Latest / Dos Amigos / REWIND: Finding Her Funny - The Melissa Fumero Interview Part 1

Transcript

REWIND: Finding Her Funny - The Melissa Fumero Interview Part 1 · Dos Amigos

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey everybody, this is Freddy Rodriguez.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Wilmer Valderrama. Welcome to Dos Amigos. Today's a
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: very special, very special, very special episode.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Because we've never had a dear, dear amiga on the show.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: And we want to welcome the first ever amiga.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: The first ever amiga.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Melissa for metal. Everybody in the car is listening in
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: the car. My ears off.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: We hope you did not crash.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Sorry.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: It's just, there's so much sass on in this room. Well,
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: we're so happy.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I'm going to lead with this that ML that we don't.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: You know, we don't tend to have guests, you know?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: So when we have.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Guests- Oh, I thought you were going to say, we
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: don't tend to have women. I was like, because you
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: hate women. Except me.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: Get out of my mind.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: Don't put words in my mouth. But no, the truth is-
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: I'm so honored. I think. I think.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: No, what I'm trying to say is what I told
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: the very few extraordinary friends.
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: I've told very few women before that, you know, that
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: when we have a guest, the guest has to really
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: represent something that's been special, that has been, you know, really,
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: you know, not just memorable, but impactful in our lives.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: So the guests that we have are people that are
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: like really, Individuals that I know are not just only like-minded,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: but can provide so much context to the history.
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: And femininity. And, you know.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Oh, that too.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: And then also, yeah, the female persuasion. But we're just
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: so happy.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And, you know, I've told you this before many times,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: but I'll tell you again on the air officially that, yeah.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: You know, I've always admired you so much. And I
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: think you're one of the most talented actresses.
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: On the planet.
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Oh, my goodness.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: And for someone who, like, has done a little bit
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: of comedy, a little bit of drama, to talk to
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: somebody who has, you know, who has, like, the same
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: amount of expertise and capacity to be so free. to
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: be dramatic and so free to be comedic. It's really, really,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: really rare in our industry. And you process all of that.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: And by the way, you're a beautiful woman. You know,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: you're an incredible mother. You're an amazing producer, but also
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: an amazing director. So like to have a dear sister
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: of ours come and bless our show, really, really excited.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: And also you are the host of another sister, you know, episode,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: another sister podcast too.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: You know, to the family of my cultura, more better
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: with Stephanie Beatriz as well.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Who's another one of our sisters too, who also, by
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the way, both of you are like just weapons of
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: mass laughter.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Because you guys are just so great.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you two together is like Laverna Shirley.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Oh my goodness.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: So just so excited and thank you for accepting our invitation.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: This conversation will be painful.
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: Bring it. Gut-wrenching.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: I dare you.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Listen, where are you from?
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: I am from New Jersey.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Born and bred?
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: Born and bred in New Jersey, northeast New Jersey, by
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: what was formerly Giant Stadium, for those who are wondering,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: close-ish to Manhattan. My parents are Cuban.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: Both Cuban. Both Cuban.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Both born in Cuba.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Both born in Cuba, came when they were teenagers. My
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: dad came when he was like 12. My mom came
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: when she was 15. They were high school sweethearts.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: In Cuba or in Jersey?
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: In Jersey. Yeah. They met in New Jersey. My mom
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: met my dad like very soon after she arrived because
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: she was in New Jersey actually with her dad and
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: stepmother while her mom like kind of found a place
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: for them in Miami. But then she met my dad
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: and it was like a kind of like a love
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: at first sight sort of thing. And she was like, mommy,
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I want to stay. I met this boy. And so
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: then she ended up staying and With her dad instead
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: of her mom. And her stepmom for those high school,
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: college years. And then they got married super young.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: So she was destined to go to Miami. She was
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: supposed to.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, she was supposed to go to Miami. But she
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: ended up staying in New Jersey.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: What did your grandparents do in Cuba?
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Oh, gosh. On my mom's side, her dad was a carpenter.
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: And I believe her mom was, I think, just a
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: stay-at-home mom. The man that my grandmother ended up marrying
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: when she came here, who was like really my abuelo. Yeah,
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: I didn't see my mom's dad that much. He was
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: the maitre d' at Fountain Blue in Miami. No way.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: And when I was a kid, I thought that was...
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: so fancy.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: It's so fancy. I was like, that was the time.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: That was the time. Like we're talking like eighties, early nineties. Like,
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: and I just thought it was like, so cool. And
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: he was like a very charismatic guy. Um, I think
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: until he retired.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: And then my dad's step, my dad's side of the family, uh,
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: I don't know that much about to be honest.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Did you ever see your grandfather in action at the
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Fountain Blue?
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: I do have a memory of being really little and
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: like seeing the lobby and that grand staircase of the
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Fountain Blue and like seeing him in a suit. But
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: I think it was like really quick.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: I never like super got to see him. It was
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: just like the title was cool, you know.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. He was almost like an actor.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: You ever see those matriarchies in action?
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: And he was.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: He was so charming. He could make me laugh so
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: much as a kid. And he was like the sweetest man.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: And he was the best.
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: Anyone in your family dabbled in entertainment at all?
