And the Oscar goes to....4 Latinos actors in the last 20 years
by Argelis V. Wesley
One of the most prestigious awards in the film industry is the Oscar. Throughout its 90 years of existence, this annual award has recognized excellence in cinematographic achievements by Latino directors, actors and industry experts.
The list of Latino actors with an Oscar adds up to seven. The first actor to win an Oscar was Puerto Rican José Ferrer in 1951. Six years later, Mexican actor Anthony Quinn won the award for best supporting actor. In 1962, Puerto Rican Rita Moreno received her Oscar for best secondary actress. It seems that every time we talk about Oscar awards we cannot wonder how is it possible that only seven Spanish-speaking actors have won this award? There is no doubt that there is a crack that has divided Hollywood since its inception: the lack of recognition for minorities. Benicio del Toro and Lupita Nyong'o have expressed their opinions on the recognition of Latin talent.
We must look towards a diverse and inclusive future. To succeed in today's industry, Hollywood has to be fueled with diversity and inclusion. It is up to Latino filmmakers to build bridges for a diverse and inclusive future in Hollywood.
Today, at Latino Film Market we want to pay tribute to four Latino actors who have won the Oscar Award in the last twenty years.
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PENELOPE CRUZ
Penélope Cruz is a Spanish actress and model. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for playing volatile painter María Elena in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She was the first Spanish actress in history to receive an Academy Award and the first Spanish actress to receive a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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BENICIO DEL TORO
Benicio Del Toro is a Puerto Rican actor, film producer and film director.. In 2000, he won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic.
Del Toro's performance as ex-con turned religious fanatic in despair, Jack Jordan, in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003) earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a second Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination and a BAFTA Awards nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
His noteworthy body of work also include portrayals of the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost, and Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake of The Wolfman. Del Toro also appeared in the ninth Star Wars film, The Last Jedi as mysterious codebreaker DJ.
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“Well, when I came to Hollywood, there were three names really of Latin actors, three or four names, maybe five. There was Raul Julia, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, Antonio Banderas, Jimmy Smits. Now there is a lot. There’s a lot of Latinos right now, a lot of filmmakers and writers that are Latin too”
LUPITA NYONG'O
Lupita Nyong'o was born in Mexico, to Kenyan parents. When she was born, her father was a visiting lecturer in political science in Mexico. It is a Luo tradition to name a child after the events of the day, so her parents named her Lupita. She considers herself Mexican-Kenyan and she is fluent in Luo, English, Swahili and Spanish. In 2013, she impressed cinema audiences in her film debut, as brutalized slave Patsey in acclaimed director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave. In 2014, when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in 12 Years a Slave. she became the first Kenyan to win an Oscar, the first African actress to win Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the first Mexican-born actress to win an Oscar.
Lupita plays the female lead, Nakia, in the 2018 superhero film Black Panther (2018).
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“No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid”
JAVIER BARDEM
Javier Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. He is the first Spanish actor to be nominated for an Oscar.
Bardem has also won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA, five Goya Awards, two European Film Awards, a Prize for Best Actor at Cannes (ex-aequo with Elio Germano) and two Volpi Cups at Venice for his work.
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