“Gold hoops for days.” That would be the Real Housewives tagline for iconic actress Ana Ortiz, a diehard fan of the chaotically entertaining franchise. Her Love, Victor character, the sweet, Selena-singing mother Isabel, can also pack a punch—making her the perfect potential contender for a typical Housewives brawl. Fittingly, when Ortiz hops on our Zoom call to discuss her latest role as a protective parent in the Hulu series, she's wearing her signature gold jewelry.
This isn’t Ortiz’s first time at the playing-the-mom-of-a-gay-Latinx-son rodeo. From 2006 to 2010, she starred in the groundbreaking series Ugly Betty as Hilda Suarez, the hairdressing sister of the titular character and mother of the unabashedly fabulous Justin. If you were a gay kid in the closet during the ‘00s, the love Hilda had for her son gave you the much-needed hope that everything would be all right. Following the close of Ugly Betty, Ortiz went on to star in Devious Maids and Whiskey Cavalier, and popped up in series such as How to Get Away with Murder and The Mindy Project.
Ortiz’s performance in Love, Victor is straight-up perfection. Isabel would do anything for her kids Victor (Michael Cimino), Pilar (Isabella Ferreira), and Adrian (Mateo Fernandez), and she’s not afraid to stand up for herself in arguments with her husband Armando (James Martinez). From panicking over a tres leches cake to looking daggers at Victor’s girlfriend, Ortiz bodies the role.
But where Hilda accepted Justin unconditionally in Ugly Betty, Love Victor viewers don’t know exactly how Isabel feels about queerness. Although one episode shows Victor’s parents standing by their son when he sticks up for his gay friends, we also see Isabel and Armando commit a slew of microaggressions about sexuality and gender that make it difficult for Victor to come out. So when the teen finally does so—in the very last line of the finale—it’s unclear how his parents react to the news. Here, Ortiz discusses playing a character with views contrarian to her own, the multiplicity of the Latinx community, her devastation over not getting to meet Katya Zamolodchikova, and more.
With Isabel, we get to see a mother who makes her own mistakes, notably cheating on her husband. Why was that important to portray?
I didn't look at her as a bad lady for doing it. I looked at her as someone who was missing something grand in her life. Scenes were cut where she talks about her dreams and her aspirations. She wanted to be a singer, she wanted to write music. She thought of herself as an artist. And when it didn't happen and she couldn't even teach her piano lessons, she couldn't even help spread the joy of music, everything came crashing down. She just made a really, really sh*tty choice.
James Martinez as Armando and Ana Ortiz as Isabel in Love, Victor.
I read that the Salazar family was originally Mexican, but production changed it to match your Puerto Rican background and James being Colombian. The Latinx experience is so vast, so what did you think of this fine tuning?
I had this conversation with all my Latinx actor friends. Instead of having us play Mexicans, it makes more sense to keep it in the wheelhouse we know. Because what ended up happening is, throughout the show, James and I would add in our own little -isms. [For a scene] when [Victor] left the house, I said, "He would never leave the house without kissing me or me shouting bendición.” That's a very Puerto Rican thing. I don't have the experience to know if other cultures do that when the kid is leaving. So we were able to be free with that improv and bring that personal touch to the show. In my car I have the little Puerto Rican flag hanging, I have the Virgin Mary in my car, it's crazy. I get too Catholic. And so [the show] would adopt that into the house, family, and characters. Had we stayed as Mexican characters, there's so much I don't know.
When I speak to Judy Reyes, who is an incredible actress, she was on Devious Maids with me, she's on Claws now, she’s one of my closest friends—we talk about this all the time. Say someone is Salvadorian and she's playing a Cuban. We watch it with such a critical eye like, "Is that real? Is that how it is?" It's intimidating to not screw it up. If I was playing a Mexican, I would have been very conscientious about making sure my accent was right. That’s something I really regret, looking back at Betty. We were Mexican and it didn't even occur to me back then to make the effort of finding out what that meant. Hilda was just a part of me. [But] being a Mexican woman in New York is a totally different experience than [being] a Puerto Rican woman in New York.
Now that Love Victor's been out for a few weeks, what's your reaction to the response?
