Fernando Carsa is getting candid about Latino representation on television.
In the newest episode of Advocate Now with Sonia Baghdady, the Acapulco actor opened up about how the show has paved ways for Latino communities, who have received onslaughts of negative press in recent years.
"Unfortunately, over the past few years, Latinos and immigrants have been represented in such a negative light in media. Everything has to do with narcos, and violence, and crime," Carsa says. "And I feel like we're finally coming to a wave where we're putting [them in] a positive, beautiful light, and this show is an example of that. I'm excited for audiences to finally see who we truly are as a community, and the fact that we [have] come into this country to fight and to make dreams come true."
Acapulco is an Apple TV+ show shot in Mexico with a primarily Latino cast. As the series is partially in Spanish, it is one of several bilingual shows released recently. Carsa believes that the series is revolutionary for immigrant and Latino communities, which are often underrepresented or misrepresented in media.
"Latinos, and the Latinx community, we are such a big part of the population of this country, and the world, too," he explains. "I feel like our experience matters. We're part of the history of this country, of the growth of its economy. It is time that we finally see ourselves represented onscreen."
Carsa adds: "I feel like every immigrant in this country, regardless of where they come from, is what makes this country better."
Advocate Now | Fernando Carsa
Carsa grew up in Mexico with Spanish as his first language. While he learned English before moving to the United States, he shares that it was in an unconventional way... through Britney Spears.
"I've always been a Britney Spears fan," Carsa elaborates. "I started translating all of her lyrics because I wanted to know what she said, and little did I know I was learning a whole new, different language. So, that's how it happened, and by the time I moved to the US, that skill — those skills — that I had learned through her music came in handy."
Spears has been an source of motivation for Carsa, as he says that her energy inspires him as a performer.
"One of the things that I admire most about her is that everyone in the industry who has met her says that she's the nicest person in the world, that she's super kind, super down-to-earth," he says. "And then the moment that she steps on that stage, she becomes this icon and this legend... Seeing everything that she's been through and how she's overcome everything, and she's still — you know — up and fighting, and being her truest self, is so inspiring."
As an activist for plus-sized people, Carsa says that he's also been through his fair share of inner turmoil. His journey towards self-love and acceptance has been a long-fought war, but it's one he's happy to finally be winning.
"I've been having a battle with my body that didn't have to exist," he shares. "I'm finally daring to wear what I've always wanted to wear, just because I want to... I'm trying to make everything about how I feel, how it makes me feel, and how liberating it is. So, I'm taking a lot of risks, and by taking those risks, I started realizing that my body can be sexy, and desirable, and attractive. Which, as someone in the plus-size community, that's something that I've struggled with my whole life."
Carsa adds: "I'm almost 25, and sometimes it makes me so sad that I've gone through my twenties hiding my body, when it can be — and it is — something so precious and so wonderful. And it has never stopped me from working, or proving that I belong in this industry. So why not show it off?"
Acapulco is available to stream on Apple TV+.
For more interviews like these, watch Advocate Now on The Advocate Channel.
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