WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 890 - Gina Rodriguez

Episode Date: February 14, 2018

Gina Rodriguez is living the dream with her Golden Globe-winning performance as Jane the Virgin, roles in big Hollywood movies like Annihilation, and new opportunities as both a director and a producer. But she can't stop putting pressure on herself. Gina grew up wondering why there weren't any Puerto Ricans on TV and now she feels a responsibility to advocate for better representation of Latinos in entertainment. Gina and Marc talk about cultural changes and challenges, as well as Chicago, boxing, dancing and Rita Moreno. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. It's winter and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs, mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No. But moose head? Yes. Because that's alcohol yes we deliver those moose no but moosehead yes because that's alcohol

and we deliver that too along with your favorite restaurant food groceries and other everyday essentials order uber eats now for alcohol you must be legal drinking age please enjoy responsibly product availability varies by region see app for details all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucksters what's happening what's going on with you today everything all right hold on is there they're gutting the house across the street that's oh can you hear that you can't right that's my concern is that i'm going to sell this house and someone's just going to gut it or plow it to the ground what does what does it matter right isn't that true is shouldn't that be my my disposition around it is like look i get i'll sell

it i get out what do i care what they do with it but it is like it is a little weird it's weird just the fact that i painted everything and everything's painted over in there and the outside's painted and it's fundamentally a a different uh looking house than what i than what i've lived in for the last dozen and change years but what if i sell it and they just fucking rip it all apart there's part of me that thinks like well why i wouldn't put the work in that i did if you were just going to destroy it which might happen ultimately you're doing this a minimal amount of work on a house so you can sell it so you can get the best price possible but now that i look at it's like this comfortable place yeah i would i think i'd be upset if someone just obliterated it. But I got to detach.

There's some part of me that's just not ready to detach. The people that bought the place across the street, like I knew that guy who lived across the street. He was a nice guy. His brother lives next door over here. He retired, went elsewhere. I didn't have nothing invested in that house. I knew that guy.

He doesn't give a shit. And they're probably doing a great thing with it. They're going to make it beautiful. Why should I have a problem with somebody buying my house and doing whatever the fuck they want i i had often thought about just leveling it myself starting fresh clean slate totally nothing but pipes nothing but the foundation something like that was close but clearly this is just part of my relationship with this house and that I got to let it go. The house I grew up in was sold and they leveled it. They just took, they disappeared it and they built something that looked similar from the outside.

Sometimes people just got to start fresh. But there's so much history here, folks. You know what? I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck. See, now that, see, hear the tone of that? That's the tone of like, that's know what? I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck. See, now that, see, hear the tone of that? That's the tone of like, that's not really I don't give a fuck. That's, you know, I care a lot, but I'm just, you know, I'm just going to suck it up and,

no, I don't give a shit. What do I care? I don't give a fuck. All of those mean it affects me deeply and I'd be very upset. Fuck that. Who cares? Translated, I care a lot and please don't do it. Oh, yeah, that's crazy to think that I would give a shit about that.

I really do. I give a shit and I'm sad right now. No, do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. Seriously. Seriously. Just go for it. Just go for it.

Please, please don't. Don't. Please, please. Please. I'm out of here. I really, I need help. Please. Today on the show, Gina Rodriguez fromane the virgin and her new film the new big film

with natalie portman annihilation she's here she's here is that all right with you so i gotta quit thinking overthinking got it is it overthinking i don't know look i have a lot of people on this show i don't assume that i have relationships with people i just don't like i i don't know look i have a lot of people on this show i don't assume that i have relationships with people i just don't like i i don't i i there are people that i know who have been on my on this show that were friends before or that people i knew pretty well and sure i would text them i would text them not a problem but there are some people that i don't i don't really know them and they're of a certain level of celebrity where I've talked about this before. What am I going to do, text them and hang out?

No, I don't do that. I just don't do it. It's not my nature. I try to do things appropriately in terms of booking, in terms of outreach, and very rarely do I assume familiarity. Now, here's the deal. Ever since I went to the SAG Awards and Kristen Bell hosted them, I thought to myself, why hasn't she been on my show?

She made a joke about me. She knows who I am. I've had her husband, Dax Shepard, on twice, once for a long one and then for a short one. And why hasn't she been on the show? and why hasn't she been on the show? And somehow or another, the other day in that moment, I thought I could text Dax just to gauge her interest, just to see if maybe his wife, Kristen, would want to do the show. And I don't do this, but I decided Dax, he's a recovery guy, I'm a recovery guy.

We had good talks. I feel close to him. We don't socialize, but I just feel like he's the kind of guy I could shoot a text to, you know, to have him ask his wife about the show. So I do it. It didn't go well. I was completely open hearted about it and thought i was doing the right thing i put you know i checked it through with my uh with my business partner and producer i think you'd be all right if i just asked ask if dax if you know kristen was interested so i text

hey man it's marin i wanted to have kristen on the show you think she'd be into it that was at 7 17 p.m then at 11 15 p.m dax writes back i think it's interesting that you ignored my email asking you to be on my podcast now you're texting me to ask if my wife will be on yours dot dot dot and right then i'm like, oh, what the fuck? I was completely blindsided by this. I had no recollection, no recollection of the email. And that's the thing. And I was just talking to Sarah, the painter about this, you know, like so much shit falls through the cracks. You get so many emails.

Now I answer emails in my head and texts and I don't actually answer them in reality. Like I've, I've shown up at places where i'm like why don't we have an appointment no you never you never confirmed like i did in my head or like i'll look at emails and be like oh i gotta get back to that i'll get back to that i don't get back to it i don't brendan said i should start a folder of stuff i have to reply to that would be a nice organizing to do but the point being he sent that to me and i'm like oh fuck this guy's mad at me i don't know how mad i don't know how long ago he asked me i don't remember being asked i went and found the email i found the email it was just a nice little

sort of like hey the time has come but i could tell from the email that it was not easy thing for him to do do you know what i mean like it was just an email i found it it was not easy thing for him to do. Do you know what I mean? Like, it was just an email. I found it. It was like from the end of December. The day you feared has arrived. I would love to interview you on my podcast. I know you're crazy busy, so I will have appropriate expectations.

Also, please feel guilt-free about saying no. Hope you've had a fun and joyous break, Dax. And so I found that, had no recollection of reading it. But when I saw it, I'm like, oh yeah, I kind of remember. So now I'm afraid that Dax is just, fuck you, Mark. Fuck you. Right? Dot, dot, dot.

So I write back, oh shit. I spaced. I actually don't remember seeing it. i get busy and space and things fall through the cracks okay sorry so can we fix this or am i just shit now i that was i thought that was i thought that was a reasonable response it was honest you know taking responsibility and then uh you know pretty quickly right after like two minutes later, he said, no, no, you're not shit, but you can imagine from my point of view, how that feels. Yeah. So now I'm thinking like, oh man, like there's a second opportunity for me to like get, get him more mad. And, but I did know, I do know, look, I like, I don't know how

he feels when people ask about his wife. That's a whole other issue, which revisiting it was probably inappropriate. But I said, yeah, man, I'm sorry. I do so few podcasts and I just realized I've never had her on and I had you on. I get it. I fucked up. If you still want me on, I'd be happy to do it. It just fell through the cracks and I'm sorry I asked about her. Probably the wrong way to go about it.

through the cracks and i'm sorry i asked about her probably the wrong way to go about it and i obviously had no idea that i offended you or that you even sent the email or i wouldn't have i'll proceed however you want again sorry for being rude that was at 11 24 p.m and now i'm just sort of like well what's he gonna do is he just sitting sitting there with kristen in bed going fuck this guy fuck him right right isn't that what anybody would imagine then the next day i had to wait all night he writes back first of all you're working the shit out of the program thank you for the apology i would love to have you on my podcast and i'm sure she would love to be on yours i think we can all be happy so point being i went and did his podcast today and i you know when we kind of you know kind of went through this whole thing and you know i was it was funny because he he told me he said like he didn't go all the way

with like no problem or all the way with like you fucking asshole you blew me off but he did tell me that it is hard for him to ask people to do things or ask for help but he went the middle route like it was funny because he said i went right in the middle like not letting you off the hook totally not being a dick but i gave you a window to be a dick like he gave me this opportunity like am i it could i could have been a dick right there i might have been i didn't even think to do it it went great it was great to see him he's a good guy and i'm glad that didn't escalate into something shitty because we did realize that it could have on either of our sides for no fucking reason. Just because I let an email fall through the cracks.

