Diego Luna has had an excellent week.
The Mexican actor and Andor star has finished up a guest-hosting spot for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, having delivered powerful monologues about Donald Trump’s harsh immigration enforcement policies and sitting down for compelling interviews with icons such as civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.
While receiving press praise and enthusiastic online comments, Luna has also faced hateful comments and criticism from the likes of Fox News — and he read out these posts and headlines on the show.
On Thursday, for his final round, Luna brought it home by opening the show with mariachi music, giving Kimmel co-host Guillermo an executive producer promotion (“I don’t know if I can do that, but I just did,”), and delivering a final must-watch monologue appealing to the audience for unity, not division.
“I know there is a lot of focus in your media about the differences between our cultures and the violence south of the border, but I hope this week I was able to open up the dialogue. We should be doing more of that, telling our stories and finding what connects us,” says Luna in the clip above.
“We shouldn’t let our cultural exchange be divided by borders, by ignorance, by fear, or a wall built by your president (that he paid for, by the way). We’re going through a hard time. Authoritarian leaders and expressions are on the rise, and it’s happening everywhere. Leaders who attack the press, use the military against their own citizens, and claim they have the answer to everything. Does that sound familiar?
“But it’s in our hands to do something. There are many ways to push back. And one way is by making fun of them every night like Jimmy does. Using comedy to defend freedom, they don’t like that shit. And we can’t take that for granted, because we, the audience, have to defend spaces like this. Without satire and voices like Jimmy’s that question and challenge the abuse of power, democracy doesn’t just weaken, it can disappear. And we cannot let that happen.”
Now, go and watch Luna’s opening monologue if you missed it.
