'That's really why I fell in love with the story in the first place.' Ahead of the release of HBOMax's InTheHeights, star gregorydiaziv talks to Teen Vogue about the film, his character Sonny, telling meaningful stories, and more ✨ InTheHeights
creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, tells the story of a Latinx-Caribbean community in Washington Heights chasing their, or little dreams. It’s a story that hits home for Nuyorican Gregory Diaz IV, the teen actor who plays Sonny in the movie, out June 10.over the phone ahead of the movie’s release.
"Seeing kids my age on the stage gave me the feeling of just wanting to do that and believing that I could," Gregory says. "That was really the first goal that I had set for myself in my young career, to be a part of that, and fortunately enough I was able to do that."Though he is only a few years into his burgeoning acting career, Gregory’s resume is already filled with projects that highlight Latinx representation.
"I actually sat down and met with someone who was a part of Operation Pedro Pan," Gregory recalls. "Even after shows, having people come up to me and explain to me that either they themselves were part of Operation Pedro Pan or they had parents that were a part of it and just how much it really meant to them, that was an amazing experience.", which tackled the theme of gentrification through the supernatural premise of vampires taking over the borough.
"Maybe the main staple of it wasn't representation, but at the same time it was still something that was there," Gregory says. "[Playing that role] was like a love letter to my dad's side of the family that grew up in the Bronx and being able to show representation out there and the community.
"Lin is just such a huge inspiration of mine," he gushes. "He wrote himself into the narrative. He didn't see roles for himself and he wasn't going to wait to find those roles. He took the authority and wrote himself into those roles, not only for himself, but for the entire community around him, in creating these roles for us to really be ourselves and help push out these beautiful stories.
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