To avoid repeating the words of many before me, seeing someone like yourself on the screen can make your day, week, month, or even year. As a kid, I grew tired of the satirical “Latino” character and never truly seeing my culture represented. Recently though, there has been a shift as Latinos/Hispanics are becoming noticed more throughout America. This has become more apparent to me in recent years as more Latino/Hispanic actors have been gaining a mass amount of popularity at the box office and on streaming sites. To see people who speak as my family, who share similar childhood experiences, or even have a nose like mine reaching such high levels of success fills me with giddy joy and I’d like to share just a few of those people with you.
Pedro Pascal
Unless you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t consumed any media through television, streaming sites, or Tik Tok, you have heard of Pedro Pascal. Pascal was born in Santiago, Chile, and has been auditioning for roles since he was 20 years old. It wasn’t until his role on Game of Thrones in 2014 that he found significant fame. Since then, Pedro has only been booking small gigs (joking). You may have heard of Narcos, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and The Mandalorian. Most recently he starred in the hit show, The Last of Us and has taken the internet by storm, gaining massive popularity with the younger generation with his wonderful personality. I will admit Pedro has taken over my TikTok for-you page, shout out pedro-tok, the edits are actually insane.
MJ Rodriguez
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez took the world by storm the moment she walked on screen as Blanca in season one of Pose in 2018. Pose shared a look into what ballroom culture started as well as the black and brown backs it was created on. Rodriguez was not only a beacon of representation for afro-latino viewers but also for the transgender community as she became the first transgender woman to win a Golden Globe. Since Pose, she has also starred in the Netflix movie Tik Tik Boom and A Black Lady Sketch Show. I wish her all the success in the world and hope she graces our screens again soon.
Xochitl Gomez
This Mexican-American actress entered the scene with her role as Dawn Schafer in Netflix’s adaptation of The Babysitter’s Club. Gomez, by her name alone, has been making waves since she gained major popularity after starring as America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She has grown in popularity with her generation, Gen-Z on TikTok where she does dancing trends, shares behind-the-scenes of films she is or was involved in, and just being her true self. In an interview with People magazine en Espanol, she said, “Growing up, I never really saw anyone who looked like me, probably like most Latino girls. It was like our lives weren’t interesting enough to entertain people, which is completely not true at all.” Her personality, fashion, and message have been a breath of fresh air and I hope she continues to show other young Latina women, they can do anything they put their minds to.
Tenoch Huerta
Tenoch Huerta is a Mexican actor that has starred in films in Latin America and Spain but recently rose to fame in the U.S. due to his role as Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film explores the culture and history of indigenous people on the Yucatan Peninsula and is one of the few major films that show some of the atrocities of Spanish colonization. Huerta spoke to The Wrap about the importance of representation saying, “In terms of representation, what we want to show to the people about us, the representation of us, made by us.” He has also shared his experience with colorism in casting throughout Hollywood and how even within the Latino casting, those with lighter complexions are chosen over those like him, who are darker.
Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac Hernández Estrada was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and made his major acting debut in 2006 as Joseph in The Nativity Story (weirdly enough Joseph was one of my first crushes as a child because of Isaac). Since then, Isaac has starred in multiple films and tv shows such as blockbusters like X-Men Apocalypse, Star Wars: Episodes VII, VII, and IX, Dune, Scenes from a Marriage, and Moonknight. Now I’m not one to play favorites, but Isacc has been a major point of representation throughout my life. I can remember seeing his side profile when I was younger and thinking “He has a nose just like mine,” and such a trivial thing proves how important representation is for kids all around the world.