John Leguizamo delivered an impassioned speech about Latinx representation in the television industry at the 76th Emmy Awards on Sunday. The actor, who has penned several open letters urging Hollywood executives to recognize actors of color — including a 2022 piece published in The Times — said during the awards show at the Peacock Theater at L.A.
Live that, when it comes to promoting diversity in film and television, “not complaining doesn’t change anything.” Leguizamo delivered his pointed, and loudly applauded, remarks while introducing the chair of the Television Academy, Chris Abrego. Read his full speech below.
What’s up? I’m John Leguizamo , and I’m one of Hollywood’s DEI hires. That’s right. DEI, the D is for diligence, the E is for excellence, the I is for imagination.
And everyone in this room tonight has dedicated their lives to diligence, excellence and imagination, so we are all DEI hires. And man, what a beautiful and diverse room this is tonight, ¡ Wepa! Because when I was going up in Jackson Heights, Queens, a scrawny little wannabe gangster — [to audience members clapping] you’re not from Queens, don’t lie — I didn’t know that people like me could be actors. At 15, I didn’t know the word representation.
Actually, a lot of words I didn’t know back then. But I saw a lot of brown face. I saw Marlon Brando play a Mexican in “Viva Zapata!” and Al Pacino played Cuban gangster Tony Montana, and Natalie Wood play a Puerto Rican .