John Leguizamo revealed that an early role disappointed him because it perpetuated “negative Latino images.”
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The 65-year-old recently appeared on an episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade. During the conversation, he reflected on his supporting role in The Graduate director Mike Nichols’ 1991 film Regarding Henry.
Leguizamo played a convenience store robber in the movie about a lawyer, played by Harrison Ford, who loses his memory after being shot and works to recover his speech and mobility.
“You know, I was kind of humiliated by it,” Leguizamo told SNL alums Spade and Carvey about the part. “I did it because I got no jobs. There were no jobs for Latin folk. There just weren’t.”
Leguizamo stated that as a Latino actor in the ’90s, “there were no opportunities” and described Hollywood at the time as being “like Jim Crow.”
“I’m not going to lie. It was like White doctor, White lawyer, White husband, White lover, Latino drug dealer,” the Carlito’s Way star added.
John Leguizamo Recalls That “They Just Weren’t Casting Us” in the 1990s
Leguizamo said he begged his agents to let him perform his David Mamet monologues for casting directors. They repeatedly refused and wouldn’t give him the opportunity.
“They just want to see great shows, but they just weren’t casting us,” he added. “When I got Regarding Henry, it was a drug dealer. I shoot this White guy. It was like, I’m perpetuating what they want to see, which is negative Latino images.”
When asked if he was told to “Latin it up a little more” for the role, Leguizamo said it was implied.
“They didn’t have to say that to me as much. I was the flavor they were looking for, like a ghetto hoodrat,” he recalled. “I had been working against that. All my acting teachers, when I was 17, they were like, ‘No one can understand you with that accent. Do you really speak that way?'”
Although Leguizamo disagreed with the message the role portrayed, he pointed out that he “really wanted to meet director Mike Nichols because he’s one of the greats.”
“But there I am with my sloppy fro and I’m in the drugstore, I mean in the bodega, and there’s Harrison Ford and I’m robbing the place,” Leguizamo added. “Even talking about it just gives me PTSD.”‘
Of course, the 1990s ended up being very good to John Leguizamo. He starred in hits like To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, The Fan, and Executive Decision, and worked with high-profile directors like Spike Lee, Tony Scott, and Brian De Palma. He also had the opportunity to star in one-man shows on HBO, such as 1998’s John Leguizamo: Freak.