Anthony Ramos Talks IN THE HEIGHTS' Diversity and What it Means to the Latinx Community

Anthony Ramos plays Usnavi in the upcoming film adaptation of In The Heights. He recently spoke to ET about his experience working on the film, the importance of the show, diverse casting, and more!

"In the Heights was the first musical that I saw that I was like, 'Oh, I don't just relate to these characters, I know them!" He said. "I know Usnavi [de la Vega], that's Leo from the corner store. I know Vanessa, that's this girl Tiffany from elementary."

He reveals that he thought about quitting acting, but In The Heights inspired him to keep going because he felt there was a place for him.

Ramos finds this show to be special because he feels that for the first time his people are telling their story.

"In the Heights is one of the greatest experiences of my life," Ramos said. "For many years, the Latin[x] community, we haven't been able to tell our story in this way, especially the Latin community in New York. There are very few neighborhoods that embody that story as authentically as Washington Heights, and they were so happy to have a musical set there."

He also spoke out about the diversity in the cast, and how he feels the Latinx community is represented.

"Leslie is Dominican, Melissa is Mexican, I'm Puerto Rican. They ran the gamut with the cast," he said. "They got many Hispanic people up in here and I'm grateful that it's authentic. They really did their best to make this movie as authentic as possible, from the music to the dancing to everything. I'm hyped that this story is out in the world and I'm excited I got to be a small piece of this puzzle."

Read more on ET.

In the Heights will hit theaters on June 26, 2020, released by Warner Bros. The film's script is written by Quiara Alegría Hudes. Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) will direct the movie-musical. Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs and Scott Sanders produce.

The film stars Anthony Ramos as Usnavi de la Vega, Leslie Grace as Nina Rosario, Corey Hawkins as Benny, Melissa Barrera as Vanessa, Jimmy Smits as Kevin Rosario, Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia, Gregory Diaz as Sonny de la Vega, Daphne Rubin-Vega as Daniela, Stephanie Beatriz as Carla, Noah Catala as Graffiti Pete, Dascha Polanco as Cuca, Marc Anthony as Sonny's father, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Piragüero.

The Tony Award-winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS features music & lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The show opened on Broadway production in March 2008 and was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. It won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and was also nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.