took big risks. They took risks in casting me because a lot of studios didn’t want a Latin lead. They didn’t want a Latin co-star. And these producers and directors believed in me, and so they would champion me. And that helped me a lot of the way. And I was always an artist. I always wanted to make content that mattered. I wanted to do things that changed the world because I thought art was such a powerful instrument for that, for change. So I’ve always tried to make my comedy have some impact. I wanted to have impact.”
RR: “Was there a tipping point or a moment where you felt like, wow, I think I’ve sort of gone almost mainstream now with my comedy and with my entertaining…”
JL: “You mean selling out? Well, maybe it was ‘Sexaholix.’ It was a little more commercial, a little more pandering to what the crowd liked, but I was also pushing the envelope on the sex content. I hadn’t seen too many people do the vile things that I was doing on stage.”
RR: “Well, I’ve been a big admirer of yours for a long time.”
JL: “Oh, thank you.”
RR: “You really have opened so many doors. Not that you all hang out together in the Latinx community, but do you all have each other’s back and support each other, like George Lopez and folks like that? Is that something that you’re cognizant of, all supporting each other?”
JL: “Yeah, I mean, definitely. We all try to see each other’s flicks, try to show up to premieres, download content, support brown business wherever we can. Yeah, it’s important. That kind of solidarity is the only way you can get ahead when you are excluded as much as we are.”
RR: “But I think you’re actually at the point now where you’re not considered a Latin entertainer, you’re just an entertainer, which I think is the real progress.”
JL: “Right. Absolutely. I mean, we want to get to a place where any actor can play anything, and we’re not judging people by the color of their skin or their ethnicity or any other aspect of it. It should just be the ability of the actor. But we’re flawed as human beings, and we are always doing those things of creating differences in separation.”
RR: “John, I think with that, we’re out of time. You can see John Leguizamo in ‘Leguizamo Does America’ streaming on Peacock, ‘The Power’ streaming on Amazon Prime and ‘Waco: The Aftermath’ on Showtime. And John, good luck this Emmy season.”
JL: “Thank you, my brother.”
RR: Thanks a bunch for visiting with us at Gold Derby today.”
JL: “Thank you, man. Much love. Big hug.”
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