- 5 weeks ago
"I really felt a tremendous responsibility to do justice to the Latinx family," Kellet said. "To be able to finally put a Latino family on television, I really wanted to infuse it with all of those good feelings I saw growing up."
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00:00Hey everyone, I'm Evan Reel. Welcome to InStudio today with Gloria Calderon-Kellett, the co-creator
00:08and co-showrunner of Netflix's One Day at a Time. How's it going? It's going so good. So good. I'm so
00:14excited to be here. Season three is finally here. How does it feel? Oh my gosh, it feels so good
00:19because we make them and then it takes like six months before the world sees them. Yeah. So it's
00:24very exciting to finally be releasing it. I cannot wait to watch it. Well, here we are three seasons
00:29and what were your expectations for the show when you first started out on this project
00:34and how has the series lived up to those expectations? I really felt a tremendous responsibility to
00:40do justice to the Latinx family. Yeah. Like for me growing up, I would watch shows like Growing
00:46Pains and Cosby's show and Family Ties and I would see myself through that lens. So to be
00:52able to finally put a Latino family on television, I really wanted to infuse it with all of those
00:56good feelings that I saw growing up. Yeah. Absolutely. And for those who don't know,
01:00One Day at a Time, it's a take on One Day at a Time from the 70s, Norman Lear's show. That's right.
01:06Who's also involved in this project. He is. What was it like adapting that blueprint through
01:11the lens of the Alvarez family for a Latinx family? Well, there's so much pressure because
01:17Norman Lear, if you guys don't know who Norman Lear is, really Google Norman. He is really like
01:21basically invented TV. At one point, he had nine shows on the air at the same time. So many hits.
01:27And groundbreaking work. Not like silly feel-good shows, but grounded, talking about real issues.
01:35I mean, he had a character on a sitcom have an abortion. Unbelievable. It's pretty huge. Huge.
01:40And controversial and talking about real issues that American families were facing with comedy.
01:45And that was just, he was the first of his kind, really. And so we had this tremendous legacy,
01:52Mike Royce and I, to not mess up the Lear legend. You know, like, oh, here it is. You get to redo
01:58this show that was groundbreaking in 1975. It was the first time a divorced woman had been on TV.
02:03Can you believe it? 1975. Insane.
02:05So here he's giving us like the keys to the kingdom. And so we just didn't want to let him down.
02:10Right. And you obviously continued in that spirit. You're tackling huge issues like immigration,
02:14gender equality, homophobia. The list really goes on and on. Why do you think comedy is the
02:19most effective way to tackle issues like that? Well, I think it feels less browbeating. It feels
02:24like you can enter someone's home and they can watch it with their families and they can laugh and
02:30they can cry and they can think about what the issues are that we're talking about and hopefully
02:35carry on that conversation in their home. Yeah, absolutely. Now, the show's obviously a vehicle
02:41for activism. Was that part of the appeal when you signed on to do the series?
02:44No, not really. I think it was, I mean, look, I'm a West Coast Latina. I'm a West Coast Cuban.
02:49I am liberal. Yeah. But I am also somebody who really feels like there is a divide in this
02:55country right now and we need to have conversation. And so I have a lot of very conservative family
03:00members and we talk about issues and fight and still love each other. Right. And I thought,
03:05oh, that's really interesting. And if we can have those conversations on our show, maybe we can bridge
03:09some gaps that are happening right now. Absolutely. I feel like a really good representation of that
03:15was Elena's coming out story. We had so many different opinions, but at the end of the day,
03:20there was so much love. Yeah. And that's ultimately the thing. We really try to come to it
03:25with a lens of love and acceptance. And to see, you know, the Latinx journey in this country is very
03:32fraught, especially right now, because there is not a narrative that really is positive and supportive
03:37in many television shows where 18% of the country, 6% represented on screen. And yet that representation
03:44is still often gangbangers and drug dealers, et cetera. So to be able to show a family that is
03:50struggling, but hardworking and kind, going through things like a daughter coming out, something that
03:55simple and the different emotions, how some people are afraid for her, how some people have their own
04:01homophobia from growing up, very religious and how they come to terms with that, how a mother
04:07is struggling to be, she thought she'd always be accepting and then here's the daughter and what,
04:13oh my God, now I have all these conflicting feelings. What is this going on inside of me?
