During Latinx Heritage Month at Williams College, scholar, Maria Elena Cepeda facilitated a conversation with the executive producer, writer and showrunner of Netflix’s One Day At A Time, Gloria Calderon Kellett, and three cast members: Justina Machado, Rita Moreno and Isabella Gomez. Their visit to the campus added to ongoing discussions about Afrolatinx and Latinx communities, ecological racism, and Afrolatinx literature and culture. The show explores the complicated and interconnected issues of representation, identity, cultural knowledge, and much more, all through the lense of a multi-generational Cuban family living in Echo Park.
María Elena Cepeda: It’s all about remixing now, so how is this show different from the original?
Gloria Calderon Kellett: For me, the project had come together before I was involved with it. Brent Miller, who is Norman’s producing partner, had read a study about lack of representation specifically for single Latina women, and he said, we have a show about a single mom, maybe it would be interesting to make a Latino version of the show. So it started with him and Norman. If I had tried to make this show in this way, people wouldn’t have bought it. We needed Norman. A lot of people say to me, if there wasn’t a character named Scheider, we wouldn’t even know this was One Day at a Time. In a way we’re taking something that’s old and trying to make it new again with this family. We started talking and he said, what would happen if you got divorced from your husband? And I said, my parents would move in. That’s it. My mom would move in for sure. I mean, they’re at my house every day right now. So we started talking about my mom and my relationship with my mom, and I pictured my mom like Rita Moreno.
Cepeda: Anybody else want to add to that?
Rita Moreno: Well she’s at the vanguard of this so I don’t feel qualified.
Justina Machado: Yeah, exactly. Gloria’s qualified in saying how it came together, and we’re qualified to say how it feels. I think it’s interesting that they call it a remake. Did you say reimagining? Because it is a reimagining, it’s not so much a remake. I think with Norman’s star power and Rita’s star power—Rita was the first one to sign on—allowed people like us to get the job. To take it seriously too. And one of the things I remember—I was on Queen of the South at the time—I remember seeing on Twitter that they were doing a remake and I didn’t even know what it was. I just knew that Rita Moreno was a part of it, and Norman was the head of it. I was like, I gotta get in on this! Because there’s not a lot of representation out there, not a lot of parts that are leading roles, I was praying that it would not be another horrible representation of Latinos, like having a party and always having a piñata, you know what I mean? Always having the same immigration story. You know as Latinos we all have different stories of how our families came here. Gloria has a story, she’s Cuban. I’m Puerto Rican. She’s Colombian. So we all have different narratives.
Moreno: And there’s a lovely respect for the characters, on the part of the producers and that’s an extremely wonderful thing about being in this show. The esteem and love that is shown for the characters. It may sound almost romantic but let me tell you, it doesn’t happen often in television. I promise you.
Isabella Gomez: What I like about the whole reimagining thing is that we didn’t try to mimic anything. Schneider is the only character and he’s not even the same. It has the essence of the old show, it has the Norman Lear thing, where we talk about serious issues and family, but it works because we weren’t trying to copy that iconic show.
Machado: Can I just say one thing? I thought about this the other day. This show has kind of brought back the middle class hero. You know what I mean? Shows back in the Norman Lear days were about regular people. Now so many shows, you’re the lawyer, you’re this or that. This show is about just admiring people who love each other, who work hard, who believe in family, who believe in love.
Moreno: That’s a great point. And it also encompasses the working class, which you don’t see that much anymore. Norman Lear is probably not the most familiar name to some of you but his shows were All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times.
Kellett: Worth finding on Youtube.
Moreno: Every one of these shows ran forever on television.
Kellett: This is how ahead of his time he was. He had told me a story, that CBS was doing a retrospective of his work. This is five or ten years ago. They asked, what are your favorite clips? So he sent over a list of his favorite clips from the shows he had done. From forty years ago, ok? Someone from standards and practices called and said, we can’t show half those clips on CBS anymore.
Gomez: Also at one point, Norman had seven out of the top ten TV shows in America. At the same time.
Cepeda: So, my next question. And this is kind of depressing, but this is what I do for a living. Recent figures state that Latinos and Latinas account for less than one percent of new pilot television show runners, and less than five percent of all television actors are Latina or Latino. As recently as 2012, there were no Latina/Latino network television pilot writers. In a television landscape defined in part by these realities, how do you all address the burden of Latina/Latino media representation as actors, writers, and showrunners?
Kellett: I don’t think it’s a burden.
I’m not representing every Latino family out there. I cannot carry that burden.
Gloria Calderon Kellet
Cepeda: Maybe that’s the wrong word then.
Kellett: I was very careful in my career to tell personal stories about my family because I was told very early on to make sure I feel ready. For twelve years I did a lot of other shows, to prove that I could do every genre. I’m one of the few comedy writers who’s done one-hour drama, one-hour procedural, half-hour single cam, half-hour multi-cam, and multi-cam hybrid.
Cepeda: And you did stage shows and monologues.
