Netflix offers movies and shows with Latinx creators, actors, topics, and themes. You need to have a Netflix subscription to watch the full videos. Trailers from YouTube for a few of these titles are highlighted below; films / series include closed captions.
To underscore Latinx diversity, we include Latin ethnicity for actors and directors mentioned here, when these are known.
This electrifying and addictive Colombian epic historical drama plus telenovela depicts the life of Simón Bolívar, the charismatic and passionate military general who helped lead half of South America (modern Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru) to liberation from Spain. One of the central dramas of his life was his family's status as criollos, meaning they were of Spanish descent but born in Spain's South American colonies and were thus treated as second-class citizens. They were land owners and also enslaved Black people to work as laborers on their haciendas, which the series romanticizes to an extent. The 60-episode big-budget series follows Bolívar's life from early childhood to his death, fictionalizing some elements but staying true to others, such as the epic crossing of the Andes by Bolívar and his followers. The early episodes make extensive use of flashbacks, perhaps a nod to the fact that many Latin Americans may be familiar with his life story as taught in school. According to the writers, the series seeks to humanize the larger-than-life hero. Still, the series misses the opportunity to more fully depict Bolívar's recognition of Latinos as a new multiracial people and his well-known attempts to abolish slavery, but gives good background on the creation of early Latin American nations, along with political intrigue, his personal struggles and failings, and of course his love life. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Duration: Each episode is approximately 60 min.
"Stand-up comedy from Cristela Alonzo. She's no stranger to breaking glass ceilings. She's also not opposed to cleaning them." Her Middle Classy special from 2022 is also available on Netflix. According to Wikipedia, Alonzo is "the first Latina to create, produce, write, and star in her own US primetime comedy," ABC's self-titled Cristela (2014-15).
This comedy series tells the story of the Morales family, three Mexican American cousins from Boyle Heights, a traditionally Mexican neighborhood in Los Angeles that is rapidly being gentrified, pushing out the families and businesses that have been there for generations. The cousins -- all of whom are on their own career paths and face personal problems, identity crises, rivalries, and financial difficulties -- try to work together to save their Abuelo's taquería from going out of business. Starring Joseph Julian Soría, Carlos Santos, Karrie Martín, and Joaquín Cosío as Abuelo. Actors Soría and Cosío are Mexican American and Mexican, while Santos is Puerto Rican and Martín is Honduran American. Executive producer and director America Ferrera (also Honduran American) enjoys a limited guest star run in the series (for more from America, see Ugly Betty on the Amazon Prime tab here). In English and Spanish, with subtitles. Duration: Each episode is approximately 30 minutes.
Based on the popular Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, this hilarious five-season comedy from the CW concerns the three-generation household of the Villanueva women: Jane, a wholesome 20-something obedient daughter who aspires to become a writer, Xiomara, Jane's very sexy unmarried mother who aspires to become a singer, and Abuela Alba, Jane's grandmother and Xiomara's mother, who is devout and stern but loving, and always speaks in Spanish yet understands every word of the English dialog (just as Jane and Xiomara, who rarely if ever speak Spanish, understand every word of Spanish from Alba). Jane's birth father, previously unknown to her, is a sweet but absurdly narcissistic and hammy televnovela actor named Rogelio de la Vega, who wants nothing more than to be part of Jane's and Xiomara's lives. Through a comedy of errors, Jane is artificially inseminated and becomes pregnant while still a virgin. In short time, pregnant Jane is in the midst of a love triangle between sensible and nerdy Michael Cordero and sexy playa and baby daddy Rafael Solano. Which one will she choose? Will she become a writer? What about motherhood? The story is set in Miami, and while nearly all the characters are Latin, latinidad is taken for granted as the norm and thus very rarely talked about or "explained". The Villanueva family is Venezuelan (which we know from a few of Abuela's stories and for the arepas they sometimes eat), while Rogelio is Mexican, and Michael and Rafael's latinidad roots are not revealed. Starring Gina Rodriguez, Andrea Navedo, Ivonne Coll (all of whom are Puerto Rican), and Jaime Camil, who is Mexican. Diane Guerrero (Colombian American), Rosario Dawson, who is Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican, Rita Moreno and Justina Machado (both Puerto Rican and both in One Day at a Time, also featured here) all enjoy limited runs as supporting players / guest stars. In English and Spanish, with subtitles. Duration: Each episode is approximately 30 min.
