The 29-year-old 'In the Heights' actor reveals that he actually took the advice for a while, before he realizes that he doesn't 'want to be hired for being ambiguous.'
- May 27, 2021
AceShowbiz - Anthony Ramos' Hollywood career journey isn't always easy. The "In the Heights" star revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he was told to do some things to hide his ethnicity and avoid being typecast by casting director and producers.
"Folks would say to me that if you grow your hair out and speak in American Standard, you can be more ethnically ambiguous; you won’t be in the 'Latino box,' " the 29-year-old actor shared. He admitted that he actually took the advice for a while, explaining, "I thought that s**t was a box, as opposed to being a superpower and just who I am."
Anthony, who is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in Brooklyn, went on to say, "I believed that [box] s**t for a little bit. But I don't want to be hired for being ambiguous. I want to be hired for who the f**k I am."
Explaining his background, he added, "I grew up in New York, and my dream was to not live there." He continued, "Figuratively and physically, New York has done a number on my a**."
"I know what it's like to struggle, to walk eight blocks in the cold to your apartment," he said. "I know how it feels to be hungry for my dreams and also hungry, like, 'I could use some McDonald's right now.' "
Of his new musical "In the Heights", the "Hamilton" actor said, "We havent had a movie that feels like 'Black Panther' or 'Crazy Rich Asians'." He then said, "You could just feel the ancestors, years of people who feel like they have not had this chance, understanding that this moment is our chance."
"That's what I kept in my heart every single day when I went to set," Anthony shared.
"In the Heights" is scheduled to hit theaters on June 11.
