Stephanie Beatriz – Brooklyn Nine-Nine

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I did this really important independent film called The Light of the Moon. It is written and directed by Jessica M. Thompson. It is about a young woman roughly my age who lives in Brooklyn. She has a job she likes and a boyfriend who is questionable at times, but she still really likes him. She also has a great group of friends. She goes out with friends one evening where they go drinking and bar hopping and as she is walking home she is violently raped. The movie is actually about what life is like after that happens to you. Recently in the news there was a case like this that happened at Stanford and there was a beautiful letter published that the survivor had written about the experience. I think so many people responded to that letter so strongly because we don’t often hear the survivor’s side of the story a lot of the time. A lot of times in film when we talk about rape it can be very sexually shot in films or a rape fantasy or a revenge fantasy where the victim finds her rapist and makes him pay for everything he did to her. Sometimes movies talk about societal change or there is a scene in the courtroom. This was the first script that I read where the story was really about the woman it happened to and who she gets to be afterwards. Is she just a rape victim or does she get to define herself in a different way? I think the story is so important because I know a lot of people who have been sexually assaulted. Way too many people in my life have had this happen to them or someone they love. To me, doing this film was really important because it read on the page as so special and intimate. I think the more intimate a story gets the more universal it becomes. It’s being submitted around to festivals so hopefully you’ll get to see it. Also, (totally switching gears) I guest starred again on “Modern Family.” I play Sofia Vergara’s sister and she will be coming back. It was really fun being over there. Everyone on that set is so lovely and nice.

Q) Going back a moment, you mentioned having a lot of people in your life who were victims of crime and rape. What did you learn about the process through being a part of the film?

A) I think the main thing I learned was that all these victims/survivors (however they want to identify) was that they want to be seen as more than that experience because they had no control over that experience. They lost all control through that experience. And they want to be seen as more than just that experience, even though for some of them it really colors everything in their lives now. It’s important for them to be more than that because it means they are winning the fight against that being all of what they think about it and it clouding their brain. I have a friend who is the survivor of incest and she is one of the most phenomenal people. She is super people and just an incredible light. It’s really important for her to express that part of her personality and project that out into the world because she deals with a lot of darkness and she doesn’t want to just be seen as an incest survivor. She’s an incredible teacher, dancer and very spiritually connected. She’s an amazing friend and that’s how I think of her first and I think that’s a testament to her and it is really important to her to be seen in the world as not just an incest survivor.

Q) How will dynamics shift this season on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine?”

A) That’s a good way to put it because dynamics are definitely switching up! We pick up with Holt (Andre Braugher) and Jake in the Witness Protection Program, which means they have been out of contact with us for a while. They can’t contact the squad at all because their lives will be in danger. It’s really hard for Jake (Andy Samberg) because he and Amy (Melissa Fumero) were getting really serious towards the end of last season. They were saying “I love you” and it was on with those two. So, in the middle of growing a relationship like that it is going to throw a wrench into one of them disappear basically. Then, back in the precinct, we have been kind of struggling on our own for a while and then we get assigned a new captain who is played by Ken Marino (who is hilarious). By this time, the squad is very loyal to Holt so they are not happy they have been assigned someone new. You’ll have to tune in to see what happens!

Q) Where do we pick up with Rosa specifically and how her personality may clash with this new Captain?

A) Generally, Rosa’s set default is that everyone is an idiot until proven otherwise. So, I think we’re starting there with the new character. I think Rosa is a little bit struggling as much as she can struggle because Adrian (Jason Mantzoukas) is basically missing. He’s in hiding and she doesn’t know what is happening with him. He is supposed to stay in hiding. This is a new place for Rosa because she does not like feelings at all. Rosa doesn’t do feelings. They do her, but she doesn’t do them. That’s the thing about feelings, they’re going to come. Even if you’re a badass, they’re going to come. I’m really excited to see that this season. I’m interested to see if her relationship with continue and develop. We have to do something because she is engaged. It will be interesting to see if that engagement continues or if there is a marriage. Either way, it’s going to be really, really interesting for Rosa.

Q) What is also great about the series is there are holiday episodes. We have seen some teases through social media.

A) The Halloween episode is so funny! It is lit! Oh my gosh! We were dying at the table read and shooting we were dying! I think we might have gotten behind schedule because we were laughing so much. It was a long week. It was really fun! I’m glad that is a tradition now. I think at one point there was talk of finishing it off at Season Three so this year when I saw we were going to have another Halloween episode I was fist pumping, for sure, because those are some of my favorites – the holiday episodes.

Q) There is a great dysfunctional dynamic with the characters. It feels like the precinct is almost a character as well because they are there so much. How does the squad room lend itself to being a part of this family?

