There is a little bit of confusion surrounding John‘s ethnicity based on some conflicting information that has been publicly discussed. According to CNN, John’s father made the claim that John was misleading his fans about the heritage of his family by stating that he was indeed Colombian.

John responded by saying, “I am Colombian-Puerto Rican. I don't know why he's saying that. I say that I love him, and why is he saying that?" The outlet stated that John’s father couldn’t be reached for a response. Sportskeeda reports that John has referred to his ethnicity as being of Amerindian and Mestizo descent in the past too.

In an appearance on Finding Your Roots, John discovered that he also has European (mostly Spanish), Indigenous, and African roots. John has always been vocal about his identity and about being a person of color in Hollywood.

During an interview with Nick Barili via Deadline, he got incredibly candid saying, “There’s colorism within Latin culture that we have to fix, but there’s colorism in Hollywood too. I’ve benefitted from being light skin, and I stayed out of the sun so I could work. I definitely would not go in the sun."

He further stated, "For years I was so pasty so I could work. All [of] the Latinos who’ve made it so far, a lot of them were light-skinned. What happened to all the Afro-Latinos and the majority of the indigenous Latinos? They don’t get a shot.”

He also opened up about the fact that most of the auditions he was able to snag early on in his career were for a drug dealer or gardener. Things have certainly changed for him as an actor these days, despite the adversity he faced.