VivirLatino

VivirLatino Meets the Talento Artistico of John Leguizamo and Kind of Didn't Like Him!

11:32 H | Topics: Celebrities - Events - New York City

The second TimesTalks event last night was a conversation with Colombian born, Queens bred actor, writer, director and producer John Leguizamo. This event packed the Times Center theatre with a diverse crowd. This TimesTalks was also moderated by Robin Pogrebin, whom Leguizamo called "baby" on one occasion as she asked tough questions from a stack of papers on her lap. He swaggered onstage to thunderous applause.

From the beginning of the conversation, it was clear how passionate Leguizamo is about his work and the reasons he started writing and acting. His writing, according to him, came from a place of anger, and was a response to seeing the same roles for Latino males: super, gangster, gardener, or janitor. He even brought up that the World War II documentary by Ken Burns excluded Latinos until Latinos organized against him.

The theme of the night was showing how Leguizamo went beyond those stereotypical Latino roles. A clip from M. Night Shyamalan's soon to be released The Happening, was shown with a barely recognizable Leguizamo playing a concerned father and husband. In the fall, Leguizamo will star on Broadway in the David Mamet play American Buffalo. In the late fall the film Humboldt Park, starring Leguizamo is expected to hit theatres. So clearly, Leguizamo is an in-demand artist.

He cited his "crossover moments" happening especially while doing Mambo Mouth, one of his one-man shows, and when he worked with Brian de Palma on Carlito's Way.

Leguizamo described himself as hostile towards the idea of passing for white, and said that he always Latinizes somehow, what ever role he is in. He went so far as to compare Hollywood to South Africa during apartheid, with African-Americans in one part of the city, Latinos in another, and whites in gated communities. This, he cites, as one of the prime reasons Hollywood still makes stereotypical "crap" Latino films, filled with stereotypes. He cited a meeting with studio executives who told him that Latinos don't want to see themselves, Latinos, in films. That they want to see white people. This attitude is also a reason why he chooses to live in New York with his family.

What's next for Leguizamo? Beside the roles coming up for him, he personally would like to be a Latino Woody Allan, doing what he's done on stage on film.

One thing is for sure, Leguizamo isn't shy about stating his opinions. He discussed his idol, Richard Pryor and how his comedy combined the political and the social. While Leguizamo described himself as being an artist and seeing the artist as a political animal, he had zero problem criticizing the critiques of other artists. For example, when responding to a question about if his one man shows were negatively stereotypical and played into white audience othering of Latino men and women, he said that only one person said that, performance artist and academic Coco Fusco and that she said that because she was just jealous because her boyfriend had a show on at the same time that wasn't doing so well. Ouch. And while Leguizamo touched on tough topics such as the colorism within the Latin community, it felt as if he was playing for the white portion of the audience. He constantly talked about his old stomping grounds of Jackson Heights, Queens, in a slightly negative tone, like, that was then and I'm above that. He clearly has reached a place of privilege, and mentioned his kids going to private schools and that that gave them a leg up, but it was the way he said it.

Regardless of the fact that la mierda se le subio a la cabeza a bit, John Leguizamo remains one of the most talented and diverse performer in terms of range. Maybe this allows him to be a little snotty. No se. You tell me. I left last night's TimesTalk happy that I was able to listen to such a gifted artist, but as a person, I wouldn't invite him into my humble Queens home.

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