"Discover how Puerto Rican entertainer Rita Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today." Born in Puerto Rico, Moreno migrated as a young girl to New York City with her mother after her parents split, thus Moreno grew up as a Nuyorican. In the documentary, Moreno openly discusses rape and sexual harassment that she experienced in the early days of her US film career, as well as being restricted to play "ethnic" roles such as indigenous and Asian women, and ironically often having her skin darkened to play these roles -- in other words, by Hollywood standards she was seen as "ethnic" and "foreign" but still not "ethnic and foreign" enough. Most insulting was her role in West Side Story; as one of the only Puerto Ricans in the supposed Puerto Rican film, she was not cast in the lead role because, once again, her Puerto Rican identity was seen as a deficit rather than an obvious asset. To escape typecasting, Moreno jumped to television, children's programming, voice work, stage work, and more. She remains one of very few actors who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. Description in quotes from Netflix. Duration: 1 hour 30 min.
"When tragedy struck her family in the midst of the financial crisis, Bronx-born Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to work double shifts in a restaurant to save her home from foreclosure. After losing a loved one to a preventable medical condition, Amy Vilela didn’t know what to do with the anger she felt about America’s broken health care system. Cori Bush was drawn into the streets when the police shooting of an unarmed black man brought protests and tanks into her neighborhood. Paula Jean Swearengin was fed up with watching her friends and family suffer and die from the environmental effects of the coal industry. At a moment of historic volatility in American politics, these four women decide to fight back, setting themselves on a journey that will change their lives and their country forever. Without political experience or corporate money, they build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. Their efforts result in a legendary upset." Description from Knock Down the House website. Duration: 87 min.
"Comic and actor John Leguizamo examines the repression of Hispanic culture throughout American history in his one-man show "Latin History for Morons." In this one-man show, Leguizamo traces 3,000 years of Latin history in order to help his bullied son," who is told Latinos have no history and no heroes. Leguizamo is no stranger to one-man off- and on-Broadway stage shows, having made his name for his Latin-centric works Mambo Mouth (1991), Spic-O-Rama (1993), Freak (1998), Sexaholix... A Love Story (2002), Klass Klown (2010), and Latin History for Morons (debuting in 2017). In between many of these shows, he also developed a film career playing leading and character roles, and also doing voice work in animated films. Leguizamo has often claimed to be part Puerto Rican, but as a recent guest on Henry Louis Gates's genealogy show, Finding Your Roots, it was verified that he is (no surprise!) 100% Colombian. He and his family moved to New York when he was a young boy, thus he grew up in NYC. FYI some of the Latin "facts" he presents are... well, not totally accurate but, as a comedian teaching history, he is mostly coming from a good place. Descriptions in quotes from IMDB and Netflix. Duration: 1 hour 31 min.
"Every day for decades, Walter Mercado — the iconic, gender non-conforming astrologer — mesmerized 120 million Latino television viewers with his extravagance and positivity." This amazing documentary provides unprecedented interviews of Mercado (1932-2019) and his devoted assistant. Born in Puerto Rico, Mercado trained as a dancer in early life and was also a telenovela actor. When he turned to astrology, he became a veritable institution via his astrology segments on various television stations in Puerto Rico and Latin communities in the U.S., and ultimately for many years on Univision. Known for his extravagant wardrobe as much as his androgyny, Mercado was a beloved and flamboyant personality who radiated goodness. Lin-Manuel Miranda and father visit Mercado in the documentary; legendary television journalists Cristina Salagueri (Cuban American) and Jorge Ramos (Mexican) also show up, along with beloved Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, among others. Description in quotes from Netflix. Duration: 1 hour 26 min.
