tHEy CAN`t DENy Us.

MICHELLE
RODRIGUEZ
AGE: 33
ROOTS: Dominican–Puerto Rican
We love how, throughout her career, Michelle
has resisted the Hollywood stereotype of
the Latina sexpot—or damsel in distress.
“I’m here to entertain people and make a
statement about female empowerment and
strength, and that’s what I’ve done for the
last 10 years. People can call it typecast,
but I pigeonholed myself and I put myself
in that box for saying no to everything else
that came on my plate,” she’s said.
ROSARIO DAWSON
DESPITE LIVING IN LOS ANGELES
AND HAVING DONE MOVIES THERE,
AGE: 32
ROOTS: Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban,
Irish and Native American
the best roles for
me are in spanish—I get
By co-founding Voto Latino in 2004, she got our
butts to the polls in record numbers when it
mattered most: the 2008 presidential election. No
one on Capitol Hill saw it coming when 10 million
of us—including many first-time voters—cast our
ballots and brought in Obama. But now they know
we’ve got some serious clout. And as a testament
to how hard she works, her activism hasn’t slowed
down her acting career one bit. Her resume is
stacked with musicals (Rent), action flicks (Sin
City), thrillers (Unstoppable), even comedies
(Zookeeper). Catch her in December’s drama flick
Ten Year, about a 10-year high school reunion.
great offers in mexico and
i can’t turn them down—
it’s for my country.”
— Ana de la Reguera
ANA DE LA REGUERA
AGE: 34
ROOTS: Mexican
This crossover queen speaks to us in not
one but two languages—whether it’s a
cheesy telenovela we confess to watching
with Abuela, like Telemundo’s 2004 megahit Gitanas, HBO’s Eastbound & Down or the
summer big-budget flick Cowboys & Aliens.
R o d r i g u e z : b a n g l e s , M .C . L . b y M at t h e w C a m p b e l l L a u r e n z a ; r i n g , Br u m a n i .
D e l a rE g u e r a : b r a c e l e t, b a cc a r at; b a n g l e s : S e t h i C o u t u r e .
th
15
y
ar
s
er
iv
n
an
when it’s a
landslide,
they can’t
deny us.
Whether
people like
it or not,
this is the
revolution.”
—On registering new Latino voters
1 3 0 LATINA .COM october 2011