Emmys Recap: Liza Colón-Zayas Makes History, John Leguizamo Talks Latinx Representation

The 76th annual Emmy awards featured historic moments for Latinas this year and representation was front and center during the Sept. 15 show. Mexican American actress Selena Gomez (for Only Murders in the Building), Colombian actress Sofia Vergara (for Griselda), Mexican actress Nava Mau (for Baby Reindeer) made history with their nominations. Gomez was the most Emmy-nominated Latina producer in the history of the awards and this is also the first time she’s received an Emmy for acting.This is Vergara’s fifth Emmy Award nomination, but the Barranquilla-born actress is also the first Latina born in Latin America nominated for the Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category. Mau’s nomination makes her the first trans woman and first trans Latina to be nominated in her award category. However the Latina who made history was Puerto Rican actress Liza Colón-Zayas who became the first Latina to win best supporting actress in a comedy series. The 52-year-old actress won for her role as Tina Marrero on the FX series The Bear, this was her first Emmy nomination and win.

During her speech she took a moment to give Latinas a shoutout: “And to all the Latinas who are looking at me, keep believing and vote. Vote for your rights.”

In the press room following her win, she talked more about why she felt that was an important message to share and how she was in “awe” of her support system. “Of the people supporting me this whole time and that we feel seen as brown and Black women, that we do not have an expiration date and that we all vote. If I could have a microphone just once, that’s what I want to get across.”

The importance of community and representation was also at the core of what actor John Leguizamo said during his speech. The Colombian-born actor has used his platform to advocate for better and more diverse representation including paying for a full-page New York Times ad in June urging Emmy voters to choose BIPOC candidates.

He started off referring to himself as a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) hire: “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,” he said. “Everyone in this room tonight has dedicated their lives to diligence, excellence and imagination, so we all are DEI hires.” The term is often used to refer to the importance of diversity in all industries though that doesn’t always happen despite individuals designated to bring in DEI hires. This is also being viewed as a jab at the GOP for citing Vice President Kamala Harris’s gender and race as reasons for her not to be qualified for the job of president and that she was a DEI hire.

Leguizamo has been known for using his platform to raise awareness of the importance of Latinx representation and knowing Latinx history. He co-created the three-part series American Historia with John Leguizamo, which premiere this fall on PBS, to highlight the history and overlooked contributions of our community. During his Emmys speech, he emphasized the importance of speaking up versus continuing to let our work and the need for progress go unrecognized.

“For years, I didn’t complain about the limited roles my people were offered — the spicy sex pot, the Latin lover, the maid, the gang banger. Turns out, not complaining doesn’t change anything,” the star of Broadway’s Latin History for Morons said.

Through the decades, we’ve seen Latinx characters either stereotyped or played by non-Latinx actors and when representation is already limited as it is, it leads to erasure and inauthentic representation. He recognized the limited and stereotypical representation we did get through Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy (played by Cuban actor Desi Arnaz) and Speedy Gonzalez and Slowpoke Rodriguez as Mexican animated characters in the Looney Tunes. But more often, he saw non-Latinx actors playing Latinx roles and earning recognition for those roles.

“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 [in Scarface] and Natalie Wood played a Puerto Rican beauty named Maria,” he said, “Everybody played us. That’s how we saw ourselves, because that’s all we saw of ourselves.”

Though the films he’s referring to where decades ago (Scarface was released in 1983 and Viva Zapata was released in 1952), not much has changed in that time. According to a UCLA Hollywood Diversity in Film report, Latinx (8.9 percent) persons continued to be severely underrepresented among all roles in top streaming films in 2023.

He did take time to praise the progress that had been made at the Emmys including the diverse group of nominees and advocate for more BIPOC storytelling.

“What I see here tonight makes me, well, almost happy and certainly less angry, because tonight is among the most diverse list of nominees in Emmy history. We need more stories from excluded groups: Black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+ and disabled. And this show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress.”