This remake of Norman Lear's classic tv comedy is given a refresh with a Cuban American family living in California. The single mother is a veteran with a nerdy lesbian daughter and a spoiled image-conscious son who is definitely the consentido of the family. Because this is a Latino household, another generation is needed in the presence of Abuela, the irrepressible pint-sized Cuban emigree who schools them all on their heritage and the old days in Cuba before the revolution. The storylines tend to be sweet and formulaic, with cubanidad discussed at least once per episode and always in English, and the problem of the day resolved by episode end, yet it is worth watching for Moreno's over-the-top performance as Abuela and Justina Machado's tour de force portrayal of Mami. Starring Justina Machado, Rita Moreno as Abuela, Marcel Ruiz (all Puerto Rican), and Isabela Gomez, who is Colombian. Three seasons are available. Duration: Each episode is approximately 30 min.
"A year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s" as witnessed by their indigenous Mixteca maid Cleo. The film takes place during politically turbulent 1970s Mexico and, on a more personal note, during the painful break-up of a well-to-do family. The film is also a wistful nostalgic love letter to the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, where director Alfonso Cuarón grew up. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Cuarón stated that 90% of Roma was autobiographical. The Oscar-winning film is a Mexico-US co-production shot in black and white; in Spanish, with English subtitles. Starring Yalitza Aparicio, who is indigenous Mexican of Mixtec and Triqui heritage, and Marina de Tavira. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Description in quotes from IMDB. Duration: 2 hours 14 min.
ISU Library subscribes to Kanopy, a vast and eclectic collection of documentaries and feature films. Strong focus on educational resources, social, political, and cultural issues, and numerous international film classics. Here are a number of Kanopy's Latin titles. Film descriptions listed below are from Kanopy. Films include closed captions or subtitles unless otherwise noted. (Some older documentaries in Kanopy are not closed captioned.)
As an American growing up in Florida with a mother from Guatemala and a father from Cuba, Rosi combines all three of her cultures for a quinceañera celebration in Havana – an appropriate destination given the fact that her beloved grandfather cannot get a visa to the United States. Duration: 28 min.
ABRAZOS tells the transformational journey of a group of U.S. Citizen Children, sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants, who travel from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents -and in some instances their siblings - for the first time. There are 4.5 million other U.S. citizen children who, like them, have at least one undocumented parent and are part of mixed-status families, ABRAZOS is the story of 14 of them. Directed by Luis Argueta. Duration: 43 min.
This classic Tejano music documentary by Les Strachwitz and Les Blank provides a "complex, insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, including Flaco Jimenez and Lydia Mendoza. Selected for The Library Of Congress, National Film Registry of motion pictures, and is to be preserved in perpetuity." Film is in Spanish with English subtitles for all songs and most but not all of the film's dialog. Duration: 59 min.
Indira, a Cuban actress, succeeded in fleeing to the USA but her emigration had its consequences on her family. In Santa Clara (Cuba) she left 11-year-old son Leandro and other members of her numerous family. Settled now in New Jersey, Indira struggles to adapt to cold weather, the different mentality and a completely new social system. As her "American Dream" turns to an "American Nightmare", her son Leandro is waiting in Santa Clara for her to settle so he can come and live with her in USA. Duration: 1 hour 10 min.
The Graduates / Los Graduados explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina students from across the United States. More than a survey of contemporary policy debates, the bilingual, two-part film offers first-hand perspectives on key challenges facing Latino high school students and their families, educators, and community leaders. It is the story of the graduates who will make up America’s future.
Part 2 of the series: “Boys” gives us three teenagers who are just as distinct (as the Girls presented in Part 1): Juan, a Dominican living in Lawrence, Massachusetts who was bullied as a gay teen until finding his own identity as a performer and writer; Eduardo from San Diego, who is steered away from the gang path when introduced to a special college prep organization that changes his outlook; and Gustavo, who came to America from Mexico to live in the very different environment of Georgia and whose dreams of college are blocked by his undocumented status.
Duration: 53 min. (Boys)
Part I: “Girls” features Stephanie, a daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, who despite attending a tough public school on the South Side of Chicago, fights through the distractions and worries about violence to become a good student, outspoken activist, and volunteer; Chastity, a Bronx teen whose family has become homeless but uses writing as a means of escape while keeping her eyes on the prize — college; and Darlene, a Tulsa student who dropped out of school after becoming pregnant and has to play catch-up when she dives back into her studies, all while trying to make a good future for her son. Duration: 53 min.