04:17So to be able to talk about all of, and then the brother who doesn't care, he's like, oh,
04:20you're gay. Great. You know? So it was so awesome to have this opportunity to have all those
04:25conversations and hopefully make people feel seen like, oh, that's me, but I can still come to this
04:30from a place of love. Yeah, absolutely. The cast is full of wonderful Latin actors, including the
04:35sensational Rita Moreno, Lydia, AKA Abuelita. But I know that representation behind the scenes is also
04:41really important for you. You have a writer's room that is half Latinx, half female. We're actually
04:46more female than male now. Wow. Yeah. I love that. And we have three queer writers too. We got to give
04:52love to our queer writers. Always. Now, how did you assemble that writer's room and why was that so
04:58important to you? It was thoughtfully put together. You know, very often in comedy writer's
05:02rooms, it's very male and very white male. And I like white guys. I married one. It's all good.
05:08But when you're telling these types of stories, equity is important. And so we really knew that
05:15we wanted it to be very female. It's a matriarchy this show. We have good men too, but we wanted very
05:21strong women. And we also really wanted queer voices. We thought that was very important to genuinely
05:25tell this coming out story. And then obviously Latinx. And so we have various Latinx. We have
05:31Cubans and Salvadorians and Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. We're all in there. So if it's relatable
05:38to all of us, it tends to be something that goes in the script.
05:41Right. I love that. Now, you were a writer on Devious Maids, which a lot of people considered
05:45a huge win for Latin representation on screen. How did that experience compare to the work you do
05:51it one day at a time? Is there something you learned working on that show that has transferred
05:55over? Well, I took that show. Mark Terry came to me and said, I want to do five Latino women
06:00as leads of a show. Okay. It was groundbreaking for American television. And at that time,
06:05it was ABC for ABC. So we thought it was going to be on ABC network. And then it ended up being
06:10sold to Lifetime. It was incredible. It was incredible doing Devious Maids because it was the first time
06:16that there were five Latino leads with Rosalyn Sanchez, Judy Reyes, Ana Ortiz, Eddie Ghanem.
06:23It was just such an... And Dania as well. They're just incredible women. And so that was really,
06:28really great. But it wasn't my voice. It was Mark's. Mark Cherry, the wonderful Mark Cherry,
06:31who's hilarious and wonderful. But he has his own point of view. Yeah. And I really got to see like,
06:37oh, if I want to do my own thing, I've got to write it and I've got to be the voice of it.
06:41And here you are doing your own thing. Yeah. The show is such a beautiful portrayal of the
06:46Latinx experience. My grandmother was from Columbia. So I found myself, or I continue to
06:52find myself relating to the show in such a personal way. And going back to what you were
06:56saying about how there's so many different Latin experiences in the writer's room. Did you find
07:00that your like childhoods, your, you know, growing up, did those experiences sort of match up?
07:06Oh, yeah. Yeah. I found what I found really interesting because I think the Latin diaspora
07:11in this country, we are very singular in how we feel about our own culture, right? Cubans,
07:17everyone's like, we have our own thing. We have our own foods, we have our own things. But there's a
07:21lot of things that trickle. Yeah. And I think what often happens is people really want that Latin
07:25market. So they try to like make it all sort of even, like we're going to do sort of a pan Latin thing.
07:32Okay. And when you do a pan Latin thing, it kind of dilutes it too much. So we felt like let's get
07:38really specific with the Cuban experience. And the more specific we got, the more we realized
07:44those specificities were universal. Yeah. Amongst Latinx culture. So it was this kind of wonderful
07:49thing. Like we're going to be super, we're going to talk about Vicks VapoRub because this is how we
07:52feel about it. Then the Puerto Ricans and then the Dominicans. My tia, Elena, was obsessed with
07:56Vicks VapoRub. It was the cure all for everything. I dare you to put that on your feet when you're sick
08:01and put a sock on and wake up not well. I dare you. It always works. It honestly does. I dare you.
08:07Or just like even all the little sayings said throughout like,
08:09pobrecito or ay carajo. Like everything just felt so relatable, which I absolutely loved. So it's
08:16really cool that everyone's experience sort of linked up. And like you said, the more specific
08:19you got, the more universal it got. It was amazing. That is so cool. Now tell me about your process when
08:25you're coming up with issues and topics to tackle. Is there a strategy? Do you map out the episodes
08:31or is it more fluid? We really do map it out. We talk about the wonderful thing about being on
08:36Netflix is we know we have 13 episodes. So we arc it. We do think like this is where the characters
08:40start. This is where we'd like them to end. And then here's some things we want them to talk about
08:43throughout. And we do kind of think about it in that umbrella term. What is this season about?
08:49What are we, each of these characters are going to go on a journey. What is that journey?
