John Leguizamo Killed a Lot of Acting Teachers

Summary

Podcast Summary: Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know – "John Leguizamo Killed a Lot of Acting Teachers"

Episode Information

• Title: John Leguizamo Killed a Lot of Acting Teachers
• Host: Hasan Minhaj
• Guest: John Leguizamo
• Release Date: March 26, 2025

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1. Introduction to John Leguizamo's Career

Timestamp: 01:00 - 04:00

Hasan Minhaj kicks off the episode by highlighting John Leguizamo's multifaceted career. While Leguizamo is widely recognized for his film roles—such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Toulouse Lautrec in Moulin Rouge, and Vinnie in Summer of Sam—Minhaj emphasizes his significant contributions to theatre. Minhaj remarks, “John Leguizamo had a huge influence on my career... his most important work was on the stage” (03:10).

2. Legacy in One-Man Shows

Timestamp: 04:00 - 07:00

Leguizamo discusses his tenure between 1991 and 2017, during which he wrote and performed six one-man shows. He shares, “I am part of a long tradition of comedic storytelling that is still going strong today” (03:22). The conversation delves into how these performances have shaped modern comedic narrative structures, blending humor with poignant social commentary.

3. Challenges Faced by Latinos in Hollywood

Timestamp: 07:00 - 16:00

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the systemic challenges Latinos face in Hollywood. Leguizamo articulates his frustration with the underrepresentation and stereotypical roles assigned to Latino actors. He states, “When we're 50% of the population in Los Angeles, this is Latinos. But less than 3% of the faces in front of the camera or behind the camera... that's cultural apartheid” (13:59).

Key Points:

• Historical segregation and redlining impacting Latino representation.
• The economic contributions of Latinos are immense, yet cultural acknowledgment remains scant.
• The influence of Latinos in American history, including their role in every U.S. war, remains largely unrecognized.

4. The Impact of Christopher Columbus and Latin History

Timestamp: 21:00 - 24:00

Leguizamo and Minhaj delve into the controversial legacy of Christopher Columbus. Leguizamo vehemently criticizes Columbus, describing him as “the first Hitler” due to his brutal treatment of indigenous populations. He shares harrowing details from Columbus's journals, highlighting the atrocities committed against the Tainos and the extraction of immense wealth from Latin America (22:16).

Notable Quote:

• “We invented the color TV. We invented the artificial heart and the electric brake... Spain literally stole $32 trillion of gold from Latin America” (23:22).

5. Breaking Barriers in Comedy and Storytelling

Timestamp: 27:00 - 33:00

The conversation shifts to Leguizamo's innovative approach to comedy. Unlike traditional stand-up, his performances incorporate storytelling, emotional depth, and physicality. Leguizamo explains, “I wanted to go where Latin people go when they tell stories... bring domestic violence into it, bring sadness, but still make you laugh” (28:13).

Highlights:

• The fusion of comedic and dramatic elements in his one-man shows.
• Influence on contemporary storyteller comedians and the broader comedy landscape.
• Overcoming resistance in Broadway due to unconventional content and representation.

6. Current Projects and Reflections on Loneliness

Timestamp: 35:00 - 37:00

Leguizamo discusses his recent film project, emphasizing themes of loneliness and human connection in the digital age. He articulates the film’s premise of unlikely friendships formed through the internet, highlighting society's yearning for genuine relationships despite technological advancements. Leguizamo remarks, “Americans want to feel that we care about each other... that we are reaching across” (37:01).

7. Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook

Timestamp: 37:00 - 37:58

In closing, Leguizamo reflects on the enduring strength and potential of the Latino community. He states, “Being Latino is a superpower... once we get our shit together, we're going to be unstoppable politically” (24:42). Minhaj and Leguizamo express optimism for future advancements in representation and cultural recognition within the entertainment industry.

Notable Quotes

• John Leguizamo at [03:10]:

  “John Leguizamo had a huge influence on my career... his most important work was on the stage.”

• John Leguizamo at [13:59]:

  “When we're 50% of the population in Los Angeles, this is Latinos. But less than 3% of the faces in front of the camera or behind the camera... that's cultural apartheid.”

• John Leguizamo at [21:15]:

  “We invented the color TV. We invented the artificial heart and the electric brake... Spain literally stole $32 trillion of gold from Latin America.”

• John Leguizamo at [24:42]:

  “Being Latino is a superpower... once we get our shit together, we're going to be unstoppable politically.”

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Conclusion

In this episode of Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know, John Leguizamo offers an unfiltered look into his illustrious career, the systemic barriers faced by Latinos in Hollywood, and the profound impact of historical narratives on contemporary society. Through candid discussions and compelling anecdotes, Leguizamo underscores the importance of representation, storytelling, and cultural acknowledgment in shaping a more inclusive and equitable entertainment landscape.

Transcript

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[John Leguizamo]

So I speak Indian Urdu and there's certain curse words in Hindi and Urdu that just cannot be articulated in English. I'm going to give you the Hindi curse word. You give me the Spanish currency exchange. So we don't say motherfucker.

[Benny Blanco]

No. What do you say?

[John Leguizamo]

Banjod.

[Benny Blanco]

Benchod.

[John Leguizamo]

Sister fucker.

[Benny Blanco]

Sister fucker. Oh my God.