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Not entertainment, but my mom's side of the family has
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: a lot of visual artists, a lot of painters, a
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: lot of sculptors. I have a cousin who was, like,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: a music prodigy. A couple other cousins that, like, dance,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: so they were younger than me for a while. But no,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: no one in entertainment. It was all, like, visual stuff.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Did you paint and sculpt now? Did any of that rub.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Off on you? Not— I did— start in painting classes when
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: I was like nine and 10. I did it for
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: a few years. I did the Bob Ross technique.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: If anyone's familiar.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: My wife would be so excited to hear that.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Which is, like, not paint by numbers, but, like, it's very, like,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: you know, it kind of makes, like, anyone can paint
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: a little bit. Like, anyone's. Or it's, like, those painting
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: studios that people go to. You know, they got a
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: certain way.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Like the wine and, like.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: And everyone's painting looks good. And you're, like, everyone can't
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: be that good at painting, right? It's, like, there's just
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: certain tricks.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: So, no, I did not inherit the family gene, but
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: I did always love, like, drawing and painting. I wasn't
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: that good at it, though. Yeah. But my kid is
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: good at it.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: Really?
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: It skips a generation.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: It skips a generation, exactly. And my husband has it
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: on his side, too.
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: How young did you get the bug to perform? Were you, like,
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: super young?
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Super young, yeah. My mom put me in dance classes,
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: like all women do with their daughters. And as I
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: got older and my friends started quitting, I kept going.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: And then I followed a dance teacher from the rec
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: center to a dance studio. And then I just wanted
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: to do all of the classes. It was like a
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: dance and theater studio in my hometown. And when I
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: was 10, my parents took me to see my first
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Broadway show. And I lost my mind.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: What was the show?
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: It was The Secret Garden. Starring Mandy Patinkin.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Mandy Patinkin, wow.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: And Daisy Egan and Rebecca Luker, Broadway icons. It was amazing.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: It was a secret garden. And then I got like,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: I wanted a secret garden journal after that. And I
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: got like all the secret garden stuff. And I was
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: just like, and I would listen to the soundtrack all
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: the time.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: Really?
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: I was obsessed with it, yeah.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: Do you sing as well?
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: In the shower. It's complicated. Like baseball. It's complicated.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: So when I was a kid, I fully believed that
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: I was a singer. And I took voice lessons. And
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: I got up on stage many times and sang. When
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: I got older and I listened to those performances.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: Is it that your voice changed as you got older,
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: you think?
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: No, I was just fully delusional.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: I was like, I can totally sing. And I could not.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: But I could, when it came time to like audition
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: for colleges and I knew I wanted to be, I
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: knew I wanted to be a theater major. And at
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: the time I felt very much like an actor and
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: a dancer. For a while, when I was like a
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: freshman and sophomore in high school, I thought I would
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: major in dance and like go that route or like
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: try to audition for dance companies right after high school.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: But then I fell in love with acting during high school.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: And somewhere along the way, I sort of told myself, well,
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: if I learn how to sing, well enough, I won't
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: have to choose because I could do musical theater and
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: I could just keep acting and dancing and I'll like
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: figure out the singing part. So I was like, I
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: am a singer. And then while I was in college
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: and I went to college with like crazy singer like
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: people that are on broadway now yeah i was like
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: oh where'd you go i'm not a.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Singer that's so interesting that's actually not a singer i'm
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: actually not that good at this right uh i went
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: to nyu.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah yeah yeah so.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah i was you know freddie was a rapper
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: are you.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Past life.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: I was like you.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: I got around some real ones and I was kind
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: of like, oh no, maybe this is.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: Not for me.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what happens, right? You're like, I am crushing this.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: I was so bold in high school. I remember there
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: was a musical theater program I was in at that
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: dance school. And I basically like lobbied to get the lead,
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: but like in a way where I was like, so
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: I deserve this. I'm a senior. And this, we all
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: know this role should go to me. Like I'm cocky
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: as fuck.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Right, right, right.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: And like.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: I kind of figured out how to sing it. I
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: was just, like, impersonating the person that had sung it before.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: And kind of, it was in my range enough that, but, like,
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: there were lots of other parts. I was like, mm,
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: that doesn't, and, like, when it didn't sound good, I
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: was just like, mm, whatever. I'll just sing low. No
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: one will hear it. Like, I was so... Confident.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: It's so good.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: It's the perfect heist. Kind of like an American Idol.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: Audition. Yeah.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: When someone comes in like that, like, yeah, I can see.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: If American Idol was around when I was in high school, 100%
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: I would have been.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Like, mom, we're making a date. We're making a date.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: You're making it to Hollywood, by the way. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: I was like, this is happening. And then very quickly
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: after getting to NYU and like being in vocal performance
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: class with these.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: I mean, but I mean, it's not fair.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: You're just in the back and you just feel yourself
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: shrinking in your chair.
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: But it's not fair. Everything I knew. It's not fair.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: It is not real.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: It's not real and it's not fair.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: You know, like some of these people that are extraordinarily
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: talented in singing, they have been doing vocal pull-ups for
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: their entire life.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Their entire life.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: So it's like, the notes they can hit is insane.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: And singing like painting is, I think, like comedic timing,
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: I think, is, there's a big chunk of it cannot
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: be taught. Like you either have it or you don't.
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: And I, yeah, it just, it was very humbling.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: So then did you change gears into then like, I
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: think I'm an actress or?
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: No, I was in the musical theater program at NYU.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: And I was like, But you must have learned something.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: You can hold a note.
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: Don't give yourself more credit.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: No, but then I was like, how did I get here, right?
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Well, you got there for a reason, though.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: I did, but here's the thing. Did I sing for
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: my audition? I must have.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: You have to. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I did sing, but I sang a song.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: What was the song?
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, God.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: Do I remember what song? I sang in.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: I'm like, what was my go-to song?
