America is built by immigrants but they have to constantly prove that they belong, actress Melissa Barrera has said, lamenting the otherisation of those who came to the US from other nations but are now settled in the country.
“I think it’s a very real thing. This country, the United States, is a country of immigrants. There are a lot of communities that have built this country, and yet I feel like I can speak for myself and my experience living here - and I think a lot of people would agree - that it’s a country that constantly reminds you that you’re another,” Barrera told news agency PTI in an interview.
“It’s like this thing, right? If you’re American, you’re white, and everyone else is a hyphenated American. You’re Chinese-American, Mexican-American or Native-American,” Barrera added.
Barrera recently starred in Thomas Brandon’s spy thriller series The Copenhagen Test alongside Simu Liu.
The Mexican-origin actress, who plays an undercover agent in the series, said that The Copenhagen Test explores similar complexities through the eyes of Liu’s character Alexander Hale, a Chinese-American agent whose brain is hacked and who must prove his loyalty to the country.
“It is what Alexander’s character is going through. There’s a deeply ingrained feeling of not belonging or not being American enough, and I think that’s the big centre point of the story.”
“His character really wants to belong and really wants to be seen as someone who is fully American and trustworthy, and that’s what propels the story - that yearning of Alexander to be like, ‘I’m not a traitor. I need to prove myself’,” Barrera added.
Created by Thomas Brandon, The Copenhagen Test is set in the near future and follows Hale, whose brain is hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. He is then sent on a mission to track them down and prove his allegiance.
Asked about her concerns over modern technology’s growing presence in daily life, Barrera joked that she is constantly trying to delete certain apps from her phone.
“I’m always like ‘oh I’m going to delete them off my phone.”
Also starring Sinclair Daniel, Brian d’Arcy James, Mark O’Brien and Kathleen Chalfant, The Copenhagen Test is currently streaming on JioHotstar.