Kellett: Yes. So I felt very ready to tell this story because I felt like I was in a space where I could defend it. It really was about being honest about my own experience. I’m not representing every Latino family out there. I cannot carry that burden. I’m speaking about my personal point of view. This is my family—West Coast Cubans, liberal Cubans—this is my personal narrative, and there are many others out there. The success of the show for me is exciting because it makes me feel like there are more stories to tell.
Gomez: I would say that instead of a burden, it is such an honor to be able to be this representation, and to start putting faces up there. Rita has been opening doors for us for her entire life, and it’s so cool to widen that and make more space for Latinos, make more space for LGBTQ, make more space for the middle class. I think it’s such a blessing and it’s so beautiful to be able to do it. Stressful sometimes, sure, because there’s always backlash no matter what you do.
Moreno: Just think of a Puerto Rican playing a Cuban!
Gomez: And that’s the stressful part. We want to bring more representation, and we’re hoping to make a positive change. That’s why the backlash hurts because we’re really trying to do this. But mostly, it’s such a blessing. And like you said, there’s not many people who get to do it. For us, to be the select few, it’s incredible.
Machado: Yes.
Kellett: Well said.
Cepeda: Well why don’t we open up the floor for questions from the audience?
Moreno: Can we have some house lights so we can see?
Audience Member 1: Since you were talking about backlash, I was wondering how much backlash have you had?
Kellett: This is a layered question so I’ll do my best to do it briefly. For me as a Latina watching TV, I get so excited every time I watch a pilot that’s going to be Latino. And if it does get picked up, you watch it and you go, oh somebody got in there. But it’s disappointing because nowadays we live in this kind of world where we want a show to be everything in twenty minutes or we’re out. It’s unfair. What’s beautiful about Netflix and why were so excited to do Netflix is that we knew we would get thirteen episodes. At least I knew a whole story could be told. But initially I thought we were going to get a lot of backlash. For one, when we were in the casting process, I knew that when we cast two Puerto Ricans, and a Colombian, and Marcel is Puerto Rican and Cuban, that there would be some people who would be upset.
Moreno: See that never occurred to me.
Kellett: Also, because they’re actors. These are actors. You know, she’s really not a nurse! She’s not a mother. She’s just good at playing that. So for me as a storyteller, the most important thing is what’s the best way to tell this story. The stories are Cuban stories. No one else is talking about Ché Guevara T-shirts, and what it’s like to come here as an immigrant from Cuba, and how the representation of Cubans in America is different. We did a story about deportation because Norman said, how about Rita’s character gets deported? I said Rita’s character can’t get deported she’s Cuban. And he’s like, what do you mean? Different rules for different Latinos. People don’t know that! For me, the story is the thing. And then it’s, what are the voices that are going to tell this story the best? I would put my hand on the chopping block for these people on this panel for the rest of my life. These people are my family. And I think they tell the stories perfectly.
Gomez: I gotta say, especially with my character being LGBTQ, and the current climate, I expected a lot more backlash than there was. I’m the one that’s always on social media and reading the comments, and we haven’t gotten that much backlash which again is why it’s so hurtful when the one person is like, why are they not Cuban? And, why did they say this?
Kellett: We say it because it hurts our heart, because we’re still sensitive people—it kills me. I’m Cuban and it kills me that not all Cubans love it. It really does. It hurts my heart when they’re like, I’m not even going to watch it. So it hurts me and that’s why I focus on it, because I’m a crazy artist and we focus on that one person when there’s ninety-nine people telling you great things. But for the most part we’ve been shockingly embraced. On Metacritic, on Rotten Tomatoes, we’re like 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s crazy. There hasn’t been a multi-camera sitcom that’s been received in this way for over a decade. And the fact that it’s also a Latino multi-camera sitcom blows my mind.
Audience Member 2: Has the feedback from other Latino communities been warm as well?
Machado: Very warm.
Gomez: And not only other Latino communities, oh what’s the word I’m looking for?
Moreno: Americanos?
Gomez: Not just Americanos…other ethnicities. There’s been such a warm reception! When you make a Latino show you think only Latinos are going to watch this because people think because we’re Latinos, we’re somehow not relatable, and that we’re aliens or something. But it’s every kind of person. I was at this party one time, and I got to talking to this white dude that plays football, macho cool dude or whatever. And he was geeking out over One Day at a Time! He was like, oh my god, I see my family in it! So it’s so cool that not only Latinos are embracing it, but everybody.
Moreno: Everybody. And really, there are a lot of American people who love this show. Because in the final analysis, what is it about? It’s about a family. We just happen to be Hispanic and/or Cuban, and some wonderful stuff that nobody else could possibly bring to the show. But ultimately it’s about family and how family relates to family, and the problems that come with family, the problems that come with never having enough money. A great deal of the show has to do with not having enough, with becoming clever and becoming creative. And that’s marvelous because that’s most of America for Pete’s sake! Or as Lydia would say, for piss sake!
