Growing up as a Latina in the 2000s, there was not a wealth of representation for Latine people in American media. So, when I first watched High School Musical and learned that the main character's name was Gabriella Montez, I was so touched. Finally, there was the representation I sought out.
I went all out celebrating this. I got the Gabriella Barbie doll. I talked about how refreshing her character was often, and well into adulthood. She was a smart, passionate, soft, ambitious, and multitalented Latina, for crying out loud!!! Hollywood NEVER portrayed us in such a nuanced way.
Turns out, they still hadn't! My reality SHATTERED when, at 20 years old, my friends had to inform me, mid-gratitude-filled monologue about Gabriella Montez, that Vanessa Hudgens, the actor who played her, was not Latina.
Yeah, that was a confusing day for me. But, I'm, once again, comforted by r/asklatinamerica because, turns out, I'm not the only one who has, for whatever reason, assumed a non-Latine celebrity to be Latino, only to discover the truth later. Here are some other celebrities Latinos thought were Latine:
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
1. "Taylor Lautner, when I saw him as Sharkboy."
2. "Because of Nacho Libre, I thought Jack Black was Mexican until my 15th birthday when a cousin talked about movies at the afterparty."
3. "I thought Catherine Zeta-Jones was Hispanic because she so often plays Hispanic characters. She's not a bit Hispanic. She's Welsh and Irish."
4. "I thought Mark Cuban was from Cuba... Yeah, I went full gringo on that one."
5. "Never heard of Olivia Rodrigo until suddenly people in class were talking about her after she released her album. I thought she was Brazilian."
6. "Ariana Grande, I thought for the longest she was Caribbean Hispanic lol."
7. "I just searched for Lana del Rey, because in the past I thought it was the name of a cumbia group until I knew she is a singer; now I know she isn't even Latin lmaoo."
8. "Giancarlo Esposito. I still remember the first time I heard him speak with broken Spanish in Breaking Bad, and I was like, 'WTF? Surely this actor has lived a lot of years in the US to lose his accent.'"
9. "Johnny Depp, when I saw him in Pirates of the Caribbean as a kid lol."
10. "I thought Jeff Bezos was of Latin American ancestry."
11. "Miranda Cosgrove."
12. "I had never given it a thought, but if I were guessing, I would have probably guessed Rosalía was Cuban American."
13. "Carmen Miranda: the Portuguese woman that was more Brazilian than me."
14. "I was sure Al Pacino was Latino because of the movie Scarface. But he isn't."
15. "John Stamos, the tan guy from Full House. I thought he was for the longest with that last name and olive skin."
16. "Justin Baldoni."
17. "For the longest time, I thought Antonio Banderas was Mexican."
And, finally:
18. "For some reason, I used to think that Sandra Bullock was Puerto Rican and was brought to the US after being orphaned. Two years ago, my world was shaken when I learned that wasn't the case."
There you have it? Are there any non-Latino celebs you thought were Latino that didn't make the list? Let us know in the comments.
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