美国国家公共电台 NPR--Actor John Leguizamo's new TV docuseries spotlights Latino culture

Actor John Leguizamo's new TV docuseries spotlights¹ Latino culture

Transcript²

John Leguizamo has appeared in 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, and made dozens of TV appearances. After decades in the business, Leguizamo says Hollywood still underrepresents Latino artists and their contributions to American culture are often overlooked.

Leguizamo's talent for playing a range of characters has led to roles from Tybalt in the 1997 film "Romeo and Juliet" to Toulouse Lautrec in "Moulin Rouge³!" in 2001 to a past-his-prime action hero in 2022's "The Menu." He's also the voice of Gor Koresh in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian," Sid the sloth⁴ in the "Ice Age" movie franchise⁵, and Bruno in Disney's "Encanto."

In a new MSNBC docuseries, the Emmy-winning actor and producer travels to cultural hotspots in New York, Miami, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico in search of what Leguizamo calls "exceptionalism" in the Latino community.

"There's so much wasted Latin talent in America right now. It breaks my heart to see all these beautiful dreams squandered," Leguizamo told NPR's A Martinez.

Breaking through inequalities

After pitching stories to production companies for 40 years without a "green light," Leguiazamo says he abandoned an idealistic belief that "talent will out." Instead, he tells Morning Edition that Latino artists must be more "aggressive" so their voices break through. And he points to how research for a one-man show on the Latino community's contributions to American history "made me want to make noise."

"Now I want more. Now I feel more entitled. Now I feel like we deserved. I'm not going to accept no for an answer," says Leguizamo.

The new series, "Leguizamo Does America," features his encounters with artists from dancers and directors to architects and activists⁶.

"We sit down, we commune with a great Latin meal, and some of us do a little Latin dancing. And we share. We talk about what it's like to be Latinx in America at this time."

Leguizamo says inequalities persist and members of the Latino community must be "much more aggressive."

Leguizamo says that "things are not changing and they need to change now," but members of the Latin communities he visited maintain a "very positive hopeful attitude."

"It's happening. People are listening. They're paying attention. And they realize that there's a void and that it needs to be filled with Latinx."

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been pitching for 40 years to Hollywood and nobody greenlights any script you write. I could write like Shakespeare, but if you had Latin characters and a Latin name, they weren't going to greenlight it no matter how amazingly brilliant it was. And I didn't know that because I was naive⁷ and ignorant and I thought America was a meritocracy. You know, I was idealistic back then, thinking that talent would out, but it doesn't.

On discovering Latino exceptionalism in America

That gives you confidence. That gave me confidence. It gave me power. It made me much more political. It made me much more outspoken⁸. It made me want to get loud. It made me want to make noise. And that's what we got to do.

On fighting for more Latino representation in Hollywood

I feel like there's a lot of Latinx out there who are organizing, who are doing grassroots. And you see all these other Latinx people who are creatives who are coming up with Latin stories and want to see more plays. I was just in New York at the Public Theater and I was doing a workshop, but there were like four other Latinx workshops. I had never seen so many Latin creatives in one room, and we all hugged each other and talked and celebrated⁹ and high-fived. It's happening. People are listening. They're paying attention. And they realize that there's a void and it needs to be filled with Latinx.

1 spotlights   

n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

• The room was lit by spotlights. 房间被聚光灯照亮。
• The dazzle of the spotlights made him ill at ease. 聚光灯的耀眼强光使他局促不安。 来自辞典例句

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

4 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

5 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

8 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。