An 'In the Heights' star felt 'very shitty' after the movie, featuring an all-Latino cast, flopped at the box office: 'It just felt like the industry was blaming us'
- Melissa Barrera recently opened up about the experience surrounding "In the Heights."
- When talking about the film's reception, the actress said, "It just felt very personal."
Melissa Barrera thought that it was "so unfair" how her breakout film, "In the Heights," was received by critics and at the box office.
Barrera, who portrayed the role of Vanessa in the musical adaptation released last year, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that she felt "shitty" after learning of the reception "In the Heights" received.
"All the headlines that started coming out after we premiered were so brutal and horrible, and they felt very personal to me," she said while promoting her latest film "Scream."
"It just felt like the industry was blaming us for not doing well and was blaming the fact that we were all Latinos and was blaming the fact that it was a musical that not a lot of people knew," she continued. "So it just felt very personal, and I remember feeling very shitty afterwards."
"In the Heights," set primarily in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, was adapted from the Lin-Manuel Miranda ("Hamilton") and Quiara Alegría Hudes Broadway musical of the same name. It tells the story of the Latin-American community in the neighborhood, led by bodega owner Usnavi (played by Anthony Ramos).
As previously reported by Insider's Debanjali Bose, the movie was released in June 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max, and immediately received criticism for its lack of Afro-Latinx actors in main roles.
"In The Heights" director Jon M. Chu ("Crazy Rich Asians") said they tried to cast "the people who were best for those roles" in response to the criticism. Meanwhile, Rita Moreno, who produced "In The Heights," initially defended the choice to cast white-passing Latinx actors in most of the main characters, but eventually came out saying she was "disappointed" with herself for defending colorism.
Though the film's lack of commercial success came amid the pandemic, grossing $44 million worldwide, it was also after the success of major films with diverse casts, such as "Crazy Rich Asians," "Black Panther," and "One Night in Miami."
"It's such a weird time that we're living in, and what happened with 'In the Heights' wasn't our fault," Barrera told THR. "I've just learned to not have any expectations. All I can control is my experience while making a film and feeling proud of the work that I've done."
"Scream," which also stars Barrera, is out in theaters now.