Machado hopes to reach more homes
Her sitcom makes network TV debut as actor makes a strong start on ‘DWTS’
LOSANGELES— JustinaMachado has never felt this exhausted. It’s late September, just a few hours before she heads off to another three-hour rehearsal for “Dancing With the Stars,” and the actor reveals the unusual piece of equipment that has been a life saver— or rather, a feet saver— since joining the current season of the prime-time dance boot camp.
“I literally have this big caldero that you make arroz con gandules in,” she says, referring to the Puerto Rican rice dish. “I can’t even make any arroz con gandules in there anymore because it has become the pot formy feet. Gross, right? Every day when I come home, my routine is dunkingmy feet in there with ice. The first week and a half of rehearsals, forget about it— Iwas crying. Iwas like, ‘Oh, what did I do?’ Everything hurts me, why did I do this?’ ” So, why did she do it? For one, itwas a muchneeded quarantine distraction for the “OneDay at a Time” star. “It sounded exciting, the idea of learning things I’ve never done before,” saysMachado, 48. “Like a lot of people right now, Iwas feeling very depressed, and there’s so many things happening in theworld and so many thingswe wishwe could do and can’t— this couldn’t have come at a better time. And I love old Hollywood— love, love, love oldmovies and old musicals. And I’m always like, ‘Oh, I wish Iwas acting in that time.’ But if I was, I’d be playing Lupe the house maid. Iwouldn’t be dancing with Fred Astaire.”
“I always believed that (‘One Day at a Time’) belongs on a network,” says actor Justina Machado.
That gets at the other reason: visibility.
“The thing about ‘DancingWith the Stars’ is it reaches so many more homes thanmy incredible show(‘OneDay at a Time’) that should reach everybody’s home. I know they’ve had Latinas on the show, but they need a whole lot more. And so I was like, ‘I’m going to do that. I’m going to be that Puerto Ricanwoman that’s on that show.’ ”
Make that two shows: Lastweek, the pandemichalted fourth season of Machado’s sitcom began a three-week run on CBS, in theMonday time slot immediately following ABC’s “DancingWith the Stars.”
Originally set up atNetflix, the Latino-fronted reboot ofNorman Lear’s classic sitcomwas canceled in 2019 after three seasons. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces the series, shopped the
comedy to other networks, eventually landing the Cuban American family sitcom at Pop TV.
Its run on CBS is part of the deal ViacomCBS sister network Pop TVmade in rescuing the series.
“I always believed that this showbelongs on a network,” saysMachado, who plays singlemomand military veteran Penelope Alvarez. “I love streaming. People love to stream. I understand that’s the thing, but in reality, network just reaches more households.”
It’s not lost onMachado that she’s trying to prove television viewers will watch a showthat revolves around a Latino family roughly two decades after a network executive suggested theywouldn’t. Machadowas cast as the lead in the late ’90s comedy pilot “I Love Lupe,” which featured a Latino family. When the serieswasn’t picked up, Machado
received a call fromthe executive to explainwhy: “He literally calledmy house, nice man, and said, ‘My God, your pilot is so great. Everybody loves you, everybody. Butwe don’t think America is ready for a Latino family.’
“Thatwas acceptable for him to say— America’s not ready for (a) Latino family. Like, what? And thatwas the ’90s! And look at today. Howmany Latino families do you see on television? So America better get ready becausewe’re here. We’re here.”
Born and raised in Chicago to Puerto Rican parents, Machadowas always “making up scenarios” and roles to act out with her siblings but never imagined it could actually happen. It wasn’t until her time in the Latino Chicago Theater Company that she gained the confidence to see herself as an actor and decided to make a career out of it.
“It’s where I foundmy tribe,” she says. “Juan Ramirez, one ofmy mentors, lifted me up. I remember that itwasmaybe the second or third play, and he was like, ‘Do you think you’re an actress now?’ Because I kept saying, ‘I’m not an actress. I’m just doing this because I don’t have anything to do.’ That’s all Iwould say. Because nobodywas an actor in Chicago that I knew, inmy neighborhood, in the inner city of Chicago. Thatwasn’t a part ofmyworld.”
Her first credit is a 1993 episode of “ABC Afterschool Specials,” playing a 16-year-old girl with an abusive boyfriend. Over the next 25 years, sheworked steadily with small roles on shows like “NYPD Blue” and “Touched by an Angel” before breaking through with her turn inHBO’s “Six FeetUnder” as Vanessa Diaz, the wife of funeral home technician-turnedpartner Federico (Freddy Rodriguez).
Fromthere, Machado had memorable turns in “ER,” “Queen of the South” and “Jane the Virgin.” She even starred in the 2010 stage production of LinManuel Miranda’s Broadway hit “In theHeights.” Shewanted the headlining roles, but she had come to accept that she’d likely always be a supporting player.
“I had given up on being the lead,” she says. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’m just never going to beNo. 1 on the call sheet. Maybe I’m just not going to be the star of the show. That’sOK. I’m just going to keep doing what I do.’ ”
She did keep on. And it happened. That her big break materialized in a role that taps into her comedic side made all the sense in theworld to those who knowher.
“Fromthe beginning of her career, Justina has always been known to be a great dramatic actress,” Rodriguez, who knew Machado fromtheir early days acting in Chicago, said. “What a lot of people didn’t knowfor a long period of time is she is incredibly funny. I’ve spent days and nights hanging out with her because of our families, and she is the kind of person who will have you in stitches laughing. I just always had this secret hope that shewould be able to showthis side.”
More pressing, though, is Machado’s attempt to perfect the dancer side. She’ll have to leave in a few hours to rehearse for the show’s Disney-themed episode, and she can’t help but let out a playful sigh of dread at the thought of getting back to the grueling grind.
“Pero, likemy grandma would say, quien te manda?” Machado jokes, using an expression that roughly translates to, “Who told you to do it?”
“I can’t complain because I did it tomyself.”