John Leguizamo

Born Bogotá, Colombia

John Leguizamo first won over audiences in 1990 as the star and writer of Mambo Mouth: A Savage Comedy, in which he portrayed several different Latinx characters to sold-out off-Broadway theaters. “Doing this play is like the Olympics,” he said of the experience. “This play is like a test to your body, a test and a half.” With his signature fast pace and raunchy humor, he sources much of his material from his own trajectory as a child who grew up in a working-class family in Queens and became a Broadway and Hollywood star.

Leguizamo has played a myriad of characters on film, from a drag queen in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) to the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge (2001). More recently, in response to seeing that Latinx histories were conspicuously ignored in his son’s school textbooks, he wrote and starred in Latin History for Morons (2017) on Broadway.

Nacido en Bogotá, Colombia

John Leguizamo cautivó por primera vez al público en 1990 como estrella y guionista de Mambo Mouth: A Savage Comedy, obra en que interpretaba distintos personajes latinos y que presentó en teatros off-Broadway llenos a capacidad. “Hacer esta obra es como las olimpiadas”, comentó sobre esa experiencia. “Es como una prueba física, una prueba y media”. Con un humor ágil y subido de tono, mucho de su material proviene de su trayecto personal desde un hogar obrero en Queens hasta el estrellato en Broadway y Hollywood.

Leguizamo ha interpretado un sinnúmero de personajes en el cine, desde una drag queen en A Wong Foo, ¡gracias por todo! Julie Newmar (1995) hasta el artista Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec en Moulin Rouge (2001). Más recientemente, al ver que los libros de texto de su hijo ignoraban de forma evidente las historias latinas, escribió y protagonizó Historia latina para tontos (2017) en Broadway.