How Selena Gomez, Nikki Bella, & More Latinx Celebs Celebrate Their Heritage

National Hispanic Heritage Month, known as Latinx Heritage Month in some circles, is a time to recognize the history and accomplishments of people whose families have roots in the diverse cultures of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Mexico. The celebratory month runs from September 15 to October 15 this year, which makes now the perfect time to give a shout-out to some of our favorite celebrities who are proud to celebrate their Latinx heritage.

The stars on our list, who include singers, rappers, actors, and athletes, represent the diversity of Latinx culture. We've got celebs whose family roots are in Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Spain. We've got young, rising stars and Hollywood icons. We've got folks who are bilingual and those who are still trying to learn Spanish. (We also have one overachiever who is rumored to be fluent in a whopping five languages!) There are celebrities who were born in the United States and those who are famous here now but got their start somewhere else.

Read on for some moving quotes and reflections from Latinx celebs who are grateful and proud of their heritage, this month and every month.

Zoe Saldaña

Zoe Saldaña is a proudly Afro-Latina actress who has also built a media company called BESE, which aims to promote more diverse storytelling and to "represent communities that have been left out of mainstream discourse for too long." She's also a strong advocate for using the term Latinx.

"To me, 'x' represents me and doesn't exclude me the moment a man walks in a room. So I can be in a room full of women and we're all Latinas and the moment that one male walks in the room we are Latinos. My gender and my presence are erased. Our language (Spanish) is based on this language division that favors masculinity," she explained during a 2019 interview at South by Southwest (via Hola).

"Latinx is a term that I learned as I was building BESE three years ago. I was doing all of this research and asking Gen Z and millennials how they are choosing to define themselves. Millennials basically created this term, and my job is to bless it and make sure that it becomes a habit five years from now."

Shakira

Remember we mentioned earlier that Latinx celeb who's super multilingual? For those who were wondering who it could be, here's the answer: Shakira! The "Whenever, Wherever" singer, who was born in Colombia, speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, and some French. Her hips don't lie in multiple languages — impressive!

Aubrey Plaza

Aubrey Plaza, who dropped some Spanish while in character on Parks and Recreation back in the day, identifies as Puerto Rican and has been a vocal critic of the lack of diversity in Hollywood. "In my own way, I try to portray Hispanic characters who aren't the stereotypes because I think that's one thing that we're really up against, especially Latina women," she said during a 2020 appearance on the Highly Relevant podcast. "There's such a stereotype there, and there are so many different kinds of Hispanic women and people who we just don't even see. We are not represented on film or on television — it's just the same kind of archetypes over and over again."

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson may not be perfectly fluent in Spanish but, as she shared in an interview with Latina magazine (via People), that doesn't negate her identity. "I think being Latina is about having pride in your heritage," she said. "Although I am not a fluent Spanish speaker and I can't make every dish without a recipe, I am 100% Boricua and I am proud of that."

Nikki Bella

For Nikki Bella (one half of the Bella twins of reality TV and WWE fame), appearing on Dancing With the Stars helped her celebrate her Latinx heritage. She told People Chica, "I got to do Mexican authentic folk dancing called folklórico. I never knew about this dance and getting to learn how the women move their skirts, the traditions, and what it means, I was like, 'OMG, I'm so proud to be a Mexican.' As Latins, we truly celebrate life and family and colors and music, and I just love that. It makes me appreciate so much from my Mexican roots."

Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez has been acting in Hollywood for decades now — and she has been unapologetically Puerto Rican the entire time. She told People Chica that this wasn't always an easy path, but it was one that she was deeply committed to.

"When I first started in this industry, they didn't want diversity," she explained. "They wanted me to be completely white-washed. I've never shied away from portraying my Puerto Rican-ness. You have to have that tenacity and that self-confidence to walk in a room and say, 'This is how I see the character and this is how I want to play it.'"

Alex Rodriguez

Baseball great (and former J.Lo flame) Alex Rodriquez was born in the Dominican Republic and he's shared just how proud he is of his heritage.

"I want to say it out loud: I am Dominican," he declared at the 2005 All-Star Game, announcing at the time that he would be representing his birth country in baseball's first World Classic. He's also been very open about wanting to serve as a role model for kids who share backgrounds similar to his.

Rita Moreno

Living legend Rita Moreno made history as the first Latina to win an Oscar (for her portrayal of Anita in West Side Story). She opened up to NPR's Fresh Air about why the role was so meaningful to her: "What was important about Anita, to me — and still is — is that Anita, believe it or not, was the only part I ever remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive way. It represented a lot of breakthroughs for young actors of Hispanic origin."