[John Leguizamo]

Sister fucker.

[Benny Blanco]

Sister fucker.

[John Leguizamo]

What's the Spanish equivalent of banjo? Translate. Translate.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, God damn motherfucker. Shit eating piece of crap born of filth.

[John Leguizamo]

Got you. Got you. Okay. Sometimes when I would get in trouble with my pops, he'd call me haramzada.

[Benny Blanco]

Haramzada.

[John Leguizamo]

Haramzada. Like that.

[Benny Blanco]

What does that mean?

[John Leguizamo]

Like you good for nothing piece of shit.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh wow.

[John Leguizamo]

Like you haramzada. Like that. Like you came late. Ramzada.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh shit.

[John Leguizamo]

What's the. What's the. What would your dad yell at you? That's like you fucking good for nothing piece of.

[Benny Blanco]

You good for nothing piece of shit.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, he'd do it just with the accent.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. Cause he would use that look.

[John Leguizamo]

You have. Idiot. You have dummy.

[Benny Blanco]

But what don't we have?

[John Leguizamo]

You don't have? Uluka patta.

[Benny Blanco]

Ulukopatta.

[John Leguizamo]

Uluka pata.

[Benny Blanco]

Ulukopatta.

[John Leguizamo]

Which means son of an owl. Like you. Fuck it. You got a parking ticket when it says 15 minutes only and you decided to park there the entire day. Fucking well.

[Benny Blanco]

We have pendejo. We have pendejo. So what does pendejo is a pubic hair. Like dummy. You Idiot. You stupid moron. It's moron. Oh, pendejo is pendejo, but it really means pubic hair.

[John Leguizamo]

Got you. So if your son left his homework at home.

[Benny Blanco]

Okay, pendejo, your little pubic hair.

[John Leguizamo]

Okay. Got you. Any ones that you'd like to. That you love in Spanish that we don't use enough vulgarity's. Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

La verga.

[John Leguizamo]

La verga.

[Benny Blanco]

La verga with your dick. But the dick means good.

[John Leguizamo]

La verga sounds like.

[Benny Blanco]

No, la verga.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, so it's how you say it? La verga like fuck, man.

[Benny Blanco]

Like fuck can be fuck or fuck or fuck.

[John Leguizamo]

So you go, la verga.

[Benny Blanco]

La verga.

[John Leguizamo]

La verga.

[Benny Blanco]

That shit is la verga.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. When I tell people John Leguizamo had a huge influence on my career, they usually seem surprised because they only think of him as a film actor. And yeah, he's had incredible characters on screen, like Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Toulouse Lautrec in Moulin Rouge. Chi chi Rodriguez in 2 Wong Fu, Vinnie in Summer of Sam in Benny Blanco in Carlito's Way. A performance that was so iconic that this Benny Blanco literally named himself after him. I mean, come on. Benny might have a bigger crush on John Leguizamo than his own fiance, but to me, John Leguizamo's most important work was on the stage. Between 1991 and 2017, Leguizamo wrote and performed in six one man shows. He is part of a long tradition of comedic storytelling that is still going strong today. So I sat down with one of my creative heroes to talk about his amazing career, what a psychopath Christopher Columbus was, and his new film. Bob Trevino likes it.

[Benny Blanco]

Hurry right away.

[John Leguizamo]

No delay. Stop there. Make your daddy glad. You have had such a laugh. This episode is brought to you by Kolkata Chai. Want a healthier morning habit? Put down the coffee and drink chai. I only drink the best kolkut of chai. You can get it right now at Coldcuttacci Co. Oh, and you should probably exercise. I heard that works too. You're one of my top five, dead or alive.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, get out.

[John Leguizamo]

Yes, yes.

[Benny Blanco]

For real. You're just saying that cause we're on camera, bruh.

[John Leguizamo]

Nah. Why would I bring it in size? Why would I do it in size 12 font?

[Benny Blanco]

All right, I'm gonna have to drink extra coffee so I can be ready for you.

[John Leguizamo]

All right. For those of you guys that don't know, this is Benny Blanco from Carlito' okay?

[Benny Blanco]

Right. I killed. I'm the only person to have killed Al Pacino successfully in a movie. Maybe Scarface.

[John Leguizamo]

All right, we're talking about Tybalt and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. We're talking about Chi Chi Rodriguez and Wong Fu. We're talking about Vinnie and Spike Lee, Summer of Sam. But that's not even including how you inspired me.

[Benny Blanco]

How did I inspire you?

[John Leguizamo]

Your one man show bag. 1991. Mambo mouth.

[Benny Blanco]

I thought it was my sex life.

[John Leguizamo]

No, no, no.

[Benny Blanco]

I love my.

[John Leguizamo]

No, no, no, no. I didn't get it.

[Benny Blanco]

Is that aspiring to anybody?

[John Leguizamo]

I didn't get that in the. I didn't get the WikiLeak on that. All right. Mambo mouth. 91. All right. 93. Spicarama. 98. Freak. That was the first thing that I saw.

[Benny Blanco]

Right, right. He was just born.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, I was just born. 2002. Sexaholics. 2010. Ghetto clown. 2017. Latin history for morons. So listen.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes, I'm listening.

[John Leguizamo]

You clearly have a body of work that's undeniable.

