Melissa Barrera is calling out the "hyphenated American" double standard.
The Mexican actor argued that despite the fact the US was built by immigrants, non-white citizens are forced into "hyphenated" identities and must constantly justify that they belong, whereas whiteness is treated as the default standard for being "American."
The star of “In the Heights” and the “Scream” franchise, addressed the American hypocrisy while promoting her new espionage series, “The Copenhagen Test”, alongside Simu Liu.
"I think it’s a very real thing. This country, the United States, is a country of immigrants. There are a lot of communities that have built this country, and yet I feel like I can speak for myself and my experience living here—and I think a lot of people would agree—that it’s a country that constantly reminds you that you’re another.”
"It’s like this thing, right? If you’re American, you’re white, and everyone else is a hyphenated American. You’re Chinese-American, Mexican-American or Native-American,” Barrera said in an interview.
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In "The Copenhagen Test", this complexity is explored through the eyes of Liu's character Alexander Hale, a Chinese-American agent whose brain is hacked and he must prove his loyalty to the country.
"It is what Alexander’s character is going through. There’s a deeply ingrained feeling of not belonging or not being American enough, and I think that’s the big centre point of the story.”
"His character really wants to belong and really wants to be seen as someone who is fully American and trustworthy, and that’s what propels the story—that yearning of Alexander to be like, 'I’m not a traitor. I need to prove myself'," said Barrera, who plays an undercover agent in the show, currently streaming in India on JioHotstar.
"The Copenhagen Test", created by Thomas Brandon, is set in the near future and follows Hale whose brain is hacked, allowing the hackers access to everything he sees and hears. He then goes on a mission to find the perpetrators and prove his allegiance.
Asked whether she shares the anxiety about modern technology and how deeply entrenched it is in everyday life, Barrera joked that she is always trying to delete certain applications from her phone.
"I'm always like 'oh I'm going to delete them off my phone," she said.
"The Copenhagen Test" also stars Sinclair Daniel, Brian d'Arcy James, Mark O'Brien and Kathleen Chalfant.
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