When you make a Latino show you think only Latinos are going to watch this because people think because we’re Latinos, we’re somehow not relatable…
Isabella Gomez
Audience Member 3: In the Latino Studies Department, a couple weeks ago we had a talk with a woman who’s a faculty member at University of Michigan. She came to give a lecture on the idea of decolonizing literature. Does One Day at a Time work to decolonize sitcom?
Machado: I don’t even know what that means!
Audience Member 3: So the decolonization idea is taking back, reclaiming the sort of Latino identity as something that comes from Latin America, as opposed to American representations of it. What the United States believes it to be versus what it actually is. Does this do that work, and how?
Kellett: I think the casting is one part of it. My 23andMe—it’s a chromosomal test you take that tells you where you’re from in the world—is closer to Justina’s than it is to my brother’s, because we are straight-up Caribbeans. We are Black, we are Native, we are European, we are Spanish, Iberian, you know so the difference between her and I is, on the boat over, her grandparents stopped in Puerto Rico and mine in Cuba. But we’re from this place, and then people started to divide us. In this country, what happens too is people want to divide us. And I’ve been very inspired by the African American community in the United States, they have a history of their history being ripped from them, so there’s so much they’ve had to endure coming here. But they have banded together in Hollywood in a way that really inspires me. And I feel like Latinos in Hollywood, it’s still so much separation, because we are so starved for any representation, that when it does come, you want it to encompass everything that you are. And you want it to be perfect. Of course! So I understand that. But the other side of it is, more will come. So we need to support the good work. When there’s great Latino work we need to support it and lift it up. I don’t care if it’s Mexican or Dominican or Venezuelan. If it’s beautiful work let’s support it, because that opens the door for more behind us. I think that if we can start to unite, and to have those conversations, it will create more space for other people’s stories.
Moreno: Which is why it’s so hard when people say, oh it’s a Puerto Rican play. It’s like, man, are you really still there? And the answer is yes. Many of them are, and that’s what we have to attend to. I’m not exactly sure how. I think we could show them with just our talent. Your talent as a writer, as artists.
Machado: And I think this show does tell the stories we want to tell. The authentic stories. The stories that we all relate to. Dr. Rúa is my cousin. We grew up together in Chicago. She’s like my sister. And I say this because we can relate to this. Like we had the Cafe Bustelo, we had the music, we had all of this stuff so we’re telling the stories that we understand. Tell them about the mantequilla.
Kellett: So the other thing that’s really exciting is that I got to walk on the set and put stuff in there from my abuelita, my abuelito, my cousin, La Cubanita guava-—that’s the guava that they use— Bustelo, Goya, stuff that was in my kitchen. I got to go around and put that stuff in there, which felt really great. They had a scene where she was eating ropa vieja out of tupperware and I said no no no, we don’t do tupperware. We put it in the mantequilla tub. Listen, Latinos are the first green people. So I said, I need one that is worn, that has been used and washed a million times, and bless those prop people, they did it.
Machado: And the music and stuff! My family, when we grew up we would have parties and we would sing, and our grandmothers danced, this is all stuff that’s our story.
Kellett: And so many people—you know I made such a stink about the mantequilla thing— and wouldn’t you know it! The amount of tweets and emails we got about that thing. Many people went crazy over that. Any immigrant group, you know? It was beautiful. It was so amazing. It made me feel like that’s why we’re doing this.
Gomez: And I also think—if I understand the question correctly— it comes from our writers’ room. Because half of our writers are Latinx. Half are women. There’s LGBTQ. There’s several nationalities of Latinos and that’s why, like you said, we’re starting to tell the stories from our perspective. There’s not a bunch of Americans writing us because they haven’t lived it. But we also have American writers because there are American characters.
Machado: I don’t mean to correct you but we are American.
Gomez: But you know what I mean? So I think yeah, that’s how we’re doing it. We’re including writers. And also our directors: women, Latinos. There’s all sorts of things that we want to bring, so it’s not just the actors that are Latino. We’re getting that Latinx voice, that LGBTQ voice, that female voice, from everywhere in our production.
Kellett: The coming out scene is a great one to talk about. At first we had the character, Lydia be totally okay with it. And Rita and Justina came to us…
Machado: …we thought that was not a good idea.
Moreno: Can you imagine a Cuban grandma? I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of you.
Machado: But this is like a true story for me. I have a brother who’s gay, and my family doesn’t care about that stuff. But forever, my mother would be like, I think he’s gay. Since he was five- years-old. But then, when he actually came out, my mother was like, oh my god! Oh jeez I can’t believe it. It was more that she was scared of how the world would treat him. Like what would happen. So that’s what I love, that Penelope didn’t just say, ok that’s great. That she also had reservations about it. And it’s truthful. Even if you’re ashamed of it, it’s true.
Moreno: And there’s other wonderful truths. There’s an episode where Lydia says, you know we are all very light-skinned because we come from the Spaniards. Then Penelope says, come on Mami we are all colors. And Lydia says, no no, we come from Castillo. So there it is, just this little racist thing.
