CULTURE HOLLYWOOD RISING
Introducing a Mexican
actress on a mission.
By Brianna Kovan
MELISSA
BARRERA
It’s easy to mistake Melissa Barrera for
her onscreen character, Lyn, of Starz’s
television series Vida, now in its second
season. “But I’m not Lyn!” the actress
insists, mainly as a plea to fans to
stop conflating them on social media.
“I love her, but she’s a hot mess.”
In fact, Barrera, 28, who hails from
religiously conservative Monterrey, Mexico,
initially wasn’t even going to audition for
the role since it called for full nudity. But
she was a longtime admirer of creator
Tanya Saracho’s work as a playwright, and
the premise was just too good to resist.
The first prime-time cable show with
queer Latina protagonists, Vida follows
Lyn and her polar-opposite sister, Emma
(Mishel Prada), who return to their
East Los Angeles hometown after their
mother’s death. While Emma focuses on
handling their inheritance, a rundown
housing complex and LGBTQ-friendly bar,
Lyn turns her attention to her lustful former
beau. The show portrays its diverse, fully
developed characters—including Barrera’s
vapid party girl, Lyn—with an all-too-rare
humanity. “We’re always the stereotypes,”
she says of typical Hollywood depictions
of the Latinx community. “The narcos,
the drug dealers, the gang members, the
help. But on Vida, we’re just human.”
Two years ago, Barrera moved to Los
Angeles from Mexico City, where she’d
been a telenovela mainstay. Vida was
her third audition. But when Saracho
offered her the part, Barrera couldn’t
accept, as she didn’t yet have a working
visa. (“It was a horrible process, and the
stakes were so high,” she remembers.)
Fortunately, Starz agreed to postpone
the filming in order to include her.
Next up, she’ll play a Latina manicurist,
Vanessa, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the
Heights, a big-screen adaptation of his
early-aughts musical. “I’m so lucky to be
where I am,” Barrera says, attributing much
of her success to the fact that she’s always
had people fighting for her. She wants
to pay it forward, particularly when it
comes to increasing Latinx representation
in film and television. “There are so
few shows on TV made by Latinas for
Latinas,” she says, bemoaning Netflix’s
decision to cancel its critically acclaimed
sitcom One Day at a Time. “It just feels
like a punch in the gut.” The setback was
heartbreaking, but it emboldened Barrera
to press on. “I want to produce things, and
help people the way I’ve been helped,”
she says. “Whenever I can give people
opportunities, I’m going to do that.” B
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