John Leguizamo, the actor known for portraying the role of Aurelio in John Wick back in 2014 accused Hollywood of racism. Although it isn’t new, Leguizamo stated that the film industry is not an equal playing field.
Being a Latin actor, Leguizamo stated that he avoided the sun to continue earning roles in Hollywood. He further instated that Hollywood gave him the roles of murderers and drug dealers due to his heritage.
John Leguizamo Calls Out Hollywood On Its Racism
Being an American actor with Latin heritage, Leguizamo has admitted to getting benefits because he is light of skin. Seemingly calling out Hollywood on its colorism, the John Wick actor stated that it wasn’t an equal playing field at all.
In an interview, John Leguizamo sat down for a chat. Talking about his life and the impact his heritage had on Hollywood, the actor shared that he avoided the sun for years to continue getting good roles in the entertainment industry!
“I’ve benefitted from being light skin, and I stayed out of the sun so I could work. I definitely would not go in the sun. For years I was so pasty so I could work. All the Latinos who’ve made it so far, a lot of them were light-skinned. What happened to all the Afro-Latinos and the majority of the indigenous Latinos? They don’t get a shot.”
The actor further went on to talk about how difficult it was during the beginning of his career and how disillusioned the world seemed during those initial days.
“You’re disillusioned, you’re a young man and you realize, ‘Oh my god, life is not fair. Just because of how I look, how I sound, my economic class that I come from, it’s just not an equal playing field. No matter how talented you are, it doesn’t matter,”
Although the playing field was not even, Leguizamo did make it as an actor as he has been known for several notable roles in iconic projects throughout his Hollywood career.
John Leguizamo Talks About The Super Mario Bros. Movie That Failed!
Back in 1993, John Leguizamo starred as Luigi Mario in the movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Although the movie failed hilariously at the box office, Leguizamo recalled that even Disney hated it to the point of cutting the movie down.
“[The directors] had this dark, dark vision that Disney was not okay with so there was all this butt-heading that was incredible. That party scene? Those were all strippers from North Carolina that they put on the set and they had them in the most revealing clothes and costumes. Disney was not happy … They had to cut a lot of it, blow it out, CGI it with whatever bad technology they had back in the day.”
With his bad days behind him, the actor was recently seen in the 2022 movie Violent Night and also has 6 other upcoming projects that he is associated with.
Source: AV Club
