‘Undone’ star Constance Marie continues to change Hollywood
It’s easy for Constance Marie to get animated about her twist-filled streaming series “Undone.”
The actor believes the psychological cartoon about a Mexican American family with a time-traveling daughter is special due to its groundbreaking style of motion-capture animation and its depiction of three complex Latina women as its central characters.
“You get to see us in
San Antonio,” said Marie, 56. “Whenever you think ‘Texas,’ you don’t think ‘Latin people.’ Texas used to be Mexico, so the fact that we don’t put those two things together — I think it’s a wonderful history lesson that we’re there.
“And I think the maternal bloodlines also don’t get explored. Usually, it’s the patriarchal that we’re exploring, the ancestry, so you put the two together, and I just think it’s the perfect storm.”
The second season of “Undone,” now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, continues the story of Alma, a cynical young woman played by Rosa Salazar, whose relationship with time is changed after she survives a catastrophic car crash.
Season one, which was released in 2019, saw Alma use her newfound ability to manipulate time to uncover secrets surrounding her father’s death. Marie portrays Alma’s mother, Camila, and says the adult animated series’ new season offers more insight into her character’s complicated back story.
“She’s a tough-love mom, but you don’t realize what makes her so tough,” Marie said. “In season two, you actually get to explore Camila’s background and what made her the way she
is, and all the traumas of her ancestry.”
The series is Amazon’s first to use rotoscoping, an innovative technique that turns live-action performances into animated sequences through motion capture, with oil paintings used to render the backgrounds.
Production for the second season took place during the pandemic, which meant fewer crew members working in person. They shot scenes on a stage using greenscreen technology, with the actors sometimes not even in the room at the same time.
“For us to see (the finished product) finally, it’s just like, ‘Wow!’ It’s just gorgeous,” Marie said. “And when we’re actually shooting, it’s harder than live action because you have to imagine everything.”
Marie is no stranger to pioneering roles. She starred as Nina Gonzalez on “American Family,” which premiered in 2002 as the first drama series starring a mostly Latino cast to air on broadcast television. Her portrayal of the matriarch Angie Lopez on “George Lopez” from 2002 to 2007 was also historic, as the success of the long-running sitcom helped change the
landscape for projects predominantly featuring Latino actors.
“When I was growing up in Los Angeles ... I didn’t see anybody who looks like me unless they were the bad guy or just not a great depiction,” Marie said. “I remember asking my mom, ‘Where are all the Latinos that look like us?’
“They weren’t on TV, so I didn’t have that representation, but when I found out that Wonder Woman was half-mexican, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll take her as a role model,’ ” Marie said, referring to actor Lynda Carter.
With her own career, Marie says she saw an opportunity to take on roles that “say a lot about my community.”
“I don’t know that it was a conscious decision, but I just felt like I wanted to reflect roles that I was proud of and that other little girls could be proud of if they were to ever see me on screen,” Marie said.
She’s happy to be making projects like “Undone” — and to keep representing her community.
“It was just a beautiful way to give back to that little girl that I was who did not see anybody who looked like her on television,” Marie said. “Now, I’m changing that.”