[Benny Blanco]

Well, yeah, I'm 60. I bet I have some. Have done some shit.

[John Leguizamo]

No, but a lot of times people don't give. I think specifically. And this is gonna be a theme in the whole combo. Specifically Latinos. Their credit in the way they've impacted art and culture.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, my God. What? Are you reading my thoughts? Oh, my God, that's so crazy.

[John Leguizamo]

No, no, no. I'm just trying to articulate what you have been talking about. And because that's. Give it an espresso.

[Benny Blanco]

That's a big thing for me is I feel like my biggest beef with America is the erasure of Latin contributions.

[John Leguizamo]

Correct.

[Benny Blanco]

To the making of America, the building of America. Because we've been here since 1492. You know what I mean? The first European language spoken in the North America was Spanish, not English. Because they were. The conquistadors were all Spanish.

[John Leguizamo]

Yes.

[Benny Blanco]

And they came to Florida, California. They discovered the Mississippi before Lewis and Clark. And who was there before that? Indigenous people. And we Latin people are indigenous people. Like, when I do my DNA or all Latin people do it, it says Native American. It doesn't say, you know, Inca or Ma. It says Native American.

[John Leguizamo]

So I was thinking about this and we're gonna get to. I want to put a pin in that. Cause we're gonna get to that later. We're go deep on this.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, sorry.

[John Leguizamo]

No, no. We're go deep on fucking Christopher Columbus and how he's a psychopath. Like, I got a lot of. We got a lot of clips to Unload. Okay, but. Yeah, but.

[Benny Blanco]

But we're peaceful.

[John Leguizamo]

We're peaceful. We're peaceful.

[Benny Blanco]

We're some mime guns. We're not into guns.

[John Leguizamo]

All right, let's talk about something light. Let's talk about the time that you killed Lee Strasberg.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

Okay.

[Benny Blanco]

That was something. You know, it was unintentional.

[John Leguizamo]

Okay, so for those of you that don't know, Lee Strasberg is the founder of the Actors Studio.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. And of the Method. And he is the one of the founding fathers.

[John Leguizamo]

One of the founding fathers of the Method acting in the United States of America.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. With the whole group theater. Who brought Stanislavski technique to American acting and gave us Brando and Pacino and all these great endearments.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, yeah. Every Caucasian goat. He influenced. Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Al Pacino. But after a class in your memoir, you write, quote, this is what Lee Strasberg says to him is John Leguizamo. All right, Just look at the top paragraph on his Wikipedia. He says, you barely have any talent. You bore me. Get out of my class.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes, but he said that. He talked like this. You have barely any talent. Get out of my class. He had, like, a speech, coughing towards. I mean, maybe that's why he passed away that night.

[John Leguizamo]

Well, he died that night.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah. Yeah, he did. For real. Like, I'm not joking. They closed the whole Method school. People didn't do Method for, like, a week because he was gone.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh. They're like, rip Lee Strasberg. Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

Got it. All right, so I'm reading this and I'm like, how the fuck did you process that?

[Benny Blanco]

Well, I killed a lot of acting teachers. He wasn't the only one. I mean, Herbert Bergoff died. I was in his class. He started HB Studios. When Hanman is gone. Yeah. You know, I killed a lot of acting teachers.

[John Leguizamo]

Well, there's a lot of young.

[Benny Blanco]

It didn't stop me, though.

[John Leguizamo]

That's what I'm saying. See, there's a lot of young actors, a lot of young comics to be told you suck. By, dare I say, a master of the craft.

[Benny Blanco]

But, I mean, you got.

[John Leguizamo]

How did you get over that?

[Benny Blanco]

Well, you know, I was in New York, and, you know, I grew up in a very aggressive New York of that era. Everybody was always telling you shit right to your face, telling you you suck. You. That's how you grow up in New York City. So when you go to these classes and teachers are telling you you suck. Or. Or the other David Gideon at Lee Strasberg was Also, like always on me. Get out of my class and stuff. You don't take it as seriously.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, you brushed off. You brushed it off.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, I mean, I was like, I knew I sucked. That's why I'm here to study with you, motherfucker. Why do you think I'm in your class? Because I'm great. If I was great, I wouldn't be in your class. Come on. But they like to talk like that, New Yorkers, you know? You know how they're in your face all the time? Where'd you grow up?

[John Leguizamo]

I grew up in California. It wasn't this way. It wasn't this aggressive.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, New York was aggressive back then, in the 70s. Come on. Everybody was aggressive.

[John Leguizamo]

So you didn't. You didn't take it a certain way?

[Benny Blanco]

No, I didn't. I didn't. Why would I. I know what I was there for. I didn't expect.

[John Leguizamo]

Was there any New Yorker that would break you? Like, if Patrick Ewing came up to you and was like, you suck at basketball, would that break you? Like, that would hurt. Yeah. Like, what New York icon? So the drama stuff, you're like, man, fuck all these, like, no, no, because.

[Benny Blanco]

Drama was like, you know, this is foreign to me. Basketball. I was playing every day. And if I sucked, that would really hurt my feelings. Cause I spent so many hours working on it.

[John Leguizamo]

All right, so people don't know this. So John wrote this amazing book in 2007. All right? So I got this book in college. It's called Pimps, Hoes, Playa Haters and All My Other Hollywood Friends.

