John Leguizamo criticized Hollywood for its historic lack of diversity on screen.

The Latino actor and comedian introduced himself as “one of Hollywood’s DEI contributors,” explaining that the acronym stands for Diligence, Excellence, and Imagination (an acronym that traditionally stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and that everyone in the room is committed to those first three attributes. The Magical The actor then celebrated the diversity he saw in the audience tonight.

Leguizamo said that when he was growing up in Queens, New York, he “didn’t know people like me could be actors.”

“At 15, I didn’t know the word ‘representation,'” he said, adding, “Actually, there were a lot of words I didn’t know back then.”

But, he said, “I’ve seen a lot of brownface,” before mentioning white actors who had portrayed Latino characters, including Marlon Brando as a Mexican in Viva Zapata! aand Natalie Wood as “Puerto Rican named Maria” in West Side Story.

“Everyone was playing against us – except ourselves,” he explained. “I didn’t see many people on TV who looked like me.”

The comedian also listed roles that have been given to Latinx actors over the years, such as “the hot sex bomb,” “the Latin lover,” “the maid,” or “the gangbanger.”

“And that’s how we saw ourselves, because that was all we saw of ourselves,” he said.

“I always Star Trek and think: Wow, in the future there will be no Latin Americans,” he joked.

He then emphasized how far Hollywood has come, pointing to nominations for actresses Selena Gomez (Only murders in the building), Sofia Vergara (Griselda), Nava Mau (Baby reindeer) and showrunner Issa López (True Detective: Nightland), in addition to the victory for Liza Colón-Zayas for The bear.

Leguizamo detailed how he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times in June denouncing the industry and how it sparked an important discussion.

“Tonight makes me almost happy and certainly less angry,” he said, “because tonight we have one of the most diverse nominations in Emmy history.”

He added: “We need more stories about marginalized groups.” However, he noted: “This show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress.”