Machado: But at least it’s out there.
Moreno: It’s out there with a very loveable character. You know we all have our foibles. And that’s what I love about playing Lydia. I never know what the hell she’s going to come up with!
Audience Member 4: Do you know when the second season is coming out?
Kellett: We’re being told probably January of 2018.
Machado: Pretty soon.
Moreno: Oh, you’re going to be surprised. That’s the great thing about this show, you never know what’s going to happen. It does surprise you. The thing with Lydia saying, well we’re mostly caucasian. That was a surprise to me. And I thought, damn.
Audience Member 5: I was wondering what the reason was for choosing the younger brother to be more fluent in Spanish than the older sister, because for a lot of my friends back in Miami it’s absolutely the opposite, to the point where the younger kids never speak Spanish.
Kellett: That’s the case in my house. So I understand Spanish fluently but I always get nervous about my word choice, and I worry that I might sound stupid if I’m speaking Spanish, but I’ll do it in my house. But my brother was much darker, and we grew up in Oregon, then San Diego, and he just spoke it more. And he is also much more identifiably Latino. Or at least what California and Hollywood think of as Latino. He spoke more to my grandma and grandpa. My abuela would speak to me in Spanish and I would reply in English. And, being the first daughter—my parents have very thick Cuban accents still—I don’t think they want to lose their accents, but it caused them so much grief that my mother, a businesswoman, didn’t want me to have one. I remember so specifically watching TV with her, and she’d say, nope, talk like the lady in the news, not like me. So I think I took in that I needed to assimilate. So I think that pressure was put more on the firstborn, for him they didn’t care as much.
Machado: And also, Gloria’s parents came through Peter Pan when they were fifteen years old, which we talk about on the show.
Audience Member 6: So when the characters do speak Spanish in the show, there are no subtitles. I wondered if that was a conscious choice.
Kellett: Yes. Because when I was growing up watching TV, I had to look up what a bar mitzvah was because I didn’t know. I had to go to my encyclopedia. So I thought people could Google. Also, what happens is in the room, I’ll pitch stuff in Spanish and half the room does not speak Spanish. So if the guys who don’t speak Spanish laugh, it goes in. Because you’re getting the gist of it enough.
Moreno: That’s just it. More often than not, what’s chosen in Spanish, you really get the gist of. That is important because you can’t assume that the world speaks Spanish, and there’s where you have to find a very fragile balance. And these writers just find that balance with their eyes closed, which is fabulous.
Audience Member 7: It’s not a question but I wanted to thank you for the scene of the quinceañera.
Moreno: Wasn’t that a killer episode? And I have to tell you, every week when you get a brand new script, we don’t know what’s coming. You sit at a table—it’s called a table reading—and all the actors act out loud, they’re reading from the script. And when that episode happened, we were in tears. We were just murdered. What a superb episode.
Gomez: I was with Gloria at an afterparty probably a month and a half before we even got that script, and she doesn’t like to tell me things but I like to push her to tell me things, because I want to know. And so I’m like, what’s happening? I want to know what the finale is. And at the afterparty, she told me what was happening with Victor, and I started crying. Then i got the script and I cried. Then we did the table reading and I cried. Then we rehearsed it for a week and I cried. And now I watch it and I still cry. It’s such a touching thing because it’s so true. And it just really sucks that that’s a reality for people. But again, it’s so wonderful that we get to have that representation, and show how families deal with that.
Audience Member 7: What I liked was when the rest of the family came in and filled the gap.
Moreno: That’s what this family is about. Norman wouldn’t have it any other way either, and that’s very important to Norman Lear. Interestingly enough, when I found out we were going to do this show for Netflix, I thought, oh my god we can do all the bad words? Then I really thought, man, this is going to be amazing.
Moreno: Which is a shame because I love ‘come mierda.’
Kellett: It’s true. Here’s what Netflix does. In the pilot episode, she comes out with her shoes and goes, that’s some Jesus crap right there. It was, that’s some Jesus shit right there, sorry I said Jesus, sorry I said shit, right? And I thought, this is a great way to show that swear words slip out and she’s going to deal with it like a Mom and say, don’t say the swear word I just said. Because that’s what parents do, right? Netflix came to us and they said hey, just so you know, you can totally do the Jesus shit. But if you do, there’s probably going to be a million people who will not watch the show again, because they’ll think this a show that swears. Up to you. And I’m like damn, I’m a Latino I want those white people to keep watching! So Norman was like, no let’s keep it in! Because he loves to fight. He was like, let’s show them! And we’re like, no Norman, it’s going to be Jesus crap.
I’ll pitch stuff in Spanish and half the room does not speak Spanish. So if the guys who don’t speak Spanish laugh, it goes in.
-Gloria CALderon Kellet
Moreno: I’m thrilled you’ve straightened me out because I really need to tell Norman wow, thank you. I miss come mierda.