A) That’s such a good question. I feel like that set has felt like home since the minute we stepped on it. Maybe it is because we are all not trapped, but there for many hours. The precinct is on Stage 12 and that kind of feels like our house. When we have guest stars, one of my favorite things to do is really welcome them and include them in everything because I know how hard it is to be a guest star. You don’t know anyone and you’re only there for a day. You’re literally visiting someone else’s house. So, we try to make it feel as comfortable as possible for people coming onto our show. I legit keep snacks in Rosa’s desk. We charge our phones. Everyone has taken ownership of their desks. The time I really realized our set looked pretty dang good was when I was New York for a press event and my purse was stolen so I had to go to a New York police precinct. It looked so much like our set – kind of grimy, very unorganized and very busy. I was like, “Oh! Our set decorator did a really good job!” The research must have been really well done because our set is spot-on.

Q) Who are some of the guest stars you can tease this season?

A) Maya Rudolph is in the first couple of episodes. She is so kind and very fun! She’s just a fun person to be around, period. Jorma Taccone is also guest starting this season. It is really funny to watch him and Andy because they have this total shorthand from years of working together, being around each other and collaborating. Literally you can watch them and one will go, “What if we…” and the other will go, “Yeah, I know.” They don’t have to say what they are thinking. They just sort of do it together. It’s funny watching them work. And I love The Lonely Island so it was an extra treat for me to have him around. That’s probably all I’m allowed to say. I will say that I’m pumped about some of them, especially the one that is coming on next week. That is one of the fun things about working on the show, we are so lucky to have these amazing guest stars come on and it is really, really fun to play with them.

Q) Talk about the great female dynamic to the show.

A) We’re shooting a secret project together so I’m sure it will be announced soon. It’s just a little thing we did on the side. She’s so fun to work with and I love collaborating with her. This season I have noticed that the writers have put us together quite a bit. We have done a couple episodes where our storylines are sort of intertwined. The women, just in general, Chelsea [Peretti], Melissa and I have had where there are like two or three of us together is so exciting for me. I think back to watching television as a kid and there weren’t many storylines that weren’t about two women fighting over the same guy. I think that “Friends” sort of ushered in three women in a scene being ridiculous where they aren’t fighting. I’m excited about that this season because I think some of these female centric scenes this season are funny and I’m excited to share them with the audience!

Q) Rosa is fierce and flawed. Talk about your portrayal of her since she is so layered.

A) She is super complex. I think all of the characters on the show are complex, but just speaking for myself and the character I play. I recognize a lot of Rosa in a lot of the women that I know. I think a lot of women have to be extra strong during their day, whether it is because they are a mom and trying to raise a human being to be a good person or they have a career they are trying to balance. They are just working through trying to climb the corporate ladder. You sort of have to put on this armor for the day and say, “Let’s do this.” I think a lot of women can identify with that feeling to suit up and get ready for the battle of your life (basically) every day. I think Rosa is a very exaggerated version of that. She is really tough and I think that is naturally who she is, but as you see she has a lot of vulnerabilities that she even aware of. I think that is very identifiable too. I think a lot of us can be surprised about how we feel about things. You get surprised by life all the time and that’s what I really love about Rosa. She is surprised by herself. She is constantly growing and changing, even though she wouldn’t say that. But she is! If you would ask Rosa two months before she met her fiancée if she’d ever get married she’d probably give a hard “no.” But here she is engaged! It’s really fascinating who you can let yourself be if you just open yourself up to the possibilities to that. Even Rosa in her closed off brittle way is open to possibilities and that is what I love about her. I love her sense of justice. I think justice is a big thing for Rosa. I think that’s why she became a cop and sometimes why she wants to bend the rules. She wants to just get in there, get her hands dirty and make it right.

Q) What have you learned about yourself from playing Rosa?

A) That’s easy – that I’m stronger than I think. I’m way stronger than I think I am. Playing someone who is unapologetically herself and walks in a room and owns the space and just saying, “I’m here.” I love her line that was, “I’m fine at parties. I just stand in the middle of the room and don’t say anything.” She doesn’t have a problem with that whereas I sometimes get social anxiety before a party thinking, “Who am I going to talk to? Am I going to look cool? Will this be wired? Where is the food?” There is something really great about playing someone who just is herself and it allows you to think that way about yourself, too. I have had a lot of life changes since getting this role. I just go out of a very long relationship and part of why I chose to leave it was that I wasn’t totally being fully myself in it. That’s in a large part due to playing someone who is fully herself and just owns it. I think there was a brain shift for me where I was like, “Oh wait! Am I being all of who I am? Maybe the answer is no. Maybe I can do something about that.” Every role I’ve ever played I’ve learned something deep about myself.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” fans?

A) I’m so excited for the season premiere and then all of the episodes will be on Hulu and Netflix. We are just really pumped about it. A lot of us do live tweeting east and west coast time so if fans want to follow I am @IAmStephBeatz on Twitter and Instagram. We share a lot of behind the scenes stuff. It’s really fun to interact with fans. I love behind the scenes questions when we do live tweets. Another special thing happening is my podcast that I created with my best friend who is a writer called Reality Bytes is all about sex, love, dating in the digital age. It’s dropping on September 20^th and new episodes will be on iTunes and YouTube each Tuesday. Go download the podcast and watch it on YouTube. Our first guest is Melissa Fumero! It should be really fun.