Judy Reyes – Claws

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What can you tease is in store for this season of “Claws” and with Quiet Ann?

A) You know I can’t tease anything! There are only nine episodes left in the season. But, without being specific, there is a lot of debt. You’ve got your new villains that we’ve met, Mac and Melba, which was fun. We’ve got addictions. We’ve got a pregnancy. We got a casino to deal with. So much crime. My brother comes back for a little bit so we’ll see how he becomes involved in this whole mess. Arlene (Suleka Mathew) and I are on and off and on and off, like girlfriends often do. Desna (Niecy Nash) is bossing it up like only Desna can and it does cause some conflict with her and Quiet Ann. It’s a reason for her to speak up and continue to remind her that her priority is her girls and without them she wouldn’t be where she is. And just more of everything else! A lot of fun. A lot of that crazy, whacky dark humor and tackling of the issues that “Claws” has been fearless since the first season. I think it’s what attracts all our super loyal viewers and draws in all the new ones.

Q) There is a specific look to Quiet Ann. How did you find this character?

A) I think when I went in for the role I kind of made a choice, which is not very easy for an actor to just go in there with her hair pulled back, no makeup, pressed my boobs in and a t-shirt with baggy pants and just go for it. In setting her, devising her and creating her that’s how it’s going to be for the season. It’s refreshing to go into work and not wear any makeup. No Spanx, makeup or heels. Without that, there kind of is no Quiet Ann because that’s how I envisioned her and how I created her. Dolores Ybarra, our costume designer, has been so instrumental in continuing to evolve and develop her style along with us in that Palmetto wardrobe style that we’ve coordinated for the show. She’s been wonderful in helping us to develop that. I think the longest it takes is putting on the tattoos and getting my hair braided. Other than that, it’s pretty quick. I’m like the first one in the van on the way home. [laughs]

Q) Desna says the casino will be beneficial for each of them. What will Quiet Ann’s role in the casino?

A) Ann’s role is kind of the bane of her existence. It kind of gets in the way of her progress. She comes along reluctantly and she is in there just to make sure the girls are safe, as is the role she plays in the salon and keeping in with the family. It’s there to create more wealth for all of them and how it amplifies their personal life, but it only creates more trouble. As much as they try to stay away from it or make it more of a profit, we’ll see the ways they boss it up and how Mac (Michael Horse) and Melba (Rebecca Creskoff) complicate things for them.

Q) Anne and Arlene seem to have a complicated relationship where they push and pull each other in different directions. What do you think it is that ultimately continues to connect them while also dividing them at the same time?

A) I think law and outlaw are always going to be in conflict and always attracted to each other. They are super-hot for each other and in love with each other. They are two really strong women. They feel completely betrayed by one another. They feel completely right in what they did and who they did it for and the reasons they did it. And in order for any relationship to thrive or succeed, they have to come to some kind of compromise and agreement as to how to move forward. That’s what Ann is going to be pursuing this time around with Arlene. They have to figure out how they can or can’t be together with all of the unresolved issues they have leftover from the last couple of seasons. They still have a lot of feelings for each other.

Q) What has been the most rewarding part of portraying Ann and her arc over the years?

A) That’s a great question. I think it’s the challenge of playing something and someone completely new. The honor of being given the opportunity to play someone in the LGBTQ community and the challenge of playing someone distinctively and so clearly with so little dialogue and all the wonderful and exciting places I get to go with her in this show that’s also about as unique as the character I get to play at my age, with women of like age and like diversity. All of us are playing characters and women that we don’t usually get the opportunity to play. And we get an active and vocal relationship with the writers once we set who we are and how we can grow them and move them along. This cast is fantastic and it’s real exciting stories that we get to tell and that are relevant to the times in which we live. These are badass kickass women and the fans are responding exactly how we are delivering them to them. I feel really proud to be a part of that.

Q) Talk about filming the dance number at the end of the season premiere.

A) It was really hard, but it was really fun. It’s become our signature on the show to have some kind of a dance or a “Claws-ian” moment (as we like to call them). We had a wonderful choreographer. Our costumes were on point. It took a whole bunch of takes for us to get our choreography in line all at once and at the same time. But we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. We look forward to delivering that for the fans because they love that shit and we love doing it. We have a lot of fun. There is a camera in the front and then the overhead shot like one of those Busby Berkeley swimming numbers. It was a blast!

Q) What I love about each character is that they are fierce and flawed, but also complex and compelling. What do you think it is about the dynamics of the women that they share that really resonates with audiences?

A) I think you said it. They are fierce and flawed. They are older. They have been through shit and they are making really tough choices to get theirs. It’s not mainstream. It’s not sanitized. It gets dirty. It gets ugly. They work really hard and they love each other so much. They are ride or die for their sisters, for their friends, for their girls – no matter what. It’s something really familiar to the viewers. These are women who are seldom represented. More and more women of color and women of middle age and women who have struggled to get their business off – to just get theirs while they have watched men and others get theirs their whole lives, who look for a leader amongst themselves. When someone has the balls to pull that off and they are there for them and they are there for each other no matter it just feels relatable, familiar and fabulous. Even in the face of tragedy, they have the balls and the will and the desire to be happy, be funny, laugh their assess off and move forward and stand up and represent.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the show?

A) Keep watching! [laughs] I think you’re going to continue to enjoy yourselves. I think you’ve been right all along and I think you will not be disappointed.