Audience Member 8: I was wondering about the decision-making process behind having the show on Netflix. As opposed to something on a network.
Kellett: Oh it’s great. It’s glorious. So a traditional network sitcom is 21 minutes. Our show is roughly between 26 and 29. I think our finale for Season 2 will be over 30 min. Netflix allows you more time. In network TV, sometimes you have to cut your favorite jokes and favorite bits that aren’t on story, and it’s the texture. That’s the stuff that makes us like them a little bit more, we get to find out a little bit more about them. So it’s been a real luxury. I’m writing a show now that’s network and it’s already so long and I’m like man, this is going to be rough. So it does give you the luxury of time, to sit in moments.
Moreno: But if you don’t mind, because it’s such a fascinating story, would you tell them a story about network? What it can be?
Kellett: I mean, there’s so much. Going back to network is really interesting because on Netflix you can do whatever you want. The notes from them are often, great, we’ll see you on tape night! And going back and doing this, just my story area was a half hour conversation. I was like, oh right, we’re back to this thing, where there’s sponsors and there’s people you can’t offend, there’s certain boxes that you have to break down, and then, what really became interesting is that we’re still educating people on who we are. And network is still very white. And so it sees us in a certain way. In fact, my pilot talks about how I was very afraid to commit to a relationship, because the only people I see that are happy and married are my parents. My parents love each other. The door was locked a lot, they were very affectionate, every time they drive, they hold hands. That’s what I saw my whole life. And that’s not normal. Everybody else that’s married is miserable. So if they’re the one in a million, what shot do I have? I’m not going to find that. But I found this guy when I was very young and I kept on pushing him away because I thought there was no way I could have what they have. So I want to represent it on television. And while I feel there’s lack of representation for everyone, Latino men have it the worst. They really do. When we were trying to cast Victor this year, we saw tape and they were always playing a cop, a latin lover, somebody beating up their wife, I mean it is shocking that those are the images that Hollywood is putting out there for Latino men. I wanted to put out there for the new show on CBS a dad who is a wonderful dad, who loves his wife, who has sex with her, who is very open and sex positive, and there were concerns from the network. They were like, that’s going to seem too sexual. I told them, give me that note after you’ve seen it on the stage. Watch these two people. You’re going to be watching love. You’re going to be watching two people married that are into each other. Why not fight for putting that out there? And there Latino? Come on! This is the stuff that’s worth fighting for. And what I saw in my life! I could point literally to my parents. Because it’s what’s real.
Moreno: But isn’t that fascinating about network? They live in another era. It’s just amazing to me. Still? Really? Grown up people are talking this way?
Gomez: I also want to add, actors, the process to get on a Netflix show versus on a network show. For Netflix I did my original audition, a month later I did a callback, and then I did a chemistry with Marcel. A chemistry where you go in and read with the actors. Justina was already chosen, so they wanted to make sure that we liked each other and worked well together. Marcel, I’m pretty sure, was already chosen because he was the only boy there, but there was another girl auditioning for Elena. So they wanted to see us with these people and make sure it all looked right. So it was three auditions to get in. I did a test a month before for another show that was network. The show’s canceled now so thank god I didn’t get it. But I went in a million times. And my first test ever was for a Nickelodeon show and it was a six-month process, where I’m pretty sure I was in that room twelve to fifteen times. With Netflix, it’s three. So there’s a lot more people that have to say yes in the network.
Moreno: On network, the world has to see you do an audition scene! It’s brutal! The actors are so nervous!
Kellett: That’s true. That’s very true.
Audience Member 9: I was wondering if you could talk about the #FiercelyLatina Campaign that you’re all a part of?
Machado: Yes. This is so fun because it’s not anything yet, but Gina Rodriguez and America Ferrera wanted to get a bunch of us together so that we could start a movement. I guess it goes into your decolonization because we so admire the Black Girl Magic movement. And we so want that to happen for us. It’s not been around for a long time
Moreno: We can take a lot of lessons from the Black community.
Machado: Yes, absolutely. So Gina and America were like, let’s all get together, very informal, let’s see if this turns into something. So that we could possibly do this every month. And we started a networking situation where we support each other. We tweet about each others’ projects, we go see the movies. I mean, aren’t we the ones that spend the most money on movie tickets? Latinos? We have to start supporting and watching those shows. So we met last month at Gina’s house and now we’re going to have another one in a couple weeks at Eva Longoria’s house.
Kellett: What’s crazy is, Eva took a photo and we posted it and we couldn’t believe the amount of love that we were getting. The amount of people weeping and emotional about people coming together and I think it speaks to this new world order for us. Coming together and loving each other.
Machado: So when you see the hashtag #FiercelyLatina Rosario Dawson came up with that.
Gomez: We also spent an hour trying to come up with a hashtag, just so you all know.
Aren’t we the ones that spend the most money on movie tickets? Latinos? We have to start supporting and watching those shows.
Justina Machado
Machado: And Rosario’s hashtag won.
