VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: John Leguizamo’s Dad Told Him To Beat Up Boy Who Stole His Bike At Seven Years Old

Actor John Leguizamo recently spoke about his childhood experience – and how it informed his comedy and politics. 

Leguizamo explained how his bike frequently gets stolen growing up in New York City. “Now I have the crappiest bike and it’ll probably get stolen anyway,” he told an audience at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

He recalled the first time he got mugged when he was just seven years old over his first bike. He grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens with his immigrant parents. He specifically recalled how his parents, “would make me earn my Christmas presents. So I had to read the encyclopedia to try to get my Christmas present, so I read the god— A’s, and I got, they got me my bike.” 

His first ride on his brand-new bike didn’t last long as when he was riding it, “this Johnny guy comes and beats me up and takes the bike from me.”

Leguizamo told the story of how the conversation went when he went crying to his dad, “I’m crying and I come up to my dad and go like dad look they beat me up.”

His dad replied to him saying, “No, you go back down there and don’t come in here till you beat him up.”

Leguizamo didn’t like this response saying, “But he beat me up now you’re yelling at me.”

He ends the story by saying, “It was like there was no winning.”

Leguizamo is known for his roles in Ice Age Franchise, Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, Carlito’s Way, Encanto, The Infiltrator and Chef.

His new TV series Leguizamo Does America is currently airing on MSNBC.