[Benny Blanco]

Well, as white people say playa, they say Playa. Playa.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, Playa Haters. You really don't like the beach. But what was the alternate title? Was it Scumbag, Sociopath Pieces of Shit? Oh, yeah. And that's just also including my manager.

[Benny Blanco]

But, you know, Hollywood was rough, man. It still is rough, you know, it was not ever for people of color, never for Latinos. Which is bizarre, because when the founding fathers of Hollywood got to LA in the early 1900s, it had just been Mexico 60 years before. They were surrounded by Latinos who were being redlined. That means you can't move into certain neighborhoods. They were being lynched in the 1800s. Lots of Latinos were lynched in California and the West Coast. They were segregated. The first cases against segregation in America were Latinos, the Maestas family in Colorado in 1914. And they won. And then it was Sylvia Mendez in the 1940s that paved the way for Brown versus Board of Ed. So we were lynched. Segregated Latina women were experimented on in the early 1900s all over California. They were sterilized against their knowledge and their will. I mean, the founding fathers of Hollywood came in there into this apartheid state and welcomed it. They signed up for it, which is crazy. And then because you go to LA, right now, it's 50% Latino. Hollywood is in a 50% Latin Latino state, and none of the executives are Latino.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, that's crazy.

[Benny Blanco]

That's an apartheid cultural state.

[John Leguizamo]

I was gonna ask you this, which is.

[Benny Blanco]

I mean, I'll get deep. I'm not afraid.

[John Leguizamo]

No, no, no, no.

[Benny Blanco]

Because I'll throw down. I don't give a shit. I told you, I'm from the 70s. New York shit come for me when.

[John Leguizamo]

I was reading the book. And I'm coming up as a young comic and actor and all those sort of things. Do you have any piece of advice that you give now that you're 60.

[Benny Blanco]

That you would tell your younger self.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. To your old self. Or to even, you know, a young performer that's feeling a certain way, that's feeling like, hey, they're holding me small here. I feel like they're trying to sign me here a little bit. Cause I've felt that way on set before.

[Benny Blanco]

You have? Oh, you're gonna feel that way.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, bro, I'm gonna feel. I'm number eight on the call sheet.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

I'm here to move exposition forward.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

You know what I mean?

[Benny Blanco]

The master of serving.

[John Leguizamo]

This is me. This is me. John, you have your call at, too. And then that's my coverage. And they go, let's go again. Let's go again. I go, john, you have your collet too. And they go, and cut.

[Benny Blanco]

And that's my right, Mr. Move the plot Along.

[John Leguizamo]

I'm.

[Benny Blanco]

I wasn't all about that, you know, because I had ideas, you know, there weren't a lot of opportunities. And I really cherished all my opportunities. And I was like, I'm gonna make this a meal. I'm gonna feast on this motherfucking roll. So in Carlito's Way, I was ad libbing like crazy. And, you know, lead actors don't like it that much. They can only take so much. But I knew that what I had was gold. So I. I just kept doing my thing.

[John Leguizamo]

So no regrets, honestly, like you feel?

[Benny Blanco]

No. I had to do what I had to do to make it in this country, to make it as a Latin actor. You know, when. When I. When I was coming up, we used to have this thing called, you know, the. The casting of what was happening that whole week.

[John Leguizamo]

Sure, yeah. Breakdown.

[Benny Blanco]

The breakdown. Thank you. The breakdown. But it was like Jim Crow. It was like white actor, white lead, white doctor, white romantic interest, barely any Latino things. And you could ask your agent, can I just do my monologue? They wouldn't see you. They wouldn't see you for anything unless they said, Latino drug dealer, Latino killer. And it was like that. That was the real deal, man. No matter how much you studied, no matter how talented you were, your opportunities were nil.

[John Leguizamo]

You write about this. You say, when we're 50% of the population in Los Angeles, this is Latinos. But less than 3% of the faces in front of the camera or behind the camera, that's cultural apartheid. When we're equal to whites in New York City in population size, but less than 1% of the stories or staff at the New York Times, the New York Post and the New Yorker or any other rally has the city on its banner, that's cultural apartheid.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, yes, it is.

[John Leguizamo]

Now, listen, we've been in a lot of general meetings. We've been in a lot of workshops. We heard that, hey, Hollywood, show business, art and culture, it's a dollars and cents game. Yeah, but when I see specifically the Latino community. Look, Asian Americans are. We're less than maybe 1 to 4% of the US population, but Latinos are roughly a quarter of the United States of America. John, why isn't the population mass that Latinos have in this country equivalent to cultural mass and weight?