Kellett: We’re trying to come from a place of love, support, positivity, and leave out the negative, and move forward with positivity.
Gomez: And I have to say, I was the youngest one there and it’s such a cool experience. We were talking about how I’m a Latina in Hollywood, but because I’m a much lighter Latina, I haven’t experienced as much racism in the industry. But I have realized that a lot of times I’m the only Latina in an audition room, and I never get to talk to other Latinas. Gina and America were talking about how we are made to think that we’re in a competition, and there’s only room for one of us, and how we have to fight for it, but that’s just not the truth. I’ve only been in the industry for so long, but it was so cool to see these women, that are so successful, come together and be like, you know what? No. We’re not going to do what society told us we had to do. We’re going to stick together and we’re going to empower each other. And if only one of us gets the movie this year then we’re all going to support that movie. Because heck yes, it’s Latina representation and maybe next year we’ll get it. And if that movie does really well then next year there will be two movies. It was just so beautiful, to see all these older Latina women take me in and—
Moreno: I want you to think for a moment of how many Latinos you saw represented in the Emmys. I’ll tell you. It was just Gina.
Machado: And Stephen Colbert was the host and he was like, this is the most diverse Emmys! We’re tired of being invisible. So that’s part of this whole thing. You know what I mean? It’s like slipping through the cracks, being invisible, all of this stuff.
Gomez: And it’s also this thing about this generation: Followers have become a big thing in the industry where we’ll get auditions that say, if you don’t have a hundred thousand followers, don’t come in.
Machado: That’s her generation. That doesn’t happen to us.
Gomez: That’s my generation. The studios do care a lot more about that now. And a lot of Latinos don’t have the following because they’ve never been in projects, because they haven’t been given the opportunity. So another thing GIna has done is there’s a few girls in there that are very seen. They were like, individually, we have this amount of followers but if we all get together and we’re all tweeting about our projects, and we’re all talking about it, a lot more people see it. So we get more followers, and we get more eyes on the women here.
Moreno: And I’ll tell you what I love about this especially. We’ve spent too many years, including the Black community, victimizing ourselves. Ghettoizing ourselves. You can only do a Black film, you can only do a film where there are only Latinos, and I remember for years, I talked to a lot of high school kids and when I was asked for advice I would say, is stop victimizing yourselves. Don’t tell me how hard it is. I know. I’m eighty-five fucking years old. I know how difficult it is, and has been, and hasn’t stopped being. So stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get off your duff and work at it. And do everything that you can. That’s what we have to do.
Kellett: And you know, it’s not just Latinos, it’s people of color in general. This year, another thing that we try to do on our show that you’ll want to watch for, is that if there’s a person in a position of power, like a doctor or a nurse, I will cast a person of color in that role, and mostly female. That is what we do. Even with the small co-star roles we’ll do that because it’s important for somebody at home to see. In fact, Aziz Ansari wrote an article last year about the lack of sexualization of Asian men on television. And how if there’s a leading role—in the article he asked, when was the last time you saw an Asian man kiss a woman on TV? And I could not think of one. I think it was like, Lost.
Machado: But I kissed Jay.
Kellett: Well that’s because I hired Jay! That’s why!
Machado: He’s pretty hot too.
Kellett: That is why we cast Jay Hayden, who is Korean, as her first boyfriend last year.
Audience Member 10: My question is for Rita Moreno. What brought you to this group? Is this your first experience doing an ensemble piece on TV?
Moreno: Norman Lear. I saw him at a fundraising political dinner about three years ago, where else are you going to run into Norman Lear? And he said, I’m going to do this show and I’d like you to be a part of it. And I immediately said, yes! And then about five minutes later I said, what is it?
AM10: How do you find it?
Moreno: Oh, we are fabulous! It’s one of those rare, rare occasions. This group became a family the day we did the very first table reading. It astonished everyone in the room. All the writers, the filming people, the Netflix people. We were just like this from the beginning and it hasn’t changed! We’ve become closer, we protect each other, we are safe with each other. It is pure bliss. And especially at my age, to see something like that, it’s fabulous. Thank you for asking.
Gomez: I agree. Especially at my age too, to be such a young actor and to be with a cast that cares. Especially Rita and Justina have been around forever, you would think that—I mean forever in the way that these people have worked their entire lives. Right? Their short, short lives. It’s very intimidating, right? But it wasn’t, because I came in and they were so encouraging. If I had a problem it’s very easy to run into actors that are like, ughh. They’re so helpful, they always want to work with me and it’s not like, oh my god she doesn’t know, it’s, here: I’ll let you know because I went through it. I call Justina Mom, I call Gloria tía, I call this one abuela.
Moreno: This one?
Gomez: Queen Rita. Rita Her Majesty. And it is really really rare. I always say I’m being spoiled because you see other casts and you talk to other actor friends that are like, I hate my job. And for us, we can’t wait to get to work, we can’t wait to make this happen. And I think it’s also why our show is so relatable. It’s because we like each other! And we feel like a family. I go to these women for advice all the time.
