Luke Cage ‘supervillain’ Theo Rossi on the importance of racial representation

THEO ROSSI DESCRIBES

himself as “a mix of many things”. Best known for playing the bad guy with scalp tattoos in the series Sons of Anarchy and supervillain Hernan “Shades” Alvarez in Marvel’s Luke Cage, Rossi emphasises the importance of racial representation in Hollywood and says he feels fortunate to be able to do so through his shows and movies.

Going by films like Black Panther, Coco, Moonlight and Moana, Hollywood has shown some progress when it comes to diversity. And Rossi is more than happy about it. “For someone like me who is a mix of many things... I have roots in Syria, Spain and Italy... I am just a little bit of everything. The world is a very colourful place and the best that we, especially in America, can do is represent people who are watching us. Be it India or Morocco or Mexico or Italy or Spain, if you can see yourself up on the big screen or on television, that’s only going to make you enjoy it even more since it’s a representation of who you are,” Rossi said.

He feels that it is the job of people in the entertainment industry to show people a little bit of everything. “I think representation right now is even more important because of the Internet. We are all so linked now that we have to show the world what it really is,” he said.

A CATHARSIS THROUGH FILM

And what’s the world like according to him? “It is a very colourful, beautiful and multi-cultural place, and it is the only world I wanna live in.”

The Bad Hurt actor was also nominated for Imagen Awards that are administered by the Imagen Foundation - dedicated to encouraging and recognising the positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry - for his work in the 2017 film Lowriders.

“This movie is special for me for many reasons. The most important reason is that my first son was born while we were filming the movie. Also, the heart of the film is the story of the father and his son... the relationship mainly between Ghost (his character) and his father. I never had that relationship. My father had left when I was nine years old. Through this film, I was able to deal with something that I have never dealt with in my own life and while I was confronting all this, I had a son. So, the film is important to me for not just about representation, but it’s so important to me for what it deals with.”

The film’s story revolves around a young street artist Danny, who has to choose between his brother, an ex-convict, and his father, who fails to understand his art, during an upcoming low-riders event.

And due to so many reasons, it was extremely necessary for him to do the film. He “chased it very hard”.

Lowriders will soon be aired on Sony PIX in India. “The fact that people in India will be watching Lowriders and have a peek into the small part of Los Angeles that is never spoken about, is amazing. They will get to see how people invest money in these cars... people who don’t really have money, and that cars are so much more than just metal, rubber and plastic. They represent a culture. It will give a peek into the world of what young Hispanic/Latino kids are doing.”

I have roots in Syria, Spain and Italy... I am just a little bit of everything.” Theo Rossi