We need more inclusion: ‘The Power’ star John Leguizamo on changing power structures in Hollywood

New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) Actor John Leguizamo, known for his roles in “Moulin Rouge!” and “Carlito’s Way”, believes his upcoming series “The Power” reflects the changing gender dynamics in Hollywood where more women are taking up leadership roles.

The new Prime Video show is based on author Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel, about teenage girls suddenly developing the power to electrocute people.

Leguizamo stars as Rob, whose daughter is among the girls who acquire the superpower. His wife is Margot Cleary-Lopez, the mayor of Seattle, played by Australian actor Toni Collette.

The actor said women in Hollywood have made huge strides despite the many obstacles they encounter every day.

“I mean, look at the women who were nominated as directors this year at the Oscars, non-existent. And yet women are moving into areas of power, more directing, more executives,” Leguizamo told PTI in an interview.

It is beautiful to see when women are running things and we need more of it, more inclusion, the 62-year-old actor added.

“Hollywood is grappling with the fact that white people are only 59 per cent of the population of the US but they have 100 per cent of the roles and the executives… And now they have to start divvying up power and this series encapsulates that.

“You see you teenage girls in South Africa, Atlanta, Seattle and London; white girls, black girls, Latin girls, Asian girls; getting power and being able to take charge of their lives in a way that needs to exist in the real world, but doesn’t really exist in the real world yet.”

Leguizamo’s character of Rob is a “new type of male”, said the actor, known for featuring in movies such as “Romeo + Juliet”, “Chef” and “John Wick” franchise.

“We all crafted this character to create this new type of male. What a lot of guys are going through and should be going through is being able to give up a little bit of power because men have had privilege.

“Also to be a man who can support a woman who’s more powerful than him, more ambitious than him, whose career is more important than his and still be okay with himself. I think that’s a wonderful type of new masculinity that we all need to start embracing,” he added.

The actor said there are many men who are happy to play the role of “Mr Moms” in their households.

“I’m the moneymaker in my house, but I have friends who aren’t the money makers and they’re the Mr. Moms and they’re very content. They’re very happy and they’re cool, not jealous of their wives’ power or anything. They think they can do what they want, they can achieve as well,” he added.

Leguizamo said he was glad to work on a series that had women working in different departments.

“It’s amazing because the show is about women getting power. But it’s a metaphor for women having real power. And then the production side was all women. And it was incredible because all the directors were women, all the writers were women, most of the producers were women.

“You’re surrounded by female empowerment. And yet, you’re treated with great respect. It’s no different. It was a beautiful experience all around, inside the story and outside the story,” he added.

Produced by Amazon Studios and SISTER, “The Power” also stars Auli’i Cravalho, Toheeb Jimoh, Josh Charles, Eddie Marsan, Ria Zmitrowicz, Zrinka Cvitesic and Halle Bush.

The first three episodes of the series will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on March 31, with new episodes available each Friday, leading up to the season finale on May 12.