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: That's why we're not in the program, you see?
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: No, it must have been some music. Who knows? It
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: might have been like Part of Your World or some shit.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: That's always the go-to is Aladdin or The Little Mermaid.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was probably a Disney song. So I sang
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: for the audition and I did a monologue. So anyway,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: so then when I'm in the program and I'm watching
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: all these singers and I'm like, holy fuck, how did
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: I get here? I kind of quickly realized that there
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: were three groups within the class, right? Most people were
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: extraordinary singers and they were there to become better actors
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: and better dancers or be comfortable, get better at movement.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: And then the medium to small size group was the
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: extraordinary dancers who, and a lot of them could sing
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: and they were there to like become actors.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: And then the smallest group, the one that I think
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: I was in, was people that were actors who were
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: there to get better at singing. And I was also
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: a dancer. So I think that helped.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: What kind of dancer were you? How did you stylistically?
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: Mostly ballet and contemporary.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: So you were a dance minor?
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Theater jazz. I wanted to be a dance minor, but
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: the way the program was structured, like there literally wasn't
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: time to do it. But in my program, I had
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: like three hours of dance, three or four times a week.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay. They included it in the- It was.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: Included in the program, yeah. I would start every morning
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: with like three hours of dance classes and then have
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: acting and singing and da, da, da. It was a
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: great program.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: Would you consider doing a musical now?
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: No.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: Maybe.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: No. Yes. Live? Yes. It's different.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: It's different.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I feel like years of television have destroyed my voice.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: First of all, I would have to completely relearn how
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: to sing.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: And how to project from down here.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: And like how to sing with this voice. Because, you know,
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: hours and hours on a TV set. Like I literally
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: speak lower than I did when I was younger.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: And that's just. kind of happens with our gig, yeah.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: But I'm sure, look, I'm sure you could sit, you
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: might have not been- You.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: Can hold the tool.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, as good as everyone else.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to make your ears bleed, but- I
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: don't know.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: I don't know. Give me a part of your world.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: No, by you.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: Give me.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: Me, me, me, me, me.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: You know what?
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: It's kind of like I can sort of yell on pitch.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: You know? It's kind of that.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: You can yell on pitch.
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: I can yell on pitch.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I have a question. I have a question.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: If you go to karaoke and you pick, what's the
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Latin song?
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: I hate karaoke.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, not Party World.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: A Whole New World? A Whole New World. Would you
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: murder that?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: No.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: No.
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: 100%.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: 100% you would.
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: 100% you would. No.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you a go-to.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: What's your go-to? Like Bon Jovi what?
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: From Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Touch Me.
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: Bro.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: That song.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: That's so hard.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: It's not that hard. How does it go? How does
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: it go?
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to sing.
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: How does it go?
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: No, but we're trying to get, come on. We're trying
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: to get the melody here.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: You said that would be the one.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: How does it go?
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Somebody play it on their phone. This is a trap. No, it's,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: you know, the one that Susan Sarandon sings. Yeah, but I, yeah,
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: I just, I yell it on pitch.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: But how does it, how do you yell it though?
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: What do you?
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: Get out of here. Let me see.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: No, get out of here.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I hate you both.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: I have an older brother, okay? I know this game.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: I know all your moves.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: America deserved it, and you deprived us of this. And
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: we're going to move on, but I completely understand.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: I'm also not getting paid.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Did you suckling?
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: Suckling.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Did you speak Spanish in your house?
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: So we did. Yeah.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: We.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: So the story is my parents only spoke to us
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: in Spanish until my brother started elementary school.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: And one of his teachers called my parents in. And
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: she was like, what are you speaking to him at home?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: And they were like Spanish. And I'm like, it's really
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: messing him up at school because he was speaking in Spanglish.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: But this is the 80s. And like, so they scared
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: my immigrant parents. Yeah. And they still spoke to us
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: in Spanish, but they stopped making us respond in Spanish. Oh, right.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: So I grew up, like, I always say I'm in
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: my ear, in my brain, I'm fluent.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: But the connection from here to my mouth is not
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: fluent because I grew up hearing Spanish and responding in
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: English all the time. And so it's gotten a little
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: bit better over the years. I keep saying that I'm
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: going to like really.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: It's honestly your brain has to kind of just lock
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: back in and say, hey, I'm going to tap into
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: what I know. This is in there. It's just about
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: flowing with it.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: Every time I'm immersed. I went on a trip to
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: Costa Rica once with a friend and she didn't speak
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: any Spanish by the end of the trip. My Spanish
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: was like so much better. You know, every time I
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: go to Florida, like it's in there, it comes back.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Um, but it happens when you have to switch back
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: and forth from English to Spanish. Cause I do junk
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: is in English and Spanish. And if I start, dude,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: if I start in English and then I have to
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: do now another 10 in Spanish. My brain is like, click, click, click, click, click.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: You know, like it's just like really, really hard to
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: kind of click. And I grew up Spanish, my first language,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: and I didn't want her to speak English until I
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: was 14.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: Wow. Yeah.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: So I, as you have no excuses, but I do
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: feel like I have the vocabulary of a 14 year old.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: But it, no, you don't.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: In Spanish.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: Oh, in Spanish. Yeah.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: Oh, thank God you didn't agree. Thank God you didn't
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: agree that my vocabulary of a 14 year old in English.
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: She was like, you do. Because I know the words
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: like compromise and constitution. In English.