Visual artist Juan Sanchez (b.1954) explores his Puerto Rican heritage and the issue of Puerto Rican independence through his work as an artist and writer. Combining painting, photography, collage, and printmaking techniques, Sanchez’s art joins images of contemporary barrio life with memories of Puerto Rico, and addresses a fragmented Latino community fraught with political resistance and cultural alienation. Interview by Bibiana Suarez. Duration: 45 min.
Five-part series; video embedded here is Episode 1, with remaining episodes also available in Kanopy. In a part of America that rarely makes headlines, there is a small town with a group of teenagers who will captivate your ears and warm your heart. MARIACHI HIGH follows a South Texas high school’s top ensemble, Mariachi Halcon, through one year of auditions and rehearsals, of heartbreak and joy, building to the state championship tournament, making a convincing case for the positive impact of in-school arts engagement on students' lives. One of the film's central themes is a connection between mariachi music for Latino youth and high achievement. As they compete and perform with musical virtuosity, these teens and the music they play will inspire, surprise, and bring you to your feet. Mariachi High is part of a national public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help communities across the country address the high school dropout crisis. Duration: 1 hour 18 min.
Details the creation of the proud Chicano identity, as labor leaders organize farm workers in California, and as activists push for better education opportunities for Latinos, the inclusion of Latino studies, and empowerment in the political process. Duration: 53 min.
A delightful life-changing journey back to Costa Rica. After living 10 years in New York, 30-year-old Antonio returns to San José, where he is forced to deal with the realities he ran away from. A perspective of a middle-class family dealing with loss, insecurities, and identity in multiple forms. Winner of Best International Feature at the New York Latino Film Festival. Duration: 1 hour 41 min.
In CUBAN AMERICA, Independent documentary filmmaker Adelin Gasana, a non-Cuban African-American, went deep into the heart of the Cuban Diaspora in the Greater Miami Region to answer these questions. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen of another nationality Gasana delivered an external outlook through various Cuban voices of the experience of living in a Disapora and the community's hard work of building a metropolitan community by rebuilding their emigrant lives in solidarity. For over two years he interviewed Cuban-Americans of all ages, gender, race, socioeconomic class, professions, and communities in Miami-Dade County determined to construct a well-balanced overview of the 5-decade story of the Cuban-impact of Miami. What he found out principally is the human story element of an immigrant Diaspora's foundational mark on a major, growing American city, the tragedy of exile and fleeing a beloved homeland, nostalgia that reshaped itself in the construction of a cultural enclave, and the tension between race and class lines in the largely diverse Cuban immigrant population. Duration: 1 hour 37 min.
The body of an unidentified immigrant is found in the Arizona Desert. In an attempt to retrace his path and discover his story, director Marc Silver and actor Gael Garcia Bernal embed themselves among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border, providing rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate. Winner of a World Cinema - Documentary Cinematography Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Duration: 1 hour 29 min.
Amazon Prime incudes many movies and shows with Latinx creators, actors, topics, and themes. You need to have an Amazon Prime subscription to watch the full videos. Trailers from YouTube for a few of these titles are highlighted below; films / series include closed captions. Some streaming videos from Amazon Prime are fee-based; these are listed below when included.
Finally, to illustrate Latinx diversity, we include Latin ethnicity for actors and directors mentioned here, when these are known.
"J Balvin is the boy from Medellín. From Academy Award® nominated and Emmy-winning director Matthew Heineman comes a portrait of one of the biggest international superstars of our time. The film follows the four-time Latin Grammy winner as he prepares for the most important concert of his life." The Amazon Prime description makes it sound like this is the typical backstage music documentary. Instead, Balvin speaks very openly about his struggles with depression and anxiety, the difficulties of being an immigrant in the US, and his double life as José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, just a decent lower middle-class Colombian guy trying to help out his parents, and his larger-than-life business persona J Balvin. After becoming famous, the documentary focuses on his return to perform in his home city of Medellín, depressed and worried for the upcoming performance and the expectations of his fellow Colombians. His tour coincides with massive and unprecedented national demonstrations against the Colombian government, and Balvin is criticized in social media for not taking a stand. Viewers unfamiliar with Colombian history may not understand that most Colombians have endured generations of unspeakable political and civil violence, and the people of Medellín itself suffered tremendously in recent times during the unimaginable reign of terror, bombings, and murders instigated by an infamous narco. Making a political statement has not been a safe or inconsequential thing to do for generations of Colombians. So what will el niño de Medellín do? Description in quotes from Amazon Prime. Duration: 1 hour 35 min.
