Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz has no problem calling out sexism on the set
For all Rosa Diaz fans - there's great news. Stephanie Beatriz - the face behind the character - doesn't have any problem calling out a man if his behavior crosses a line.
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress and LGBTQ advocate is all about calling men out for their apparent sexism, and not even older actors get spared from her censure.
In a recent interview with Vulture, the actress revealed a past experience that most working women are familiar with - especially women in Hollywood. It involved an older man going around calling women “honey,” “babe,” and “baby” on the sets of the show.
Beatriz chose to keep his name undisclosed, but shared that observing his behavior with other women on the set made her wish that he would pull a similar act with her so she could dish it out at him.
“Sure enough once we hit set, he did speak to me that way, and I said, ‘I’d really prefer it if you called me by my name.’ And he was like, ‘All right, sweetie.’ And then I stopped and said, ‘No. I am actually serious. I am not sweetie. My name is Stephanie, and I’d like you to call me by my actual name.’ And he was a little bit of an older guy, and I don’t think he was used to anybody talking to him that way, especially not a young woman.”
While most women would give that kind of curt response a second thought, and even feel uncomfortable about it, Beatriz shared that she knew her Brooklyn Nine-Nine family would have her back. She continues:
“But that was our show. It’s our house, and I wasn’t going to let him come into our house and disrespect the crew, the other actors, myself. It was really great that I felt really supported in that. Everyone around me, the director that day, the crew, our creators, rallied around me and said, ‘Yeah. You did the right thing. Thank you for speaking up and making sure that you felt comfortable in your work environment.'”
Beatriz, who herself is bisexual, plays the role of detective Rosa Diaz on the extremely popular show that was recently canceled by Fox after five successful seasons.
Luckily, NBC picked it up the very next day for a sixth season, after fan petitions started flooding in.
It was Beatriz's sexuality that inspired writers on the show to come up with a two-episode long coming out plot for her character too. One of the character's female love interest has been an Uber driver played by Gina Rodriguez, who appeared in the fifth season's finale, which aired on Sunday.