John Leguizamo's new play 'The Other Americans' explores family, ambition and a 'rigged' system

In his new play “The Other Americans,” John Leguizamo plays Nelson Castro, a husband and father struggling to keep the family’s laundromat business going, while grappling with his college son’s breakdown after he was the victim of a hate crime.“I just don’t understand how everybody gets to fail up, except us,” Castro says.

In his new play “The Other Americans,” John Leguizamo plays Nelson Castro, a husband and father struggling to keep the family’s laundromat business going, while grappling with his college son’s breakdown after he was the victim of a hate crime.

“I just don’t understand how everybody gets to fail up, except us,” Castro says. “The system’s rigged against us. That’s why.”

These ideas are personal for Leguizamo, who wrote “The Other Americans” after taking a “hard look” at modern Latino life, the lack of progress for many, and other issues.

John Leguizamo opens up about his new play, 'The Other Americans'02:48“All that was bothering me,” said the Colombian-born actor and activist. “Then this incident that happened in the ’90s, a hate crime; and so I sort of reverse-engineered and created this play.”

“It’s about the American dream and capitalism,” Leguizamo continued, “and how it is when you’re Latin — the difference for us.”