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: Yeah, those are tough in Spanish, those junkets, because it
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: gets so technical. I could hold a conversation in Spanish.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: And they fast, and they want to kind of like
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: make it fun and snappy, and you're like, I'm trying
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: to remember my sentence.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Right, right, right, yeah.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: I have to give you some flowers because you have
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: been so consistent in showing up for our community. You
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: really show up for your brothers and sisters, specifically in
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: entertainment and how we continue to not just tell our stories,
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: but really civically engage, you know, our cultures and values,
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: you know, so they continue to be, you know, amplified
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: in what we make as artists.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: But, you know, but you have been very.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Consistent in reminding people that you are a Latina and
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: you're very proud of that. And, you know, at a
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: time where we were doing television, you know, and where
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: we're all still doing television, but at beginning when we
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: started television, you know, Freddie and I talk about this
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: all the time, where we were the only Latino in
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: the room, right? Like that's like you were, they only
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: gave you one, right?
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: So God forbid there's two Latinos because they're like, they
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: can't be in the same show because.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: There's too many.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: But the conversation has really kind of evolved and what
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Freddie and I have been really trying to discover and
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: one of the explorations of this show is also to
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: create enough perspective to say that we're trying to redefine
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: mainstream by uplifting the most mainstream audience there is, and
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: that is the Latino audience.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: The Latino audience.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Is the most mainstream, the most loyal, the most trusted
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: when it comes to the opening box office weekends.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: We're the first ones at midnight on Thursday nights. We
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: go to all the movies.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: We watch all the shows.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: You tell us 9 p.m., we're there at 9 p.m.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: So in cultivating that, we also, as an audience, as
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: we demand more representation, as we demand more roles or
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: stories that speak to us, got to continue to cultivate
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: our homegrown heroes. We can't take down the individuals that
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: are breaking the barriers and making it more commercial for
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: us to see ourselves. Because if we're not commercial, it's
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: not investable. And if it's not investable, it cannot be made.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: So that's the type of stuff that I think is
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: so interesting. And I want to talk a little bit
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: about your trajectory as an actress, because you have been uh,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: a consistent, you know, performer in, in many of our,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: not only primetime, by daytime too. Um, you started in
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: soap operas, right? Uh, we could have used you in, uh,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Dos Mujeres, Un Camino. Dos Mujeres, Un Camino with Eric Estrada.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: But maybe it was before your time.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: Do you remember that one?
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: I feel like I don't remember it, but I have
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: definitely heard the title.
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: Dos Mujeres, Un Camino.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: It was Eric Estrada had the brightest idea to learn
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: how to kind of speak Spanish, flew to Mexico and
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: shot a Spanish soap opera. And he was one of
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: the biggest superpowers of all time. The last thing you
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: remember him doing was punch and chips. So when he
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: went down there and he played opposite two of the
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: most beautiful Mexican actresses of that time.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Genius.
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: And he was... In Spanish, Dos Mujeres, Un Camino means
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: two women.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: And one path. One way.
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: Only one path. Only one car. Only one road. Only
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: one road.
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: So the whole thing was about him having to pick
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: the woman, right?
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, having to pick.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: And the two women, the whole thing is like fighting
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: for the, you know, fighting for the love.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: And he has to be torn between the two.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Of Eric Estrada.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: You know, for Eric Estrada.
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: So, but, you know, going full circle to telenovelas, which
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: are such a big part of our culture.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, they are our mission impossibles.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: Like they are our Star Wars.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: I don't know when I was on the, so I
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: was on the soap opera. It was just my first job.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: And was that right after college?
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: It was right after college.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: So I, my last semester.
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: So it was one life to live first?
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: One life to live.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: That was the first one.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, I actually wasn't on. All my children episodes were
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: like crossover episodes. So I was playing my One Life
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: to Live character on episodes of All My Children.
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: How did that happen?
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: That's crazy.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: You were doing Marvel Comics crossovers before Marvel Comics.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: Yes, I was.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: So my last semester at NYU, I was in the
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: film and television studio. And it was great because every
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: week they would do a showcase and they would invite
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: a casting director or an agent. I met my first
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: agent through that. And then the casting director, first the
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: casting director for Guiding Light came in. And I screen
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: tested for Guiding Light, me and Katie Lowe's because I
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: went to college with Katie Lowe's.
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: And we didn't get it. Both of us didn't get it.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: And then the casting director for One Life to Live
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: came through, and I, again, I was a confident teenager.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: So you would have a one-on-one with them. You would, like,
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: read a scene, and then they would talk to you
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: for a little bit.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: And so I read the scene, and while she was
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: talking to me, I went, oh, yeah, and I just
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: screen tested for Guiding Light last week. Like, just dropped
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: that in.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. in like like for leverage like.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah like like like in case you don't know.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Young people take young people take notes you know.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: What I mean it's just like and I said it
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: all like yeah and it was really great it was
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: a great you know I didn't get it but it's
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: okay it was a great experience like I just made
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: sure to mention it yeah and then three days later
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: they called me in for like an audition and uh
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: there was a role that was being recasted yeah um
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: and it was on One Life to Live there was
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: a token Latino family And so she was, it was
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: a Latin role.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: What year was this?
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: What time was this? This is 2000, end of 2003. Okay, cool.
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: Very forward thinking for daytime, by the way.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Yes. Well, yes. On One Life to Live, there was
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: a token black family and there was a token Latin family.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Incredible.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: So we were very- We were represented. We were represented.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: We were very progressive.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: Because we buy soap too.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: That also meant all of the black characters were related
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: and all of the Latin characters were related.
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: Were related? Yeah. So like- You know, because we live
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: in the same neighborhood, we make babies with each other.