[Benny Blanco]

Because look at where we come from, man. I mean, being redlined, segregated, they still. We don't have enough executives who are Latino. I mean, what is that? I mean, it's so impossible to make it in America as a Latino, man. I've talked to all these Latin executives in every industry, and they said they were good enough to train the next people who get promoted. But we're not good enough to be promoted ourselves. And look at that. I mean, in this industry. I mean, with my track record, I should have. Where's my brutalist? When are they making the Latino brutalist? Where are they making these movies that are telling our stories? They're just not. Even though they're taking 30. We get 30% of the US box office. We contribute $3.4 trillion, $3.2 trillion to the GDP annually. If we were our own country, we'd be the fifth largest economy in the world. That's in America alone. Yes, and where 500 million Spanish speakers, where there are no gatekeepers we're winning. Like in music, Bad Bunny is number one in the world. And who was number one before JB Balvin, a Colombian rapper. And who was before that was Drake. So when there are no gatekeepers and decision makers who don't see the value in Latin stories or, or Latin artists, then you have a problem. You know what I mean? That's why we're still being held back. I mean, I know Trump says, and the Republicans say that racism is over in America, but it's not. DEI was important to me. It was very important. It was a beautiful moment of equalizing and improving the opportunities that were sorely missing.

[John Leguizamo]

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[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

It was your last one man show. You wrote it in 2017. But what sparked that idea is you have young brown kids.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

You said it's because your kids were getting bullied.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

That got you to write this show. How does the past. Why did you write that show? As a way for the past to connect to the present. What was it about that moment that made you go, I need to contextualize all of this?

[Benny Blanco]

Well, because it was a shock to me because, you know, here we are, it was 2017, my son is being bullied in school. And it was shocking to me that a Latin kid would be bullied in School in 2017. Want to be back into like, you know, when I was growing up, getting bullied in school and then when I started doing research, I wanted to weaponize. I wanted to give my son words to defeat himself and defend himself. You know, I mean, not defeat himself, defend himself. Because I grew up, you know, you know, if somebody hits you, hit them back, you know, punch for punch, knock him out, tooth for a tooth.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

I didn't want to be that kind of dad. I didn't want to continue the cycle of violence. So I wanted to get weaponize my son's language so he could defend himself. So I started doing research. And then all of a sudden I'm like the one that's changing. I'm the one that's improving because I'm finding out. Wait a minute. What? We invented the color tv. We invented the artificial heart and the electric break. Wait, wait, wait a minute. We did duolingo and the captcha code. I know that's annoying, but, yeah, I.

[John Leguizamo]

Think dueling was great.

[Benny Blanco]

Dueling was good. Capture code is a problem. But all these. All these incredible inventions.

[John Leguizamo]

Wait, Latinos invented captcha?

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah. Captcha code? Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

Wait, you're talking about captcha, like pick. Which are these are from?

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the same guy that invented duolingo.

[John Leguizamo]

Like, what part of Latin America is he from?

[Benny Blanco]

I think it's Guatemala. I'm not. I can't totally remember right now.

[John Leguizamo]

Yes.

[Benny Blanco]

Central America for sure.

[John Leguizamo]

All right, can I give you one?

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

I want to pitch you one critical piece of historical context that connects both.

[Benny Blanco]

You and I. Oh, beautiful. Go ahead, bring it.

[John Leguizamo]

All right, so, as you know, Donald Trump right now is sending migrants to Guantanamo Bay.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, yeah. Or a first concentration camp, which was.

[John Leguizamo]

Infamous for the war on terror.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, okay, terrible.

[John Leguizamo]

But it's also the first place that the United States forces landed in 1898. Now, get this. This was during the Spanish American War. And it basically, that war kicked off the whole American empire. And it was from Guantanamo Bay.

[Benny Blanco]

Wow.

[John Leguizamo]

That the Marines then went to Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and on and.

[Benny Blanco]

On and on and on.

[John Leguizamo]

So this piece of land near Cuba 127 years ago became like a little ancillary base of the American empire to wreak havoc, to take over.

[Benny Blanco]

To take over Latin America. Because we thought we were getting free from Spain, and now we got independence.

[John Leguizamo]

We're gonna be.

[Benny Blanco]

And all of a sudden, America's like, that's right. Now we're coming for all of y'all. You ain't got Spain to protect you.

[John Leguizamo]

No more, but you as a New Yorker, basically. Guantanamo Bay is to the American empire what the Bronx was to hip hop. Yes. It was like this tiny little.

[Benny Blanco]

The one was good, and one was not terrible.

[John Leguizamo]

One was terrible. Have you ever had you ever? Have you heard that story?

[Benny Blanco]

Never. Never. I didn't know that. That's the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and takeover of Latin America.

[John Leguizamo]

When you were researching your show, was there any piece of information that you saw that you were like this Absolutely blew my fucking mind.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah. The fact that we Latin people are the only ethnic group to have fought in every single war America has ever had. I'm talking about American Revolutionary War. 10,000 unknown Latino patriots fought in the American Revolution. We funded the American Revolution. $2 million from Spain, Cuba and Mexico. General Galvez had 3,000 Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Native Americans and freed slaves who kicked the British out of the Pensacola and the so they couldn't trap the patriots. And that was the biggest thing that blew my mind. That was incredible. I was like, wait a minute, we've been fighting wars for America forever and we still don't get any credit?

[John Leguizamo]

Yes. Wow. That historical contextualization, I was researching for this too, and I just wanted to talk to you about this too, which is, I don't know what your relationship to Christopher Columbus is, but as an Indian, I fucking hate that guy. But people don't realize how big of a fucking psycho Christopher Columbus was.

[Benny Blanco]

He was horrific.

[John Leguizamo]

So in Latin history for morons, you go off on Christopher Columbus. We're having this interview right now. We're on 38th street, right? So we're in midtown Manhattan.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

We're literally a 20 minute walk from Columbus Circle. Exactly.

