After Sons of Anarchy's seven-season run, the development of FX's Mayans M.C. --a spin-off focusing on the rival-turned-allied motorcycle club -- was quickly underway. The series received rave reviews from fans and critics and now, after five seasons, the story is coming to an end. In this edition of Multicultural TV Talk series star Carla Baratta, who has been with Mayans since the very beginning, reflects on her years on the show and the life changes she experienced during that time. She also praises recent breakthroughs for Hispanic and Latin representation on U.S. television.
Baratta's varied career as an architect, artist and actress has taken her from her home country of Venezuela to London and Los Angeles, where after just her second audition in the U.S. she booked the role of the rebel and freedom fighter Adelita in Mayans.
"I was ready for the struggle," she laughs. "In my mind, it would take a while to get something and it'd be a little thing here, another there -- and then I got Mayans. It was my first time on the set of a big TV show, so for me, it was such a learning experience, especially those first two seasons. I was taking it all in and learning while doing the work. It was a huge learning opportunity for me."
Speaking of representation and the lack of leading, meaningful roles for Hispanic and Latin actors, Baratta has this to say. "As Latino artists, we need the opportunity to show what we can do, not just in small roles, but like in Mayans where everything is about Latino culture and it's not in your face. It's about brotherhood and family and where we are as a culture. I watched Wednesday and loved it. That was a beautiful way of portraying a Latino family without being too parodia (parody). I'm really proud of being part of [Mayans]. I know I'll look back in ten years and say that my proudest moment was Mayans."
New episodes of Mayans M.C. are telecast Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX and are available to stream next day on Hulu.
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