Made In Mexico star Hanna Jaff-Bosdet talks Netflix’ new show

Made In Mexico is Netflix’s way to allow viewers to experience and better understand Mexican culture. One of the show’s stars, Hanna Jaff-Bosdet, talks about her humanitarian efforts, her family, and what we can expect to see.

Hanna Jaff-Bosdet is as kind a person as one could ever hope to meet. But she is also a warrior for the underprivileged with a fire burning within her that won’t allow her to rest until her mission is complete — to see a world that provides a better, safer, and more welcoming place for immigrants, refugees, and marginalized people groups. You’ll get to see more of what she does in Netflix’s Made In Mexico.

Raised in San Diego, she is the daughter of a Mexican Catholic mother and a Kurdish Muslim father, two nationalities that sadly, as we well know, don’t always experience the best of American hospitality. In fact, due to her nationalities, growing up and going to American school was not always easy for her, especially during the aftermath of 9/11.

Nevertheless, the unconventional love of her parents provided her with the hope that this world truly can get along if we make the effort to love one another. And we couldn’t be more inspired by her and her family.

Growing up in California allowed Hanna to stay in touch with her Mexican roots, as her close proximity to her mother’s (and her) home country made access to family easy. She crossed over from the U.S. into Mexico around 3-4 times a week sometimes. So Mexico, for her, was a second home.

Anyone who has lived in or visited Mexico knows that hospitality and kindness are built into the DNA of their culture. It is nearly impossible to feel unwelcome there. Hanna desires to see this type of kindness and unity embraced worldwide for the sake of Immigrants, refugees, and any individual in which the breath of life exists.

Here is what she had to say about her experiences growing up, her work with refugees, and her new show, Netflix’s Made In Mexico.

Hidden Remote: So, first of all, thank you so much for your time today! I really appreciate it. 

Hanna Jaff-Bosdet: Of course!

HR: The coolest part about [your story], to me, is that your [Muslim/Catholic] parents have a wonderful relationship.

Jaff-Bosdet: I think the reason why they get along so well is because they have respect towards each other. And both of them practice their own faith and their own customs with each other without ever disrespecting one another ’s beliefs. 

HR: That’s actually kind of cool that that was modeled for you at such a young age — that people can, in fact, get along. 

Jaff-Bosdet: Right, exactly, yes. Yes, it was hard because when I was in high school, it was when 9/11 happened. And I’ve always had to constantly defend myself whether it was [discrimination] towards Mexicans or towards Muslims, you know?

I’ve been in so many discrimination situations, countless situations, where I was either defending Mexico, defending the Middle East, or culture, or religion, or you name it. So that’s why I became a humanitarian — because I’ve lived the aftermath of seeing a war and [have also seen an up-close view of]  the immigrant crisis between Mexico and The States.

HR: I wanted to go into that because I lived in Mexico for eight months or so, and they were so hospitable and so kind to me the whole time. But you have experienced [different treatment] in The United States. What has it been like for you being Mexican/Muslim here in The United States? 

Jaff-Bosdet: Right, well, it was hard, you know? And one of the reasons why I decided to be a part of [Made In Mexico] was because I wanted to stop the stereotypes of people that think that Mexico is just all about these narco shows on TV. The cast members [of Made In Mexico] are family-oriented people, people that have an education, people that have very successful and respectable jobs. So that’s one of the reasons why I decided to do the show because I grew up in the states and always got comments [like], “Oh you’re Mexican, it’s so dangerous there. Are you gonna be a housekeeper when you grow up?” And, you know, these stereotypes. They don’t really understand that we can’t really generalize a whole country. …

 … Obviously, [violence] happens, but it’s not like the whole country is dangerous; it’s a minority. I guess that’s what I wanna get to. It’s not all violence, and it’s not all dangerous in the whole country. We have amazing places, and I think a lot of people just don’t have that awareness about Mexico.

HR: [I agree]. And I can personally attest that what you’re saying is true. They have a beautiful, beautiful culture — so welcoming, hospitable. I mean you’re like family right away. 

Jaff-Bosdet: Exactly, and we’re a huge country, but somehow or another everyone’s like one degree apart. If you know someone for more than 10 years you’ll already say he’s your cousin because we’re such warm people. … On Sundays, we’ll have these carne asadas and family reunions. People might think it’s a Cinco de Mayo holiday, and it’s just an average Sunday for us.

HR: Right!

Jaff-Bosdet: (laughs) That’s something that I think people don’t know about Mexico. We’re like so close to our families. We’re such big families, we’re such big crowds, we’re always living together, and we’re always, like, in each other’s “businesses” and everything. So it’s a huge country but such a small world because of the unity that we have among us. 

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HR: Can you tell me about what the experience was like making the show Made In Mexico? 

Jaff-Bosdet: It was an amazing experience. The reason why I I decided to be part of the cast is because they told me exactly what we’re talking about right now. They said, ‘We want to show the world how beautiful Mexico is and Mexicans are.’ I had an amazing experience and I loved doing the show. And it was it was great meeting other Mexicans.  I mean, I didn’t know most of the cast, but we all had mutual friends. So at the end, we became close. 

HR: So what’s the premise of Made In Mexico? 

Jaff-Bosdet: It will show our lives, our families, and our lifestyles in the city because it’s filmed in Mexico City. So it’s just gonna show the beauty of Mexico.

HR: What are you the most excited about as far as what that show could mean as far as long-term impact? 

Jaff-Bosdet: I think everyone’s gonna want to visit it and see it for themselves and be like okay, Mexico is cool, ya know? Let’s go see it.

HR: Other than [Made In Mexico], what do you have on your plate right now? 

Jaff-Bosdet: So I’m a humanitarian, so I’m mainly focused on my charity (Jaff Foundation). I make self-taught English books for immigrants and refugees. And I also do non-discrimination campaigns. So I give conferences about refugees and immigrants or any other discrimination topic. So whether it’s gender equality, or religion, or cultural or sexual orientations, or disabilities, or social economics, [we cover it].

So what I have on my plate now is just to continue to expand Jaff foundation and continue to donate as many self-taught English books [as possible]. I wrote a self-taught English book for Spanish speakers and for Kurdish speakers. So I’ve donated 22,000 of those for refugees and immigrants, and my long-term goals are to continue to grow [the foundation] and donate as many more as I can.

HR: That is so cool. So for people who want to donate, where can they do that? 

Jaff-Bosdet: They can go to jafffoundation.com. And whoever wants to learn English, they can also go on my website and download the books for free.

Hanna Jaff-Bosdet will appear in Made In Mexico, premiering on the September 28 only on Netflix.