John Leguizamo says he's 'humiliated' by his role in Regarding Henry: 'Talking about it gives me ...

The actor said it was &34;like Jim Crow&34; attempting to work in Hollywood as a Latino in the early '90s: &34;There were no jobs for Latin folk.&34; John Legui

The actor said it was "like Jim Crow" attempting to work in Hollywood as a Latino in the early '90s: "There were no jobs for Latin folk."

John Leguizamo says he's 'humiliated' by his role in Regarding Henry: 'Talking about it gives me PTSD'

The actor said it was "like Jim Crow" attempting to work in Hollywood as a Latino in the early '90s: "There were no jobs for Latin folk."

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Published on August 19, 2025 04:31PM EDT

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John Leguizamo in 'Regarding Henry'. Credit:

Paramount Pictures

- Actor John Leguizamo said he feels "humiliated" by his role in Mike Nichols' 1991 film *Regarding Henry*.

- Leguizamo played a robber at a time when he says working as a Latino in Hollywood "was like Jim Crow."

- "I did it because I got no jobs. There were no jobs for Latin folk," he said.

One of actor John Leguizamo's first significant roles in a major movie is now marred in the actor's mind.

The performer revealed on the *Fly on the Wall* podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade that his supporting part in director Mike Nichols' 1991 film *Regarding Henry* doesn't sit well with him amongst his body of work, as he thinks the character is a poor representative for his community.

"You know, I was kind of humiliated by it. I did it because I got no jobs. There were no jobs for Latin folk. There just weren't," he said in response to Spade asking him about the film, which starred Harrison Ford as a lawyer who loses the ability to talk after he's shot when a robber (Leguizamo) attempts to hold up a New York City bodega.

"There were no opportunities," Leguizamo stressed of attempting to find work in the early '90s as a Latino actor.**

John Leguizamo attends the 76th Emmy Awards.

Stewart Cook/Disney via Getty

Leguizamo said the landscape of Hollywood at the time "was like Jim Crow," and cited that the list of characters available "was like white doctor, white lawyer, white husband, white lover, Latino drug dealer."**

The comedian and actor said he begged his agent to get him in the room with those casting projects, so he could recite David Mamet monologues in an attempt to win roles, but that his team told him that those in power wouldn't see him at all.

"They just weren't casting us," Leguizamo told Carvey and Spade. "When I got *Regarding Henry*, it was a drug dealer. I shoot this white guy. It was like, I'm perpetrating what they want to see, which is negative Latino images. I didn't want to participate in that, but I really wanted to meet Mike Nichols because he's one of the greats."

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Leguizamo said he ultimately took the part because of the opportunity to work with Nichols and Ford, but he doesn't like looking back on it.

"Even talking about it gives me PTSD," Leguizamo added, before Carvey asked if he was ever asked to "Latin it up a little more" for a part.

"They didn't have to say that to me as much. I was the flavor they were looking for, like a ghetto hoodrat," he remembered. "I had been working against that. All my acting teachers, when I was 17, they were like, 'No one can understand you with that accent. Do you really speak that way?'"

John Leguizamo attends 'The Green Veil' screening on April 23, 2024 in New York City.

John Lamparski/Getty

Since then, Leguizamo mounted a successful career on the big screen, landing parts in *Carlito's Way*, *Romeo + Juliet*, *Summer of Sam*, *Moulin Rouge!*, and a Golden Globe-nominated role in 1995's *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. *He also won an Emmy for his 1998 stand-up special *John Leguizamo: Freak. *

Leguizamo has long spoken out about equality in the entertainment industry, including urging the TV Academy to honor more Latino talent in a 2024 open letter one year after he slammed the latest *Super Mario Bros.* animated movie over a lack of Latino representation.

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"No, I will not be watching," Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 live-action *Super Mario Bros. *film, told *TMZ* when asked if he'd watch the 2023 animated adaptation of the Nintendo franchise. "They could've included a Latin character. I was groundbreaking, and they stopped the groundbreaking."**

Watch Leguizamo's full interview on *Fly on the Wall* above.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Movies"

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Source: VOGUE MAG

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