Parting Shot

Gina Torres

Over the course Of Gina torres’ career, she’s played basically everything. “I would not have gotten this far if I wasn’t game. I’ve played a witch. An assassin.” From The Matrix franchise to Suits to the cult classic Firefly, she’s done it all, and now she can add a Ryan Murphy series to her resume with Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star. “There are things that come your way that you just don’t say ‘no’ to.” She plays Tommy Vega, a paramedic forced to return to work because her husband’s restaurant was closed due to coronavirus. “We’re doing this in real-time. We are, for lack of a better phrase, embracing the pandemic, understanding that we’re playing frontline workers.” Important to Torres is her presence in Hollywood as a prominent Afro-latina actress. “I’m coming forward and being all who I am and never, ever sacrificing one for the other. That was an industry problem.” But she says things are changing, that Hollywood isn’t forcing actors to choose one identity over another. “This is who we are. This is what the spectrum of Latina looks like. That’s super important. We make money. We are viable. We are green.”

What was it like approaching a role that is so timely?

We’re not playing characters, we’re playing people, right? This is what their world looks like right now. We would be doing a complete disservice not to acknowledge every level of sacrifice and danger that they’re putting themselves and their family in as well. So I loved that part of it because it really brings it home.

What was it like shooting under COVID conditions?

To some degree, we have become accustomed to the new dance that we have to do. What’s hard is that I cannot identify anybody on the crew. Not one. I saw my wardrobe person having lunch the other day in a corner social distancing and I had no idea it was her; it was the first time I’d seen her face [laughs].

Did you think the dress you wore to the royal wedding would become such a viral hit?

I really didn’t think that there would be that many eyes on me because we were the Americans.

Are you surprised Firefly has remained such a fan favorite?

The fact that it resonated, it was like ripples on a pond, and now it’s become generational. That’s an extraordinary thing and really is a testament to good storytelling, good characters and hitting on our basic need for family and belonging and wanting to feel safe.

“This is what the spectrum of Latina looks like. We make money. We are viable. We are green.”