10 of Our Favorite Romantic Comedies Starring Latinx Actors

One of our favorite ways to enjoy quality time with our partner — and honestly, alone time too —  is to watch one of our favorite romantic comedies.  There are plenty of rom-coms we love watching over and over, like How To Be A Latin Lover and Our Family Wedding, as well as new favorites like Marry Me starring rom-com queen Jennifer Lopez. We still don’t get to see many Latinxs in major films including romantic comedies so we want to spotlight some of our favorites from over the years that feature Latinx actors and actresses. Here are 10 romantic comedies with Latinx stars including Eva Mendes, Jennifer Lopez, and Salma Heyek that we love.

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Hitch

Video: YouTube/Sony Picture Home Entertainment

Will Smith and Cuban American Eva Mendes have major chemistry in Hitch where they portray a dating coach and a gossip columnist, respectively. Throughout the film, Smith’s character, Alex Hitchens, faces challenges when his own coaching techniques fail to work on Sara Melas, played by Mendes. While we already know Smith has comedic chops, we loved see Mendes shine in a comedy role.

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Marry Me

Video: YouTube/Universal Pictures

JLo, considered one of the queens of rom-coms, teamed up with Colombian superstar Maluma in Marry Me where they both singing sensations who are engaged for a bit as Kat and Bastian, respectively. When she discovers he was unfaithful right before their on-stage wedding,  she decides to marry Charlie (Owen Wilson) who was in the audience. The film is self-aware enough to acknowledge the crazy premise and fun thanks to the charisma of the whole cast.

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How To Be A Latin Lover

Video: YouTube/Lionsgate Movies

Eugenio Derbez has played many characters that have made us laugh for years now, and once again he cracks us up in the 2017 film How To Be A Latin Lover. He plays Maximo who gets dumped by his wealthy, 80-year-old wife for a younger man and is forced to adjust to life without money. He moves in with his sister, played by Salma Hayek, but comes up with a plan to seduce another wealthy woman and return to the high life.  We also love that Raphael Alejandro, who is of Brazilian and Panamanian decent, is in the film. Derbez totally leans into the over-the-top Latin lover stereotype in the best way.

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Fools Rush In

Video: YouTube/TGNetwork

Mexican American actress Salma Hayek starred in the 1997 rom-com, Fools In Rush, alongside Mathew Perry. The duo play a couple who end up getting pregnant after a one-night stand in none other than Las Vegas. Hayek is portrayed as a passionate Latina while Perry plays a WASP and their cultural differences and families add pressure to the relationship yet, in true rom-com fashion, love prevails.

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Like Water for Chocolate

Video: YouTube/HD Retro Trailers

Mexican actress Lumi Cavazos won the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo Film Festival in 1992 for her role in  Like Water for Chocolate. Her character, Tita, is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro, because she must take care of her mother. And although Pedro continues to love Tita, he marries her older sister. Tita’s complicated emotions get infused into her cooking and anyone who consumes it feels those very same emotions. The book is beloved for its portrayal of love and magical realism and this adaptation delivers.

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Everybody Loves Somebody

Video: YouTube/Movieclips Indie

Karla Souza stars in Everybody Loves Somebody with Jose Maria Yazpik and Ximena Romo. Souza portrays Clara Barron, a successful Latina who has everything but struggles in the love department. When she gets invited to a wedding, she gets one of her co-workers to act as her boyfriend but she faces a problem when she sees her ex at the ceremony.

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Mosquita y Mari

Video: YouTube/HBOLatino

 Fenessa Pineda and Venecia Troncoso star in the 2012 film Mosquita y Mari, hailed as one of the best lesbian films by Autostraddle. They play two Chicana students who are assigned study partners and end up creating a bond that may be out of the norm, especially for their culture. Aurora Guerrero, a queer Chicana writer-director, wrote and directed the coming-of-age film.

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Our Family Wedding

Video: YouTube/SearchlightPictures

One of our favorite things about this movie is that it blends two different cultures through a wedding so you know it’s gonna get wild. America Ferrera plays Lucia, a Latina who is planning a wedding with her African American fiancee. Both their fathers get involved in the wedding planning and their competitive nature ends up putting a lot of stress on the couple on their special day. Comedian Carlos Mencia does a fantastic job depicting what a Latino dad goes through on his daughter’s wedding day and that is what makes the movie so fun to watch.

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Chasing Papi

Video: YouTube/Cinelatino

Chasing Papi (2003) stars Sofia Vergara, Roselyn Sanchez, and Jaci Velasquez — talk about Latina Power on the big screen. Vergara plays an emotional waitress, Sanchez is a very detailed lawyer, and Velasquez portrays a socialite with way too much time on her hands. All three women unknowingly date the same man until they all decide to visit him in Los Angeles and then they learn the truth and a series of events unravel affecting each of them.

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Someone Great

Video: YouTube/Netflix

Gina Rodriguez starred and produced  the Netflix original film, Someone Great, that’s not exactly a rom-com but it has its moments of joy that you can’t help but feel good watching despite the heartbreak. Rodriguez plays Jenny, a music journalist based in NYC who gets dumped right before she’s about to move to San Francisco for a job. She decides to enjoy a final outing with her two closest friends while she mourns the loss of a nine-year-relationship. The girlfriends provide the humor and fun and it’s ultimately a celebration of moving on to the next great chapter in life while recognizing the good, even if it has to come to an end.