Moreno: And really, people constantly tell us about the chemistry that exists between all of us. And it’s not just the Latinos, it’s Todd, who plays Schneider. Oh, we adore him. And Berkowitz, the doctor. We’re very, very very close. And it’s just sheer joy to go in every Tuesday and read that new script and find out what’s going to happen this week.
Audience Member 11: I was just curious, what are some of the things y’all learned through playing your characters, through doing the show, that you didn’t know before you started?
Gomez: I feel like I’ve learned the most. You know, Elena knows everything about everything, and most of the time, I don’t know what she’s talking about. So I learned a lot that way. I also learned a lot about LGBTQ representation in the media and lacking it is. And I was just talking to Gloria about this, there was so little that I knew about Cuba and what was going on, and I’ve been very educated in that sense, and I feel like I’ve become a little bit more of an activist through this show, I’m more knowledgeable. And also, I have more empathy. It humanizes you to be around this kind of content and learn so many other perspectives.
Moreno: Boy have you grown up. I’m so proud of you, wow.
Kellett: We did a good job.
Gomez: They say this in front of you and to me they’re like, we’ve created a monster.
Moreno: That’s also true.
Audience Member 12: How old are you?
Gomez: Me? I’m nineteen.
Machado: I think I’ve learned more about myself. Doing a show where you’re the lead and how it all starts from just being inclusive and knowing that everything is important and everyone is important. Because one of the things I always said that if I ever got to this position, that I would make everyone feel the same. Because I have been in situations where you just feel like crap. You’re made to feel like crap. Your opinion doesn’t matter, the lead of the show comes late and doesn’t care, doesn’t know their lines. It wasn’t so much about me advancing my career, it was about me advancing my people. That’s what this show means to me.
Moreno: And I have learned an enormous amount, as old as I am, I have learned an enormous amount about acting from that one. I really have. She astonishes me. And I know you love me but this is the truth. It’s such a sheer joy to be able to say this out loud and as often as I can. Justina is a remarkable actress, who also manages to be insanely funny, and she has a gift that is very hard to find in actors and actresses. I don’t even know if I can really explain it because civilians don’t understand this. She knows how to listen in a way that is so organic. Let’s say I’m doing the monologue and telling her off or whatever it is, a very emotional scene, and she’s listening and taking in what I’m saying. Nobody does it like Justina. And I have learned from her—I always knew it was important—but it doesn’t mean I knew how to do that. It’s very difficult actually, to separate yourself from all kinds of stuff and really take in what the other actor is saying and doing and feeling. And she has this extraordinary gift for that, on top of being a superb actress. I admire her. I feel so fortunate to be on the same floor with this astonishing woman. That’s what I want to say.
Machado: I can’t. I can’t.
Gomez: I want to add to this. Justina is always putting the most effort forward. I remember during my chemistry with her, she cried. It wasn’t because I was great, it was because she’s always listening. And she’s always engaged. She cares so much about her craft, and she puts everything in her into it. She makes it look so easy because she’s so talented.
Machado: And I’m also so crazy.
Gomez: True. Yes.
Moreno: She’s very emotional. You know what it is? She has access. She accesses all of the things she’s ever experienced. I’d like to think that I have that access too. I remember somebody once saying to me, young man—I was doing this scene in Oz for HBO—and he says, gee where do you find that? How do you do that? And I said, oh, honey, there is a well, of sadness, and anger, that will never dry out. And I have access to it, and that’s what she has as well.
Gomez: That was great.
Moreno: It is wonderful to say that, from the goodness of your heart, because you mean it. I mean, I’m this close to tears right now. She kills me.
Kellett: It’s gorgeous watching. It really is.
Machado: We all love each other very much.
Kellett: And it’s wonderful writing for this type of talent. It is glorious. Because you know that they’re never going to disappoint. And they don’t.
Cepeda: So we have time for one last question.
Audience Member 13: So as part of Latinx Heritage Month, Lisa brought in a speaker, Zahira Kelly, and she’s on social media, and something that she brought up was, as an Afrolatina, she doesn’t ever see herself represented in novelas, or shows, or anything about Latinos, even though she strongly identifies as Latina or Afrolatina. So I’m wondering, as a writer, or maybe in the industry, if there’s anything in the works to create a space or different roles for Afrolatinos?
Kellett: It’s a great question. You know the thing about it is, I mentor. And that’s a really important thing that I think it’s important to do. We have three writers on our staff that used to be my students at Loyola. We have four PA’s that used to be my students at Loyola. And I feel like mentoring is really important because I, as a content creator, have to first tell my story. Right? I have to do the best job at doing that. So that I can open the door for somebody else to walk through it. Because I think Afrolatino stories are important to tell too. I don’t know if I’m the person to tell that story, because I think an Afrolatina should be telling that story, and I want to make room for her here. So by doing this, and doing it well, making space for more stories like that to be told. I think that’s the way to do it. And from the acting perspective, it’s true, one percent. In most groups I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been doing this twelve years and I’ve been on five different shows, I’m mostly the only Latina in the room. Sometimes the only woman. It is very very hard to get to the point that I’ve gotten. It’s very hard. So what I can do is try to help, and try to educate, and try to bring people aboard, to then be able to grow and make the shows themselves. That’s where it’s going to start, by opening the door and helping people to come in.