08:53And in terms of like the topics, we never really think like what's, what topic are we going to talk
08:58about? It's really, what are we talking about? What are we as women talking about? What are we as
09:03Latinos talking about? What are we as queer people talking about in the room? What are we as parents
09:09talking about? Right. And so we'll infuse it with all of that. This is what's happening with my kid.
09:14This is what's happening with my brother. This is what's happening, you know, like the, uh, we did
09:17an episode of season two on colorism based on my brother called me and he's much darker than I am.
09:23Same. My brother looks very much Colombian. I do not. You do not. Yeah. No. No. And I,
09:29sometimes people are like, are you Italian? I'm like, no, I'm a Latina. Uh, but my brother's very dark
09:34and he was in San Diego, like on a beach with his kids and somebody told him to go back to Mexico.
09:38And I was like, what? Insane. So we were talking about that in the room and, and we were talking
09:44about colorism. We thought we should do an episode about that. That's something not really discussed
09:48a lot in the Latinx community. And it's, it became one of the episodes that people talked about the
09:53most. Yeah. Is there an episode or a topic the show has covered that has felt particularly meaningful
09:59to you, like above all the episodes? Is there one that really sticks out? I really feel like not yet for
10:03me, which is the finale of season two. Uh, I just loved the play of it. You know, Norman is such
10:09a great lover of theater as am I. And that just was a live play. Everyone had a monologue. It felt
10:16like that for sure. And it was one room. I mean, you just can't do that on many shows. Yeah. And it
10:22also gave each of these tremendous actors an opportunity to show all the layers of what they
10:27bring to character. So that was one of my favorites. Yeah. I love that. Um, now I know
10:33that Penelope and Lydia's relationship is definitely inspired by your relationship with your own
10:37parents. Where does your relationship with your parents and Lydia and Penelope's relationship
10:41overlap the most? Oh my gosh. Uh, religion. Yeah. Uh, you know, they're old school. My dad is still
10:46alive. He's very upset that he's dead on the show. He's very much alive. And when we got Tony
10:51Plana to play ghost Tim, he was delighted because he loves Tony. Uh, but I would say
10:56religion, I'm a moderate. I'm in the middle, you know, I'm really in, in between. I, I
11:01recognize, uh, wonderful things that the traditions and conservative, uh, mindsets bring, but I
11:07also have that liberal side. So I feel really pulled in that, in those directions like Penelope
11:13does. Right. Uh, so the conversations that we had about religion, the episode, I think it's
11:17episode three of season one. Uh, no mas, no mas. One of my favorite episodes. Yeah. That
11:23was, that's, that's a conversation I had with my parents. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, is
11:27there a particular scene that is ripped straight from your life? There's so many scenes. Yeah.
11:32Look, the mantilla stuff. Mantilla's a piece of lace that you wear on your wedding day. And
11:38we have one that's been passed down over the years. The mantilla's missing and it's a real
11:43drama. Yeah. That's a crisis. Okay. It's a crisis. And, uh,
11:47that was something that I was talking about in the room and we were like, Oh, what's,
11:51what are those great things that are so specific to family that doesn't matter to anyone else?
11:54Yeah. Oh, a piece of lace that everyone's fighting about. How about that? So we did a
11:59whole episode about the mantilla. We've done, yeah, the religion stuff, the, uh, so many,
12:05so many episodes. I love that. Now, Norman Lear, he's done several black shows that have had
12:10great success, like the Jeffersons, Good Times. Why do you think now was the perfect time to
12:15highlight a Latinx family? You know, he tried to do a Latinx show with Paul Rodriguez called
12:20AKA Pablo. Okay. Uh, in the eighties, I believe. And he just said the timing and, and the alchemy
12:26wasn't really there. I mean, there is sort of a magic that happens when you get the cast
12:30together, when you get a group together, like something sort of magical has to happen for
12:34it to take fire. And, and I think we just got really fortunate with Rita and Justina and
12:38this incredible cast. It was just lightning in a bottle really. Yeah, absolutely. Now tell me what
12:44fans can expect from season three. Are there any topics or issues that you haven't addressed over
12:50the first two seasons that's going to be new for season three? Well, we definitely do a Me Too
12:53episode. Okay. We also talk about pot, weed, recreational use of marijuana, which is legal in
13:00California now, not if you're under 18, which Alex is under 18, but we do get to talk about that.
