John Leguizamo recalled being “humiliated” by an early bit part in 1991’s Regarding Henry, in which he is credited as “Liquor Store Gunman.”
During a recent appearance on podcast Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade, the Emmy winner ruefully reflected on the role after it was brought up by Spade. Though Leguizamo took the role as he wanted to work with late director Mike Nichols, whom he called “one of the greats,” he noted that “even talking about [the movie] just gives me PTSD.”
“You know, I was kind of humiliated by it,” the Ice Age actor said of his experience. “I did it because I got no jobs. There were no jobs for Latin folk. There just weren’t.”
The drama, written by J.J. Abrams and starring Harrison Ford and Annete Bening, came before Leguizamo’s breakout roles in Carlito’s Way (1993), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) and Romeo + Juliet (1996). Ford portrays a ruthless, amoral lawyer, who is shot by Leguizamo’s robber, and, after waking from a coma with amnesia, transforms into a more compassionate human being. The movie received mixed reviews and grossed under $90 million on a $25 million budget.
At the time, Leguizamo likened the landscape in Hollywood to “Jim Crow.” He said the roles that were available at the time were “white doctor, white lawyer, white husband, white lover, Latino drug dealer,” adding that he would beg his agents to perform monologues from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Mamet’s projects at auditions but was told casting directors were unwilling to see him.
“They just want to see great shows, but they just weren’t casting us,” he continued. “When I got Regarding Henry, it was a drug dealer. I shoot this white guy. It was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m perpetuating what they want to see,’ which is negative Latino images.”
When asked by Carvey if he was ever told to “Latin it up a little more” for a part, 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,” the actor explained. “I had been working against that because 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?’”
Over the past several decades, Leguizamo has dedicated much of his time to uplifting his community with advocacy. His MSNBC docuseries Leguizamo Does America shines a light on Latinos across the U.S., with the host saying it aims to highlight “Latin excellence.” Leguizamo’s upcoming projects include Christopher Nolan’s star-studded epic The Odyssey and Ice Age 6. Over the weekend, he was honored with the Best Actor Imagen Award for Bob Trevino Likes It.
Watch the full interview below:
