By Catherine Jones

This year, Zoe Saldaña took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez, becoming the first actor of Dominican descent to do so. Her win should have been an unfiltered celebration, a long-overdue moment of recognition. Instead, it was met with controversy.

Saldaña’s acceptance speech was overshadowed by backlash from Mexican audiences, who criticized the film’s portrayal of their country. “I’m very, very sorry that many Mexicans felt offended,” she said in the Oscars press room. “That was never our intention.”

The tension surrounding her win speaks to a deeper, ongoing issue in Hollywood. It’s one where actors of color are often celebrated within a narrow, predetermined space while the industry drags its feet on true systemic change.

“Victory for Saldana is complex. It is celebratory for minority actors vying for inclusion, but simultaneously it is for a film mired in ethnic and cultural controversy,” UK-based Author Ben Arogundade explains. “So much so that Saldana herself felt the need to apologise to Mexicans for being disrespected in the film’s production.”

Arogundade adds, “Saldaña is only the second Afro-Latina ever to win an Oscar, and the eleventh Black woman to win Best Supporting Actress. Although her victory is celebratory, it also reveals the extent to which Black and Latina actresses are restricted to this award, but seldom the top prize of Best Actress. To date, only one black woman has ever won it (Halle Berry), and no Latinas at all, in almost a century.”

New Book That Shows Why Saldaña’s Win is Not Enough

In his newly released book “Hollywood Blackout,” Arogundade dissects racism in the film industry and how Hollywood’s diversity problem is still far from solved. Latin Heat caught up with the author, who is now on a press tour to promote his book in the United States, to ask him about his book and his findings. As it turns out, the Oscars are truly a mirror of Hollywood’s ongoing struggles with diversity.

Latin Heat: In your research, what was the most shocking discovery you made about Latino representation in Hollywood?

Ben Arogundade:  The way that they were negatively represented on screen in early Hollywood — as bandits, philanderers and ‘greasers’ — stereotypes that would take root for decades, and still linger within film culture today.

LH: How do Latino experiences compare to those of Black actors?

BA:  Very similar. All minorities, in film terms, were traditionally considered ‘second class’. Blacks and Latinos have suffered many of the same humiliations and stereotypes at the hands of a dominating white culture that sees them as ‘less than’. Just as Black actress Hattie McDaniel was corralled into being a career maid within Hollywood film, Rita Moreno suffered the same fate. Both women, despite winning Oscars, were not permitted to escape their typecasting.

LH: Many people are familiar with the lack of Black winners at the Oscars, but Latino actors are often overlooked in these conversations. Why do you think their exclusion has been less widely discussed?

BA: Before this year’s Academy Awards, Black actors had won Oscars on 23 occasions, while Latinos had won just four times. Four times! African Americans have fared better overall because they have lobbied and campaigned the hardest over time. From the early 1900s civil rights leaders and Black newspapers consistently demonstrated against Hollywood’s racism. Latinos by comparison have been less active and less vocal over the timeline. The Latino equivalent of Spike Lee — shouting for equality, has been missing. Worst of all though, Native Americans and South Asians, the least active, have won almost nothing as actors at the Oscars. So, the intensity and duration of agitation seems to correlate with the amount of Oscars won.

LH: Hollywood often celebrates itself as being diverse and progressive. Based on your research, do you think there has been real progress, or is the industry still struggling with the same systemic issues?

BA:  Yes and no. Undoubtedly there has been progress. The Academy started in 1927 with 33 white men and three women, who were mostly Americans. Latinos and blacks were barred from major roles, and their parts played by white actors. Today, minorities feature in major productions. The Academy has 11,000 members from over 70 countries, 20 per cent of whom are from under-represented backgrounds, and a third of whom are women. This is changing the types of films nominated, and the actors within them. This year, two non-English-language films made the Best Picture list, and gay and trans artists featured amongst the acting nominations. This has never happened before. But on the flip side, progress has been patchy. Emilia Perez was criticised for its old, stereotypical view of Latinos, and for excluding Mexicans from a production that appropriated their culture. Zoe Saldana was rightly celebrated as the second Afro-Latina to win Best Supporting Actress — but minorities have been relegated to only winning in this category, and have been shut out of the top prize of Best Actress, where Blacks have won once and Latinos not at all, after almost a century.

LH: If you could change one thing about the way the Oscars recognise talent, particularly for Black and Latino actors, what would it be?

BA: The Academy, particularly under its former leader, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, has done a good job in diversifying the roster of film professionals who vote for the Oscars, and this revision continues. So, if I could change anything now, it would probably not be there, but at the other end of the chain — when writers, directors, producers and casting agents are formulating projects. If these people can think in more expansive ways when casting actors, more Blacks, Latinos and others would feature in qualitative, major roles that might then get nominated, and then hopefully onto the podium on Oscars’ night. The streamers are doing a better job of this at the moment. But changing ingrained stereotypes within the white Hollywood psyche is not easy.

LH: What impact do you think your book will have on the industry?

BA: None, probably — although I am open to being surprised. I think its influence is more likely to be felt by the diverse people outside Hollywood, or who are trying to get in, who read it and learn something about the way things work, and why. ‘Hollywood Blackout’ might inform some strategy or enlightening moment for them. History books like mine are more important than ever right now, with people in America opposing diversity while forgetting the historical fact that diversity is what built America. It’s what made America great.

About the Writer: Catherine Jones is the Editor-At-Large for Nuestro Stories. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post Magazine, USA Weekend, Huck, People, and dozens of other media publications. She’s also written about the Latino community for television segments on the Today show and NY1 Noticias.

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The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), a cornerstone event closing out the 2024 film festival circuit, has set the stage for what is shaping up to be an exciting 2025 awards season. Among the standout contenders is Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, which has captured attention with its daring storytelling, stellar performances, and a narrative that resonates deeply with audiences and critics alike. After a strong showing at Palm Springs, the film is already being touted as a potential awards-season juggernaut.

This past Friday, Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard was honored with the prestigious Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The award was presented by to him by the film’s three leading stars—Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldaña. This recognition, arriving just days before the 82nd Golden Globes airing today, Sunday, January 5, 2025, has amplified excitement around Emilia Pérez and its prospects for awards season glory.

When the Golden Globe nominations were unveiled in December, Emilia Pérez made history with an extraordinary 10 nominations—the most ever for a film in the Musical/Comedy category. Including for the three female stars:

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Karla Sofía Gascón and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture: Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña

The nominations have placed a bright spotlight on the film’s cast and creatives, as a strong performance at the Globes is often seen as a bellwether for Oscar success.

Here is the full list of Emilia Pérez’s Golden Globe nominations:

• Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
• Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language: Emilia Pérez (France)
• Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Karla Sofía Gascón
• Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture: Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña
• Best Director – Motion Picture: Jacques Audiard
• Best Screenplay – Motion Picture: Jacques Audiard
• Best Original Score – Motion Picture: Clément Ducol, Camille
• Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
  • “El Mal” – Music by Clément Ducol, Camille; Lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard
  • “Mi Camino” – Music & Lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille

As the awards season officially kicks off, Emilia Pérez seems poised to be a defining presence. Whether this Golden Globes momentum translates to Oscar glory remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: all eyes are firmly on this groundbreaking film and its exceptional team.

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The nine minutes standing ovation of French director Jacques Audiard’s latest film Emilia Perez at the Cannes Film Festival is a tribute to the Audiard’s vision and the three leads Karla Sofia Gascòn, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez who not only act in Spanish, but also dance and sing – it is a musical after all.

Emilia Perez is a film about cartel drug kingpin Juan “Manitas” del Monte’s  gender transformation into an elegant Spanish lady. It deals with heady topics like drugs, violence and psychology issues and at the end of the day, what money can, or cannot buy.  Saldaña plays Rita Moro Castro, a lawyer who is tasked with handling the legal matters of Manitas’ big shift from cartel kingpin to the women he has always been.  Selena Gomez plays Manitas’ wife Jessi, who after all is said and done, rekindles a relationship with a shady character, Gustavo (Édgar Ramirez) which just might unravel Emilia’s carefully laid family arrangements.

Gascòn, like her character in the film, is Spanish and also a trans woman in real life. This is the first film she has starred in as an actress after announcing her transition in 2018. Before that, she had a long career as a male actor.

Jacques Audiard was inspired for the idea of the musical from a chapter in a novel he read during the pandemic about a drug trafficker who yearns to change his identity.

Saldaña in the role of the lawyer gets to go back to one of her first artistic art forms of expression, dance. She has several dance numbers she performs in Emilia Perez as well as singing a couple of songs.  As for acting in Spanish, she is she is fluent. Although born in Passaic, New Jersey, when she was 10 years old her family moved back to the Dominican Republic for seven years.

Gomez, on the other hand told Vanity Fair in a recent interview, that the “Scariest thing was speaking in Spanish, for sure,” but what she ended up realizing, while singing in Spanish in the film, is that she sings better in Spanish than speaking it.

Audiard (winner of the Palme d’Or with Dheepan in 2015) started writing the film during the pandemic, after being inspired from a chapter in a novel about a drug trafficker who yearns to change his identity. The film has emerged as one of Cannes 2024’s biggest hits among critics and audiences alike.

Emilia Perez takes place in Mexico but was filmed mostly in France with a few location shoots in Mexico.  The film is set to release August 28, 2024

The post Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofia Gascòn in ‘Emilia Perez’ Take Cannes by Storm first appeared on .

Reynolds plays a time-traveling pilot who must team up with his younger self and his late father to save the future — and come to terms with his past. Saldana stars as Laura, the missing love of the adult Adam. Walker Scobell plays Adam’s younger version, with Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner playing the boy’s parents.

The film is directed by Shawn Levy, an Oscar-nominated producer of the sci-fi movie Arrival and multiple-Primetime Emmy-nominated producer of the sci-fi popular series Stranger Things.

Casting the film was Carmen Cuba, a filmmaker of Peruvian descent who reportedly lived both in Peru and Bolivia. Cuba has won two Emmys for her casting of the TV series Stranger Things and Behind the Candelabra. She also cast Vida for Starz. Most recently she cast the films, Hillbilly Elegy, The Matrix Resurrections and The Power of the Dog. Past film credits include Boy Erased, The Martian and the Magic Mike franchise.

The Adam Project will debut March 11.

The post ‘The Adam Project’: Starring Zoe Saldana first appeared on .

Written by Roberto Leal

The Netflix animated mini-Series Maya and the Three is a colorful, action-packed adventure tale that reminds us of the little-known and rarely shown great mythology of Mesoamerica and the ancient civilizations from which they came. Thanks to Maya and the Three the mythology of Mesoamerica will take its place alongside those of Greece, Rome, Asia and England.

THE QUEST

All great myth stories involve the hero embarking on a journey in a quest for something that will bring change or resolution to a problem. It can be a Golden Fleece, a Holy Grail or a sword embrued with magical powers. It often means the hero has to cross a threshold into a different world or realm.

Maya, the Princess of Teca, balks at becoming a mere royal diplomat. She wants to become a warrior and seek out and destroy the evil god of the underworld who threatens the existence of all humanity.  Zoe Saldana (Avatar) is the perfect voice-over actor to portray Maya. Beginning with her role in Avatar and other action-adventure films, the actress is the live-action embodiment of a warrior princess. But in Maya and the Three, Saldana uses only her voice acting skills to project a sense of physicality and urgency to Maya. The temptation is to go over the top and turn Maya into a one-dimensional, strident character. But Saldana controls and modulates her vocal performance and gives Maya nuanced emotional notes especially when she makes mistakes and wrestles with regrets and doubts. Saldana makes Maya a hero the audience can emphasize and cheer on to victory.

However, in order to achieve that victory over the evil god of the underworld, Maya recruits three legendary fighters to help her in her cause. Rico (Allen Maldonado, Heels), Pichu (Gabriel Iglesias, Fieldhand) and Chimi (Stephanie Beatriz, Brooklyn Nine Nine) join Maya on her quest. All three are fearless fighters. All three are flawed and bring their own personal baggage to the journey. Not only do they fight the evil god of the underworld but also battle their personal demons.

A TRIUMPH OF ANIMATION

Jorge R. Gutiérrez is the artistic and creative genius behind the visual landscape of the fantasy world of Maya and the Three. Gutiérrez’s deft drawing hand is responsible for the animation in The Book of Life, El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera, Space Punch plus many other Latino-themed animated shorts and TV series.

But Maya and the Three is by far his most ambitious undertaking to date. “I love those great Hong Kong martial arts movies,” says Gutérrez. “I was inspired by the choreography of those martial arts fight sequences.” Gutierrez points out all the time, effort and detail that went into choreographing the fight senses in Maya and the Three. “Every episode ends with a totally different fight sequence,” declares Guitérrez with a hint of pride. He goes on to effusively discuss what inspires his approach to animation.

“The animation style in Maya and the Three is very much a love letter to everything I love,” says Guitérrez. “I love Japanese animation. I love the classic American rubber hose animation of the ’30s.” Gutiérrez continues, “I also love super-flat, super-stylized European animation from the ‘50s.” And finally, Gutiérrez concludes with, “I love stop motion. I also love imperfect folk art because it reflects the humanity of the artist.”

That’s a whole lot of loving for one animator. Regardless, Gutiérrez uses colors from all those influential palettes and creates an animated fantasy world that reflects not only his humanity but that of his characters as well.

MEXICO IN THE MIST

The classic Mesoamerican civilizations of the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayans and Aztecs are the inspiration and backdrop for the fantasy landscape of Maya and the Three. In every episode, we see the temples and pyramids that were found in Teotihuacán, Chichen Itza and Cholula that equaled anything built in Egypt. The names are slightly changed. For example, Maya is the Princess of Teca. Teca? Could that be shorthand for Toltec? One of Maya’s legendary fighters is named Pichu, which is a nod to the city of Machu Pichu of the majestic Inca Empire. And of course, there’s our hero, Maya, her name refers to the Mayans who built enormous cities in the jumble, developed a lunar calendar and invented the mathematical concept of “zero.”

The characters can often be heard speaking words or phrases in Spanish. But wait! ¡Uno memento, por favor! This fantasy story is set in an epoch long before the Spanish Conquest. So where did these folks learn Spanish? Was thee some ancient Berlitz course we are not aware of?

No, Gutiérrez is just taking a little historical poetic license to impress on us Maya and the Three is about the past cultural glories and legacy of Mexico that, as proud Latinos, is our treasured heritage.

AN ALL-STAR CAST OF VOICES

The list of actors who lent their voices to Maya and the Three reads like a Who’s Who of Latino Hollywood: Kate del Castillo, Cheech Marin, Rita Moreno, Rosie Perez, Sandra Equihua, Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Alfred Molina. Even Queen Latifah gets in on the fun. But it’s the strength, power and humanity of Saldana’s voiceover as Maya, Warrior Princess, that draws us through episode after episode on this action-packed adventure fantasy ride to its thrilling conclusion.

Maya and the Three is currently streaming on Netflix.

MAYA AND THE THREE

Cast: Zoe Saldana, Allen Maldonnado, Stephanie Beatriz,Gabriel Iglesias, Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Diego Luna, Dee Bradley Baker, Sandra Equihua, Grey Griffin, Alfred Molina, Carlos Alazraqui, Eric Bauza, Stephanie Beatriz, Kate del Castillo, Rita Moreno, Queen Latifah, Jeff Ranjo, Cheech Marin, Gabriel Iglesias, Joaquín Cosío, Hailey Hermida, John DiMaggio, Isabela Merced, Carolina Ravassa, Gael García Bernal, Chelsea Rendon, Wyclef Jean, Danny Trejo, Rosie Perez and Raphael Alejandro. Additional voices: Alanna Ubach and Andy Santana.

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Hamilton and In the Heights actor Lin-Manuel Miranda is busier than ever. Recently it was announced that he will be making his directorial debut in Tic Toc Boom and now his latest VO for an animated character, in Netflix’s new musical film Vivo will premiering on Friday, August 6.

Academy Award nominee Miranda is the leading voice in this mix of rom-com and adventure for kids and adults, whose cast also features Zoe Saldana (Avatar series), actress, singer and composer Gloria Estefan and Juan de Marcos González, a singer of the Buena Vista Social Club featured in the eponymous Oscar-nominated documentary about Cuba’s iconic music ensemble. Miranda does double duty on Vivo as he is one of the composers along with Alex Lacamoire |(The Greatest Showman).

The story and screenplay are by Oscar-nominated director and writer Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) and Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights).

Directed DeMicco and Brandon Jeffords, Vivo follows a lovable one-of-kind kinkajou, a.k.a. a rainforest “honey bear” (Miranda), who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés (González).

Tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous singer Marta Sandoval (Estefan), inviting her old partner to her farewell concert with the hope of reconnecting. It’s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could: A love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. But to get to Marta, who lives a world apart, Vivo will need the help of Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo), an energetic tween who bounces to the beat of her own offbeat drum, to fulfill his owner’s wishes.

Other Vivo cast members include Michael Rooker, Brian Tyree, Nicole Byer, Leslie David Baker, Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo and Lidya Jewett. Other talents who contribute voices to the film are Oscar Camacho, Eileen Galindo, Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez, Richard Miro, Paloma Morales, Christian Ochoa, Susan Oliveras and Arianna Rosario.

Miranda has voiced animated characters previously, including the TV series DuckTales for Disney, BoJack Horseman for Netflix, Nina’s World for Universal Kids and the short Polar Bears. While he didn’t lend his voice to Disney’s animated film Moana, he wrote the movie’s theme “How Far I’ll Go” that earned him an Oscar nom.

Vivo premiered July 30, 2021, and is scheduled for a digital release on Netflix on August 6, 2021.

Featured Photo: Vivo and Andrés in ‘Vivo’ (Credit: Neflix/SPAI)

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Actresses Zoe Saldana and Anya Taylor-Joy are part of the illustrious list of actors who have signed on to Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell’s (American Hustle) new “untitled film” currently filming in Los Angeles. 

The incredible list of actors attached to this project, is a literal who’s who of Hollywood heavyweights, a comedic legend, and some of Hollywood’s hottest talents.  The list includes:  Academy award-winning actor Robert De Niro and the versatile Christian Bale.  They join two comedic legends and Saturday Night Live alumni Chris Rock and Mike Meyers. Academy Award winner Rami Malek, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington were some of the first actors cast last year.

Saldana is best known for her roles in multiple major Hollywood action and sci-fi film franchises. Her first major franchise role was as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In 2009, Saldana starred in two of the biggest contemporary franchises to date, first in the reboot of Star Trek as Uhura and second and most notably as Neytiri in Avatar.  Saldana is set to reprise her role of Neytiri in four more of the upcoming Avatar sequels, two of which have already been filmed with two more in production.

Taylor-Joy, the Argentine-British actress, gained acting notoriety in the chilling horror film The Witch as the lead Thomasin. She was a regular in the Netflix TV series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the BBC’s Atlantis, and HBO Max’s Peaky Blinders. However it was her magnetic performance in the lead role as Beth Harmon in the Netflix wildly popular limited series The Queen’s Gambit that has put her acting career in full throttle.

Russell has also brought on board one of the most notable cinematographers in the business, Mexican born Emmanuel Lubezki, who has gained international notoriety for his breathtaking visuals. Among Lubezki’s highest awards are three Oscars and three BAFTA awards, won three years in a row, for Gravity, Birdman, and The Revenant.  

It takes a three-time, Oscar nominated director with Russell’s track record of films like American Hustle, Silver Lining Playbook, and Three Kings to pull together such a noted cast for one film.  

Not much has been revealed about the storyline of this film, other than it is a comedy written by Russell, based on an original idea of his.

Featured Photo: Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

The post Saldana and Taylor-Joy Join All-Star David O. Russell Film first appeared on .

Hollywood has a long and notorious history of casting white actors to play non-white roles. It goes as far back to D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), in which white actors, in blackface, played African Americans.