And, and because I, you know, I, I assume familiarity, but, but that seemed to be appropriate. I think I can text him again and we're friends, but, but it's just dicey, man. Sometimes like you just just you don't pay attention to shit and you just i don't know yeah i'm thinking you know i'm thinking honestly just getting out of the getting off email getting off uh text and getting off twitter and just have people call my landline and leave a message on my fucking machine that's what i'm saying that you know let's let's let's go analog fuck this i'll check my messages later i would i would i would like fall off the edge of culture if i did that yeah just leave a message on my machine call and leave a message on my machine yeah that that's gonna that's gonna work out now so

gina rodriguez is here she is jane the virgin and sarah the painter uh is a a fan of jane of jane the virgin she enjoys the show she told me to have gina on a while back and the thing is is like we got to talking about stuff about you you know, about Latinos and culture and Latin. Like I grew up in New Mexico. I was always very much Latinos were very much part of my life, all my life growing up. I'd never thought about it that much in terms of like that were different. But it was just the way New Mexico was. But we did have this interesting conversation where there's still not a good integration of diversity in the mainstream media.

And the default is still very white. And we all need to be conscious of that. Her new movie, Annihilation, opens Friday, February 23rd. Jane the Virgin is currently in its fourth season on The CW. This is me and Gina in the garage. She was dressed real fancy. I'll tell you that right now. She had a really fancy dress on. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new

challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Calgary is a city built by innovators. Innovation is in the city's DNA, and it's with this pedigree that bright minds and future-thinking problem solvers are tackling some of the world's greatest

challenges from right here in Calgary. From cleaner energy, safe and secure food, efficient movement of goods and people, and better health solutions, Calgary's visionaries are turning heads around the globe, across all sectors, each and every day. Calgary's on the right path forward. Take a closer look how at calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com. I have fond memories of patchouli. Patchouli is like, I would say, my high school memories. Boyfriend memories. My high school boyfriend wore patchouli. Well, that's so... He probably still does.

You know, it's weird because it's not necessarily a dude thing. And I don't meet too many dudes that wear it, but I wear it. I've been wearing it forever. It's a good smell. Yeah, it is, right? Yeah. Does it bring back a wave of uncomfortable memories? No, they weren't uncomfortable.

Oh, they were good? I don't know if I have any uncomfortable memories. Well, that's a... Well, you should be very grateful for that. Not one uncomfortable memory. Is it just because you accept them? Yeah. Oh.

It's because I accept them. Right. So then I rework them in my mind. Right. You're sort of like, well, that could be uncomfortable. I change the narrative. There you go. Change the narrative.

So I just fucking lie to myself. Well, you know what? That's how a lot of people get through their day. Yes. I think that's how I'm getting through my days these days. Really? I would think that things are going okay for you right now. Yeah.

But I guess I know that life doesn't stop. That's right. Life can still suck even when things are going okay. Yeah, they are not mutually exclusive. That's true. And people don't really know that. It's just that when you when you're at a certain level you're not really allowed to complain too much may i take off my shoes you whatever you need to do what do you wear they're just they're hot boots so you were just where which show i just did the talk the talk i just directed my

first episode of jane the show that i'm on this Yeah, I'm familiar with the show. Jane the Virgin. Yeah, I watched a few to get up to speed. Ooh. Yeah, no, I- I wonder which ones you chose. The last few. Oh, good. Okay, yeah. I mean, I didn't have a guy.

My girlfriend watches it. Does she? It's like her secret thing. It's a guilty pleasure. Right, a guilty pleasure. It's like red velvet cupcakes or Justin Bieber. Yeah, exactly. Neither of which I love.

There you go. Are those your guilty pleasures? I just feel like maybe I just confessed they're both my guilty pleasure. cupcakes or justin bieber yeah exactly neither of which i love you know there you go are those your guilty pleasures i just feel like maybe i just confess they're both my guilty pleasure i i mean yeah i am a 30 year old that loves uh justin bieber i want to love uh red velvet cupcakes but you know they look great the best yeah have you ever tried one sure of course okay then you're just not into no no i mean they're good cake it's good cake you know like i think i like chocolate cake better probably i don't know i never have velvet's good but i never liked the icing that much doesn't matter so she she watches the show and and i told her we were going to talk but it's one of those shows where she's like oh you can just jump

in anywhere but then she's trying to explain yeah there You know, like she's trying to get me up to speed on like 75 episodes of a thing that goes all over the place with all these different characters and murder and affairs and twins and weirdness. And life. Yeah. No, I think that's true. I mean, I saw some real life even when I just watched one or two episodes. You know? Yeah. And real life. And I like the colors. It I saw some real life even when I just watched one or two episodes you know

yeah and real life and I like the colors it reminds me of an Almodovar movie it's poppy and pretty like yeah

everything's like really poppy like you know that's some serious set deck so you're on the talk and this I'll say the talk shoots here

I'm assuming the talk is here yeah and is it an afternoon or a morning show it is a morning so you did a pre-tape or did

you go live it's a pre-tape because i they were on my episode that i directed of jane so they we have that we have my dad on the show and brooke shields they are on the talk to discuss male postpartum depression and so they were it was like men they were in our show so we went to promote them being on our show on Friday. But what did it have to do with male postpartum depression? That's what our storyline is having. Really? Oh, because the guy's got the baby.

The guy's got the baby. He's a stay-at-home dad and he's depressed. Right, I saw that episode leading up to this one. He got bored, he thought it was going to be the end all. Yeah, and he meets another woman that has postpartum depression and he's like, I haven't. So he's got postpartum depression. Yes. But not really.

But not really. Yeah. It's ridiculous. But it's fantastic because especially in this climate, in this world, they talk about a lot of like social issues. Right. Sure. Without commentary, without judgment, like in a little sprinkle.

It's like, hey, talk about that. Right. And you make it a little funny. I make in a little sprinkle. It's like, hey, talk about that. Right, and you make it a little funny. And we make it a little funny. Yeah, like I talk about male eating disorder all the time. Which is a thing. I have it. I mean, I'm not terrible.

What do you, body dysmorphia? What do you have? I have some of that, yeah. A little of that. You know, if I'm not comfortable with my body, I don't necessarily think I'm a very good person. For sure. Your self-worth is balanced on it. Are you joking

or do you really feel this way? Why would I just, out of nowhere, I'm just going to start joking about that? That's my idea? Like, I'm just going to start joking about my fake eating disorder.

No, it's real. It's true. Well, I mean, I feel you. And now, so how are you doing on the show? How do you like seeing yourself on GLOW, which you're fantastic in?

You know, it's, thank you. Some days it's an issue because i got i'm wearing the same pants i literally wear the same pants for the entire show phenomenal yeah and there are these jeans these bell-bottom jeans and you got craft services so by the end of a fucking shooting a season i'm like i can't go another like by the time we're done i'm like i can't get in these pants and i can't do it oh my god that's got to be so tough like having to like balance your life around these fucking jeans i

well i'm probably i i think i looked all right i don't i don't think they ever got so tight but in your head do you have it yeah of course all right so like it doesn't have any bearing on reality but if your pants are feeling tight one day maybe they are maybe they aren't who knows but you've decided yeah but but seriously though i'm having a better time talking to myself about yeah that body dysmorphia watching myself on screen being able to see myself fluctuate weight really being able to like say okay so that's for that that's a character or that's for that. That's a character. Or that's, you know, I went to Thailand last year. Really? And I trained in Muay Thai for a month. Is that in martial art?

Yeah. For like four hours a day. Really? And you went to the source. And I went to the source. Couldn't do it here. Yeah, I couldn't do it here. No.

No. No. Oh, and Bird and all those amazing, you know, badass trainers live there. So went there for a month. Got so strong, came back to Jane. Yeah. I'm not working out four hours a day. Uh-huh. There is craft services.

Oh, isn't there? I'm shooting 14 hours a day. Yeah. And, you know, sometimes when you don't have a social life, Hot Cheetos and Little Madeline Cookies are your companion. Those are them? Hot Cheetos? Hot Cheetos is mine.

What are Hot Cheetos? They're delicious. What are you talking about? What do you mean? You've never are Hot Cheetos? They're delicious. What are you talking about? What do you mean? You've never had Hot Cheetos? How do you make them hot? They make them hot. Oh, you mean spicy Cheetos?

