Lin-Manuel Miranda was forced to apologize because the minority cast of his film version of “In The Heights” wasn’t “dark-skinned” enough.
“I started writing ‘In the Heights’ because I didn’t feel seen,” the 41-year-old creator of the hit Broadway musical by the same name shared in a statement on Twitter. The post was noted by Variety in a piece published Monday. (RELATED: ‘Hamilton’ Movie Headed To Disney+ A Year Early Due To Pandemic)
“And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us — ALL of us — to feel seen,” he added. “I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda Addresses Lack of Afro-Latino Representation in ‘In the Heights’: ‘We Fell Short’ https://t.co/ENlCRb67gh
— Variety (@Variety) June 14, 2021
“I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback,” Miranda continued. “I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy.”
-LMM pic.twitter.com/CHfdLgFUz3
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 14, 2021
The Broadway creator of “Hamilton” said that in trying to “paint a mosaic of this community” they “fell short.” (RELATED: ‘Hamilton’ Response To Bush Is A World Away From How They Treated Pence)
“I’m truly sorry,” Lin explained. “I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I’m listening. I’m trying to hold space both for the indelible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings.”
During an interview for The Root, “In the Heights” director Jon M. Chu and stars Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera and Gregory Diaz IV, were asked about the film’s casting decisions, specifically that there’s no ‘dark-skinned’ Afro-Latinos in the film’s leading roles.
“I would say that’s a fair conversation to have,” Chu replied. “Listen, we’re not going to get everything right in a movie. We tried our best on all fronts of it.”
“I think that this is cracking that glass ceiling, because I do hope to see my brothers and sisters who are darker than me lead these movies,” Grace, who plays the lead role of Nina in the film, added.