[Benny Blanco]

But we should knock down that statue.

[John Leguizamo]

Of a giant monument of Christopher fucking Columbus.

[Benny Blanco]

I told Cuomo when he was governor, like, get rid of that. You don't need Columbus. You have other great Italians. You have Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett. You don't need him. You have Galileo. Get rid of Columbus. You don't need Columbus.

[John Leguizamo]

So please, for our audience that is listening and watching this, can you please explain how big of a psychopath Christopher.

[Benny Blanco]

Columbus, well, he was horrible. He comes here, he meets the most beautiful, gentle people, the Tainos. And he writes in his journal that these people are so gentle and kind, it's going to be easy to kill them, destroy them. So that's what he writes in his journals. Then he has, in his journals, he writes that he's got a ring of beautiful young prostitutes, nine year old prostitutes. You know, he would sick dogs to eat babies. He would burn people alive. He would chop your hands off if you didn't bring enough gold and wrap them around your neck. He would cut your feet off if you tried to run. He was like the first Hitler. Basically, he separated the men and the women, wouldn't let them conjugate or anything. And then he tried. He realized they were all dying, so he tried to make them conjugate. But you can't make people conjugate when you're forcing them and starving them to death.

[John Leguizamo]

Another important part of the story you tell is about specifically the gold. Like they didn't just make them sign an unfair treaty or something like that. Spain literally stole $32 trillion of gold. From Latin America.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. 500,000 tons. You could fill the Empire State Building a time and a half. That's how much gold and twice as much silver they took from us. You know, the second half of the Renaissance was funded by our stolen wealth. The Enlightenment era was funded by all those beautiful empires in Europe from the 1600s and 1700s. That's all our stolen wealth. And then you wonder, why Latin people? Why aren't we further along? It's impossible to be further along when you've been raped and pillaged for over 500 years. It's impossible.

[John Leguizamo]

What do you feel your job as an artist is? You have all of this incredible history that you know, but painful history.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

And how do you make sense of it? Was it the one man?

[Benny Blanco]

What empowers me, man, Empowers me. Having all this knowledge has empowered me and taught me that I have so much more to offer. Being a Latin person is like having a superpower. Nobody's. There's not another culture that has been completely, almost genocided, religion stole, destroyed, culture destroyed, language destroyed, and be able to contribute $3.2 trillion to the GDP. I mean, being Latino is a superpower. I mean, once we get our shit together and we can get further along in this country, we're going to be unstoppable politically.

[John Leguizamo]

What's been going on this election, man? Because in record numbers there were people from Beijistan. Yeah, that's Latin America, Southeast Asia that voted for Trump.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

Through this kind of pull the ladder up. Conservative. Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

Talk like, what's about the proximity of whiteness? It's for our Beijing stand brothers and sisters who feel like if they vote for Trump, they appear more white and less brown. And that's part of it. The proximity to whiteness is still a thing in America. Do you know what I mean? So that's kind of important. And then you have your, you know, Latino people are not a monolithic people. I mean, you have. We have right wing people too, and we have also hyper Christianity. So you have that people who are against abortion, who are homophobic. I mean, you have that too. I mean, the Republicans really know how to throw that red meat and get people galvanized.

[John Leguizamo]

Has this been a long thing that you've seen? Is this like. I've had deep WhatsApp conversations with family members about this. And the split is clear. There's the. You won't be accepted by the evangelical base of the United States of America, the conservative base, that has a very particular look and feel to it. You'll Never be maga enough. And then there's a group of people that's like, get the bag and get yours and close the door.

[Benny Blanco]

Right.

[John Leguizamo]

Is that similar to the way Latinos.

[Benny Blanco]

But also what's interesting is, yo, I mean, the lead of the Proud Boys is an Afro Latino.

[John Leguizamo]

Wait, what?

[Benny Blanco]

Come on, you know that?

[John Leguizamo]

No, I didn't know this.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, yeah. The man who leads the Proud Boys is an Afro Latino Cuban guy. I'm blanking on his name right now, but that's crazy. And Nick Fuentes, one of the big right wings, anti Semitic, homophobic misogynist, is a Mexican guy. Fuentes. Nick Fuentes, who goes to Mar a Lago and hangs out with Trump. Yeah. I mean, these Latinos who are also brown or white passing or white Latinos are also part of this sort of white nationalist Christian movement. Christian nationalism. It's so wild. But we're allowed to enter there as long as you're hating, you know.

[John Leguizamo]

Have you gotten into it with those folks?

[Benny Blanco]

No, I've never met them, but, you know, I like to meet them. The one that I'd like to meet is Stephen Miller, who hates Latinos more than life itself. He's the architect of all this for Trump. I like to meet him and knock him out.

[John Leguizamo]

Holy shit.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem doing that.

[John Leguizamo]

Can I talk to you about just your stage career?

[Benny Blanco]

Sure.

[John Leguizamo]

And what you've done and the way you inspired me in storytelling.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, that's awesome, man.

[John Leguizamo]

So listen, man, when I. When I saw Spicorama and Sexaholics when I was in college, you did something where you showed me that performers can perform with all the colors, the emotional spectrum.

[Benny Blanco]

You did something that's very.

