…Back then, it was very difficult for Latinos to even play their own roles, even if it was written for a Latin character. This was an event where they were actually changing the role to make it Latin, and I was just very proud to be able to change it. To not only have this be my first acting role, but have it be a little bit groundbreaking…

I can only speak for myself, but as an actor i wasn’t like, “I’m going to challenge the way people see Latin people.” I was just happy to get roles. I tried to find new material in characters, but I wasn’t post-race about it or anything like that. I was just looking at it as just work. I wasn’t framing myself, so I wasn’t framing characters. Now I see the importance of playing [certain types of] characters. I’m not necessarily choosing characters that go against stereotypes, I’m choosing characters that you don’t even have time to question where they would fit in. Or what box they would fit into.

I have been blessed that I wasn't pigeonholed into that. Those roles didn't come to me because I didn't have an accent. They'd ask, 'Couldn't you do it a little more feisty, fiery, Latin.' I'd respond with, 'I'm sorry, were you getting Jewish fire? Because I am Latin.' Even though I am very tied to and close to my heritage, I learned Spanish in college, I didn't grow up with it. Growing up in South Texas is different from Miami or L.A. where it is a necessity to speak Spanish.

The first audition I ever did [in America], the casting director said, "I don't know why you're here. You're never going to work [here]. You don't look right. You don't have the right kind of personality. I don't even know if you can do an American accent. Maybe you can try England." ... It made me more determined.

…There are assumptions made about the kind of work Latinos make. I think that remains a challenge because when people are looking for Latino plays, they’re looking for plays of that “type.” Some of that gets defined by your ethnicity…

But once I got to America, I was like, 'I'm really a minority here, I have no representation.' One of the worst things was, every time there was a role to read, it was so stereotypical. It was of the Chinese girl from Chinatown or the waitress, you know, the old cliches. I fought against that for a very long time. I had the luxury of saying no, I won't endorse these kinds of roles. But I can totally understand that there are so many actors and actresses who (have to take on those roles) to work for a living.

…I’m used to living here in America and being the only Latino person in the room. So I am often literally representing us Latinos…But it was more important to just do quality work, not so much just as a Latin actress, but as an actress. There’s pressure just in that. It’s so funny, my mom always said to me, “Life is pressure. You’ve just got to deal with it.”

Now, in the acting world, you see a lot more of the "all ethnicities" roles out there. I see more of my fellow Latinas rising up, and that makes me very proud. There are not as many Hispanic leading ladies out there as I would like, but I want to help change that in the future. I am blessed with the opportunities I have been given and I am extremely proud of where I come from. I would not have it any other way.

I have been told countless of times when auditioning for certain roles that I don't look African or South African enough. Which is absurd because I am both of those things. Also, black British roles have been a myth lol. And I have been told (not in so many words) to accept it because that's just how the industry is

I didn’t want to tell my parents that I was going to audition because nobody believed in acting back then and our community didn’t think it was for black people

The perception of you is one thing. You're this famous person, and now you're this famous person who's a bombshell. So all of a sudden, that's the only way I get jobs. So I have to become the part. And they're telling you this is the way to do it. One director actually said to me, "I want to hear you talk dumber and faster." … He thought it was funny for the girl to be dumb. I finally said, "That's it, man — I can't do this anymore." I'd go to meetings during the filming of a movie, and the directors would ask, "What do you think of the script?" I'd say, "It has a lot of problems." They were confused. That's not what they wanted from me. … So I was not very popular. At one point I said, "I don't want to do this — it's not my dream." And so I said, "I'm going to start a company. I am going to create projects for me. I'm going to create projects for other Latin women." Because I got to a point where I was whining all the time. I was miserable. I was desperate

For so long, I didn't play the object of attention or affection. It wasn't until L.A. Story that anyone cast me in a role that had my sexuality as a point of interest or focus or operation. I just wasn't examined in the same way that a 'pretty girl' would be.

I think it felt challenging because I was a Black woman and also because I was a dark-skinned Black woman, because those roles didn't exist in a wide range, or they kind of felt always relegated to the background, almost like an afterthought. And so I knew that it was going to be very difficult. I think I knew for a fact that it was going to be more noes than yeses. I think I knew that for whatever reason, things beyond my control, meaning how I look, were going to determine what I was going to be allowed to do

The breaking of casting cliches also broke boundaries. A short, Latin-looking actress like me playing classical roles such as Miss Julie , and playing them well, made casting directors uncomfortable. It was unheard of that a short, dark-haired actress of Greek temperament could play the aristocratic Miss Julie. Not beautiful or tall enough etc. It proved one of the best productions of Miss Julie ever seen in London.