John Leguizamo: Freak (1998) on Netflix
John Leguizamo plays dozens of characters from his childhood in Queens, New York, among them Uncle Sanny. He tells his own story and his wish to be accepted by his father.
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- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb8.1/101,271 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
Filmed during its Broadway run, Freak is a solo performance with no linear plot, in which John Leguizamo traces his life from his earliest days to the start of his career in show business. He takes on dozens of people from his childhood in Queens, New York, friends, relatives and neighbors of both genders and many ethnicities, sometimes carrying on multi-character dialogues by himself. Among them are Uncle Sanny, his younger brother Poochie, his mother, his grandmothers and Lee Stratsberg, along with a brief appearance by Cantinflas as God. Central to the piece is his wish to be accepted by his father.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about John Leguizamo: Freak (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- When John Leguizamo won the 1999 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for Freak, he became the first Latino(a) ever to take that award in Emmy history.
- The taping of the Freak HBO special led Spike Lee to cast John Leguizamo in the lead role of Lee's next film the following year, Summer of Sam.
- Freak was considered groundbreaking for pulling young and Latino crowds to Broadway, two groups usually underrepresented there: surveys found 75% of the audience at nearly every performance was under 35 and nearly a third was Latino, against an average Broadway audience age of 41.
- Booked for just 70 performances, Freak ran for 144, more than double its original schedule, and during that extended run two live performances were filmed for the HBO special.
