Ana Ortiz was catapulted to international stardom when she landed the role of Hilda Suarez in hit ABC comedy Ugly Betty.
Starting her career in theatre, Ana has enjoyed a varied career on the big and small screen with roles in shows such as Hung and Revenge. Now Ana is leading an impressive ensemble on Devious Maids, the latest show created by Desperate Housewivesā Marc Cherry and produced by Eva Longoria.
In the show she plays Marisol Suarez and in the first season she went undercover to find out who killed a maid that her son was wrongly imprisoned for. The second season recently started in the UK and Marisol is now is a new relationship with wealthy Nicholas Deering (Mark Deklin) but all isnāt as it seems.
We caught up with Ana when she was in London recently to talk about the second season of Devious Maids, find out whatās to come and discuss the possibilities that lie in Marisolās future.
The second season of the show is five episodes in here in the UK. At the beginning of the season itās a very different situation for Marisol than the first seasonā¦
It is. Itās something I was actually struggling with when I was acting because Marisol was so strong and so bold. Nothing could get in her way. This season Marisol is in love; sheās desperately in love and really wants to make this relationship work. There are all these red flags that she sort of has blinders on. She just wants this love and this marriage to work.
Itās understandable. She had a rough first season so you canāt blame her for wanting to be happy and enjoy a life without murder right?
(laughs) Yes right!Ā Exactly! Poor Marisol, tragedy does seem to follow her. Itās exciting because I also get this new family, this fabulous fiancĆ© and this crazy maid now. For me the whole new season has been exciting and a completely different thing to the first season.
Letās talk about Marisolās relationship with Nicholas. As you mentioned she definitely has the blinders on but as the season progresses sheās really starting to realise thereās something a bit deeper there isnāt she?
I think with Marisol thereās only so far you can push her. Down deep sheās a tough cookie and even though sheās madly in love, with all the things that are getting thrown at her she will eventually throw down the gauntlet and say enough is enough somebody start telling me the truth. She really wants to see the best in these people and she really does want to make it work but things keep happening. Sheās no dummy and pretty soon sheās going to fight back.
The dynamic between Marisol and Opal is really interesting. Itās safe to say they arenāt the best of friends isnāt it?
(laughs) No! Thatās right. I think Marisol has this nemesis living in her house but sheās tough. Joanna Adler who plays Opal is so brilliant and weāve had so much fun this season. Sheās so menacing. