Leguizamo does S.A. for his MSNBC show
It wasn’t John Leguizamo’s first time in San Antonio, and it showed.
The actor-comedian, whose work spans four decades, was in town last week to tape a segment for season two of “Leguizamo Does America,” the MSNBC show co-produced by NBC News Studios and MSNBC Films.
He walked around the city como un primo, not even once removed, in search of a new restaurant to try (it was Mixtli) while talking about Jack Kerouac’s impressions of the city in “On the Road.”
It was the “the softest air I’d ever known,” recalled Kerouac’s protagonist.
It’s true, Leguizamo added: “It’s like silk.”
Perhaps he felt at home because of the city’s many colors, his favorite being blue, since he makes no secret of his politics.
Leguizamo brought his crew, a group drawn from New York, Los Angeles, Florida and Austin who’ve worked together for a long time. They picked up a couple of locals, too.
He serves as host, a national observer, traveling commentator and no-nonsense seeker of truths.
“Leguizamo Does America” showcases Latino excellence and captures the strength of Latino communities keeping businesses alive, maintaining culture and overcoming historic struggles, now including gentrification.
“Our DNA is persistence,” he said. “It’s our superpower.”
The show visits places with long Latino histories as well as those with emerging Latino populations.
Season two will explore Phoenix, Philadelphia and San Antonio, among others. Six new episodes will air in late 2024 or early 2025.
Leguizamo will soon be on the set of Apple TV’S “Firebug,” a true-crime drama, executive produced by Taron Egerton and created by Dennis Lehane of “Black Bird” fame.
This fall Leguizamo’s play, “An American Tragedy,” based on an event in his family, opens in Washington D.C.
A student of history and politics, Leguizamo acknowledged he doesn’t understand Texas. How can the Latino majority hold no major statewide elected offices?
He means Latino Democrats, clearly ignoring U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-texas.
It can’t be mere gerrymandering, he said. It can’t be above board. There was no time for explanations.
Leguizamo offered an upside — a long history of Mexican American activism, enormous Latino cultural contributions, in food especially, and Julián Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and U.S. housing secretary who ran for president in 2020.
As Leguizamo made his way across town, photos began to surface of him with former Texas and San Antonio poet laureate Carmen Tafolla and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
If bothered in the least, he and his crew didn’t show it, nor were they above it.
At one point, they got together to take “a class picture.”
There was an ease about the production, about Leguizamo’s every question. How he stopped to listen to his director’s take. How he interacted with music students, sitting beside them in Tejano singer-songwriter Shelly Lares’ class at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s main campus.
With them, he learned about Tejano music’s history and expansive musical roots.
After the shoot, in a one-onone interview, I asked about who he’ll campaign for in November. He’ll show up for Biden, again.
When I asked what he thinks of polls showing some Latinos will vote for former President Donald Trump, he said Latinos aren’t monolithic, appearing in every political category.
But Leguizamo chastised the Democratic Party for not better funding efforts in battleground states and for not better appealing to Latino voters.
“Democrats did themselves a disservice by not courting us these past elections, ignoring incredible grassroots organizations mostly started by Latinas in Arizona, in Florida and Texas,” he said.
“They were trying to flip these places and make them blurple.”
Republicans saw an opening. “They went to Florida, and they went to Arizona, and they went to all these places in Texas. They went on Spanish-language radio. They went on Whatsapp. They did all the right things to try to flip us.”
Leguizamo acknowledged the impact inflation is having on voters but sounded exasperated in pointing out the economy was worse under Trump. It’s a case of national amnesia, he said.
But mostly he was all about love, and he had a lot of it for San Antonians.
“I love the vibe and love the energy,” Leguizamo said. “I love how political they are. … Starting with Emma Tenayuca in the 1930s and Rosie Castro in the ’60s and ’70s.”
He wants to explore the country in search of more people like them, because his real goal is for America to develop an incurable case of “Latin envy.” Latinos, themselves, too. “I want Latinos and Latinas to say, ‘Thank God, I’m Latino.’ ”
And for that, he says, he’ll never stop coming to San Antonio.