Latinx Performers Who Have Won Academy Awards

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

This story was originally published on HelloGiggles.com

It's a fact: Hollywood struggles with race. The conversation extends beyond nominations - it's about the lack of roles for and stories of people of color. Speaking of limited opportunities and stereotypes, let's not forget Lupe Ontiveros, the latina actress who portrayed a maid more than 150 times in her career.

Historically, there has been an overall underrepresentation of minorities in the entertainment industry - that's why we are so thankful for movements that begin the necessary dialogues around this problem. The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag was created by April Reign, who in a recent interview with The Verge, stated:

In the midst of this lack of color, we wish to remember and honor some of the brilliant latinx performers who have won Academy Awards.

Born in Puerto Rico, José was the first Latino actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for Cyrano de Bergerac. José accepted his award via call in New York. “I know it's kind of conventional to thank people, but I am going to be conventional because I'm sincere,” José said.

Two years later, Antonio Rodolfo Quinn, aka Anthony Quinn, made history. Quinn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for ¡Viva, Zapata !. Then, in 1956, he won again for his role in Lust for Life - becoming the first Mexican - and latino - to win two Oscars in the same category. Expressing deep gratitude and holding his hand to his face, Quinn received his award and said, “Needless to say I am deeply moved.”

But where are the women?

Very few latinas have been nominated, let alone won an Oscar. The boricua Rita Moreno is the first latina to win an Oscar. She won the 8.5 pound statuette for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story. Also - listen to this! - she was the first latina to receive the most coveted honor in Hollwood: an EGOT, which means an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Yes, Rita Moreno did that.

Getty Images / William Lovelace

In 2007, the fantasy-drenched and politically-charged film, Pan's Labyrinth, from Mexican director, Guillermo del Toro, received six Academy Award nominations. Pan's Labyrinth landed three wins: Guillermo Navarro for Cinematography, Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta for Art Direction, and the catalan duo David Martí and Montse Ribé for Make-Up. During the ceremony, we saw Mexican flags waved throughout the winners' speeches. Eugenio Caballero dedicated his award to his mother and “all the filmmakers of his country.”

Warner Bros.

Alejandro won Best Director for The Revenant, previously taking home the Oscar in 2015 for Birdman as well. As soon as I got on stage, Alejandro proudly exclaimed “Thank you!”Most importantly, Iñárritu used his speech to highlight racial issues. They don't listen to you. They see the color of our skin. So what a great opportunity to our generation,”he said,“to really liberate ourselves from all prejudice and this tribal thinking and make sure for once and forever that the color of skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair.”

As April Reign states in her interview with The Verge:

We look forward to seeing more nominees of color and witnessing their stories told on screen. We must support voices that reflect diverse cultural experiences.