The Pressures of Hollywood as a First-Gen Latina while Going Punk Rock for Hulu’s ‘This Fool’ with Actress Michelle Ortiz

Story written by Dagmara Cintron

Actress Michelle Ortiz of Hulu’s “The Fool” photographed by Drake Hackney

“Some people are instant successes overnight. That didn't happen to me.”

Raised in the Highland Park neighborhood of L.A., Mexican American actress Michelle Ortiz stars in the new irreverent, half-hour comedy, This Fool. The Hulu series follows 30-year-old Julio Lopez (Chris Estrada) as he navigates his working-class life while helping rehabilitate ex-gang members in South Central L.A. through his work with the non-profit, Hugs Not Thugs. Ortiz plays Julio's on and off again girlfriend since high school, Maggie. 

In This Fool, we first meet Ortiz's Maggie as she attempts to "steal" Julio's car as he is on his way to pick up his older cousin, Luis (Frank Quinones). Her character is an independent, alternative chick yet very dependent on her 10-year relationship with Julio. Ortiz's past experience in comedy (MADtv, Gentefied) and theater, and her staunch belief in making Maggie a punk rock Latina, created a hilarious and bold character you can't help but root for.

Executive-produced by Fred Armisen, the series is now available on Hulu. We chatted with Michelle Ortiz to talk about her career in Hollywood as a Latina, the pressure of being creative as a first-generation daughter, and some of her comedy heroes. 

(D) Dagmara for The Mujerista
(M) Michelle Ortiz

D: First of all, let me start off by saying I LOVED This Fool. I just finished watching the whole season, and I cannot tell you how much I laughed. The whole portrayal of Mexican American culture in Los Angeles…I loved it.

M: Oh my God, girl, thank you! Are you from L.A.?

D: I'm not. I'm from New York. But I live in L.A. with my boyfriend, who is Mexican American and from here.

M: (Laughs) Oh, so you know!

D: Yep. I feel like I could be in my boyfriend's cousin's house or something when I watch the show. Anyway, let's pivot a little to MADtv. Tell me about that experience. 

M: Oh my God, girl. That was a dream come true [that] I didn't even know I had. Growing up, MADtv and SNL were my favorite things to watch Saturday night. Alex Borstein, Mo Collins, Debra Wilson, Nicole Sullivan…those were my heroes growing up. And then it got canceled in the early 2000s. 

So, I thought to myself, Okay, I'll try for SNL. I didn't even think MADtv was in the cards. And then, the audition came up, and I wrote my own material, crafted my own audition with current impressions and references to 2016, and booked it. I can't even tell you how surreal that phone call was. I started laughing. I started crying. My manager was like, "I'm gonna let you go. It sounds like you're on drugs. It sounds like you're trippin'." Some higher powers were helping me out with that one. 

We shot the show. A lot of the original cast members came back to guest star. My first sketch in front of a live studio audience was opposite Nicole Sullivan. To this day, I still remember being in the sketch but being a fly on the wall–watching myself, outside of myself. So, that was a total dream come true, and that was in 2016. 

But after that, I didn't work for a year and a half. 

D:: Oh, wow!

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M: I got close to a lot of projects. My bread and butter was a lot of commercials in Spanish and English. I didn't even book a commercial! It was so bad, girl, I had to go back to catering. 

D: Do you think that's just the nature of the industry?

M: I think, I don't know. I think the industry tested me because I had to go back to catering, having already been on this iconic show. That's why actors are so flakey because we literally have to drop everything at the drop of a hat to make a callback. They don't accommodate you. That's why we're all waiters, or we're all in the service industry. 

It reached a point where I was like…It might be time to quit. My mom was always so supportive growing up with me being in the arts, but at some point, she was like, "What are you doing? When are you going to law school?" Coming from an immigrant family, you can only be a doctor or lawyer. 

D: Oh my gosh, yes. 

M: And so, after MADtv, my mom was like, "So…are you gonna re-consider this? You can always teach! You're not necessarily pretty enough either." It was bad. 

