From learning to act in another language to fighting discrimination to needing a crash
course in swimming, Tenoch Huerta has overcome plenty of obstacles on his way to the MCU.
In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone Mexico, Tenoch Huerta opened up about
his childhood. He wasn't always as proud of his roots as he is today. Bullies made
fun of his name when he was a kid, which made him ashamed of it. When he was older,
Huerta decided to look into the origins of his name, and now he feels pride in
it. He told the magazine that he learned that his moniker stems from the language
of the Nahuatl people, who were native to southern Mexico and Central America, saying,
"When researching about the origin of my name,
I discovered that Tenoch is the name given to the stone prickly pear,
the fruit of the prickly pear that grows on stones, and that represents the human heart."
He added,
"It took me almost my whole life to conquer my name,
but there it is. The truth is, now I really like it."
Huerta is a well-known actor in his native Mexico. He got his start thanks to a supportive
and perceptive parent. In an interview for the Golden Globe Awards website, Huerta shared that
his father recognized his natural talent and suggested he give acting a try. Huerta said,
"What's wonderful and marvelous, on a personal level, even psychologically,
therapeutically — as I've told my analyst — is to know that my father saw me at that moment,
and that he continues to do so today. And that gave me a great relationship with my parents!"
Huerta's father's encouragement eventually led him to stardom,
but it wasn't an easy journey. One of the actor's early roles was in the 2007 film
"Déficit," and he had a difficult time behind the scenes. Huerta told Vice,
"I remember the lunch break. Most of [the actors] were white. And they were talking about LA,
parties, London, their favorite restaurant, their favorite store, their favorite places,
and they asked me, 'And you?' And I was like, 'I have never flown in my life.'"
Some of Huerta's other early projects include 2009
film "Sin Nombre," and the 2015 natural disaster film "The 33."
After making a name for himself in Latin American TV and films, Tenoch Huerta went
on to land roles that introduced him to an even wider audience. In 2018,
the actor started playing real-life drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero in Netflix's "Narcos:
Mexico," which focuses on the history of Mexico's drug trade. Quintero supplied drugs to the United
States in the '70s and was involved in the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.
Huerta revealed to Vice that he was so passionate about playing Quintero
that he rejected an offer for a different role in "Narcos: Mexico." By that point,
he had already been rejected three times for other roles in the show. Huerta's persistence
paid off in the end and "Narcos: Mexico" helped him transition into Hollywood. Huerta said,
"It was lucky because at the same time I was ready, the world was ready for Latin actors."
"The Forever Purge" was another important project that introduced Huerta to U.S. audiences.
"Acting in a different language is hard, because there are different rules, cultural rules."
Huerta added the biggest role yet to his resume with "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." Huerta
plays anti-hero Namor, the king of Talokan. The actor told the Los Angeles Times of the character,
"He's a guy who's trying to protect his family. He's protecting his culture. He's
protecting his city and the things that he loves the most: his memory, his legacy and
his heritage. I think everybody, all around the world, can understand his motivations."
Huerta definitely felt a personal draw to the role of Namor, who in
the MCU is Indigenous. He told the LA Times,
"It's a brown-skinned guy. This ancient culture is in his roots. And he speaks
like me. We are making history. I told them, 'Let's do something to be proud of.'"
Huerta doesn't identify as Indigenous himself,
but has shared on Twitter that he is of Purépecha and Nahua descent.
Huerta was willing to endure intense training to take on the role. In a feature for Men's Health,
the actor revealed he went through a complete transformation with the help of a personal
trainer. He worked out six days a week and even learned how to swim while preparing to
play Namor. He came up with a great line to hide his inability to swim from director Ryan Coogler.
"Then he asked you if you knew how to swim?"
"Yeah."
"And you said…"
"I never drowned before."
"Which is not a-- It's not a lie."
After all his training, he told Men's Health that
he can now hold his breath underwater for five minutes.
Instead of the typical autobiography, Huerta's book, titled "Orgullo Prieto," explores the
topic of racism in Mexico. The actor wrote in an Instagram post in September 2022,
"Mexico is a racist country? Of course it is! I hope that
this book helps brown people feel proud of their Black and brownness."
In a synopsis of the book shared by Penguin Random House,
Huerta discusses the impact he'd like to have as a writer, saying,
"I hope that this book contributes to enhancing the pride of being what we are,
so that there is no 'brown arrogant', as they call me,
but that there are millions of proud browns in this country."
Huerta spoke of some of the discrimination he faced in Mexico's entertainment industry and
Hollywood in a 2022 interview with Vice, noting that his identity has not always been embraced.
"If they don't perceive you as part of them, they don't accept you."
In the event that Huerta's acting career hadn't taken off,
he definitely had other aspirations. He told the Golden Globe Awards website,
"One of my plan Bs was becoming a nature photographer and shoot documentaries,
go to faraway and wild places and do portraits of nature, for instance, or to be a director."
Acting is clearly going great, but Huerta has been
ambitious enough to turn his plan B into a hobby anyway. He added,
"In fact I'm now beginning to set up a few projects for real,
one to co-direct and another one to direct on my own."
It seems that Huerta has another plan to fall back on, too. He revealed to the Los Angeles Times that
he went to college while still living in Mexico — and his journalism degree only cost him a dollar.