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: It makes so much sense on TV.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: So the other four Latino characters on the show were
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: my aunt, my cousin, my other cousin.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: Like, yeah.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: And then it was the same deal with the black family,
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: you know? So there was no, like, I don't think
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: there were any... all the couples were mixed. Do you
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, there weren't enough characters.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: They couldn't take the same color. No, no, no, no.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: That's a little too bold.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: No, but like David's character had like two of his girls,
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: my husband, that's how I met my husband. He was
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: on the show.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: Oh, right.
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: He was my cousin.
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: He played your cousin?
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: He was my cousin.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Because he was part of the last family.
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: That's so mainstream.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: And so, but two of his lovers on the show
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: were black. So that was, you know, how they would
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: at least get couples of color going on the show.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: That was very scandalous for daytime. Very scandaliosos. Yeah.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: And then I ended up screen testing and I think
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: I screen tested twice. And then the crazy part of
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: the story that I've told many times is I got
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: the call that I got the job on the day
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: I took my last exam for college. Wow. So then
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: I was on set like a week later.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: You got to graduate, right?
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: I finished a semester. Well, I finished a semester early
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: because I was poor and couldn't afford the tuition.
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: I barely graduated high school.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: I did max credits and a summer session so that
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: I could graduate early and save my parents a lot
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: of money and myself.
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: You're a hero.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: So, yeah. So then the graduation ceremony that was in
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: the spring, I had already been working.
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: Oh, wow.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: So soap operas was your first introduction to onscreen.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Which is crazy because it's single-handedly probably the hardest and
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: most taxing thing you can do as an actor. People
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: I don't think understand that. How many pages of dialogue
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: are you shooting a day and how many episodes you're
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: shooting a week?
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: You're doing six episodes a week. You're doing on average
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: 30 to 40 pages a day.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: How?
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: Because they shoot, so it's shot like a multicam.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: Where the fourth wall is your cameras and it's three
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: to five cameras and it's live editing. There's someone in
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: a booth going camera one, camera two.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: Like you do with sitcoms, right?
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just like you do with sitcoms.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: And you shoot each scene one or two times and
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: then you move on.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: But how do you learn all that dialogue within that period?
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: You hide your script in a sofa and you look
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: at it before.
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: Because that's before cell phones.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: Unless you really fuck something up, they're not going to
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: correct you. If you basically say the thing, they're going
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: to move on.
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: And also, if you say the words, but your performance is,
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: they're going to move on.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, it's super fast. And so you, you know,
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: so you can do five scenes in an hour or more,
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: you know. And so you just fly, fly, fly. And
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: then when they're done with that set, they move all
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: the cameras to the next set and do all those scenes.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: And you're shooting six episodes a week. So everything is
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: also from like different episodes. They would try to do
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: things like in order at least, like, but. You're just
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: jumping around. But it's also, they're short scenes and they're very-
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: And a.
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: Couple of people in the scene so everybody kind of
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: balances lines.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah. It wasn't like... I don't remember it being.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: So gruesome.
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: No.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: It's like three, four page scenes. They're short. And it's like.
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: I mean, look.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you something. That was your first introduction.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: They didn't feel as hard. But it's like a very.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: No, no, no.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: It was really hard. And I think the biggest thing
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: I learned was... you know, it wasn't just about the
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: performance part was really hard because there were a lot
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: of days I would leave and go, I just did
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: the worst fucking.
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: Acting of my life.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: And that's going to be on television. I was like,
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: what is this job? Like I, and I'm trying to
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: figure it out. I'm watching like, you know, the vets
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: that have been there for a long time. Some of
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: them are crazy. They can just turn on waterworks, like
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: literally action. And they're like, water coming down their face
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: and crying. And you're just like, oh, they can just
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: do that. Like, And you're, so you're trying to figure
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: out like tricks basically for yourself. But the biggest thing
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: I think I learned was the working with so many
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: cameras and what that, how that blocking is. And then
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: the biggest, biggest thing I think I learned was it's
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: like a 20 person cast and a rotation of like
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: seven to 10 directors. And you're working with, and then
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: you never see the writers. You only see the head
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: writer ever. And then you're just working with all these
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: different personalities. And that, to me, was like the biggest,
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: best thing I walked away from that job with.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Why? Because it was.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: I mean, toxic is like a strong word, but.
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, it was a complex navigation.
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: It's a complex, it was a very, at 21 years old,
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: a very complex thing to navigate of like, you had
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: these older actors that had been there forever. You had
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: younger actors that were just starting out. You had actors
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: in the middle that like, some were happy to be there.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: Some were fucking miserable to be there. Like you just,
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: there were so many different dynamics going on and you're
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: And you're not working, you're working with the same people
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: a lot, but you're also like thrown into scenes with
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: people you've never worked with before. And then you're trying
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: to figure that out. So I think, I felt like
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: it made me sort of more flexible and like leaning
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: into just like. Maybe observing people or, you know what
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: I mean? Like when to hang back, when to be
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: a little bit more of like a showman and like,
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: you know, entertain and like, you know, how to kind
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: of read a room and, you know, how to deal
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: with someone that might be difficult or, you know, someone
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: that's like screaming at props because they don't know their
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: lines and they're trying to stall. You know what I mean?
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: And like how to handle yourself in those situations. And
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: I was so young. And I think nothing shook me
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: after that.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because as soon as you enter the industry, the
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: industry was full.
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: Of all these personalities. Right. So you're learning to navigate that.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: You still see plenty of that as you go along.