That tradition has played out in the Latino community far too often as well. Too frequently, high-profile Latino characters in major motion pictures are played by non-Latino actors. The list is long, but here is a small sampling.

Wallace Beery – The Huggable Pancho

Wallace Beery in Viva Villa! (1934). As a kid, I loved Beery as Pancho Villa.  Beery portrayed the infamous bandit and revolutionary as a lovable, tender-hearted, man-child, bigamist and murderous rebel hero all wrapped up in one big Gringo Panda Bear.

That was the Wallace Beery persona, but nowhere near the real, historical Pancho Villa who was a hero of the Mexican Revolution who at one point was the Governor of Chihuahua (1913-1914). During that time he sent his men to help harvest crops, ordered the repair of railways and telegraph lines, and imposed a ruthless code of law and order.  U.S. Army General John J. Pershing was sent to capture Villa, but never caught him because of Villa’s guerrilla warfare tactics that are still taught at West Point.

However flawed, inaccurate and tone-deaf Berry’s Pancho Villa is today, it’s certainly easier to endure than Yul Brenner’s Pancho Villa in Villa Rides (1968). Really, a bald Villa (with a hairpiece) with a Russian accent?  Nyet!

The Inappropriate “Touch of Evil“

But even more offensive and off-key than the King of Siam (Brenner also played him in The King and I) was Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) playing Mexican American cop, Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil. Heston came across as authentic as a knock-off pair of Levi’s from Bangladesh.

Was Gilbert Roland not available?

Not only was Roland a real Latino. He had a real mustache. Heston’s mustache looked like it had been painted on with shoe polish by Groucho Marx. And, more importantly, Roland had acting chops.  He was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award, for his roles in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Elsa Cárdenas Paradox

Then there’s the curious case of Elsa Cárdenas. The Tijuana-born, Mexican beauty was cast as Juana in the epic movie, Giant. Cárdenas was as Mexican as a Sunday morning, spicy bowl of “menudo” for a Saturday night, multiple beer and tequila shot induced hangover. But she was light-skinned. The producers felt her skin tone didn’t contrast enough with her white pale-faced co-stars

They solved the problem by using dark make-up on Señorita Cárdenas to make her look more Mexican. Thus, Elsa Cárdenas unwittingly became the first Latina to play a Mexican in brown face.

Turnabout is Fair Play

But on the other hand, we had Ricardo Montalban playing a Japanese kabuki performer with a Mexican accent in Sayonara (1957).  His accent also served him well for the title role in Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  In neither of those films did his accent come into question. Ajua! 

Anthony Quinn has portrayed every conceivable ethnic character; Greek, French, Mongol, Italian, to name a few. Who knew Zorba the Greek sounded like a Chicano from Boyle Heights!  This Chicano took home the 1952 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Emiliano Zapata’s brother, Eufemio in Viva Zapata.  Four years later he took the Oscar in the same category for his role as Paul Gaugin in Lust for Life in 1956.  Did someone say “talented Chicano”?

Latino Military Heroes are MIA in Film

 Latinos, especially Mexican Americans, have heroically fought in America’s military since the Civil War, receiving more Congressional Medal of Honors, the highest military honor, than any other ethnic group per capita. Shamefully, not one Hollywood war movie has ever had a Latino war hero as the main character.

Force of Arms (1951) which starred William Holden chronicles the hard-fought, battlefield exploits of the 36^th Infantry division from South Texas in the Italian campaign which was made up primarily of Mexicans, and Mexican Americans, yet in the film, not one character has a Spanish surname. In Hollywood war movies, all the GI’s are named either Jim, Mac or Smitty. Javier, Rogelio, and Manuel are nowhere to be found.

Flash forward to the 2012 Oscar-nominated film Argo based on the life of CIA agent Tony Mendez.  In 1980 Mendez orchestrated a dangerous clandestine operation that resulted in the rescue of six American diplomats from Tehran, during the height of the Iranian Hostage Crisis.  Ben Affleck who produced the film cast himself in the role.

Mendez’s legendary covert exploits, as a CIA agent, make Jack Ryan look like a file clerk in an insurance office. 

