“I’m trying to change, in the most minuscule of ways, the way that we’re seen as a community,” says Carolina Saavedra, executive producer and showrunner of Leguizamo Does America. “I’m trying to educate this country about its own history, because if they know the real story, they may feel differently about how we are treated.” The change Saavedra is attempting to make is far from “minuscule” – it’s mammoth.
Thankfully, this Latina showrunner isn’t going at it alone. With Leguizamo Does America, she leads an entire team of producers, editors, and photographers. Right by her side are her partners Emmy and Tony-winning actor, comedian, producer, and host John Leguizamo and Emmy and Tony-nominated director Ben DeJesus (American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos). Consider her as one-third of a Latino crime-fighting unit. The crime? Well, in this case, it is two-fold. First, the lack of acknowledgment of Latin contributions to these United States of America. And second, that it’s still audacious to celebrate those contributions. Together, Saavedra, DeJesus, and Legizamo criss-crossed the country in search of Latin excellence.
Spoiler alert – they found it everywhere.
For Saavedra, it began as a cold call with some creativity attached. The idea was a radical one – a show that explored Latin American exceptionalism. Mind you, a show like this had never been done. “For me, it was a very fortuitous phone call, because it was exactly what I wanted to be doing,” says Saavedra. “It had all the things that meant something to me: Exploring our history, being openly critical of things that affect us in a negative way as a community, all of those things that speak to my soul, this show carried,” she says in our one-on-one interview.
She joined Ben and John, who already had a number of projects together, including the aforementioned American Historia, John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway, and Tales from a Ghetto Klown. DeJesus and Leguizamo brought with them the innate need to celebrate Latino resilience and the ability to overcome adversity. Saavedra brought her tenacity to seek out the “why” of the story. Add them all together, and Leguizamo Does America was off and running.
“When it comes to John, Ben, and I, in terms of the way we saw the show, it was very simpatico,” says Saavedra. “It just happened to be a really great combination. It doesn’t always happen. I think they instantly saw what they had in me, and vice versa. We make this really good combination of people and personality, and it just works.”
“I want to go deeper into all of the things that a segment is,” She continues. “I always want to know the ‘why.’ Why did that happen? What led us to that? I’m just going to always be, ‘how come? That doesn’t just happen, so let’s dig into this,’” she says of her producing style. “So when we were talking about what happened with the Latinos coming into New Orleans and how they’ve basically rebuilt that city so many times, it was a natural jump-off point for me to be like, ‘Okay, well, what’s going on with their kids? So then I dug into programs that helped the Latino kids of the migrant workers who came here to work.”
In April 2023, Leguizamo Does America dropped its first season on MSNBC. A few short weeks later, it was renewed. This week, it premieres its second season, focusing on six cities, including Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Antonio, and Phoenix. In it, we meet Latinos with stories so touching and inspirational, they brought this girl to tears. This season focuses on the everyday Latinos, chefs, janitors, artists, and community leaders.
Not only does the Leguizamo Does America team repeatedly deliver on the promise to acknowledge and celebrate Latin excellence, but they also drive home the resilience of the culture. Over and over, our people encounter a negative narrative. And every single time, we flip that negativity. They call our cuisine “peasant food?” We build successful restaurants from that concept. They criminalize our people disproportionately? We build businesses around what they’re trying to punish us unfairly for.
“Especially in these dark times where Latino life has been devalued, it’s a great time to celebrate all of our strengths,” Leguizamo told me the night of his Los Angeles premiere party. “Latin exceptionalism, Latin genius, Latin innovation – that is what this show does. We found it, we celebrate it, and we shine a light on it. And, we give them flowers.”
Leguizamo Does America is gracious and generous with its gifts. Yes, it’s an entertaining show – how could it not be with Leguizamo as host? At the most basic level, it’s a thorough and thoughtful look at Latin life in America. But more than just that, it’s effortless in its re-education around our culture. It’s stunning to learn the depth to which Latinidad contributed to the birth of so many cities, not just in the southwest. It’s staggering to learn the enormity of our history. It’s sobering to see the entirety of the erasure of our involvement. That is, until this show came along.
I’ve never been more proud to be a Latino – and in this time, that is saying something. I’ve seen a tiny sliver of our story as presented by Leguizamo Does America, and I absolutely feel differently about our gente. I know that after you watch season two, you will too.
Leguizamo Does America premieres July 6 on MSNBC with new episodes dropping every Sunday night for six weeks.
