HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — A storyboard in her dining room table full of colorful Post-its is how actress Ana de la Reguera built herself a place in Hollywood.
“You see here the name of the characters,” de la Reguera said, pointing at the Post-its, “and each character has a color, so then it’s easier to see where the character is. For example, me, I’m the yellow one.”
The storyboard lays out what’s going to happen in season two of her show called “Ana” which she created, wrote, produced and stars in. A mega movie star in her native Mexico and all-over Latin America, de la Reguera, has been acting for the last 25 years. Her latest credits include “Goliath,” “Narcos,” “The Forever Purge,” and many more.
But the idea for her show “Ana,” was born of the challenges she experienced when she first arrived in Hollywood 17 years ago.
“They didn’t like accent that much,” she said. “Most of the jobs I lost, because I had an accent… And I was so sad, and I said, ‘This is it, I’m never ever going to wait for someone to give me a shot.’”
Brave and bold, she went back to school, took writing workshops and spent the next seven years creating “Ana,” a fictional comedy about a famous Mexican Telenovela actress trying to make it in Hollywood and finding herself. The show is just as bold, funny and daring as she is.
“We have to create our own opportunities,” said senior awards editor for Variety, Clayton Davis.
Davis said creators and trailblazers like de la Reguera are paving the way for other Latinos in media where opportunities are scarce. A study by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative showed that of the 1,300 top U.S. films over the last 13 years, only 5% of characters were Latino.
“We just want what’s ours,” Davis said. “We don’t want anything more, so when I watch movies, if we are 30% of the population, 30% of the characters and roles should be Latino.”
“Ana” has been such a success that it has gotten multiple award nominations, and it’s streaming worldwide on Prime Video and Pantaya.
“I’m very, very excited,” said de la Reguera, who is already busy working on season three. “I’m so happy that I had this opportunity to tell my own story.”