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: And so I think for my first thing, and then
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: when I did like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which was this.
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: Did you go from the soaps to that?
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: No, there was like six years in between.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: And what happened in those six years?
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: Barely working. Of like recurring guest.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Stars, co-stars. Like what recurring? I want to know.
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: I did a recurring on Gossip Girl.
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: What did you play?
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: I played a minion of Blair.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: A minion of Blair.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: During the Columbia school years. I think it was like
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: season six or something. I did like six or seven episodes.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: It was very fun. And that was like wild because
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: there was– They were such a hit show.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that was just like when they were at
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: their peak.
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: There would be paparazzi when they'd shoot outside. There would
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: be gaggles.
• 33:26
  Speaker 4: What are they wearing today?
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, gaggles of schoolgirls like outside the trailers just like
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: waiting to see Leighton or Blake. Like it was insane.
• 33:35
  Speaker 6: What was that for you like experiencing that for the
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: first time?
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: I sort of was like mesmerized by it all and
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: I was like, wow, this is crazy. And it just
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: felt like It felt like, I don't know. It's hard
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: to describe because it was like at that point they
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: were like a well-oiled machine. They were just like making
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: the show. But it felt like everything was so much
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: more about like the hype and the gossip girl of
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: it all. And, you know, I got a little yelled
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: at one time for like leaving my sides on a chair,
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: you know, like in that kind of thing. And then
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: there was one time. Sometimes they would give me scripts
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: and sometimes they wouldn't. And then I had a scene
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: that made no sense.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: And I.
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: You had an all script.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: And I had no script. And I was like, can
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: I get a script? I don't understand my scene. They
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: were like.
• 34:25
  Speaker 4: Oh my God.
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: And I was like, what is this? You know.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Was it also the contrast of doing that many scenes
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: and that many pages in a soap and then going
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: to do this?
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: Oh, it felt easier. Yeah.
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Easier. Yeah.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: I was like, I'm doing two scenes today.
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: Like, you know what I mean?
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: Like one, two cameras, like, all right.
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: Then you go do a movie and you shoot a
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: three page scene for a week, you know?
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: Oh my God.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: It's like.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Did you find the acting styles?
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: Like, did you, did you, did you feel that coming
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: from a soap, you had a very specific acting style
• 34:58
  Speaker 6: that you had to do there? Did you find that
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: you had to adjust?
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: While doing a show like Gossip Girl?
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: Well, I did in terms of Gossip Girl was very
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: specific because they had a very specific cadence to the
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: dialogue on that show and you had to be word perfect.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, really?
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: If you dropped a the or an and, they would
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: tell you.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: They would tell you.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: No way.
• 35:18
  Speaker 6: Wow.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: So you had to be word perfect. And everyone just,
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: there was like a musicality, a cadence to that show
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: that I heard when I was watching the show before
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: I did it. And then when I got there, I
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: remember they were like, because our first episode was almost
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: like an audition. And they were like, basically like, if
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: we like you guys, if you do well today, we're
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: going to bring you back.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: I was like, cool.
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: Because they're creating community around the character.
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: No pressure. And they were like, and by the way,
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: don't drop any words.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Oh, right. So they told you that, right?
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: I believe they did tell us.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: What's crazy is that it was Gossip Girl. yeah and
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: it was like just chill.
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: Out you know what I mean like really like Aaron
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: Sorkin got some girl by Aaron Sorkin a little bit of.
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: That I definitely like during my time there was a
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: little got a little like disenchanted with like is it
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: like this on every show and do I want to
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: do this like am I going to be happy and
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: fulfilled doing this but then you know like life sends
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: you things sometimes when you most need them I was
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: like at a low point and I booked a guest
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: star on Royal Pains.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: Oh, I did Royal Pains too. Yeah.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: With Mark.
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: Mark is a gift. Can we talk about Mark?
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Can we talk about Mark?
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: Please. Can we please talk about Mark? You break it
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: down and then I'm going to give you an idea.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Because I have wanted to see him in person ever
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: since this, because I was.
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: Like- They're rebooting it and he's coming back.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Oh my God.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: Mark is the kind of number one on the call
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: sheet that arrives- knows everyone's name on the crew everyone's
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: name is you know going up to a grip and
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: being like how's your daughter's birthday party like the best
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: fucking guy yeah completely memorized has like this crazy monologue
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: medical monologue that he's doing like first up in the
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: day and like spits it out and like it's so
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: collaborative with everyone my storyline there was like a few
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: of us uh it was like a I was like
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: a girl that crashed on like a jet ski and
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: he saves me. And then we're like part of this
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: little party group. So there's like five guest stars and
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: this learns all our names. Every time we're sitting, you know,
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: because sometimes guest stars are sat like a little separately
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: from like regulars.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: Would come over and talk to us. And just, it
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: was the loveliest week. And everyone was so happy on
• 37:38
  Speaker 3: that set.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: To be there.
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: And having so much fun. And it felt creative and fun.
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: And I was like, This was in New York.
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: This was in New York, yeah.
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: This was when they were shooting that.
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: And I was like, if this is what it's like,
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: if this is what it could be like.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: In.
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: I'm so in.
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: And that experience was so magical because I felt like
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: it gave me something new. To visualize, to like hope
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: and dream for, and it's actually what materialized on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: Like that was the vibe we had. And when Brooklyn
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: first started, I remember thinking, oh my God, I got
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: my royal pains. Like this is that vibe.
