By Matthew Ochoa
Films throughout history were meant to inspire those who watch the films, to believe they can be whoever they want and achieve their goals. At least if you were a white guy back then, with heroes like Indiana Jones, Spider-Man, and Batman. Back then for a Latinx/Hispanic person to watch a film, they wouldn’t necessarily get anyone that represented heroics or felt relatable to watch. This has changed however in time and we have seen some of what’s considered phenomenal acting from Latinx/Hispanic actors like Oscar Isaac, Melissa Barrera, Pedro Pascal, and even Tenoh Huerta.
Oscar Isaac began to receive many roles after his major role as the villain Apocalypse in X-Men Apocalypse and his career only went up from there, featuring in roles in Star Wars as Poe Dameron, a hot-shot pilot, Duke Leto Atreides, father of Paul Atreides in Dune, and even Moon Knight, a brutal crime fighter dealing with his issues of self-identity and accepting past traumas as apart of himself. During these roles, you can see him act his heart out giving some of the most emotional performances audiences have ever seen.
Melissa Barrera has also been climbing in the ranks with her two more iconic movie roles being Vanessa from In The Heights, and Sam Carpenter from Scream. Her showcase of acting in both of these films can be pointed to as relatable, meaning it helped the audience connect with the feelings boiling up inside her. For example, during the film, In The Heights you can see Vanessa’s grief when trying to convince Usnavi to stay with her in Washington Heights. While both of these films are not as notable as others seen on this list she will still deliver in her scenes making sure you are always enjoying the movie.
Pedro Pascal could perform for some of the biggest companies giving out some of his best performances in tv shows and films like The Mandalorian as the Mandalorian or Mando for short, Whiskey from the Kingsman The Golden Circle, Maxwell Lord from Wonder Woman 1984, and has what’s considered one of the biggest roles in videogame culture as Joel from The Last of Us tv show coming soon on HBOMax. Each of these roles has been huge for the actor and with each one you are in for tear-jerking scenes, funny comedy, and a downright good time when he is on screen.
So what's in the future? Well as already mentioned Pedro Pascal will continue to act and will be acting in the role of Joel along with an announcement for Mandalorian Season 3 so we are bound to see more of him soon. Oscar Isaac has slated himself into the MCU and knowing how his show ended we are bound to see more of him as Moon Knight soon. Melissa Barrera is still keeping up releasing a Netflix show called Keep Breathing, A survival drama. To seal this off one of the more recent Latinx/Hispanic actors to be hyped to see will be Tenoh Huerta. He will be featured as one of the main Antagonists of Wakanda Forever playing the role of Namor, an Atlantic King wanting to provide what’s best for his people. It’s exciting to see future big-shot actors and what could hopefully be their breakthrough role. Only time will tell but as of now, the train for Latinx/Hispanic representation is gonna keep on chugging along.
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