John Leguizamo Says He Can Play Gwyneth Paltrow in TV Series Based on Ski Trial Since “White People” Keep Taking Latino Roles

John Leguizamo took shots at Gwyneth Paltrow while filling in as a guest host on The Daily Show following Trevor Noah’s exit. The actor joked that if “white people” can get cast in Latino roles, he can play Paltrow in the inevitable television series about her ski accident trial. 

The Shakespeare in Love star is battling it out in court with a retired optometrist who claims Paltrow injured him in a 2016 skiing accident. He’s now seeking $300,000 in damages after previously asking for $3.1 million. 

As the trial has been highly publicized, Leguizamo worked it into a segment about being a Latino actor in Hollywood in Tuesday’s (March 28)  broadcast of the talk show.

The comedian began by reading off some harrowing statistics from USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s 2020 Study, which states that out of 2019’s Top 100 Movies, Latino performers only appeared in 5% of speaking roles despite making up 18% of the total U.S. population. 

Leguizamo went on to take shots at James Franco, who is not Hispanic, for accepting the role of Fidel Castro in an upcoming biopic.

“Well, guess what, if white people can take our roles, I’m going to take theirs,” he said. “That’s right, when they do the TV series based on Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski accident trial, I’m going to be Gwyneth Paltrow.”

He continued to make reference to Paltrow’s wellness brand Goop and one of their controversial products, a jade egg designed to be inserted into the user’s vagina, as a photo of his face photoshopped onto her body at trial appeared on the screen.

Leguizamo gave his best Paltrow impression, joking, “He hit me so hard he knocked the egg right outta my vagina!”

The segment ended with the actor reenacting the types of discrimination he has faced during auditions because of his Latino background. 

Leguizamo publicly criticized the casting of Franco as Castro in 2022 after it was announced. He shared a screenshot of the Deadline article on his Instagram account and wrote, “How is this still going on? How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well?”

He continued, “No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers! Boycott! This F’d up! Plus seriously difficult story to tell without aggrandizement which would b wrong! I don’t got a prob with Franco but he ain’t Latino!”

The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Watch John Leguizamo’s full segment in the video above.