• 38:19
  Speaker 6: And why do you think that is, Melissa? Like how
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: do you think a vibe like that is created? Do
• 38:24
  Speaker 6: you feel that it's created from the top and it
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: trickles down?
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: 100%.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Like who dictates, like on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, right? Was it Andy?
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: Like who dictated that?
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was Andy and Andre. So every, it was
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: Andy and Andre. And I think to an extent, the showrunners,
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: you know, Dan Moore and Mike Schur.
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: How open they are to your ideas.
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and they also are like, this is a no
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: asshole space, you know? But when you have the number
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: one and the number two being so gracious, so kind
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: to everybody, walking on sets, greeting the crew, treating everyone
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: with respect. When a guest star rolls through, no matter
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: how big a star they are, they see that. Yeah.
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: And there's no room for Tom Cruise.
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: No, for sure.
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: Like, no one's going to try shit.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: In your show, speaking of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, what is very
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: evident is is that you were doing something that felt
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: like the first time of something in a long time
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: on television. Like totally to be that kind of outgoing
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: and innovative to say, hey, we're going to do a
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: show about this. You know, it's like there's elements of
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: things that really effortlessly worked in some amazing comedies and
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: they were all combined into one formula.
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: And then you had the perfect cast that was so
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: liberated by just trying things.
• 39:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: That's what it really came across, that it was, you
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: guys were out there just, you know, not going to
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: give up until it was funny.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: You know?
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: And that was super evident. Do you feel like that's
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: kind of the environment that the producers and the showrunners
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: are like, let's try this line or let's try this thing? Like,
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: were you guys improv-ing at times?
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: We were improv-ing at times, and we would do a
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: lot of alts. And again, I think that tone was
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: set by Dan and by Andy too. Like Andy, if
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: Andy hears something in a scene that's not working, that's
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: not as funny as it could be, he cannot let
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: it go.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Move on.
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: He cannot move on.
• 40:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: You know, and he would pinpoint moments and he would
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: pinpoint moments. just dynamics that needed tweaks and needed reworking.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: And that was my, those were my favorite moments, right?
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: Like that's what I love about single camera comedy is like,
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: if something's not feeling right or landing, everyone just kind
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: of comes together and is like, what can we do?
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: You know, should we play? Should we improv? Should we,
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: you know, the writer comes with an alt, like, well,
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: we had this idea, you know what I mean? And
• 40:59
  Speaker 3: it's like all these people coming together and then you just,
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: fucking try shit then you try like three different versions
• 41:04
  Speaker 3: of the thing and sometimes you find something crazy magical
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: that you're like oh my you know where you say
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: cut and the whole crew laughs and it's the best
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: you know it's like such a high and and he
• 41:17
  Speaker 3: really from day one like set that tone like I
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: remember when we did the pilot he was there every
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: day like he took his producer role like so seriously and.
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: Also for him, the stakes were really high. I mean,
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: he was leaving SNL.
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he was just coming off SNL. He was like,
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: I need this to work.
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: He was like, it's got to work.
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: It's got to work.
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: Because otherwise it doesn't, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: Is that where you met Stephanie was on the show?
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: So Stephanie and I, we got cast. And at the time,
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: like you guys were saying, you know, it was always
• 41:43
  Speaker 3: just one. For us, this was like, we were like,
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: this is really the first time they've had two Latinas
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: on one show.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: And we were freaking out. And we both knew Gina Rodriguez. Yeah.
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: So when we booked the pilot, Gina, I might have
• 41:59
  Speaker 3: even been on like Facebook. Like this is like pre-Instagram, right?
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: My space.
• 42:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, like DM'd us both.
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: And was like, hey, I know you both and you
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: both just booked this thing. And we exchanged numbers through that.
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: And then we were so scared about them deciding to
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: get rid of one of us that for the network
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: table read, we decided to wear our hair very differently
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: because we were afraid they would confuse us. Even though
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: we look nothing alike.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 42:33
  Speaker 4: No, no, but that's a very real.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: And we both have wavy hair. And I remember like
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: we talked about it and we were like, yeah, how?
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: And she was like, well, I'm definitely going to dress
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: in all black. And I was like, yeah, I'm going
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: to wear like maybe I'll wear white, like something light colored.
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: And then I was like, maybe we could do our
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: hair different. And she was like, well, she was like,
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: my curls don't really like, I was like, my hair straightens.
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: I can straighten my hair. I was like, I'll wear
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: my hair straight. And that's literally the reason why Amy
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: has straight hair on the show and Rosa has big
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: curly hair. is because from the beginning, we just, no
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: one told us to. But we, behind the scenes, made
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: that decision out of fear.
• 43:11
  Speaker 4: That's so smart.
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: Because we just wanted to look very, very different.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: So you're providing two different perspectives and two different characters.
• 43:17
  Speaker 4: By the way, your characters could not be more different.
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: Could not be more different. We sound different.
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: We look different.
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: But at the time, we were just so used to like, oh,
• 43:26
  Speaker 3: there's already, we already have a Latin character. Or like,
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: people just, you know.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: Confusing you.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Out of fear, but it was also rooted in reality, right?
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a little bit.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: This is how it goes down.
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: Because you're like, no.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: One ever does this. So someone's going to change their mind.
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: I got to point out something that's like, we should
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: have a moment for it to echo for a second.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: That the two Latina actresses talk to one another instead
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: of declaring a competition of who stays.
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: In a common world where they only get one, like,
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: and most people have resources or opportunities and they're like,
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know where I'm going to get this next.
• 44:07
  Speaker 4: So I can't share with anyone.
