We officially have a trailer for Disney/Pixar’s Día de los Muertos-inspired film, “Coco.” The movie features an all-Latino cast, including the voices of Gael Garcia Bernal and Benjamin Bratt. It was also written and co-directed by Adrian Molina, who previously worked as an animator on “Ratatouille” and as a storyboard artist on “Toy Story 3.”
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Recently, news broke that beloved Mexican-American director Robert Rodriguez is set to executive producer Disney+’s new Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett. This news broke at the same event that Disney announced that Rosario Dawson will be getting her own Star Wars series on Disney+, a Mandalorian spinoff entitled Ahsoka.
Pair these events with Pedro Pascal headlining The Mandalorian, and it appears that Disney is making some real and concerted effort to hire Latino talent.
And the pattern didn’t just start this year. Since the franchise’s reboot in 2015, Disney has consistently hired Latinos to take part in Star Wars Universe in front of and behind the camera.
In light of this, we’ve compiled a definitive list of all of the Latinos that have been involved in the Star Wars Universe. Take a look below!
1. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron
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Guatemalan-American actor Oscar Isaac was one of the first Latinos to set off Disney’s streak of hiring Latino talent for the Star Wars franchise. Isaac (nee Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada) played Poe Dameron, a fighter pilot who rose in the ranks to become General of the Resistance. He appeared in all three movies of the Star Wars reboot trilogy: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
2. Pedro Pascal as Mando
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Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal plays the titular character in The Mandalorian (his true name is a spoiler), a solitary bounty hunter who travels to the “outer reaches” of the galaxy in order to protect Baby Yoda.
3. Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano
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This season, Rosario Dawson played Ahsoka Tano in The Mandolorian–an alien of the Togruta race who is also a Jedi knight and army commander. It was also recently announced that the actress of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent would be headlining a spinoff series on Disney+ entitled Ahsoka.
4. Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
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Mexican actor Diego Luna played Rebel Alliance soldier Cassian Andor in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Luna will also star in his own standalone series revolving around Cassian Andor on Disney+ called Andor.
5. Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata
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Mexican-born actress Lupita Nyong’o played alien pirate queen Maz Kanata via motion capture in all three of the Star Wars reboot trilogy: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
6. Benicio Del Toro as DJ
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Boricua actor Benicio Del Toro played the villainous hacker DJ in The Last Jedi.
7. Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa
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Brooklyn-born Boricua actor Jimmy Smits played Bail Organa in two of the Star Wars prequel movies, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith as well as reprising his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
8. Horatio Sanz as Mythrol
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Although you might not recognize him through such heavy character makeup, Chilean-America comedian Horatio Sanz played Mythrol, a wanted fugitive that was carbon-frozen by Pascal’s character in the first episode of The Mandolorian.
9. John Leguizamo as Gor Koresh
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Again, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize John Leguizamo amidst all the heavy alien makeup, but the Colombian-American actor played the character Gor Koresh in The Mandolorian–boastful forager of the Abyssin alien race.
10. Robert Rodriguez
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As we reported above, Robert Rodriguez is a legendary Mexican-American director who helmed a popular episode of The Mandolorian entitled “The Tragedy”. He is now set to executive produce a new Disney+ Star Wars series called The Book of Boba Fett.
11. Adria Arjona
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Puerto Rican actress Adria Arjona has not officially appeared in any Star Wars properties yet, but it was recently announced that she will be appearing in Diego Luna’s Star Wars spinoff series Andor as a yet-to-be-named character.
12. Pablo Hidalgo
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Pablo Hidalgo is the definition of behind-the-scenes talent. The Chilean-Canadian LucasFilm creative executive is in charge of keeping narrative and creative cohesion between all of the stories within the Star Wars Universe. In essence, he is the definitive Star Wars expert.
There are a few moments when our dreams are actualized. For Daniela Villegas, that time is now. The Mexican engineering student earned a spot in a NASA program with her brains. Then, the community came together and raised the money she needed to follow her dream.
Daniela Villegas is a Mexican engineering student chasing her dreams.
Hola, soy una de las 60 personas seleccionadas a nivel mundial para participar en el INTERNATIONAL AIR AND SPACE PROGRAM de la NASA 🚀 Necesito recaudar más de $3,500 dólares para cubrir el costo del programa. ¿Me ayudarías difundiendo?💙🚀#DanielaVillegasNASApic.twitter.com/Y6yrNy5Jf6
Villegas is one of 60 people in the world chosen to participate in the International Air and Space Program. The program is a major educational opportunity for students in engineering and aerospace studies. Now that she has been chosen, it is time for her to pay the money in order to attend.
An online community came together and raised the money she needed to get to the NASA program.
✨¡LLEGAMOS A LA META!✨
Gracias a cada persona que dono y que difundió la información e hizo que este sueño este más cerca de ser realidad.
🚨 Espero me ayuden difundiendo la noticia para que esta llegue a los oídos de todas aquellas personas que donaron y estaban por hacerlo. pic.twitter.com/fRHWLTkosK
What a wonderful moment for the young woman, and Mexicans everywhere. After all, when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. We are all here rooting for you, Daniela. You can do it, mija!
Villegas is bringing so much pride to Mexico and Mexicans around the world.
Daniela Villegas is studying mechatronics engineering, which is a specialized engineering field. Mechatronic engineering is where mechanical, electrical, computer and robotics engineering come together. Mechatronic engineers are the ones who help to create all of the smart technologies that we use almost every day to make our lives easier.
The TecNM – Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo student needs our help and we can make her dream happen.
Sin duda alguna en compartir mi contenido para llegar a más personas🥺 Mi cuenta bancaria es la siguiente por si gustas apoyar con una aportación, todo es bien recibido y es de gran ayuda❤️
TecNM – Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo is located in the middle of the state of Sonora. Villegas raised $3,500 to get to the program in Huntsville, Alabama, and any little bit helped. It also wouldn’t be bad if she raised more so she can fully enjoy her time in the program making the most out of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
