Bienvenidos to the final days of 2025. For Hollywood that means one thing and one thing only – awards season. Right off the top, I am gonna tell you two things. First, our gente is at the center of a lot of many tremendous stories this year. Second, Latinos remain severely underrepresented on-screen, even as we have above-average awards season chances. Yes, two things can be true at the same time, and that is the case for us on-screen.
As of the posting of this article, two of the three major awards shows – The Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Association – have announced their nominations for 2025, and Latinos are well represented this season.
Ladies first. Señora Tessa Thompson made history as the first Afro-Latina to earn a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a drama for her role in Hedda.
Fantastic right?
Absolutely.
But, the fact remains, she is the first in 83 ceremonies to ever be nominated! She is also the only woman of color in the category this year.
Over on the hombre side, we’ve been hearing a lot about Benicio del Toro. The Puerto Rican actor is one of only a few Latinos to actually take home an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2000’s Traffic. Though the Oscar nominations have yet to be announced, del Toro has earned both CCA and GG noms for his role in One Battle After Another. For the Globes and the CCA, del Toro is one of six men nominated and is the only Latino in the category. Benicio told Variety that for Latinos, we need a movement to get our stories told on screen.
One Battle After Another has earned nominations for best film in various awards lists and finds itself up against a Latino heavyweight in Frankenstein. Helmed by Oscar-winning Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, and starring Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac (who also earned a nomination in the Best Actor category for the Golden Globes), Frankenstein is poised to make a monster showing this awards season in both below-the-line and above-the-line categories.
It is no secret that The Secret Agent film is expected to add even more hardware to the proverbial mantle by the time this awards season is done. This film is Brazil’s official international Oscar film selection. Starring Wagner Moura and directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho, The Secret Agent nabbed not only a Best Motion Picture – Drama Golden Globe nomination, it also was nominated in the Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language category. That being said, it was the only Latin American country to get a spot in the latter category. That being pointed out, the film already has a growing list of wins for best non-English film from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle, plus three wins at Cannes for Best Director, Best Actor, and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film.
Speaking of Best Picture categories, Elio is adding some Latin color to the animation category, getting a nod from the Globes. Last year’s Latina awards darling and now Oscar-winner Zoe Saldaña and Mexican-American writer/director Adrian Molina are making noise for this project.
Over on the television side, there are some very familiar names on the list. Both Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building) earned some love from the Hollywood Foreign Press in the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy category. In a sure sign of progress, Latinas make up one-third of the nominees in that category.
Though Andor was snubbed at the Emmys this year, we are happy to report that Diego Luna is getting some much-needed recognition for his starring role. Luna’s nomination is just one of many nominations that both the Golden Globes and Critics agree on. The same is true with the Latina-led The Studio. Frida Perez’s AppleTV+ show earned Best Television series noms for both awards shows as well.
Though we will never tire of celebrating our communities – ever – we feel it necessary to keep telling Hollywood that there are other Latinos in the industry. There are more Latino stories to be told, other projects to be given a chance.
Yes, there are absolutely reasons to rejoice in Latinidad’s success this year. But, we also can’t ignore that representation in our community is getting worse, not better.
According to the Hollywood Diversity Report from UCLA only about 2.5 out of 10 lead actors in theatrical films in 2024 are people of color. That’s combined, not just Latinos. Additionally, that figure is down four percentage points from 2023.
Consider this if you will. According to the Latino Donor Collaborative, Latinos represent 19.5% of the U.S. population and contribute more than that in box office ticket sales, but we’re among the most underrepresented demographic in Hollywood.
So, yes, Latinos are indeed at the center of some amazing on-screen projects this awards season.
And, also yes, that is not enough.