Spicy Cheetos. Here I'm thinking like temperature hot. No. I'm like, how do you do that? That's true. That would be interesting. I'm sure somebody's have fried them at some point. People figure out-

Fried everything. People take shitty, horrible food that's bad for you and make it worse. It seems like it's their day. Like fried ice cream, whatever it is. Fried Twinkies. That sounds worse it seems like it's their day like fried ice cream whatever it is like twinkies that sounds awful no it's delicious once half a one salty yeah a bite yeah okay spicy spicy cheetos so yes i i agree the body dysmorphia is real what do you got at the craft services but like we're on the set of glow man it's like every two hours and it's netflix y'all got money so you guys are getting food right it's like a cruise ship like there's a full buffet every two hours it's like someone on a microphone there's thai food at crafty there's indian buffet at crafty i love my craft

services uh genie frankie i love you so much please don't be offended but craft services does not do me justice what do they what do they have over there what do they do they have a limited budget so we are but is it thematic is it thematic with the show for sure i mean there's like we have tacos we have empanadas that come on empanadas we get those two sometimes those are apparently very good yeah i oh you stay away from them what about donuts i mean i've been on this show for four years. You learn where to like, the bathrooms are far from the stages. So that's the incentive? Yeah, you got to just be careful.

You just got to choose your battles. Right, yeah, yeah. And I have a lot of battles already, so I'm just going to like. I can't like, but my thing, the problem with it is the last two weeks of the shoot, that's where I just come unhinged. And I'm like, I'm going to eat the fucking donut. I'm going to eat the whole donut. I'm not just going to break off a piece and then circle around a few times. Yeah, I do that every day almost.

With the morning donuts, take a little piece and I circle back. Just hoping that you... Do lunges on my way back to it. Half hoping someone took it. Like, I hope it's not that bad. Yeah, exactly. Or that they won't have maple today. Don't have maple. Oh, you like the maple? Love the maple long johns. Oh, I hope it's not there. Yeah, exactly. Or that they won't have maple today. Don't have maple.

Oh, you like the maple? Love the maple long johns. Oh, like on the old fashioned? God, this whole talk is going to be about the old fashioned. Yeah, I love old fashioned donut. I like them straight up, though. I'll take them glazed. Or, no, yeah.

I'm like vanilla or maple. On top of them? Yeah. All right, so you directed. I directed. I did that once or twice on my show when I had Maren. It's tricky, but when you're in it and doing it, you got to lean on the DP a lot, right?

DP and the writer. Yeah. So what was the experience like for you directing? And really just believing in my instincts. Sure. Yeah. Because you got to go out and like, okay'm gonna i see the frame i'm gonna go in it now yeah and i'm gonna do this thing yeah i mean i i got some really great advice from some

badass women like like america ferreira uh-huh where she said set up a system you know like um decide how many takes you're gonna do and then decide to watch playback after checking in with your writer or DP. Right. There was no camera mistakes. If we have anything technical we need to... So I kind of set up a system where I'd do it once, take a look at it, fix all the things I wanted, and then I'd go in and do three runs.

Yeah. Three runs. Do the coverage. Do three runs in each shot? Three runs in each shot. Okay, okay. Yeah. If I felt like I needed more, then I'd go back and do more.

But if not, I'd move on because we do like 10, 11 pages a day. That's insane. It's insane. Why so much? We have like a 70 page, we get about 70 page scripts each week. Oh, because you have all those other elements.

Yeah, so much. You've got things you add, Instagram elements, text elements. Magical realism, split screen. Right, right. So it's a tough show. And tonally, it's very tough. But I would think with 70 pages of effects, you would not shoot 11 pages of dialogue a day.

Well, we don't have too, too many effects. But then also, it's like a way for our creator to really carve out the story. Yeah, right, right. You have a lot of options. Yeah, you've got options. You've got space. So we pound away at this show. We have been working our ass off.

How much part of the outside of doing the directing? What are you, like 80 episodes now? How many have you done? I think mine was like 73. I think we're on like 75. So are you part of the creative process in general at this point, writing-wise or story-wise? No, no, no, no, no.

I do not touch that world. No, Jenny Ehrman is a island. She is an island of brilliance, and she is a very clear vision for Jane, and she is a very clear arc of where we're going and where we're ending. Right. Oh, really?

You know where it's going to end? I know where it's going to end. But at what episode? I mean, I don't know if I'm even allowed to say, but I know our end. There is an end. There is an end. But is it like, this is what the end's going to be, but we can fill it out.

Like there's room between now and the end. No, I know where the end is. Oh, wow. Yeah, there's an end. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. And that's both like-

I'm assuming it's not for at least 30 episodes. Oh. I don't know. Come on. You want to syndicate. Yeah. I mean, is that the world we're living in still? No.

It is not. Right? It's not. But it kind of is. But it's exciting. It's an exciting milestone. You want to get over 100? Yeah.

Yeah. Sure. Yeah. I think it kind of is the world. I mean, look at the network you're on, don't they run? I mean, they run 15 years a show. Right. And the actors preserve.

Yeah. They're taking some kind of youth serum. I'm like, how is that even possible? Sometimes. Some of the shows can last. But you know with TV, though, sometimes you turn the cameras off, you get up close, you're like, oh, that's much different. Well, lighting can be a good friend it's a little tricky with the high def for some of those older cats yeah they're like oh everything now you see everything all right so you directed it and you did you love

that is that something you want to do you're gonna be yeah yeah yeah i mean like after i did it i was like this is this pace this is where it's at. I mean, I started as a professional dancer. I started as a dancer. Okay. Let's go back then. If you're going to go back. Yeah. Where'd you grow up?

Chicago. Really? Yeah. Chicago. Northwest side of Chicago. I don't know what that means. City, city. What's Northwest side?

Like right outside of Lincoln Park. Have you heard of Lincoln Park? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the hood. Okay. So a few hoods deep into Lincoln. A few hoods deep. Yeah.

What kind of hood when you talk about this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the hood. Okay. So a few hoods deep into Lincoln. A few hoods deep. Yeah, like, yeah. What kind of hood when you talk about this? Oh, mostly Puerto Rican and like Polish. Puerto Rican and Polish. There's always a Polish contingent. Yeah. No matter what hood you're in. Yeah, it has. There's a few Polish people around.

But it's very interesting because it was a lot of like Polish immigrants. Right. Oh, really? They really understood the struggle of feeling like an outsider or disenfranchised. And like a lot of the Latinos in the neighborhood felt that way. Right. And so like the Polish people were like, we totally get you. Oh, really?

So there was a bonding between the- The ultimate bond. The bond of feeling like an outsider, for sure. And also you had the Catholic thing. Poles and Latinos. For sure. Yeah. We were all going to the same church.

You were, right? Yeah, 100%. It was fantastic. So how big is the family family i have two older sisters an older brother from my father's first marriage and he's like but he's my brother yeah i mean i was still like that's always such a strange thing i'm like i'm gonna tell you that he's like not fully my brother but he's my brother no yeah i grew up with him yeah he's significantly older than myself um he's the eldest of and the youngest of four uh-huh how old's he he's i believe he's 45 he's gonna be mad at me 45 48 oh yeah

somewhere in that area yeah so a lot older yeah i'm 33 so that's just we have two more in between us so he was he was sort of out of the house for a good part of it yeah yeah yeah yeah and then there's a couple other older sisters and then then two older sisters. Are they in show business? No. The eldest runs a private equity firm. The middle child is a doctor. A doctor? Yeah, I'm a piece of shit. You figure, like, they pleased your parents in those ways.

Yeah. Well, it was still very difficult, because my father wanted me to be a lawyer. A lawyer? Yeah, he wanted the trifecta, and he would say it. Right, he wanted to say it. Yeah, he wanted to say it. I got a lawyer, a doctor, and a banker. Yeah, and a, yeah. Somebody likes to be pretend.

Yeah, and he got that instead. But look how well you did. You've got to be the most popular one at this point. Oh, man. I don't know. They're very proud. My father was a professional referee for boxing, and so he was always on TV. And so growing up, he was like, don't forget, I'm the one that's on TV first.

Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah. As a professional boxing referee? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he was like a real deal referee? Real deal referee. In Chicago?

All over the world. I mean, yeah, I grew up in Chicago, but he- Oh, so he was- All over, yeah, we grew up, I mean, I grew up in Chicago, but he. Oh, so he was. All over, yeah. I mean, his final fight that he retired on was Pacquiao versus Algieri in Macau, China. And I was able to go to it and watch him and like cheer him on for his retirement. Really? Yeah, so he's like, he was. You weren't watching the fight?

You're watching your dad? I was watching my dad. Yeah, I mean, I love Pacquiao. I knew Pacquiao was going to destroy. I'm sorry, Chris. Chris, you're a great fighter as well. So you follow boxing. Yeah. I guess you would have to. Yeah, I'm sorry, Chris. Chris, you're a great fighter as well. So you follow boxing. Yeah.

I guess you would have to. Yeah, all my life. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't know. It seems like your brother was pretty old. But your dad probably wanted one of you to like fighting. Do you all like fighting? We all fight.