Machado: And that’s why we started #FiercelyLatina that’s part of what we want to do too. You know, bring more awareness, have people come let them know about projects that they wouldn’t necessarily know about, create our own content. All of that stuff.
Gomez: And even within the #FiercelyLatina we have a group chat. And Gloria’s casting her new show, Gloria’s like, who do you guys know? So that’s what we’re hoping to do.
Moreno: Boy, I never thought I’d hear that. That’s astonishing, that’s great. Nobody cared. Not when I was a kid. I played Native girls. I could tell you stories.
Kellett: Read her book, it’s beautiful.
Machado: Please read her book, it’s great.
Kellett: Read it, but the audio is also great. Because she reads the audiobook.
Machado: Just in West Side Story, she’s like five shades darker than she really is. They put all that makeup on you to look–
Moreno: And I complained and told makeup, we were all so many different colors. And he said, what’s wrong with it? What are you, racist or what?
Cepeda: In the introduction to Latina/Latino Studies, we discuss that whole issue of West Side Story.
Moreno: And that was Jerome Robbins. The genius director/choreographer who said, I want a contrast. It was his fault. He said, no no, they’re not dark enough. We didn’t know that then. Because you would’ve gotten killed.
Professor Maria Elena Cepeda, is a professor in Latina/Latino studies, she holds her Bachelor’s from Kenyon College and Masters and PhD from the University of Michigan. She’s published several articles on transnational Latina and Latino, be they popular culture U.S.-Colombian studies, gender studies, audience studies, and language politics. Her books include Musical Migrations: Transnationalism and Cultural Hybridity in Latin(o) America, Musical ImagiNation: U.S.-Colombian Identity and the Latin Music Boom, and her most recent project, The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Media was published this year. She is working a project currently titled Contradictory Labors: Gender and Transnational Media Narratives of Colombianidad, and has just wrapped up her role in organizing the inaugural U.S. Colombianx Studies Meeting.
Isabella Gomez plays Elena Alvarez, a queer Latina who is as passionate about social justice issues as she is about her family and her friends. Isabella has appeared in Modern Family and Matador before starring on One Day At A Time. She’s a recent awardee for the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress, and somebody I hope to see on our stage for many years to come.
Justina Machado plays Penelope Alvarez the mother, friend daughter and nurse who navigates spaces of mental health and single motherhood among other interesting topics. Her past roles are numerous, ranging from TV film and Broadway, she has starred in E.R., Six Feet Under, Private Practice, and more recently Queen of the South and Jane the Virgin, just to name a few. Justina is a talented actor and singer, she has also been nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and she is the winner of the FilmOut Festival Awards for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Pedro, and the Imagen Award for Best Actress in One Day at a Time.
And now Rita Moreno, plays Lydia Rivera, a strong, caring grandmother, immigrant, and passionate dance instructor. Rita reigns as a decorated artist, singer, and actor, but throughout her career has broken new ground for Latinxes in entertainment. She has appeared in such iconic works as West Side Story, The Ritz, The Electric Company, The Muppet Show, 9 to 5, and Jane the Virgin, just to name a few. Rita is one of the eleven people to achieve the EGOT in the four major entertainment honors, winning multiple Grammys, Oscars and Tony awards. She also earned individual Emmy awards and Tony awards for her acting. Rita has won countless other awards for her work, including multiple lifetime achievement awards, the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of the Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And I could go on and on about her many other achievements, in and out of the performance industry, but most of all, Rita Morena has truly served, and continues to serve, as a vanguard for Latinx representation and visibility in film TV stage and beyond.
Gloria Calderon Kellett is the showrunner, writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner of One Day At A Time, where she brings multidimensional, complicated, and honest Latinx experiences to life. She was a writer and producer for How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Mixology, and iZombie. She is also a talented screenwriter and playwright, of such plays as In Her Shoes, Baggage, and Bedtimes Stories, for which she has won numerous awards such as the Kennedy Center ACTF Achievement Award and the Del Rey Players Achievement Award. She’s also been a nominee and a winner for the ala award for outstanding script in a drama or comedy. 6:14 Her series One Day At A Time has been awarded the Imagen Award, the Alma Award, the Teen Choice Award, the Voice Award, the NHMC Award and the Tell-Tale TV Award for best comedy in this year alone.
This conversation was organized by Mérida Rúa at Williams College and made possible by co-sponsors of Latino Studies: The Class of 1960 Scholars, American Studies, Spanish, English, Theater, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Office of the President, The Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, The Davis Center and Lista.
