Leslie Grace Shines a Light on the Realities of Latinx Womanhood in 'In the Heights'
Leslie Grace's Nina—one of the female leads of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Jon M. Chu's film adaption of In the Heights—is a young woman carrying the world on her shoulders. Her story is one that resonates with Latinx women across the diaspora all too well, even 13 years after the musical's Broadway debut.
Nina Rosario is the quintessential first-generation child: a whip-smart overachiever who feels that she has to fulfill the dreams of those in her family and of the generations that came before. She battles inner turmoil—a mix of longing to one's comfort zone and feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of being your family's sole financial hope and lifeline. It's a narrative Grace knew young Latinx women have been waiting to see on the big screen.
Boasting stunning cinematography and powerhouse vocal performances, In the Heights is so much more than just a musical; it's a tale of the trials and tribulations of Latinidad, the simultaneous celebrations and complications of preserving one's culture, and a tale of resisting the urge to assimilate in a changing world. In the Heights—and more specifically Grace's sincere portrayal of Nina—tells the story of everyday Latinx reality.
"We don't get to see this type of representation on-screen all the time," Grace tells BAZAAR.com. "It's going to make a huge difference for people that haven't come across a neighborhood like Washington Heights. And for those that do live in a neighborhood like Washington Heights, for them to see themselves on a big screen in that way captured by us, it's just going to be such a beautiful and powerful moment. I feel so blessed to have experienced it firsthand. The fact that my first film is something so purposeful and so powerful, and something that my family can really look at and say, 'Wow, this is who we are.' [The film shows] the celebration that comes through the struggle and strife of our culture, which we rarely get to see."
Though Grace is no stranger to the entertainment world—she's a successful recording artist in her own right who's collaborated with the likes of rapper Meek Mill and mega-producer Tainy—her portrayal of Nina marks the first time she's seen, let alone played, a character who mimics her own trajectory.
In the Heights, unlike most Latinx-led film and television projects in Hollywood in recent years, acknowledges and embraces the core impact that Afro-Latinx culture has on Latinidad as a whole, especially within New York City. As an Afro-Latina herself, Grace didn't take for granted the fact that the audition room was filled with individuals who looked like her, rather than cultural polar opposites, marking another first for the actress.
"[The film's Afro-Latinx presence] was definitely something that I was super mindful of as I was embodying Nina," Grace says. "Even in the audition process—to have read a role that looks and sounded like myself was already very rare. And then at the audition, to be in the space in the hallway where you're seeing other girls that look like you auditioning for this role? That was also very rare. There've been a lot of occasions where I was auditioning for stuff where I knew, 'This doesn't sound like someone that looks like me, and it's definitely, probably not going to go to someone that looks like me.' And that usually was the case."
Physical attributes aren't the only similarities Grace shares with Nina. The actress recognizes the cultural crossroads that her character faces in the film as personal hurdles she's had to overcome in her own career, especially as a Latinx artist "crossing over" into the mainstream. For Grace, portraying Nina was a therapeutic process.
"Nina is the first person that I've come across that fully embodies that struggle of a first-generation person—wherever your parents are from, whether they're Latino or [from] anywhere else that have come to this country," Grace says. "She has that almost identity crisis of, 'Am I worthy of the American Dream? Do I want to become mayor or go off to Stanford after my parents sacrificed so much? Do I even want to do that for myself? Or would I rather go home, where I'm safe, where I feel myself, and where I feel celebrated?'
"Nina struggles with that pressure, and I definitely relate to that as well. A lot of us have experienced imposter syndrome, regardless of whether you were born here or your parents were born here or not," Grace continues. "But definitely within the Latinx community, you often feel like you're straddling the fence of two worlds and you're not enough for either one of them."
In a way, Nina's storyline mirrors Grace's In the Heights experience. Making her feature film debut, Grace had her stellar castmates, including Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, and Melissa Barrera, as well as producer Miranda and director Chu, serving as her on-set family and support system.
"This project woke my heart up again," she says. "I had been doing music since I was 16— I'm 26 now—so it's already been 10 years. But I had gone into this project really feeling like this would be my Stanford. After traveling all over through the years, thankfully, [this time] was to a place I consider home, New York, 'cause that's where I'm originally from. But it was still like separating from the community I knew—my parents would always be with me on every single work occasion. So having the generosity of a Lin or a Jon or Quiara, of all our choreographers, and the community aspect of our cast ... that time we spent really fueled my artistry in a way I never experienced. I felt like I was getting to know myself on my own as Nina was, but also with the support of people that love me and had loved me, as if they've known me all my life."
Grace also recognizes that the release of In the Heights will be a moment much bigger than herself. She ultimately hopes that the movie—and its core story—will serve as a reference point for generations to come on the robust resilience of Latinx culture.
"[The entire experience was] so, so large and so big and so beautiful, and it's incredible that it's being given the importance it deserves," Grace says. "The fact that we could experience stepping on set without code switching and being ourselves and bringing our full selves to our characters—and that goes for Corey as Benny, Anthony as Usnavi, Melissa as Vanessa—like, these people know or are these people. It's what I always hoped to watch on-screen when I was a kid. I always waited to see someone that looked like me doing exactly what I get to do now. And I hope that inspires the generation after us who will look at the screen and go, 'That's what I want to do. She looks like me, she's from where I'm from, and I can do that because they're doing it."
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