Texas Border Business
By Melissa Vasquez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – SEPT. 25, 2020 – This fall semester, the Distinguished Speaker Series was a little different as UTRGV students experienced the annual event, featuring the prolific John Leguizamo, from the comfort of their own homes.
Leguizamo, a multi-faceted performer and Emmy Award winner, kicked off the 17th season of the university’s series, which is free to UTRGV students, staff and faculty, in a virtual format.
The actor originally was scheduled to participate in the series, hosted by Student Activities, in person in April, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic was rescheduled for Thursday, Sept. 25.
Dr. Greg Selber, a 20-year journalism professor at UTRGV, moderated the event and introduced Leguizamo to the audience as “hilariously informative.”
“We are lucky to have this man with us tonight,” Selber said.
Leguizamo, who dubbed himself “JLegs” on the virtual screen, talked about his inspirations and how a kid from Queens, New York, made his dreams a reality.
“I never got into this business to be famous, I got into it because I loved the craft,” he said.
His advice to students looking to break into the business was to learn and never stop learning.
“Find the best teacher in your community, in your area, and study. Learn the craft, and then you can throw down with anybody,” Leguizamo said.
He also discussed a hot topic in Hollywood – the lack of Latino/Latinx representation in the industry – telling UTRGV students that “1 percent of the stories (in Hollywood) are yours.”
“We’re almost 20 percent of the population. …Why aren’t they putting us in shows and why aren’t they telling our stories?” he said.
Leguizamo stars in and directed his most recent film, “Critical Thinking,” about a dedicated teacher who inspires a group of Latinx and Black teens to become chess champions. The film took him two decades to complete because of constant rejections and, as he puts it, there are “no Latin executives who appreciate our culture.”
As for how he has spent his time during the pandemic, Leguizamo said he has gotten to spend a lot of time with his grown children and play lots of board games. He said he considers himself a “board game freak.”
“This pandemic is so interesting because it took so much away from us, but it also gave us a lot of things. … I had a chance to really write about the things that I was passionate about without distraction,” he said.
