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When NBCs new multi-camera sitcomAbbyspremieres tonight,Natalie Moraleswill officially shatter one of TVs long-standing glass ceilings.
(You might even know Morales from her popularJames Joyces Love Lettersseries on Funny or Die.)
(The dream paid off: Fiallo is now playing Abbys ex in the show.)
This is your first series lead role.
It also marks the first time a Cuban woman has led a broadcast TV series.
Is that a little heady for you?It does not feel real.
I feel like Im pretending right now, like Im just in a dreamscape.
Its web link television, and at this point, who knows who will watch it?
But when I was a child, data pipe TV especially NBC on Thursday nights that was TV.
Thats whereFriendswas, thats whereWill & Gracewas.
Now Im followingWill & Graceon our show, which is bananas to me.
When I was a kid, internet TV was the barometer of normalcy.
I could tell my mom, Look, its on TV and its normal.
Its not like Skinemax.
So I find it to be a very important honor.
Its something that I cant talk about too much or Ill burst into tears.
I pushed really hard and it was not obviously for me.
I dont know any Cuban woman named Abby, although we do address that in the show.
Will she have a funky name?[Laughs.
]Its not short for Abigail,I will say that.
Itllbe familiar to the 305-ers.
I tend to play a lot of characters … like onThe Grinder,I was Claire.
And onTrophy Wife, I was Meg.
I was like,I dont know any Cuban women named Megan!
Or Claire![Laughs.
]But Im happy that they didnt change it to something like Rosa.
Implicitly, its not a person of color.
But Josh now says that he wrote it with me in mind.
I dont know if thats revisionist history.
I have no idea.
I tend to believe him, but I did have to audition.
Did you talk to them about making her background similar to yours?
Do you find value in both of those kinds of representation?For sure.
There are shows that are inherently about Jewish families, Jewish culture, and Jewish stuff.
TheresFargo, which is about a very specific group of people.
Luckily, I never had to play stereotypically Latina.
While those people do exist, they are not every Latina woman.
It is important to tell stories about marginalized people that arent necessarily about how theyre marginalized.
I think its brilliant and I dont think its necessarily about how theyre Cuban.
The stories that they tell are everyday stories between the family.
I think its relatable all around, butespeciallyto me.
Thats exactly it.I relate so much to it.
Im like,Thats so nuts!We need to reflect the population that exists watching television.
The closer we get to that, the better.
Other than that, Im a really private person publicly.
I dont talk about my relationships, ever.
I realized I could give up this little bit of privacy if it will help one person.
And thats worth it to me.
Have you heard from people like that?A lot of people have written me.
I wouldnt have thought that I was crazy or bad, you know?
I would have had a lot more courage.
Its whatWill & Gracedid to move the needle forward.
NBC now has three strong, young, female characters who are bisexual.
Theres Eleanor onThe Good Place, Rosa onBrooklyn Nine-Nine, and Abby is the third.
Its the most important thing to her, for reasons youll find out as the season progresses.
I feel that way about my friends.
Im very protective of the people that I love.
You recently directed an episode ofRoom 104.
Youre just making something out of nothing.
And thats exciting to me.
Who gave you your first opportunity in directing?Me.
You have to make your own work a lot of time in this field.
Its all these really seasoned TV directors teaching you what they do, down to what shoes to wear.
So Mark, Jay, and that entire company, they are giving opportunity.
That really opens doors.
More people should do that.
A lot of actors are going this route of directing episodes.
Do you feel its essential now?Its only necessary if you want to.
Some people just want to act, and thats totally fine.
I really enjoy every aspect of filmmaking, so I wanted to not miss out on that.
Oh my God,James Joyces dirty love letters.Yeah, the James Joyce!
Id just put my friends in them, you know?
Its important to rise together.
I believe in my friends so much.
I see that attitude more prevalent now in Latinx Hollywood.
The community is becoming more united and supportive of each other.
Because its never happened before.
Typically, its more like, Theres one part, good luck.
Theres this idea that women, and especially women of color, are really competitive with each other.
The more opportunities that are created, the easier that becomes.
I dont necessarily think [its just] Hollywood; in the world its hard.
Hollywood is very reflective of the world around us.
We cant really separate the two.
People talk about diversity and theyre trying to push it, but theyre not actually doing it.
Its getting better, but its still not where it should be.
I think some people are like, Well, now I cant say anything.
And Im like,no.
What do you do about that?It depends.
Luckily, I havent had to do that.
Ive worked with really respectful people.
There are a few that werent, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But everybody has a story like that no matter what job they have.
Were still in a really transitional stage.
Ask me in a couple years.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