Ricky Martin

For a lot of Americans, Ricky Martin's massive hit "Livin' La Vida Loca" was one of the first moments of Latin music they remember. Ricky, who hails from Puerto Rico, told Rolling Stone that he's always been proud to represent his Latinx heritage through music.

"It's so fulfilling to be able to go around the world talking about your culture. You know how many times they'd say, 'Oh, you're from Costa Rica!' And I'd be like, 'Well, some say that Puerto Rico is the boyfriend of Costa Rica!' But the way I see it, they were opening a door for me to let them know that not everybody listens to regional Mexican music in Argentina … from the southern tip of the continent all the way to the border here in the US," he said.

"There are hundreds of different rhythms and dances and different ways of communicating. It's ancestral. We started with Celia Cruz. We had Gloria Estefan. We had José Feliciano. And now there's this new generation of artists going out there, talking about evolving Colombia and fighting for Puerto Rico."

Demi Lovato

For Demi Lovato, developing a sense of pride in her Latinx roots has also helped her learn to love herself more. "My genetics gave me a curvy figure, and I've come to understand that in the Latina culture, that is beautiful," she told Glamour. "I no longer look at my body and think, 'Oh my gosh, I have such a fat butt.' Or, 'I hate my thighs.' On some days I don't love them. But, you know, that's one of the things that makes me me."

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria is an actress and an advocate, and she's especially vocal about the importance of political engagement and representation in media. She told Yahoo, "The problem is when you don't have a person of color within your community, if your neighbors aren't Latino, the only reference you have of us is the news. And that doesn't do a very good job of portraying who we are. And so, representation in TV, in film, in music, in art, it matters because it educates the community about who we are."

For Eva, who she is couldn't be more simple: "Being Mexican is who I am. For me, it exudes in everything that I do every day from how I style my hair, to putting on my lip liner, to putting on my hoops, to what I make for breakfast, how I have my café con leche, how I drive. It seeps into every aspect of my life."

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez celebrates her Latinx heritage (her family claims roots in Mexico and Texas) by holding on to what she describes as "traditional" values, especially when it comes to staying close to her family and having a sense of pride in who they are. She's also said that she feels proud to be a role model for other Latinx people.

In a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar, she recounted a life-changing time during when she met a single Latina mother on the set of her Wizards of Waverly Place series. "[The mother] was like, 'It's really incredible for my daughters to see that a Latina woman can be in this position and achieve her dreams,'" Selena said. "I think I recognized then that it meant something to people. That it matters."

Gina Rodriguez

Actress Gina Rodriquez has clapped back against people who claim that she's somehow "not Latina enough" because she isn't perfectly fluent in Spanish. In a 2016 interview with HuffPost, she argued that making Spanish fluency a key definer of Latina identity makes no sense given that the Latinx people come from more than 50 different countries and many more cultural groups. She described herself as proudly Latina and called any claims that she isn't due to language to be "unfair" and equivalent to being told she's "not a woman because her breasts aren't a certain size."

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Who doesn't love Lin-Manuel Miranda? He's the genius behind Hamilton, of course, but his music in Encanto was the soundtrack of many school line drop-offs in 2021. In a March 2022 interview with ABC News, he talked about the importance of Latinx representation following the massive success of Encanto.

"When I see young Afro-Latino kids or African American kids see Antonio and say, 'That's me,' or when I see little Latina girls who wear glasses saying, 'Oh, my God, the main character has glasses,' it's so wonderful," he said. "It's such a reminder of why we started telling the story in the first place."

Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek, who was born in Mexico and first found success as an actress there, knows her worth. And she also has pride in her abilities and her roots, even though Hollywood sometimes missed the boat on hiring her.

During the Ladies First With Laura Brown podcast, Salma explained: "I think that at the time, people were not ready to acknowledge or give credit to a Latin woman, even if they saw it, even if they knew it, even if it was indisputable. I felt a little bit like we were all missing out, not just me. Not just because they were not hiring me, but they care a lot about money, and they were missing out on a huge market."

Benjamin Bratt

Benjamin Bratt, whose mother was born in Peru, shared in an interview for Popcorn With Peter Travers that part of his motivation for playing the role of Ernesto de la Cruz in Pixar's hit Coco was because the movie showcased "the beauty that exists within the Latino culture," something he was proud to highlight.

During a 2017 press event for Coco, he recalled seeing early images and character renderings for the film, and feeling really excited about the potential impact. "This reflection of brown faces on this kind of scale has never been done. And it was about time," he said, via Den of Geek.