[John Leguizamo]

Nah, you did something that was very rare for comedy because stand up comedy is usually seen as a self deprecating art form. Right, right. There's this kind of danger field aspect of like, I get no respect. I can't get anything.

[Benny Blanco]

I get no respect.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, yeah. But you were up there in a white tank top, bro. There's at least three or four shows. You take the shirt off.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

So you both were able to do characters, do voices, to simultaneously be like, sexy and be self deprecating.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

What made you go that route? Cause you came up in the comedy clubs.

[Benny Blanco]

Well, I didn't like the comedy clubs. I mean, I love comedians. I mean, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, you know, Jonathan Winters were big influences to me. But comedy in America to me was a little shallow, a little light. And I wanted to go where Latin people Go. When they tell stories, because Latin people are big storytellers and they like to go dark and emotional. So I wanted to go there to all those places that American comics weren't going. You know, bring. Bring, you know, abuse. Bring. Bring domestic violence into it. Bring sadness, but still make you laugh like a motherfucker and still be physical as fuck and slap sticky. But I can still bring a lot of emotion to. You can combine the two. And you could also bring sexuality. Before there was something about Mary, I was doing jizz comedy. Freak.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

And before American Pie, I was playing with my wiener and putting it in sandwiches. So, you know, I influenced a whole lot of comedy.

[John Leguizamo]

No, you were a wild dud. And what you did for me is you look, there was two types of things. Like, comedy's supposed to be cerebral, and then there was the kind of what you would talk about, like in the hood rooms. Oh, they do the physical act outs. You merged both of those things, and then you put it on Broadway. And for me, I was like, oh, this is one of the most subversive things you could do. Because if you're not from New York, people don't understand how elite Broadway is. And by my. Yeah, yeah, you know. Exactly.

[Benny Blanco]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[John Leguizamo]

It's very, you know, NPR token. Have scarf energy. Yes.

[Benny Blanco]

Convince all these people, these older white people, that your content has value. And Sixaholics was very. I mean, Freak was very hard to get to Broadway because there was so much sexuality, because there was so much stuff that they were uncomfortable with. But I had other heavy hitters.

[John Leguizamo]

How did you break through? Like, how did this happen?

[Benny Blanco]

Other heavy hitter white people saw the value of what I was doing, and they fought really hard for me. White allies fought against the system.

[John Leguizamo]

Did you realize what was happening? Was that historical? I read. I don't know if this is true, and I'm not one to fact check, but you were making. It was grossing millions of dollars per week.

[Benny Blanco]

No, My name is Sexaholics. I was the second highest paid actor on Broadway history. With Sexaholics, I was making $175,000 a week, but I was the second highest paid. The first highest paid. You're never gonna guess. Never. Give it a shot. Quick.

[John Leguizamo]

Barbra Seiss with Streisand.

[Benny Blanco]

No. Yul Brenner in.

[John Leguizamo]

Wait, what?

[Benny Blanco]

King and I in the 80s.

[John Leguizamo]

Okay, gotcha.

[Benny Blanco]

Was making 200,000 a week.

[John Leguizamo]

But the show was incredibly successful.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. I mean, freak was very successful. I got two Tony nominations. I got two Emmy nominations. I won an Emmy, lost to Tonys. Because, you know, it was the same group that didn't want me on Broadway. They're not going to award.

[John Leguizamo]

But then you won an honorary Tony in 2018. Yeah. There we go.

[Benny Blanco]

Finally.

[John Leguizamo]

Finally.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

Nicely done. I like it. I like the. I like the retroactive. The like. Look, look, we got it wrong. We'll just give you. Yeah, we'll give you the mvp.

[Benny Blanco]

And I'll take it.

[John Leguizamo]

I'll take it. All right. I wanted to ask your opinion on this, so. So I for real put you in my top influences. Chappelle Rock, John Leguizamo. Love those things. Spalding Gray.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, I love Spalding, but. But then he gave me my first ob.

[John Leguizamo]

No way. Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

It was an honor. What an incredible honor because he is. Spalding Gray's a huge inspiration for me. So is Lily Tomlin, I gotta say, and Eric Bogosian.

[John Leguizamo]

You. Now, I don't know if you've been. If you've been watching comedy, but there's a whole group of, like, storyteller type comedies.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, wow.

[John Leguizamo]

Alex Edelman, myself, Gerard Carmichael, Hannah Gatsby. There's a ton.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

How do you feel about your impact in shaping that? I don't even know if you're aware of this.

[Benny Blanco]

I was not aware. I mean, I was not aware of it, but now that you make a mention of it, I'm like, yeah, that's cool. Because I really pride myself on my storytelling. That was my gift to the world was storytelling. I worked really hard on taking you from point A to point B to point C, a three act structure. And I would craft that shit for three or four years. I'd go on the road, making sure that everything lined up and paid off. I mean, all that. So I work really hard on my structure.

[John Leguizamo]

I feel like you and Whoopi, both you and Whoopi Goldberg, to me, you really broke the system. There was a code that was like, hey, stand up. Supposed to look like this.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

And you came up in the clubs. In your book, you talk about, there was Ray Romano, there's Rodney Dangerfield. You completely flipped that script.

[Benny Blanco]

Right. Because that wasn't really.