Oh, you do? Yeah, except my eldest sister. But my middle sister is tough. She's really strong. And I fight. I mean, I don't fight professionally but i wish i could i box i do muay thai so like where did we end up with that with the thailand thing how long were you in thailand oh so i was in thailand oh so this is what was this is where we were going so i i start to understand that it's okay if you work out four hours a day of course your body's gonna look one

way and if you don't your body's gonna look another so i started to accept what my body looked like on each yeah and also you just sort of like is it that terrible are you that like it's like you're not an obese person you're just a little uncomfortable you gotta eat and tomorrow's another day yeah and it's really like is that really what we're worried about yeah like like really no it shouldn't be what a waste of space in the brain true but i think my theory is not like i don't not think about it i do i'm just saying i know you're fucking yelling at myself right you're mad at yourself for wasting uh like there's bigger problems for yourself and for everybody else right but i sometimes think you pick these type of things to like to focus you have control over that problem

So like the bigger problems that you may not you may feel powerless about Focus on the little things so that you feel like a shit in the negative way in the negative way Yeah, focus on the little things like I know the world is ending, but hey, I got a few pounds exactly Yes, a little doughy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we're not gonna be able to breathe in 10 years i know but these pants you know yeah yeah yeah for sure it's being present it's being present there you go see we we spun it into a good thing yeah so you're in chicago you got a boxing referee as a dad your mom does what she is an interpreter at cook county and this was the director of interpreters cook county County prison? Prison, yeah. Or Cook County court system. So she would send

the interpreters to, you know, if you needed Italian or Polish or Spanish, she would send her people. She was in charge of the interpreters for Cook County.

Yeah. Not just for the prison. I don't know why I think about, isn't that a prison? Cook County? It is a prison too in Chicago, yeah. Uh-huh.

Yeah. So that was, she was a translator dispatcher in a way. Exactly. Huh. Yeah. What an odd job. Yeah. Yeah. It was, yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. So she was a translator dispatcher in a way. Exactly. Huh. Yeah. What an odd job.

Yeah. Yeah. It was. Yeah. Well, I mean, they both made as much as they could out of nothing. Yeah. My parents had it. My parents lived tough lives.

Yeah? Yeah. Were they from here originally? They're from Puerto Rico. So they were both born in Puerto Rico? Yeah. They were both born and raised in Puerto Rico. And then they met in Chicago or New York.

Their story is so shifty. They've been together for 45 years. It's super shifty. My parents are like, they're just phenomenal, like, fun-loving. Yeah. They're hippies. Oh, really? My father, like, he fought in Vietnam.

Did he? Yeah. I don't know why I'm questioning that. No. He did. Yeah, yeah. Why would you say that? He did. yeah they're hippies my father like he fought in vietnam did he yeah like they're just questioning that no yeah yeah he did he did and he came out but he came back okay he came i'm sure i mean i don't know you would know i mean i well but i was i was after the whole experience so i don't know pre-vietnam pops well yeah well i mean i guess maybe i mean he's a good man i'm sure it changed him but i sure but what i'm saying is that uh there there were it sounds like you had a good experience with them it wasn't like your dad's uh going through a thing again no no no no no i had yeah i had good experience with them they i mean we do you ever talk about it guys i find that a lot of

people whose parents were there they don't they they don't know anything because they don't talk about it yeah no i don't know anything yeah they don't talk about it. Yeah, no, I don't know anything. They don't talk about it. And he says we don't talk about it. Yeah, it's cool. But my parents are tremendous human beings. My father is just this orb of positivity and self-motivation. and like go, like I'm only the way I am because he was such a diligent, if not like dictator voice in my mind about how I had to be.

Yeah, what was he saying? Like he would, like when I was younger, when I was in high school, he had this terrible car accident where he had seizures in his car and he had a parasite in his brain oh my god yeah a brain parasite that caused seizures and then he had an accident and then he had an accident and it changed him for the better but he would like whisper in my ear at night you could be anything you want to be

yeah you could be the president go after your dreams nothing can stop you and then i'd be like what the fuck are you doing yeah and he's like i'm talking to your subconscious go back to sleep he would just do that in the middle of the night yeah just because he was like he was awake on steroids from all the like medication and all the craziness and he was just reading zigzagler and uh seven habits of highly effective people and he would put that on me yeah to a you know at the time like yeah a lot too much well and also think that people that i have found when i talk to people from other places that generation really wants their kids to succeed as much as possible for sure in this country especially because we didn't grow up with money so everything they thought was like you have to

do better you have to have an easier existence you have to and at the like i said at the time it was just like um sure that feels like so that seems so ideal it's a lot of pressure too a lot of pressure yeah um and it's the pressure still exists but um in your brain or with them in my brain now they're like oh you did it you've arrived and in my brain i'm like yeah yeah yeah you're not worthy this is terrible gotta go harder and try more because of that voice yeah but it's good at the same time because yeah i feel like nothing can stop me yeah and well i that that's the good part of it the other part of it is like well shut up because shit does stop you well i and also like at some point you want to enjoy it

and i don't oh god damn it yes 100 you're not enjoying it i am i i am enjoying it but it is uh-huh i think i can't you like to work it's all work right no no that the like act was an action cut it's like flying yeah But the necessity to be like responsible for like Latino community, the stress of feeling like I have to be a voice of strength for people I've never met and I'm going to fail. Where'd that come from? I feel like I set it up for myself, but you just don't see a lot of Latinos on screen, period. I didn't growing up. I know, yeah, I think that's right.

I saw that you've spoken about that a few times, and I wasn't looking for them in the same way you were. Yeah. But just either. Yeah, I can imagine that, yeah. I wasn't growing up going like, where are the Latino people? Yeah, or in my films or anywhere.

Well, I grew up in New Mexico, so there was plenty around. Oh, nice. Nice. It's a beautiful culture. Yeah, there's plenty around here, too, in this neighborhood. Yeah, there's so many around here. Oh, yeah. But I know what you're saying, and my producer and I talked about it, because we haven't

had a lot of Latinos on. I know you had Rita Moreno on the other day. Great. And that died. She's so great. She'd been my grandmother. You worked with her worked with her oh i love her she's my everything yeah she's amazing my like god yeah she's my grandmother in real life i mean she's just like she's uh-huh as she's the best yeah best but but it's not what my point was we don't choose not to have latinos on but literally in terms of who's around and who's being pitched and who are, where are they? I mean, really, I feel like I forced myself on you because I wanted to just come and I

wanted to be. You wanted to Latinize me? No. Oh, I like that. I wanted to let, yes, I wanted to start breaking the door open. I wanted to let, I'm going to put the mark down for Puerto Ricans in this damn room. But, um, so I, I feel like I forced myself on you because i've been dying to be a part of like i feel like you're an expert conversationalist how am i doing you i just i've

never experienced this every time i listen to you i feel like people get to experience something that when you've entered the space where people recognize you and you don't know their names like that strange space yeah um which is not normal for the brain right like process right right right yeah when you enter that space then people don't talk to you the same either oh yeah and you talk which is not normal for the brain to process. Right, right, right. When you enter that space, then people don't talk to you the same either. Oh, yeah? And you talk to people in a very different manner.

Oh, really? And I wanted to know what that felt like. How's it feeling? It feels good. Okay. It feels good. Now I'm all self-conscious. Well, I'm self-conscious too.

Yeah? Yeah, for sure. Okay, so I wouldn't call it a compulsion, but this, the idea that you had to do right by the Latino community, right? Yeah, I feel like I'm always being under the microscope if I do right by the Latino community. And I want to, but I can't speak for the entire Latino community. Right. Because, you know, Latinos come in all, you know, shades and backgrounds and cultures. Of course.

And Latino encompasses so much. Yeah. I'm Puerto Rican from Chicago. Yeah. I mean, that's one, and I'm a woman. That's one perspective. That's one specific lens. Yeah.

And that's not everybody's lens. But I want to see more Latinos on screen because I know what it did to me when I was a kid. Well, okay. So you're growing up in Chicago. What are you engaged in? Like what leads to the acting? I mean, what leads to performing? So I started dancing salsa.

Just like Rita Marina? Yes, just like Rita. I was a salsa dancer from like the age of seven. I started dancing. With the outfits? With the outfits and the sequence and the- And all the adults going like, look at her. Yes, 100%, just like that, yeah.

But we were, you know, it was professional salsa dancing. We were hardcore. I was in this strict regimen of like schedules and rehearsal, and it made me like a, you know, it makes you super disciplined. Was there a company or was there a competition? I was in multiple companies. So what was the gig? Was it to do competitions or to get paid to do shows?