Affleck, whose acting credits have produced more turkeys than Sanderson Farms and Butterball combined (Gigli, Daredevil, Pearl Harbor), plays a real life Mexican American hero. As a result, a survey of audience members who saw Argo, had no idea Mendez was a Latino. Wonder why?

But Seriously Folks

It’s time for Hollywood to realize letting Latinos play Latinos in prominent lead roles, with or without an accent, is not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do, from a profit point of view.

Latino are the #1 filmgoing audience, attending films at an average of 4.5 times annually as opposed to Caucasians who attend an average of 3.2 times.

But that doesn’t mean Latinos can’t also play non-Latino characters, and that is happening a bit more. Jennifer Lopez, Oscar Issac, and Zoe Saldana have all made that “crossover”. However, it is not the norm.

Until then I offer creative casting possibilities. Danny Trejo would have brought a welcome edginess and menace to the role of Mr. Rogers in It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

The post They Couldn’t Even Roll Their “R’s” first appeared on .

By Bel Hernandez

The fact that Gloria Calderon Kellett, Executive Producer/Showrunner (One Day At a Time) signed an “overall deal” with Amazon Studios this past week is a major “Big Deal”. For starters, this would be a major accomplishment for any woman in Hollywood, the fact that she is Latina puts her in an elite group.

This is not Calderon Kellett’s first TV deal. Her hit show, the adaptation of Norman Lear’s One Day At A Time, she worked with writing partner Mike Royce, falls under their current overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, which lapses in June 2020. At the time of this deal’s lapse, her three-year overall deal with Amazon begins.

Calderon Kellett belongs to an elite group of Latinas that have secured deals at TV or cable networks. Other Latinas who have had or still have production deals are America Ferrera with a deal at NBC/Universal; Salma Hayek with an overall film deal at Lionsgate; Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) has a TV overall deal with CBS; Zoe Saldana whose deal with DreamWorks Animation’s AwesomenessTV is to produce original content for the company’s forthcoming Awestruck service; and Eva Longoria who has had two deals, one with ABC under which she produced Telenovela and one with Fox Studios under which she produced the recent Grand Hotel which also aired on ABC.

However, Calderon Kellett’s Amazon deal has the distinction of being a three-year deal and she is the first-ever Latina writer/creator to sign an eight figures deal.

Calderon Kellett began her career in entertainment as a playwright whose scripts went on to win distinction and awards. She did stand up, writing her own comedy routines before turning to a career writing for TV. In 2005 she joined the writer’s room on How I Met Your Mother and she has worked herself to the top of her game from there.

Calderon Kellett is not only making news as an Executive Producer/Showrunner she has also joined the small ranks of woman directors in Hollywood and is one of only a handful of Latinas who have taken their turn directing for TV. While on hiatus from producing One Day at a Time, she directed an episode of the reboot series Mad About You. Her other directing credits include having directed episodes on One Day At A Time and Mr. Iglesias on Netflix.

When Netflix canceled One Day at a Time earlier this year after the third season, there was a social media uproar with audiences and critics alike calling for its return. Netflix did not reverse the cancellation, however, the series was picked up by POP TV giving them a fourth season which is set to premiere in the Spring of 2020.

With Latino TV writers as a whole only making up 2.8%  of all writers staffed on TV shows, the percentage of Latinas, derived from that percentage is much smaller. With that in mind, what Calderon Kellett has accomplished becomes even more impactful as this twice Emmy nominated and Peabody Award nominee only getting started.

The Latino community is lagging when it comes to TV writers and more specifically executive producers/showrunners. This community needs a prolific writer/showrunner with not just one, but several Latino series on the air. Longoria has been leading in this area, with having had two series in the past five years go to series. Both Telenovela (under the ABC deal) and Grand Hotel under the FOX deal aired on ABC. Both these series starred an all Latino cast, however, both were canceled after only one season.

Calderon Kellett’s One Day at A Time already a three seasons series will premiere its 4th season on POP TV. And, if Calderon Kellett chooses to produce more Latino themed content under her Amazon deal, she would be the front runner for the title of “the Latina Shonda Rhimes”. It’s a tall order, but given Calderon Kellet’s track record, it could well be a possibility.

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