[John Leguizamo]

Were you doing that by design or were you just like, I'm not gonna. It's not gonna work for me here?

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, it wasn't working for me. I mean, the comedy club stuff was not working. It wasn't really me. You know what I mean? And I'm trying to fit into a square peg in a round hole. And I was trying to do the setup, punchline, set up, punchline and it was just like not satisfying me. So I had to do my own thing. And luckily performance art was a big deal in New York at that era in the 80s. So I found a place that accepted me to let me do long story forms and play a lot of characters and let me, you know, I was always going on last. But people started finding me and laughing and they would stay till the very end to watch me. And then all of a sudden I started getting into all the big performance art spaces. The kitchen, the home, Dixon Place, P.S. 122. These were big deals back then in the 80s to get into these spots. And that's where I found my crowd. It was a white crowd and a college crowd, but I knew eventually I would find my Latin crowd. And that's when I did Mumble Mouth and it went on HBO and everybody stole it, you know, from their friends.

[John Leguizamo]

You want to talk about Bob Trabino likes it.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, yes, please. Oh my God. My favorite indie movie. The little indie movie that could.

[John Leguizamo]

A very sweet movie.

[Benny Blanco]

More than sweet, bro. I mean, when I saw it at south by Southwest with all these suits because there was a lot of industry trying to decide if they're going to buy it or not.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

Dude. There was not a dry eye in the house. First of all, you're laughing your ass off. Yeah. When you watch it in community, people laugh their asses off and then everybody is snorting and booger snot is coming out of your nose. It's that kind of crying. And then you leave and everybody's feeling. You're feeling so good. It's such a feel good movie, man. What a beautiful gift in these hard times where we're not respecting, we're not giving consideration to others, we're not being our best generous selves in America.

[John Leguizamo]

To me it was about something that I think is really prevalent in 2025, which is loneliness.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes. Well, yeah, the whole digital revolution.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

Created a whole lot of loneliness in the world.

[John Leguizamo]

But do you think, what was it about the material that made you go like this is. This is some real stuff that I'm riding into. And it's worth like going deep on and talking about loneliness specifically.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, well, it's. It's taking these two most unlike people, unlikely people that are gonna connect.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

This 60 year old guy.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. The film synopsis is crazy. A 50 something man and a 20 something woman meet on the Internet and go camping together. I'm like, this is. She's gonna get murdered.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah, she's gonna get murdered.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, he's grooming her.

[Benny Blanco]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

This is a really fucked up premise.

[Benny Blanco]

This is a hashtag me too moment.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, but that was my. I'm joking, obviously, but that's where my cynical comic brain is going.

[Benny Blanco]

I'm like, that's where your male brain goes.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

And. But it's not. It's not that. I mean, it's based. Loosely based on the director, creator Trace Lehman, who's a beautiful human being, and she was estranged from her dad, and then she tried to connect with him, and she found him on Facebook, but it was the wrong guy she connected with. So in this movie, that's what happens. She fights with a narcissistic dad, and then they get estranged, and she tries to connect with him on Facebook, and she connects with the wrong Bob Torvino. And then we start talking, but then we realize she doesn't know me. And we meet for coffee in a safe place, and we realize that we're just two very lonely people. And I don't have children. My wife and I have no children in the movie. And this girl becomes the child that we never had.

[John Leguizamo]

You know? So it's so interesting. Like, I'm watching the movie, and I go, this is a really beautiful portrayal of how two people in America can be this compassionate and empathetic.

[Benny Blanco]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

Is this even possible? But you clearly show that it is. Like, people are really feeling this way.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh, my God.

[John Leguizamo]

People want this.

[Benny Blanco]

Americans want to feel that. They want to feel that we care about each other, that we're reaching across, that we're making an effort, that we respect each other.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

You know what I mean? That we're considerate of each other. Because Barbie, as an actress, first of all, that's a born star. Born star in this movie. Her work is so beautiful and raw. You've never seen anything like it. It's a very special movie, man.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Benny Blanco]

I mean, when I saw my whole entire family, we were all bawling.

[John Leguizamo]

Wow.

[Benny Blanco]

But in a beautiful way. In a beautiful way, because we're bawling about it makes you cry about that we can connect with each other, that we can respect each other. We can love each other no matter where we come from, found family, friends. It's just that humanity longs to be connected and longs to treat each other with respect. And it's these few other people who are destroyers, you know?

[John Leguizamo]

This is dope, man. Ladies and gentlemen, John Leguizamo. Thank you. How would you feel if you found out that you've been having the fake version of something your entire life. Outraged. Angry. Well, get ready to get mad, because every cup of chai that you've bought at some chain coffee shop here in America is fake. It's packed with tons of sugar and artificial flavors that are horrible for your health. And for some reason, they keep spelling my name wrong. But it doesn't have to be that way. Kolkata chai is changing. All of that. Zero sugar and natural ingredients that you can actually pronounce. Organic black tea, cardamom, black pepper, fresh cinnamon. It's the boldest cup of chai you can find, with their unique range of chai blends and concentrates. And you don't have to stand in line for it for hours. You can make it at home in minutes. It's the only chai that's allowed in the Minhaj household. All other chais are forbidden. Head to Kolkarachai Co Hassan to grab your first cup and two free gifts on me.