All paid to do shows. We'd compete. We'd do conferences, salsa conferences. We'd go and like. Salsa conferences. Yeah, They're all over the world. They're crazy. It must be like ballroom dancing. Yeah.

It's pretty hardcore. So you have all ages? You have all ages of people. Like the eight to 12 or whatever? Yeah. Yeah. You have the like, everybody's, but everybody watches everybody else because you want to be the older group and you're about to head into the older group.

But the older group's going, let's go watch the little ones. And they want to because we were fierce too. But I danced from like seven to 17, and then I started doing theater in high school. So you're a good dancer? I don't dance. Comes right back to you though, right? For sure, yeah.

But I'm not as hardcore as I used to be. But like if you go out, do you ever go out dancing? Yeah. Like on a date and just bury the guy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing. I amazing i mean i have

a wonderful boyfriend that loves to watch me dance uh-huh you know sure which is great so all right so you do that so you get into theater one and i get to theater in like high school yeah started doing like commercials or trying but like what kind of plays were you doing in high school like what was it did you get the bug was it like a thing where you were like i did a chorus line and i played diana morales and it was um i'm a terrible singer but i it was a it was because i was probably the only latina in my high school that could be the reason why how did that happen in chicago in the polish latino neighborhood because i because we got driven out to the college preparatory schools i went to sing and it's just college prep because your dad was like he meant business yeah education

is everything i get i can't make the trifecta if you don't have a good education. Yeah, you're not in that public school. So we had to, we were shipped out. We were shipped out. And they were, you know,

diversity was very small. There was like four of us. Four in general? There was like four in my four years. Four broad-ranging brown people? Yeah, four broad-ranging brown people, including the Asians. It was like,

we had the whole spectrum, you know? Yeah, four broad-ranging brown people, including the Asians. It was like we had the whole spectrum. Yeah, the four of you. Yeah. So because I started doing theater then, and I was already in the environment where I was like a minority and very clearly a minority. And then I'd go home, and I was the majority, and everything felt like normal. Did you speak Spanish at home? Nah, rarely.

My parents were discriminated for their accent, so they didn't really teach us Spanish until later on. So they tried to wash them away? Yeah. Get rid of them? Assimilation is a real thing, man. No kidding. Yeah, of course. Yeah.

I mean, I understand Spanish fully. My grandma spoke to us in Spanish. My experience was very much like Jane. Grandma speaking Spanish, me responding in English. Oh, so that was a good fit. Yeah, yeah. But when you were at this private school, I mean, how were you outside of your own awareness of your brownness?

Yeah. How were you received? What did you find that- They thought I was Mexican the whole four years. All my friends that were close to me- You were just Mexican. I was just Mexican. They never really bothered to figure out what my culture was, even though I felt lots of

kinship towards all Latino cultures starting at a very early age because, you know, my cousins grew up in a predominantly Mexican area. I grew up in a predominantly Puerto Rican area. I danced with all ethnicities, like everybody was salsa dancers. Sure. You know, from like Russian, like some of the Russian girls were like the best salsa dancers. Aren't they the best at everything? They kind of are.

It's too bad. Anything athletic or movement oriented? Yeah, the Olympics? They kind of are. It's too bad. Athletic or movement oriented. Yeah, the Olympics. We'll find out. It's coming up. But yeah, so I kind of was always, I guess, aware of my skin color, even though I just did not feel different whatsoever, which was such a strange feeling in the world. whatsoever which was so such a strange feeling in the world well um to realize that you know that you weren't different and and but they were seen as different but yeah it was so bizarre

to me yeah because i was yeah it was just like i was just like a ladybird right you just had gretta um ladybird was my experience growing up right totally yeah totally like exactly her experience was my experience i went to catholic Totally. Yeah. Totally. Like exactly her experience was my experience. I went to Catholic high school where I was definitely like, I was the poor kid in the high school. I didn't want anybody to know it. You know, add onto that. I was the Brown kid in high school and I didn't want anybody to know it.

Um, no, it was, it was co-ed. Yeah. Co-ed, but Catholic, no, um, uniforms, but a dress code. Uh-huh. And were you brought up pretty religious? No. No I wasn't. I mean we had a lot of space to discover.

But we did do the like Christmas on Easter. Sure. Christmas and Yeah. And were you confirmed and stuff? I was confirmed and yeah. Because my parents were just like superstitious. And that comes with like Latino and Catholic. Yeah.

They're like, if she isn't, she won't go to heaven. Yeah. Just in case. Yeah. You know, just in case we're all wrong and all this freedom is bad. Yeah. And then like my great grandfather was Jewish and my sister ended up turning agnostic. My other sister converted to Judaism.

We're all kind of all over the place. You have a Jewish sister? I have a Jewish sister. She married you or something? Yes. She married a jew and my my grandmother's father was a french jew french jew yeah that even makes it more interesting exotic in puerto rico yeah he ran away from france yeah there was a lot of like things i don't know in that space i wonder what year was that did he leave because of hitler i don't know the french were, you know, not great during that time.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. That's probably an understatement. Yeah. I want to go on like Find Your Roots. I do too. I was supposed to go on.

They made me take the- Swab? They did. I did it and I sent it in months ago and I don't know what the hell is going on. I got to ask my manager. That's the show because that show, you get all the goods. You get all the juice. I sent them all the stuff,

all the ones I knew. I love that you're excited about it, right? You wanna know. I wanna know everything. Yeah, well, you're Russian and Polish and this is what happened. Apparently, my grand, my- You're Dutch, you got Dutch in you?

Apparently, I got Dutch in me, a bunch of Dutch in me. Really? Yeah. Well, they should have you on. Have you reached out? Yeah, we've reached out. I think that there's like, it's in motion. Oh, it is. It's in motion. But? Yeah. Well, they should have you on. Have you reached out? Yeah, we've reached out. I think that there's like, it's in motion.

Oh, it is. It's in motion. But you didn't get the kit yet. Mine was in motion and that was like a year ago. Oh, goodness. They're doing research. Yeah, but it's that deep. Give them space for research.

They're really going deep into the Marin rabbit hole. So when did you really start feeling that you were not, as you say, represented in media and on TV? Because there's certainly plenty of music, right? Oh, yeah. In your world. Yeah. I would imagine. And music is also, I feel like music, man, does it just transcend racism and discrimination?

People are like, despacito, and they have no idea the words that they're saying, but it's the most popular, I'm so proud of you, Luis, most popular song ever. It's like that kind of healing is fantastic. Yeah, it's amazing. And that's what ultimately representation and diversity inclusion can do for all of art is it can make people feel just included. Yeah, like a global community. Freedom of allowance. Yeah. More human. Yeah. Like a global community. Freedom of allowance. Yeah. More human.

Yeah. If you let it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of intolerance is sadly a decision. Oh, it's such a decision, isn't it? I feel like art has the ability to create healing and tolerance. But I mean, it's like, it's hard when you, I produce and we're trying to produce shows with Latino faces and Latino stories.

Like what? Well, we have a few shows that we've been, that were in the run, but sadly, you know, we're going to have to try to find new homes for them because you're trying to sell a story of a culture to people who have never, you know, as you said earlier, I've never stopped to think, wow, there are no Latinos on my screen. You're selling to other cultures that don't understand the importance of it. But it's such a huge audience, I don't understand it. Well, okay, so I recently was told, and this was so devastating, I was recently told, well, Gino, why would these studios, or why would anyone have to cater to a demographic that's risk averse where they already purchase?

They already consume. There's no need to put Latinos in. Yeah, they're not complaining. They're not complaining. They're still buying. Right. We don't need to cater. But it's saying like you don't want to make your customer happy. You don't want to represent your customer in a way that makes them feel good. You it's it's like, why treat this person with respect when they're respecting me? And Latinos are going to eventually realize their power and their buying power because Latinos consume one of the highest consumers as a demographic.

I mean, we make up 24% of the box office every weekend. We hold studios up. I mean, the things that I say are not lies. They're the truth. And as an artist who would love to play roles, like I have this movie coming out annihilation where i get to play a sci-fi movie yeah i was gonna watch it but am i i knew you were gonna have a chance to watch it i'm gonna watch it i have a link i have a link i'm so excited for you to see it yeah i wanted i was gonna i just got it like yesterday yeah so i was gonna watch it last night but i think it's it

scared my girlfriend that the science fiction but i wrote something it's scary it's it's definitely scary she doesn't she doesn't go in for the scary stuff i you know i definitely don't always pick the science fiction bar or something. It's scary. It's definitely scary. She doesn't go in for the scary stuff. You know, I definitely don't always pick scary first, but it is... But that director's good, right?