"The film follows Cesar Chavez's efforts to organize 50,000 farm workers in California. Some of them were braceros—temporary workers from Mexico permitted to live and work in the United States in agriculture, and required to return to Mexico if they stopped working. Working conditions are very poor for the farmworkers, who also suffer from racism and brutality at the hands of the employers and local Californians. To help the workers, Cesar Chavez (Michael Peña) forms a labor union known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). Chavez's efforts are opposed, sometimes violently, by the owners of the large industrial farms where the farmworkers work. The film touches on several major nonviolent campaigns by the UFW: the Delano grape strike, the Salad Bowl strike, and the 1975 Modesto march." Description in quotes from Wikipedia. Peña is Mexican American and from Chicago; also stars Rosario Dawson (Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican) as Dolores Huerta and America Ferrera (Honduran American) as Helen Chavez. For more from Dawson, see Jane the Virgin (Netflix tab), and more from Ferrera see Gentefied (Netflix tab) and Ugly Betty (Amazon Prime tab). Duration: 1 hour 41 min.
From PBS American Experience: "A Class Apart tells the little known story of how a band of underdog Mexican-American lawyers take their case, Hernandez v. Texas, all the way to the Supreme Court and win the first decision to begin dismantling Jim Crow issued two weeks before Brown v. Board of Education. This one-hour historical documentary is more than the story of a case, it's the story of a people. It uses the Hernandez case as a through-line to shed light on the under-reported history of systematic discrimination faced by Mexican-Americans in the Southwest, their early civil rights struggle, and to explore cutting-edge issues of racial politics and identity among Latinos." Description from Latino Public Broadcasting. Narrated by Edward James Olmos. Duration: 1 hour 35 min.
The title translates to "Once upon a time in Venezuela." Once prosperous, the village of Congo Mirador is now rotting away. At the center are two women on opposing sides of Venezuelan politics. As national elections approach, can the village survive corruption, pollution, and economic decay? Directed by Anabel Rodriguez Rios. The social unrest in Venezuela has had and will continue to have an impact on US Latin demographics as Venezuelans who are able to leave have been resettling in the U.S. and elsewhere. Duration 1 hour 39 min. Available streaming via Topic free trial.
Winner — Venice Days 2019. Official Selection TIFF 2019, Sundance 2020. Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans in Guatemala decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women of the house—his haughty wife, conflicted daughter, and precocious granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique against the devastating truths being publicly revealed and the increasing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes. Meanwhile, much of the family’s domestic staff flees, leaving only loyal housekeeper Valeriana until a mysterious young Indigenous maid arrives. A tale of horror and magical realism, the film reimagines the iconic Latin American fable as an urgent metaphor of Guatemala’s recent history and tears open the country’s unhealed political wounds to grieve a seldom discussed crime against humanity. Cast: Maria Mercedes Coroy (Ixcanul), Margarita Kenefic, Sabrina de la Hoz, Julio Diaz. Co-written and directed by Jayro Bustamante. Description from Shudder. Duration: 1 hour 36 min. Available streaming from $4.99.
"Millie and the Lords tells the story of Milagros Baez, a young, working class under-confident Puerto Rican woman whose life is changed for the better when she begins to learn about the Young Lords Party and her rich Puerto Rican history." Modeled somewhat after the Black Panthers and the Brown Berets, the Young Lords were an important political and civil rights group of young Puerto Ricans that began in Chicago and had chapters in New York City and elsewhere, and were active in the 1960s and early 1970s. Starring Jessica Carmona (born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York), veteran actor Mateo Gomez, Alex Hernandez, and directed by Jennica Carmona, twin sister of lead actor Jessica Carmona. Description in quotes from Amazon Prime. Duration: 1 hour 29 min. Available for streaming from $3.99.
