Jessica Alba in Latin representation in “Trigger Warning”

It’s been a while since we saw Jessica Alba lead a film – in 2018, she pivoted to focus on her sustainable brand of a billion dollars The Honest Company, which she left as Creation leader in April. But in his latest film, “Trigger Warning”, Alba returns not only to the screen; It also makes a rare appearance as a Latina leader in an action film.

In the film, which was published on Netflix on June 21, Alba plays Parker, a commando of the American special forces stationed abroad which makes a trip to her hometown after learning that her father died (which she discovered later was caused by a murder). The actress “Dark Angel” and “Sin City”, who also worked as an executive producer of the film, said that she made sure that every detail behind her American-mexican character was as authentic as possible.

It is not a secret that Latins are major film buffs and yet remain underrepresented on the screen. According to the report on Hollywood diversity of the UCLA, Latin people represented only 5.4% of cinema tracks and 5.7% of actors in a role on the screen that year. When we plunge into specific genres that many Latins appreciate – like horror, Roma novels and action films – the representation is even lower. But Alba’s return proves how much we need to see more.

“I feel most of the time you see women like this; we are either the young lady in distress, or we are the male version of a badass woman – enough without emotion [with] Pretty stoic liners, wearing completely impracticable clothes in action, “said Alba.” And I just have the impression that it was so nice to play someone with wild hair that wear vintage [clothes] And cowboy boots, and it was just very feminine and very human. Like someone who can be your neighbor and your friend. “”

The actress, who is half Mexican, says that she has taken her own experiences to bring all these cultural strata and nuances to the character of Parker. Viewers can see him reflected in everything, music – like the classic folk song “La Llorana” presented in the film – to the choice of clothes.

“When we talked about it, I really said to myself, the music must be right. There are certain films where I have the impression that our culture is represented, and many where it is done. She adds that she made a Pinterest picture of the atmosphere she opted with Parker’s clothes, and the costume designer, Samantha Hawkins, and the director, Molly Surya, have to give us all the vision. could shape it and give it this pretty kind of granularity and reality. “

But there was perhaps a deeper reason for the performance of Alba so convincing. The cinema focuses on loss, and if the sorrow and the devastation of Parker seem real, it is because Alba herself was in mourning of the loss of one of her own parents when she was running the film.

“Oddly, my grandfather died at the time when I was shooting the film, so I really looked for him, and it was a very cathartic experience to be able to do a lot of this reflection and in mourning alongside Parker,” she said. “Many of my family photos are actually in the film, so I was really able to infuse a little of my family in the film.”

You can in particular see Alba’s touch as an executive producer in a scene where Parker finds himself navigating in an uncomfortable conversation with an ultra-conservative and racist senator played by Anthony Michael Hall. He laughs at the Latin term while giving Parker a pass to be a sympathetic Mexican among many members of the city.

“I do not know how this scene came to life exactly, but I loved it, and she took her own life with Anthony Michael Hall, and I was sitting in this seat … In like all the earrings and the clothes of the ancestors of Parker because everything is vintage and lived,” she said. “And for this Ding Dong to sit there and try to reduce us and be so disrespectful in a casual way, everything landed. This thing in a way clicked with this scene. It was as if it was a flavor that I had never seen in a film.”

The film, which was positioned as a franchise starter, has made place n ° 1 of Netflix during the weekend – proving that the authentic narration resonates with the public. And while Alba is not unrelated to action films and makes his waterfalls, “Trigger Warning” really aligns with his longtime dream to become a Latina action hero.

Johanna Ferreira is the director of PS Juntos content. With more than 10 years of experience, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central element of Latin culture. Previously, she spent almost three years as a deputy editor of Hiplatina, and she has independent for many points of sale, notably Refinery29, Oprah Magazine, Tower, Instyle and Well + Good. She has also moderated and talked about many panels on Latin identity.