He did the... Ex Machina. Ex Machina. He's incredible. It's just... It is a... And you're the... Are you the lead?

I'm one of them. I mean, there's five. It's a Natalie's movie, Natalie Portman. It's Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tuva Novotny, and myself. Wow. So it's five badass chicks going into this area called The Shimmer, which is destroying the world, kind of like eating it alive.

And they're going in there to stop it. Stop The Shimmer. Stop The Shimmer. And it is twisted, and it's sci-fi, psychological thriller. Maybe I should watch it in the theater. I feel like it's probably a theater experience. Yeah, I watched Dunkirk on my computer. That was not good.

On your computer. I try not to watch anything on a small... I didn't watch it on my phone. You watched it on your phone. I think, you know what? So you're a 13-inch? I mean, how big was your computer? What are you telling me?

I think I watched it on a bigger screen. All right, so my question is, do you ever get the studio saying, well, you know, the Latino world has its own television? Yeah, I mean, there's Latin American television for sure, right? It's huge, right? Yeah, that's very huge. It does very well.

Univision and Telemundo, and yeah, and they rule everything. But, you know, even in the Latino American market, you know, inclusion is necessary because Latinos come, like I said, in all shapes. There's Afro Latinos. There's European Latinos. Latinos that have blue eyes, blonde hair like my sister. My other sister is darker skin. Puerto Rico.

Oh, yeah. From everywhere. From everywhere. Because we're just such a, you know, Puerto Ricans in themselves are, you know, when the Sp Spaniards came over Then they came over with African slaves And all three mixed And that's pretty much what a Puerto Rican is And you know you have Back in the 1400s

When you know the Spaniards came over And they settled in lots of parts of Latin America Right the Spanish were fair skinned Yeah there's lots of mix In all of the Latino community Like I said from like dark skin To light skin, light eyes. And because of that,

it's hard to, it's for one, hard to talk for the entire Latino community. So I just can't do that. I just need to keep trying to like create avenues for stories to be told

so that we can, so we can celebrate our culture and feel inclusive in American, like in the soil of America because we are. Because if they feel like you're speaking for them, then you're going to get some pushback. Yeah, well, I'm not. I can't.

I can't. Did you ever get called out? I get pushback all the time, for sure. Like what kind? Well, I just get pushback because I can't, like I said, I can't represent every Latino. So they get mad because you can't represent them, or do they get mad because you're not representing them right? I feel like I get all of the things.

I can never win. I can never win. But then there's a huge group of Latinos that feel very excited to have people in their corner rooting them on and just rooting on the culture and being like, hey, we're here, we're present. And it's not different from any other human or any other human story. And also it's important to, like you said, that the kids have role models or even people your age have role models.

Everyone needs a role. Everybody needs to feel like there's a reflection of themselves in every part of life so that we feel that we are capable. Especially now with the horrible tone of this administration i mean in relation to latinos specifically i mean now more than ever to it's painted in such a to to have a culture that you're a part of be painted in such a negative light is by the president so disheartening brutal it's brutal and it's also so false yeah you know because really every human can be nasty and do mal you know and be evil every human is capable of that but to just paint a community in such a negative light when we are such a positive source of light and income and like resources to this country.

It's devastating. So that's why it's like it is important for me as an artist to be out there saying, hey, inclusion is vital so that our next generation is living in a world of positivity and opportunity and capability and that they can obtain these dreams because they see themselves reflected in them. I mean, because I'm going to tell you, growing up and having a father who wanted me to be a lawyer and I wanted to be an actor, if you don't see yourself on screen,

how does your family support a dream that there are not many paths? Oh, yeah, they're terrified, right? It's terrifying. So imagine when you don't have a support system. It's terrifying. But they stood behind you, obviously. You seem well-adjusted. Yeah, I'm handling it, yeah.

In the sense that they didn't forbid you. I mean, where did you go after you did? I mean, how can you stop someone when you used to whisper in their ear that they can be anything they want to be? You can say, I didn't mean that. Yeah, you can't go back to the whisperer and like, you can't stop someone when you used to whisper in their ear that they can be anything they want to be? You can say, I didn't mean that. Yeah, you can't go back to the whisper and like, you can't stop me now. Not acting.

Yeah, you can't stop me now. That's crazy. That's kind of what happened, you know? And I was like, I'm sorry, Dad, you can't stop me now. Oh, really? Yeah. Was that a tough time? There have been tough times.

I mean, they are very supportive because it's not like they threw me out. Right. But they weren't always a believer that this path was possible. That it was possible. Because all you hear

is how hard it is. Yeah. And you don't see anybody like your daughter. Right. So what'd you do? You got out of high school and you did what?

I went to NYU, Tisch. I got an education. I got trained. So you went, so that was the conversation. It's like, I'm going to school for acting. I'm going to go to school for acting. I got an education. I got trained. So that was the conversations. Like, I'm going to school for acting. I'm going to go to school for acting. I'm going to become a badass. And I'm going to

go to a good school. Angela Bassett, yeah. And you're going to pay for it. No, and they definitely didn't, and I paid it off two years ago. Yes, yes. You don't own me anymore, NYU. Two years ago. Yeah. That must have been a great day. I actually was nominated for my second Golden Globe on the day that I paid off my debt.

Did you say that at the Globes? Yeah, I most certainly did. They were like, how do you feel today? I was like, I'm debt free. How do you think I feel? I started doing cartwheels naked in the street. I was so happy. That's quite an accomplishment.

Man, it took forever. It does, right? They owned so much of me. Not anymore. And you just paid it all off. Man, it took forever. It does, right? They owned so much of me. Not anymore. And just paid it all off. Paid it all off. And put a little fuck you. A little fuck you.

Yeah. Can I have my interest back now? Yeah, seriously. You bastards. Because that would help with the rest of my life. Right. You guys wanted to take the money you stole. Yeah.

Yeah. So, Tish, was that... So, you go from Chicago to New York. You have freedom. You're not living with your folks anymore. Yeah. So Tish, was that, so you go from Chicago to New York, you have freedom, you're not living with your folks anymore. Yeah. And now you're in a theater school doing weird shit. Yeah, doing weird shit. Yeah, did you?

Yeah, for sure. I went to, first I was in Atlantic Theater Company and then I went to- After school. Experimental Theater. No, in Tish. So it's the School of Arts. They outsource to the Atlantic? They have, yeah.

They outsource to nine different studios. It's like Stella Adler. Atlantic's a little stiff, isn't it? Atlantic's a little stiff. Yeah, the Mammoth, that whole sort of trip. You just focus on the script, man. It's all on the script. Yeah, it's all in the words.

You don't have to have any talent to be an actor. Just look at those words. Yeah, just say those damn words, don't you? But that was really good for me because I was a dancer. I was very physical, and I couldn't get myself to stop moving oh really and so atlantic was like stop moving right and i was like why i'm puerto rican all i do is move and they're like great part of where i come from yeah we're always dancing inside yeah we're always there's a maraca playing in my fucking head right now so um so they they settled me down it was nice

and experimental theater kind of opened me back up. Yeah. All right, so you got grounded at the Atlantic, and then you go to experimental. So what did they have you do? Get naked and roll around in the dark. In the dark? And just be myself. Making noises like, ah!

Yeah, some noises like that. And coming into my own, and it was nice. Yeah? Yeah, and kind of throwing it all away. You learn a bunch, and then you kind of find your space. Those are two extremes. That's interesting. Experimental theater.

So was that, did you not do plays? Did you just do weird improvisations or movements? It was a lot of, like, self-written stuff. Uh-huh. So you really used the creativity of, like, your temple. Your temple. Your body. Your whole body.

Right. Your mind. So you did a lot of self-writing yeah naked on the stage yes always always naked um but lots of uh lots of uh self in front of people yeah yeah you were i mean i mean not the nudity but lots of uh good self-creation and that was really good it was really good when like before you're being told like you said just focus on my words right and my words only. And then I went to a space where it was like focus on your words.

So you kind of met in the middle. Yeah. Wow, that's pretty good. Yeah. What tools do you, are there things that you do when you act that you know that you learned it? Were there tricks that you, how do you engage your education or is it just natural? Do you ever think about it? I feel like there are times where i have to call on

it for sure when it's harder to um access naturally oh really yeah because i mean on jane i cry a lot yeah a lot of emotional roller coaster yeah and so it's uh at times i have to call on my training to to be able to bring that what are the tricks to make yourself cry i usually you know it's funny because i usually go to very um happy places oh yeah yeah and then you just do like recall memory and then you just change my face yeah um but i i definitely like to go to positive spaces because the negative is shit to live in annihilation was a lot of um is was a very scary space to live in for so many months because it's definitely a mind trip.