"The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life's calling." Based on Guevara's own Notas de viaje, the story depicts the transformative nine-month study break that 23-year old med student Guevara took with his biochemist friend Alberto Granado. The trip took them through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama, and led Guevara ultimately to Miami. Guevara had already been reading political philosophy. The poverty, oppression, and suffering they witnessed everywhere among the people they met further radicalized Guevara, forming a profound sense of Latin American solidarity and his urgent need to engage in political struggle intended to liberate Latin Americans from opression. Description in quotes from IMDb. Starring Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, with haunting music by Gustavo Santaolalla; directed by Walter Salles. Duration: 2 hours 6 min. Available streaming from $3.99.
Called "the quintessential film of our time," El Norte is an enduring classic of Latin cinema, directed by Gregory Nava. "After their family is killed in a government massacre, brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States. This timeless, visually epic story of Enrique and Rosa’s courageous struggle to make a better life in the U.S. as undocumented immigrants resonates today with remarkable force and remains an unforgettable portrait of the power of the human spirit." Description in quotes from YouTube. Siblings Enrique and Rosa are indigenous Mayan who live with their parents in a strongly indigenous village that is decimated by the military. To escape certain death, Enrique and Rosa must leave Guatemala, and Rosa especially must leave her indigenous identity behind, as signaled by her traditional clothing. Enduring horrifying situations, they arrive in an unspeakably foreign Los Angeles and must learn to survive. Starring Zaide Silvia Gutierrez and David Villalpando; veteran actors Tony Plana (Cuban American), Lupe Ontiveros (Mexican American), and Trinidad Silva (Mexican American) have supporting roles. Rated R. Duration: 2 hours 21 min. Streaming free via Paramount+ free trial or from $3.99.
"A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together." This unsung film boasts an exceptional Latin cast with John Leguizamo (Colombian American), Freddy Rodriguez (Puerto Rican and from Chicago), late veteran actor Elizabeth Peña (Colombian American), Luis Guzman (Puerto Rican), and many more; along with Debra Messing and Alfred Molina, who is British and of Spanish and Italian descent. Rodriguez stars as a wounded veteran suffering from PTSD and recently returned from Afghanistan, struggling to fit back into his upended Chicago life in his parents' home. Leguizamo is the successful but unhappy son who has married outside of his ethnicity with the brittle try-hard Debra Messing. Character actor Luis Guzman plays a wise-cracking character, having special fun mocking Messing's poor Spanish pronunciation. (Not nice, but she has been a handful for years.) Everyone needs to resolve their differences as the entire Puerto Rican neighborhood prepares to celebrate Christmas with a parranda. For more from Freddy Rodriguez, see Ugly Betty (Amazon Prime tab), where he plays confident sandwich seller Gio; for more from John Leguizamo, see Latin History of Morons (Netflix tab here). Duration: 1 hour 38 min.
Based on the immensely popular Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty la fea (I Am Ugly Betty, 1999), Ugly Betty tells the story of 20-something down-to-earth good girl and eternal optimist Betty Suarez, who aspires to be a magazine writer and editor. Betty is Mexican American and lives in a multi-generational household in Queens with her no-nonsense sexy older sister Hilda, who is a single mother and unemployed, her supportive and very maternal father Ignacio, and her sensitive gay nephew, Hilda's son Justin. Betty is unconcerned and largely unaware of her unfashionable appearance yet she works for a fashion magazine, filled with intensely superficial and judgmental co-workers. Can she get by on her brains, talent, and optimism alone and ignore the laughter behind her back? Can she succeed and help turn her co-workers into nicer people? In a word, yes, yes, and (mostly) yes. Starring America Ferrera (Honduran American), veteran actor Tony Plana (Cuban American), Ana Ortiz and Mark Indelicato, both of whom are part Puerto Rican. Executive producer Salma Hayek (Mexican) and actors Freddy Rodriguez and Justina Machado (both Puerto Rican and from Chicago), Eddie Cibrian (Cuban American), Adam Rodriguez (Puerto Rican and Cuban), Kevin Alejandro (Mexican American), Yaya DaCosta (Brazilian and Black), among many others, are featured in limited guest star runs in the series.