I’ve never been on a show that's dropped all at once, and the response has been incredible. When you're making a show, there [are] a few times you're like, Oh, this might be pretty amazing. I had that experience with Betty when we were shooting the pilot. America [Ferrera] turned and was like, "I think this is really great." We were all sitting there—Mark Indelicato, he was so little, and Tony Plana—and I was like, "Yeah, this feels really incredible, this feels like we're doing something really cool and…" I hesitate to say important, but you catch my drift. There was some kind of magic around it. Victor was the next time I felt that way. When I got together with Michael and James and Bella and little Mateo, we felt like, "This is a family, I'm in love with you guys." We knew this show, this dialogue, this content, was special and unique.
Ortiz with Michael Cimino as Victor.
What was the audition like?
[Sips her drink] I didn’t audition. [Laughs] I'm friends with Brian Tanen, who is one of the showrunners and producers, and we've been friends since Ugly Betty. He called me about the role and it seemed like a no brainer.
Mark played Justin on Ugly Betty, and Hilda is such an iconic character for so many gay men. But that show came out ten years ago. How have you seen the conversations about LGBTQ+ representation change over the past decade?
With Hilda and Justin, it was such a different dynamic. She was so proud of him and would bust anybody's butt who tried to make him feel less than because he was gay. She wanted him to have a life where he felt confident and safe. Isabel is totally the opposite. It's really interesting playing that flip of the same coin: a mother who's madly in love with her kids, who's a very good parent, but there's limitations—or so it seems, right? We don't know how [the show is] going to end up dealing with [Victor coming out]. I'm really hoping there's a second season so we can find that out. I'm excited to see it going further—getting gayer and deeper.
Back in the day, maybe television audiences [weren’t] ready for a show centered around a Latinx gay character, right? Justin was on the periphery. We had that character and we had those issues but it wasn't what the show was about. The show was about Betty, her struggles, and fashion. Before, LGBTQ issues were always the side story. They were never the main story, and now they get to be the main character. They get to be Betty.
Ortiz with America Ferrera as Betty and Mark Indelicato as Justin in Ugly Betty.
I’ve noticed you use the term Latinx, which I think is amazing, but I also know there can be a generational divide with its popularity. What’s been your journey to using the term?
It's so funny you [bring it up], because I felt a lot of pushback from people in my age group and older. I don't want to dismiss them, because their point was it's our language. As we say, it’s ella/ello. So [some] are saying, You're taking away the ability for me to understand who you're speaking to. That's our language, it is masculine and feminine, so you can't take that away and make [it] this Latinx thing.
But the more I speak to people, the more I don't perceive it that way. I mean, Latinx, it's quite freaking dope. If I'm with the older generation in my family and they're saying Latino and Latina, I'm not going to start a fight about it. But in my life I have chosen to say Latinx because most of the people I hang out with do. I hang out with a lot of young people. Mark Indelicato from Betty is still one of my very best friends. He's the one who educates me on a lot of this stuff. It's something you have to adapt and get used to. We're evolving and everybody has to do it at their own pace. For me it's a little bit quicker because I'm surrounded by that type of conversation all the time.
You’re a huge fan of Real Housewives. How do you think Isabel would fare on Atlanta?
I live and die for the Housewives. I think Isabel would probably end up being the villain. She would be the one who always fights and screams at them about Jesus and to stop drinking. She would probably be the prude. But I’ll tell you what, you know how I think she would fair? She would end up in the center with the peach. Knock NeNe out.
Most of your scenes are with the other family members, but there were so many other amazing actresses that popped up. Who would you love to have scenes with in season 2?
All of them, are you kidding me? I mean, the fact that I didn't meet Katya, I'm still quite mad over it. Everybody bragged to me: "She was amazing, she's so cool, she was just chilling." [I'm] devastated. Ali Wong, I'm so obsessed with her on so many levels—she's so funny and brilliant. Leslie [Grossman]'s a friend of mine so if I got to do a scene with her I think I'd plotz. How could I possibly choose? I want a big group scene.
Do you have any secrets you can give me? Any chisme?
I don’t know any secrets, I wish I did! This has been really cool for me. I was really nervous—I didn’t know how people were going to respond to this show. I really want season 2. I’m ready for Victor to get out and see what it’s like. Is he going to be dressing up with Katya again? Because please!
Season 2 needs a parent/teacher conference with you, Ali, Leslie, Sophia [Bush], and Natasha [Rothwell]. Then you all stumble upon a club and Katya and Trixie are performing.
Will you be furious if I pitched that?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