Wow. And so that was hard to navigate. How was it working with those other women? Well, Jennifer Jason Lee is the shit. Yeah, she's great. I've talked to her before. I know. I love her.

Yeah, she's great. I listen. Yeah. I listen to you. And Natalie is a goddess of leadership. She seems like a worker. She's a worker. She's a worker.

But she's a calm leader, and it's really nice. Oh, good. Tessa's like my dearest, dearest love. I love her so much. And Tuva was just this beautiful den mother. Everybody kind of took a role. Oh, wow. What was your role?

I feel like I was the rambunctious like child asshole yeah i just wanted to talk about like um stupid stuff and penis and like the girls were like oh yeah yeah like what about him like shut up that was good oh good so how does it happen so you finish a tish and then you you what come out here now i finished a tish and then i did a play i did plays for a little while i did theater and i did in new york yeah in new york and then i went you really went the traditional mode route you know you got the only thing i knew york did new york theater yeah i mean that's the that's the route that like i it's the only route i thought i knew from who where'd you where'd you decide? How'd you learn? I just want to be Meryl Streep.

Go to New York, do theater. And just be an actor because people think your talent rocks, not because of anything else. Right. They want to see you transform, not anything else. I don't know. Did you feel the weight of being Latino in New York and like in the Atlantic or at Experimental Theater? I think it started, I did this movie that went to Sundance called Philly Brown like seven years ago. The rapper movie.

Yeah. And it kind of like started my trajectory. And that was after doing plays and doing another like indie film. I got that indie film and I went to Sundance and I was named the It Girl. And I thought, well, yes. I'm going to be like Jennifer Lawrence. I'm going to get an X-Men movie. Yeah.

And then I come back and that doesn't happen. And it's not like that. And I realized that the roles that are available to me or even foring, were the same stereotypical roles. So you're in New York, right? I'm now in L.A. I'm now in L.A. Because I was looking at some of your credits, early TV credits.

I don't even know how big these parts were. Law and Order. Right, they're like Yolanda. Yes, yes. And the episode is called Enemy. Yeah, I think I was a Salvadorian immigrant whose sister was deported. I'm almost positive that was the role. And whose sister was deported. I'm almost positive

that was the role. And then there was another one, Inez Soriano. Illegal is the episode. Yeah, this, oh no, that's definitely the one then. That's the one

where I'm the sister. The other one, like I'm the beginning, where like, I'm on a date with my boyfriend and gunshots ring out. Right.

Dun dun, you know, whatever they're, there you go. Yeah, yeah. Didn't you use that on your show? We did. We just recently did. It was just like in the last episode yeah it's very funny very funny uh shout out to eric our editor who that was his directorial debut as well oh really jenny our creator just gave so many opportunities to people she's just yeah we did on my show we did the

editor the editors are good because i know because they know what they're going to do with it yeah editors are like tight you know what i mean because they're like i know i can do with this yeah or i don't have it yet we know i know how much i need you know what they're going to do with it. Yeah. Editors are like tight, you know what I mean? Because they're like, I know I can do with this. Yeah. Or I don't have it yet. We know, I know how much I need. Yeah. I know what I need. Yeah. So, yeah.

So those were the roles. Yeah. Yeah. I did some stuff in New York and then I did an indie film that brought me out to LA. Which one? That was the- It was called Go For It. And then that, the directors of Philly Brown saw that and they were like, we would love

you for this movie, Philly Brown. And it's a rapper. And I was like, like oh tight yeah let's let's try that out and uh and then we went to sundance with it and lots of lots of great things came from it but it was interesting to think that my trajectory was going to be exactly like someone else that was blonde and blue eyed like of course my trajectory be like right another american kid right um and and that was very obvious and a sad reality but then also kind of made me realize that not only did I want these specific dreams that were a little out of the box and going to be a little more difficult yeah but that there was a lot of girls I'm sure that felt that way and oh my goodness the Latino community is really silenced

and wow this makes it very difficult for me to actually get roles that are outside our stereotypical roles because nobody kind of sees us differently than that and nobody's really fighting for anything different and nobody's really saying anything about this so the complacency kind of just keeps us where we're at so I was like well I gotta to speak up. Well, did you find yourself turning down roles because of... A hundred percent. Oh, yeah?

Oh, yeah. Like what? I mean, right when I came out of Sundance, I was offered roles that I turned down and my parents were like, what is your problem? Like, what were the roles? You're still broke.

I mean, to play stereotypical, like to play the maid or the gangbanger or the pregnant teen. And I was like, listen, there is nothing wrong with being a maid. There is nothing wrong with the roles that anybody works in, works hard to do their job. But when you see them time and time again, you believe that that is the limit to your existence. Why is it always these three roles?

Why are we limited? And then you start questioning your your self-worth just like body dysmorphia you're like what the fuck is wrong with me yeah yeah like it must be me because i don't really understand and growing up in a household where i told her sisters that went out and did these ginormous things with their life and then to look on screen and be like but wait i can't play the doctor what do you why why couldn't i doctor? What are you talking about? My sister's a doctor. We wonder why. I wonder if certain reflections of certain cultures were removed from the media.

If middle America would have extreme racism if they didn't weren't perpetually seeing images that were just so one-sided yeah right you know like come on you have to question and then when they do do ethnic casting it's always a celebration like we got one yeah we have a latino doctor we did it we did it arrived yeah and um and nobody's really uh enforcing the necessity for that for the latino community i mean there are definitely people doing it i'm not saying i'm the only one yeah yeah i'm just saying that like when i was growing up there weren't as many voices the reason marita moreno was so you know so much a part of like my ambition was because she was always speaking up about it

sure i mean she's never shies away from like oh i played that stereotypical role and that's it that was all that was available to me and like you have no many no idea how many times i played this shit but aren't there aren't things a little better i mean yeah i mean like i mean obviously since since she was younger but i mean it seems like because of the diversity of the actual landscape, the media landscape, that there seems to be a lot more opportunity. Yes, thank God. Yeah. But it's still a challenge. Yeah.

I mean, if you look at the statistics, it's really still devastating. I mean, in the past decade, 3% of leads were Latino. In the past decade. That's leads were latino in the past decade that's crazy how many movies do they make a year yeah i mean come on that's bananas so that's just kind of bananas right like it's just you just stop and like you're like wow yeah and and listen it's terrible for the asian community as well it's terrible for lots of other minority groups that grew up in chicago i mean grew up in the states just like myself that are like i don't see myself as any different this is wild yeah i'm

an american person yeah how was i just born into this like body that kind of like will deny me access to certain things like how did that happen right um i feel like any you know like how how often do you have these conversations with uh with people in the business i mean like where i mean it seems like i know you talk about it publicly a lot but are you still sort of like turning down roles occasionally oh for sure i'm definitely that reason well no just because i think either if there's somebody i think that's stronger to play the role, I'll always, you know, like, I think we all have our stories and there's room for all of us. Right. I want everyone to succeed.

I don't need to be the only one. Yeah. I want to create avenues to help other Latinx, you know, artists succeed. But it's still very difficult because it's very difficult to want to stretch your wings and try roles that sometimes are not allotted to you or your culture or your skin tone. Oh, yeah. I think it's very important to do what you're doing, especially now because of this horrible turn this country's taken. Yeah. Yeah, just especially now because of this horrible turn this country's taken. Yeah, I think like right now we've got to speak some truth. Yeah, absolutely. Where there's like a lot of negativity being spoken.

Yeah, and what are some of the projects you're working on as a producer? We have two shows by great Latino writers. Comedies? Latino writers that comedies one's a comedy about a young undocumented

kid that finds out he's undocumented when he's like 16 years old and so his life is pretty shocked because he doesn't see

any other life besides the American life yeah I don't that story is something you hear about but you don't haven't seen it so our writer

Rafa Agustin this is his real life story and it's funny and it's you know it doesn't shed guilt or like the pain of guilt on anyone. It just kind of lets you in on. It almost feels like everybody hates Chris or like Wonder Years. It's just letting you in on a slice of life.

