The new Christmas film Violent Night recently hit theaters all across the country, and is a thriller that tells the story of a group of mercenaries who break into a house on Christmas Eve and face the challenge of a menacing Santa Claus, played by David Harbour.

"Santa Claus goes through these guys like a plate full of cookies 🍪🥛🪓," reads one of the film's social media promos. 

In Violent Night, John Leguizamo unleashes his talents to play an out-of-the-ordinary villain who takes on Santa in a violent and bloody manner. 

"I definitely said I wanted this villain to be as smart as possible. I wanted him to be funny, but not in a silly way," he told Insider about the role.

Leguizamo has played a variety of characters throughout his career in productions such as Carlito's Way, A Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, and most recently, played Bruno in Disney's hit Encanto. 

However, despite Leguizamo's success in the industry, he has been frustrated for years that he hasn't seen more Latinos like him in Hollywood. In November, the Colombian actor wrote an open letter in the Los Angeles Times lambasting the industry for its lack of Latino voices.

"The Latino population is larger than the white population in California and yet we are not represented accordingly. That is cultural apartheid," Leguizamo wrote. "In New York, the Latino population is equal to the white population, but you would never know it by watching local TV or reading our newspapers and magazines. The metrics are on our side, but the system is not."

Currently, Violent Night, produced by Universal, has surprised and shocked audiences around the world with its combination of Christmas spirit, dark humor, and touches of gore, reported Impacto Latino.