And after every job, you think, Oh, this will be a life-changing one. But you can't really think that way. The highs are highs, and the lows are lows. And with every job, in some ways, the hustle does get harder.  I even started a self-taping business where I would coach kids on the side. 

D: That's so cool! 

M: Thanks! Eventually, I booked another commercial and started booking some guest stars. Who knows! It could have been my representation at the time. But I didn't quit, thankfully. 

D: Well, I'm so glad you didn't. I loved your role in This Fool.

M: Thank you so much! Playing Maggie has also been a dream come true because I've always wanted to play an alternative Latina-type punk rocker chick. It's like a little homage to my emo 12-year-old self.

Sketch [comedy] is so different. I was playing all these different characters. It's been such a joy to play one character from beginning to finish and go on that journey. This is my first time being able to follow through on a singular, linear story. 

D: That's awesome. Tell me a little about your background. Are your parents both from Mexico, and did they grow up in L.A.? 

M: I am first-generation. Mom is from Sonora, and Dad is from Tijuana. We only spoke Spanish at home. We would spend summers in Rosarito. As soon as we crossed the border, it was, Okay. Solamente Espanol. And if we didn't answer back in Spanish, they wouldn't speak to us.

D: That's so good. My boyfriend wishes he spoke better Spanish and to go to Mexico more, so it's cool that you got to do that. 

M: Yes. Although, to his credit, there are generations of Mexicans who don't want their kids to speak Spanish because they don't want their kids to have an accent in English. Not saying that's the case with his family. There are just so many different layers and nuances to being bilingual and being born here instead of there. 

D: A hundred percent. So when you started off in the entertainment industry, did you want it to be with a focus on your MexicanAmerican background? 

M: Starting out, I just thought being bilingual and being able to sing, dance, and act would be enough to get me where I wanted to go. And luckily, being bilingual did help me. I started doing commercials in Spanish and English, and it did help. But was it my main focus? Not really, to be honest. 

Unfortunately and fortunately, I did the 2014 ABC Diversity Showcase, and in 2016 I did the CBS Diversity Showcase. When I was doing it at the time, I was really jaded. I was like, What the hell? Why do I have to work twice as hard? Why do I have to be selected out of 20,000 other people just because I'm not white? It's like you have to prove yourself again and again. 

A lot of those actors that got into those showcases...it was like their fifth time trying. It was very competitive. It was very intense. And there has been some clapback from the drama that's happened there, but I have to say, looking back on it now, I wouldn't be where I am because of it--because it did provide a lot of exposure.

D: I get that. 

You mentioned earlier being first-generation and how that can impact your path in life—I'm also a first-generation immigrant, and because I'm in the creative industry, I can relate to that feeling of having this weight on your shoulders…

M: Is it because your family doesn't understand what you do? 

D: In a way, sort of. But I think it's also just being the oldest. There's this pressure of bringing financial stability to the family. I know you mentioned your mom earlier making comments about being uncertain about your career path. Do you feel like your family is more understanding and supportive of you at this stage in your career? 

M: Um, I think it's hard because when I got MADtv, they were like, Okay, this can happen for her. It comes from a good place. They don't want to see us struggle. 

D: Of course. 

M: And however those words come out, whether they're hurtful at times, it comes from a good place. I think because I'm finally busy with a lot of projects—I'm doing voice animation work, too, and a couple of projects I can't talk about yet because they haven't been announced—now they're very proud. 

My dad wasn't really in the picture for most of my life, but he actually said something to me the other day that was like, "You know, You got here on your own. Without anyone's help financially. With no nepotism. You should be really proud that you got yourself to where you are, completely by yourself." So, I think now they appreciate that I was able to get here by myself. 

Michelle Ortiz plays punk rock chick Maggie on Hulu’s “The Fool” / Photography by Drake Hackney

D: And you should be proud. It's not easy like you said. The diversity showcase alone sounds like a rollercoaster. 

M: Oh my God, girl. And every network has one. NBC would have been the next one…

D:  Holy moly. So, by playing Maggie on This Fool, and all the other work that relates a lot to your Latina background, is there ever a message you want to send to other young Latinas watching through your work? 