Right. And it's very funny and very light. And I think it helps bring tolerance in a way that like you can just enjoy the funniness i feel like the same way jane the virgin does where we like highlight things that are very uh can be very delicate like immigration and women's rights but we do it in a way that's like yeah and what's going on with that show um we're we're gonna we are trying to sell it we are currently trying to sell it we you know it is like i said it's difficult to sell oranges to somebody who's who's the decision maker and has never had oranges before you know but there's so many you know so we're going to find the people that are down to try oranges for

the first time or that they've had them before is that a great metaphor for a latino to be the one selling oranges oh my goodness is that what i did no i didn't do that to make that's not the reference oh god but like it you know or apple pie and like come on like the most of you know Oh my goodness. Is that what I did? No, I didn't do that to make, that's not the reference. Oh God. But like, you know, or apple pie and like, come on, like the most of, you know, but it's true, right? Right. It is true. It is what it is. You're selling, you're selling something that the decision makers aren't always aware of.

And how are people responding? Well, we're, we're in the landscape right now. Yeah. I'm knee deep in it right now. Yeah. And what's the other thing? It's a medical drama with a Robin Hood-like doctor that came over from Cuba that can't do medicine here.

And it's all written. Yeah. We've gone through the whole development process. So we've got to... We're in the thick of it. That's exciting. It is exciting. It is exciting.

It's a challenge. But I am not a stranger to no or rejection. And you have a production partner? I do. She's fantastic. She also has a very like-minded desire to create tolerance with art. That's great. And what's this other movie, this Miss Bala? Oh, that's an action film that I shot this summer in Mexico that is a remake of the original Miss Bala. Oh, that's an action film that I shot this summer in Mexico. That is a remake of the original Miss Bala.

And we had the blessing of the same producers that made the original film that was a Mexican movie. And we've made it in, it's like I would say more of an homage to it. It's not very. What's it about? It is about a girl that goes down to Mexico to see her friend. And she used to live there. She's living Tijuana because of her family. Yeah.

And she goes back down to see her friend to help her. That's trying to join. I'm trying to partake in a pageant, the Miss Bala pageant. And the night before they start the rehearsals, a terrible situation happens. And I go on the hunt to try to rescue my friend. Wow. Wow. Yeah, it's very cool. Have you ever spent

that much time in Mexico? Not at once, but I've been to Mexico. I mean, growing up, my best friend was Mexican and so every summer she'd go back and I went with her

so many times. All over. I mean, I've been everywhere in Mexico, but we shot in Tijuana. Oh, Tijuana. That's kind of rough, isn't it? No, it was actually lovely.

I love Tijuana so much. And Tijuana is a very interesting space because, isn't it? No, it was actually lovely. I love Tijuana so much. And Tijuana is a very interesting space because, you know, when you meet... See, that's the stereotypical kind of white guy response, like, ah, border town. But I think Tijuana was dangerous, you know. That's my recollection. It's definitely changing. And it has wonderful food. Like, they're like food scene.

I hear Mexico City is like the place. I mean, it's beautiful. Mexico City is amazing do you want it was like it was an eye-opener to seeing the like it's like either a step um a step towards your dreams or like being pushed back from them and you really feel that feeling like when you meet people there that are that had just been deported that whose family like there was this young man i'm sorry he wasn't a young man he was a father uh and probably about to be a grandfather but his daughter as young as daughter was graduating from ucla with honors yeah and he had just recently gotten deported he was showing me pictures of the pictures they had sent

of her walking down um and it was just devastating because he was such an awesome guy he worked at the hotel that i was staying at the whole time and he was such a you know just a lovely dad he was like a lovely old dude that just like sent was just got sent away and so he's just like life yeah for no reason yeah because of fear because of because of fear because of people's you know, and their lack of deciding to educate themselves. They just continue to fear. Yeah. And they, like, make actions that hurt people and hurt families.

Because they say it's the law. Yeah. And, you know, like, I don't know. That's all such a delicate subject. I mean, being Puerto Rican and not having that experience firsthand i feel like i'm not the most appropriate person to talk about it but i can't say that that's my family that's my like well yeah the mexican community and you can say that like you know after a certain point someone's american you know in that you know whether the paperwork is there or not

that you know if they if they play if they do right by the rules of America after 15, 30, 40 years, you're going to what? Yeah, you're going to just take away from their family. I think that like empathy is something that's been lost pretty heavily these days. Like, God forbid, any of us would have to leave this country and are not accepted in a place that we would deem sanctuary yeah my god yeah how just devastating i mean you just stop to think like can you stop for one second think about what that would feel like yeah if we had to leave here you had to leave your home where you call home where you are the one who's like high in command with your you know like your privilege of being American.

And now you have to go to another country and they don't really want you to be there. And they want to kick you out and push you to somewhere that's dangerous. And somewhere maybe that you don't even know that you don't even call home. That's right. Yeah. It's a, you know, it's a horrible reality, but it's something that has happened before and it doesn't end well. And it's not happening just to Latinos. It's happening to lots of other cultures.

And yeah, it's not happening just to Latinos. It's happening to lots of other cultures. And it's real. Yeah. Yeah. And speaking out is important. And voting. Voting. Hopefully the voting will work next time. Yeah.

Hopefully we saw what. Oh, man. Hopefully we saw what happens when you don't vote. That's right. Or you're short-sighted yeah yeah so how many more episodes of jane do you have left to shoot um i have till the end of march so i think i'm like i'm on like 13 i have like four or five more to go and then you're gonna run around and do press for annihilation well annihilation comes out in like three weeks so i have to do press now

this is what i'm doing yeah i'm knee deep in like the annihilation press. And the Miss Bala movie, when's that? I think that comes out towards the end of this year. All right, so how did this work out for you,

this conversation? Did it work out? It did. Yeah. It's cool. I want to come back on like again, like I want,

I want to like talk to you in like 10 years. About what's happened? Yeah. We can come back earlier yeah I would love that too

yeah you can be you can now be a friend of the show and you're like I'm already a huge ridiculous fan hey it's it's Gina

and we're doing we need to you know I want to come talk about this thing I'm working on that's awesome and I'll be like

alright so we should tell everybody then to go see Annihilation sure because it is a specific movie for sure well maybe i'll even watch it before we post this and i can make some comments before i would be very interested in hearing what those were my favorite was listening to you talk to darren aronofsky not a finishing mother and then that worked out for you some people got mad at me i loved it i love that you're so honest just please don't ever stop being honest i didn't know what to tell him you know like i

tried it was just the best i said i said to my boyfriend i was like i just have a feeling it's not gonna be able to see annihilation and and joe said um he'll tell you he's the one that put me on to you a few years ago and it was the best thing he ever did i'm never alone in the car anymore because of you oh good well tell me about this guy the greatest the boyfriend i made him and jane yeah came on jane he was a an actor yeah he had a guest star on jane and then six months later after london after shooting annihilation in london shaving off my hair and feeling very unattractive and very unlike myself. I went back to the gym, back to the boxing gym, and he came in the first day I came back. And I was like, damn, who is this? And then my trainer was like, he was on your show.

You didn't even remember? No, because he played Don Quixote. He was in his outfit. And then he came up to me and said hello. And then I saw him the day after and the day after and the day after. And then I asked him out. And then we've been dating ever since. That's still pretty new. Like almost two years. Oh, two years ago you shot Annihilation. I forget that

there's so far. Two years, that's not nothing. My hair shows our relationship. The hair growth from my shave in the movie. So is he working a lot too? Yeah, he makes his own stuff. He's like the real deal. Oh, yeah? He just made a movie called Loose Cannons with his buddy.

I have a little cameo. What's his name? His name is Joe LoCicero. I got an Italian from Long Island. No! Yes. That's great. Yeah, he's incredible.

Those guys are always characters of one kind or another. He's so smart. He's such a good writer and such a good actor. And he's going to go and premiere his movie at a festival this weekend. Oh, good. Well, that sounds fun. Yeah, it's fun. There you go.

And that's all that love's supposed to be, I think. Yeah. It should just be fun. Okay. People should just add to your life. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's true.

I just don't think I know how to have fun in general. Yeah, no, no, no. I mean- I got to work on that. I have a good voice that tells me to not have fun. She's very loud and very present. Yeah. But when I remind myself, then it's good.

Am I going to start doing that? Yeah, just take those moments. I'll use your voice to remind me to have fun. Have fun, Mark. Great. Thank you. Nice talking to you. Nice talking to you.

Okay, that's it. That was a lovely chat. I enjoyed that. As I said, that's her new movie, Annihilation, out the 23rd. And yeah, Jane the Virgin, new episodes coming in March. Now, I shouldn't play guitar because I know that we've got to get a couple of episodes in the can. And my producer, Brendan McDonald, doesn't want to do more work. I don't need him cutting, worrying about cutting,

because he's going to take a trip with his family, so we've got to get a couple episodes in the can. I don't want to make it more work by putting guitar on there for him to edit. So I'm not going to do it. You're going to have to live without my three chords today. All right? All right? Boomer lives! It's winter, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats.

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