Anthony Ramos has become somewhat of a household name. After landing a role in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical on Broadway, the actor went on to star in several movies, including Monsters and Men and A Star Is Born alongside Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Ramos also stars in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It , which has just been released on Netflix.
She’s Gotta Have It focuses on Nola Darling, a sex-positive, polyamorous, pansexual woman trying to juggle her career and love life while dating multiple partners, played by DeWanda Wise. In the series, Ramos plays Mars Blackmon, one of Nola’s lovers and a hilarious sneakerhead who works at a local bike shop. During the first season, Mars spent most of his time with Nola until she ended things. In the second season of the show, viewers are offered a deeper looking to Mars’ life and realize there is so much more to him.
After losing his job at the bike shop and being kicked out of the apartment he shared with his sister, LuLu, played by Santana Caress Benitez, the struggling musician starts bouncing from couch to couch. Playing this kind of role wasn’t difficult for Ramos, who recently sat down with Vulture to talk about growing up poor in Brooklyn and being discriminated against because of being Latino.
“Just speaking from growing up in the projects, it was hard for me to take dance classes or voice classes because I didn’t have money,” he said when asked if gentrification has made it harder for those in the art world.
“Gentrification has made it more difficult now because people are literally just trying to afford to stay in their homes.”
In the series, Mars and Nola take a trip to Puerto Rico and Ramos describes being on the island as “one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”
“It was beautiful and it meant the world to me. My whole family, including those that live on the island, came to the set with me. It was really emotional and just dope.”
The actor is also expected to appear in Miranda’s In the Heights movie and said being a part of the musical film feels amazing. He also said the original musical was a game-changer for him and inspired him to keep acting despite being told he wasn’t “white enough or black enough or tall enough or short enough” to book the roles he auditioned for.
Ramos will Usnavi de la Vega in the film opposite Melissa Barrera’s Vanessa. The film also stars Stephanie Beatriz as Carla, Corey Hawkins as Benny, and Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia.