M: I sacrificed a social life in my 20s for this. And being financially unstable is so incredibly stressful. It sounds so cheesy, but: hard work, meeting opportunity, and meeting luck are literally the trifecta that will catapult you to get you to where you want to go. I just want to show that hard work pays off. And slow and steady wins the race. 

Some people are instant successes overnight. That didn't happen to me. When I got on MADtv, I thought I would be working forever from then on. And then I didn't get work for a year. And I went back to catering. That should be a lesson: you can't give up on yourself, and you can't take no for an answer. 

Coming out of college, I didn't know anything. I got a theater degree, but they don't teach you how to get an agent or anything. I literally pitched myself for the ABC Diversity Showcase. I was like, "Hi, I have this girl Michelle Ortiz. She just graduated college. She'd be perfect for this! Like, where did I have the balls to do that? 

So, just persevere. Just keep going. But if you wake up the next day and think of something else that can make you happy, do it. 

D: Solid advice. How was your experience getting a theater degree? 

M:  So I got a B.A. in theater and political science. But the best part of my education was when I studied abroad in Russia and Germany. I went to the Moscow Art Theater School, which is basically the Juilliard of Russia. In Germany, I was taking private opera lessons. 

D: Wow. 

M: Yeah. From a Swedish opera singer. And then, after college, I went to L.A. opera as a glorified extra. And I was so excited. I thought I was making it. Mind you, I was making 12 dollars an hour. Being abroad really solidified that I wanted to do this for a living.

D: Wow. Russia is an excellent place to intensely study something. You mentioned you did voice animation work. What does that entail? 

M I thought being bilingual would be an asset. But I wasn't able to get a voiceover agent until after MADtv. I finally booked some video game voiceover work, and then I did Star Wars. It was and continues to be so, so fun. It's so challenging because you don't get the script until the day of, so you don't have that much time to work on it. So you gotta come in ready to play. In the last Star Wars video game I did, I played the first female Mandalorian. So that was cool. And I got to use my normal voice, so that was fun. 

D: That's amazing, I love that. So you've done voice animation work, you've done theater school, sketch T.V., and now you are a running character on a streamed show. Which has been your favorite so far? If you can choose one. 

M: Well, I just did my west coast theater debut at the Geffen Playhouse for the King Liz Show. 

D: Oh my gosh, wow! 

D: Yeah. That was another thing to check off my list. I wanted to see if I had the stamina for eight shows a week. Which let me tell you, girl, it was exhausting. 

D: I can imagine. 

D: I hope to eventually do a musical on broadway. But my favorite...Ugh, it's so hard to choose. I love doing animation because you go in without makeup and don't necessarily have a scene partner. You literally have to craft and create this imaginary world in this dark booth. What I like about voice animation, too, is your ethnicity doesn't matter. You can be a green blob and go in and sing (laughs).
But it's hard to say. Each genre and each project I've done is a different muscle. That's why it's hard to choose. 

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D: You're so well-rounded! I think everything you've done, all the ups and downs, made you so much stronger as a performer, actress, and comedian. 
I want to circle back for a second. Are you allowed to tell us if another season of This Fool is coming out?

M: I'm not allowed to say anything! But we can put the good vibes out there. You should find out fairly soon.

D: Okay, I'll be on the lookout. Before we end the interview, I wanted to ask: what's your favorite scene from the show? Mine is the rabbit scene. It was so hilarious to me. 

M: Yes! That scene was so hard to shoot because once we started carving up the couches, the feathers made us sneeze and cough constantly! But I think my favorite and most fun to shoot was the hike. I just feel like it's such a relatable scene. When you're in a relationship for a long time, you try to figure out what the hell to do to keep things fun. Like how we spice things up? 

D: Oh my gosh, that's so true! The show, in general, is so relatable. 

M: That's the thing that's so important to Chris Estrada, me, and all the showrunners. Like, yes, it's a mostly Latin cast, but it doesn't mean it's just for Latin audiences. It's for everyone. 

This Fool is now streaming on Hulu. Watch the trailer above.