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: Um, that's the thing that we have to learn from,
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: you know, the example of the two of you coming
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: together and be like, how do we both stay here?
• 44:15
  Speaker 4: How do we set ourselves for success?
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: Is where I feel like our community really needs to
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: continue to resonate.
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: Like, it's not a competition.
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: I never even thought about how that could have, yeah,
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: you're right, gone totally differently.
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: You could have not talked to each other about it.
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: Right, and then, like, see at the table read.
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Or not be catty, but just, like, in the
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: back of your mind, not even mentioning.
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: But also, like, you could be catty.
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Like, there are people that
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: might have the perspective of, like, I'm going to show
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: up and make sure I'm funnier than her.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean? That I outshine her, like,
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: just in case they get rid of one of us.
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: They're going to keep me, like, you know. But we,
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: that never even occurred to us. We clung. The reason
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: we got so close so fast was we were both
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: new to, like, this was both our first show.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Oh, was it really? Yeah.
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: It was both our first show. And both first time
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: seeing two people. Latin characters on a network show and
• 45:09
  Speaker 3: we just like clung to each other. We were just like,
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: we are going to survive this by like holding on
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: to each other for dear life. And that's what we did.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: But there's also, you two have this incredible chemistry, right?
• 45:24
  Speaker 4: That's so crazy.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: Like, was that instantaneous?
• 45:27
  Speaker 6: Was that something that, I mean, really, like, I'm not
• 45:30
  Speaker 6: saying this to like blow smoke up your ass, right?
• 45:32
  Speaker 4: But like, I remember.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Hanging out with, when us four hung out in Austin. Oh, yeah.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: I was like, whoa, they're really, they really have that chemistry, like,
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: in real life.
• 45:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: It was very Laverne and Shirley, very, like, and I
• 45:46
  Speaker 6: mean that in the most highest.
• 45:47
  Speaker 3: And we're so different.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: We're so different.
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: She's this, like, Texas girl. Like, I'm from Jersey. Like,
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: we could not, we have different. we have different tastes.
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: We have different, but, but yeah, like the chemistry was
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: always there. Yeah.
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: Like we would, there's a DNA structure you guys are
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: connected to.
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: You know, like, the aesthetics and the interest could be different.
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: But there isn't, like, there's, like, a sisterhood that's, like,
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: rooted in blood somehow.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Agreed, agreed.
• 46:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's beyond just, like... It's like a soulful connection.
• 46:20
  Speaker 6: It is.
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: Like, we knew each other in a different life or something.
• 46:22
  Speaker 4: Yes, that's what I'm talking about.
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: That is the feeling, yes, for sure. And we definitely have,
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: when it comes to comedy, we're very aligned. Like, the
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: same shit makes us laugh.
• 46:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: And I think, also, we both started in theater. Yeah.
• 46:35
  Speaker 3: And so we had kind of similar... Coming up, Stephanie's
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: was a little different because she stayed, did theater for
• 46:43
  Speaker 3: longer and kind of just did some little guest stars
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: and then like got Brooklyn. So she was like very, very,
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: very new to television. Whereas I had worked a little
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: bit more in TV. So like in the very beginning
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: was like, you know, like whispering that, you know, like, no,
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: like this is, you know, if the camera's over there,
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: like do this, you know, like technical things. But yeah.
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: I also just thought she was such an extraordinary actress
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: and she was so freaking funny. And, you know, she
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: was like, so had that character, like the voice, the, the,
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: the way she stood, the way she wore those leather pants,
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: like everything was.
• 47:22
  Speaker 4: Every character trait she built for it is amazing. And
• 47:25
  Speaker 4: for a quick reminder.
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: For our audiences, Stephanie Beatriz, you know, co-starred in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: She went on to do some extraordinary roles in In
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: the Heights. She was Mirabel on Encanto. I had the
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: honor of playing her father on Encanto. And she's just
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: a gifted singer.
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: She's a very gifted singer.
• 47:42
  Speaker 4: Speaking of singers.
• 47:43
  Speaker 3: She has the opposite story. She didn't think she was
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: a singer. And I was like, you're a freaking singer.
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: You better fucking audition for In the Heights. I've heard
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: you sing on set.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: You can sing.
• 47:55
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 47:56
  Speaker 3: She was like, no, I can't. I was like, no,
• 47:57
  Speaker 3: trust me. As someone who thought she could sing and
• 48:00
  Speaker 3: then was what.
• 48:00
  Speaker 4: You could sing.
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: Bro, like the fact that she sang all those Lin-Manuel
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: Miranda composed and lyrical songs.
• 48:08
  Speaker 4: Those songs are very.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Very hard to sing.
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he's like our generation Sondheim. It is not easy to.
• 48:15
  Speaker 4: Sing his songs.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: So reflecting on the both of you now, we're talking
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: about both of your chemistry.
• 48:22
  Speaker 4: You both host a show called More Better.
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: More Better.
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: So I'd like to talk about More Better next because
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: it's not only a sister podcast to us, but it's
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: also one of the biggest hits in my Cultura podcast network.
• 48:37
  Speaker 4: So excited to.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: Hear how that came about and the gift that you
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: guys have brought to the people who are in search
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: of more better.
• 48:45
  Speaker 4: I'm Wilmer Valderrama.
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: I'm Freddy Rodriguez.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: And this was part one of two parts with Melissa Fumero.
• 48:55
  Speaker 6: Dos Amigos is a production from WV Sound and iHeart
• 48:58
  Speaker 6: Media's My Cultura Podcast Network.