13:05It's really interesting in Los Angeles because there's signs everywhere. Like weed can be
13:08delivered to your house. And I think it's a mixed message for kids. I think they're like,
13:12wait, what is this? What's going on? What's going on? So we try to talk about that and we continue
13:17to talk about PTSD, mental health, anxiety, depression, homophobia. I mean, we really get in
13:24there. Yeah, absolutely. Is there one fan reaction or piece of feedback that has meant a lot to you?
13:31I'm sure. I mean, for me, we do a lot of talks. We do, we go around and we talk to various Latinx
13:36groups and LGBTQ groups and veteran groups. And I think that when kids come with their parents and
13:44their grandparents and say, I was able to come out because of your show, forget it. And then you see
13:49parents really grateful that they have a tool with which to see themselves reflected and try to
13:55come to a loving end place with where their child is. I think that that is so meaningful.
14:03Yeah, that's awesome. Last year, you started the One Vida at a Time campaign, which challenged
14:08writers' rooms to stand against the family separation happening at the border. Yeah. And then you also
14:14raised money for RACES, which is the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.
14:19How did that idea come about?
14:21It was Tanya Serracho's idea. Tanya Serracho is the showrunner for Vida. She's a great friend of
14:25mine. We met doing Devious Maids. We were two Latinas there. And she really had the idea. We
14:31were talking about how upset we were with what was happening and we felt so powerless. And she said,
14:36you know, why don't we go to the scribes? Let's go to the writers. Let's challenge writers' rooms.
14:40This is not a partisan issue for us. It really is about how do we treat people as a country when they come
14:46in. And we got over 90 writers' rooms to come together and take photos saying, you know, family
14:52detention, keep families together, you know, seeking asylum is not a crime, all of this,
14:59all of this. And we raised, we raised some money. And so that felt like something. I mean,
15:03listen, it's tweeting, right? It's not, the action is the people of RACES, the people at the border
15:08that are giving legal time and effort to these families. But it did feel like something that we
15:13could do with our platform. Yeah, definitely. Will the border crisis at all be reflected in season
15:18three or is that something you've thought about? It's not in season three. I think we'll talk about
15:22it more in season four. I mean, the one thing, you know, Norman gets very frustrated because when
15:26he was doing the TV shows, he could write something and it'd be on the air the next week. Whereas we do
15:3213 all at once. Not that fast. So we never know what's going to happen. Unfortunately, racism and
15:36homophobia, all that is still a problem. We haven't solved it yet, you guys. We're trying.
15:41So those are things that we knew, but we were really hoping that the border separation,
15:45that that would all be over. Yeah. And it's not. It's not, sadly. So season four.
15:50Yeah, season four. If Donald Trump were to watch One Day at a Time, what would you hope his main
15:55takeaway would be from the show or someone who even subscribes to his rhetoric about immigration?
16:00I hope that he would see that we are much more alike than we are different. And that if this was
16:07their child, I mean, I'm one generation removed from this. My parents came in 1962 from Cuba where
16:14they sought asylum in the States and were welcome. So I cannot walk around not speaking up for these
16:21people because I am the direct beneficiary of what this country does so beautifully. They took my
16:27parents in. They had a path to citizenship. I got to go to college. And now I'm writing a show about
16:32my family. And this is what I look like and how I sound. This is what one generation can do
16:36with the support of a country, which is what America does so beautifully. You will not meet
16:40more patriotic people than people who this country has been good to. And my parents are like out with
16:44that flag every chance they get. And so to see how different it is right now is really painful
16:51because those children are going to grow up and have feelings about what happened to them here.
16:55And I hope that there's a way that we can remedy that. Yeah, absolutely. Now, even though the show
17:03does have serious moments, it really feels like a celebration of what it means to be a Latinx person.
17:09How do you make sure that's laced through each episode, even during the ones that are a little
17:12bit more serious and a little bit more heavy? I think, I mean, it's just infused in who we are,
17:17I think. So, you know, we're a comedy first and foremost. There are jokes. We are laughing.
17:22We just try to make each other laugh in the room and we always try. It's called the treacle
17:27cutter when you have an emotional moment and you like cut it with something to make the audience
17:30laugh. We also shoot in front of a live audience, which is very rare these days. Yeah, definitely.
17:35So the audience keeps us really honest. Like we can ride the waves. You can feel it. There's 250
17:41people there every week we're doing a play for. So you feel it and you're like, oh, we got to give them
17:45a little laugh. We got to give them a little respite from this moment of seriousness. So we just,
17:50we just try to balance that out. Right. Very well said. Thank you so much, Gloria,
17:55for being here. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me.
17:58Of course, of course. And be sure to watch season three of One Day at a Time, streaming now on Netflix.
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