In the history of cinema, there have been some great dance numbers performed by Latinos in films—from Rita Moreno in West Side Story to Rosie Pérez in Do the Right Thing to Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina. One actor that has had his fair share of time showing off his dancing talent is John Leguizamo.
During an interview with actor Wesley Snipes for the new sequel Coming 2 America, which hits Amazon Prime Friday (March 5), Snipes remembered his time working with Leguizamo in the past and mentioned how much his “Hermano de León” likes to dance in his movies.
“John’s like me—he likes to put dancing in his movies,” Snipes told Remezcla during an interview late last month. “Any character John plays, that character’s gonna dance!”
Leguizamo has some competition for best dancer in Hollywood with Snipes in Coming 2 America. Snipes plays General Izzi, a military leader in Africa who basically dances every time he enters a room. Still, how does someone really keep up with Leguizamo on the dance floor?
Here are five perfectly good dance scenes from Leguizamo in the last 25 years.
'Nothing Like the Holidays'
What makes this dance scene special is that Leguizamo, who plays Mauricio Rodriguez, shares the screen with some of his other Latino family like Luis Guzman, Freddy Rodriguez and Jay Hernandez. Watching Leguizamo dancing to “The Show” by Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew is a gift from the heavens. “That’s my song, y’all!”
'Summer of Sam'
OK, so Leguizamo doesn’t dance too much during this scene, but he does show off a few moves with Mira Sorvino doing most of the swaying around him. They’re dancing to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” so that definitely allows Leguizamo to give off some of those Boogie Night vibes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94WBkcZFu_s
'The Pest'
Leguizamo dances to his heart’s content in his 1997 comedy playing Miami con man Pestario “Pest” Vargas. He’s so good at it, he makes himself faint.
'To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar'
In Too Wong Foo, Leguizamo does his best impression of Carmen Miranda and shakes his thang alongside actors Wesley Snipes and the late Patrick Swayze. We wonder if they color coordinated their outfits.
'Freak'
On the live stage, Leguizamo could dance with the best of them. He shows off in this performance of his 1998 TV special John Leguizamo: Freak, which was directed by Spike Lee.