Roma, famed Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón’s most recent film, just keeps racking up awards and nominations all over the world.
The actors and director have been walking several international red carpets since the film was released.
(They’ve also been adding a Mexican flair to the afterparties.)
Despite the film’s great reception, one of the actors who appears in the film has not been able to enjoy all the glitz and glamor of awards season.
Jorge A. Guerrero, who plays Fermín in the film, has not succeeded in getting a US visa after three attempts.
In an interview for the program De Primera Mano, Guerrero said that since he started working with Netflix, he’s tried to comply with the visa procedure, but was still denied.
“I was invited to some of the screenings last year, as well as to the Golden Globes and the Oscars ... but unfortunately, when I applied for the visa, they wouldn’t give it to me,” he added.
“They don’t really give you an explanation of why they’re not giving it to you, the consular officers are very concise in that sense,” he said. “They only tell you that you are not accredited to have the visa.”
During the interview, host Gustavo Adolfo Infante suggested taking photographs that prove that he was actually in Roma.
But the actor said that, although he had letters from Cuarón and Netflix, US officials did not want to read them when he presented them along with his application.
“The last time I tried to give it to the consulate officer, she grabbed the paper and literally returned my passport through the window opening,” he said.
During the interview, the program’s hosts suggested that it was a racist act taken by President Trump’s government, to which Guerrero said he was simply trying to view it as a procedural issue.
“I don’t consider myself a victim at all,” he said. “I’m an actor and I love my job, I’m going to keep doing it right.”
The actor concluded the interview by saying that “if in that sense I am invited to any part of the world, well I will be delighted to go ... if for a question of bureaucratic procedure I cannot go, well, that is something no longer in my hands.”
So far, without a visa or a permit to enter the US, Guerrero may miss the Oscars ceremony Feb. 24 in Los Angeles.
You can watch the full interview that De Primera Mano held with the actor here.
¡En una entrevista #DePrimeraMano👌, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, que da vida a Fermín en #Roma, nos cuenta que no tiene visa, por lo que podría no estar en la ceremonia de premiación de los #Oscars!: https://t.co/bEjzzRPYx2
This post was translated from Spanish.