When DeJesus was asked to describe a few of the stories that struck him, they were war stories, particularly the ones from Army veteran Guy Gabaldon. He explains, “Guy Gabaldon was a guy from East L.A. who happened to grow up with Japanese neighbors, so he picked up some Japanese.
Based on his ability to speak Japanese, he was able — in the middle of the night – to get 1300 Japanese soldiers to surrender.
As for Leguizamo, his happiest and most satisfying interview was easy. “Dolores Huerta. Oh, my God, she’s so lovely. It was such an honor to meet such a gracious, gentle, generous warrior. And her sense of inclusivity and embracing everybody, even though she’s a fighter, she’s still about nurturing. And that’s who I’d like to aspire to be.”
Leguizamo and DeJesus talked about future projects, particularly dramatic ones, and if they thought their projects could have a home on PBS. “That would be up to the producers on PBS. It would be great to do it on PBS. There’s so many great stories to be told,” he said with a shrug and a smile.
Case in point, during their research, Leguizamo and DeJesus discovered Gil Bosques Saldivar to be an important figure in one of many stories. In World War II, he was a Mexican ambassador who saved 40,000 Jews in Vichy, France.
He hid them in two churches. That’s more than Oskar Schindler saved. Bosques then gave his refugees asylum in Mexico. “It’s an amazing story that needs to be told. It was pitched to the studios but was rejected,” DeJesus exclaimed.
“What is a Latino?” Leguizamo asks rhetorically. “For the most part, Latinos are of three ancestries — African, European Indigenous. We’re one of the few ethnic groups whose religion, culture, and language were completely destroyed, and yet here we still are, and thriving in America.”
In fact, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative, Latinos contribute $3.2 trillion to the GDP of the United States and as a group, Latinos have the buying power of $3.4 trillion in the U.S.
‘We’ve come from so much oppression, yet our superpower is tenacity. We just don’t accept no for an answer,” Leguizamo proclaims.
Produced in association with Latin Heat
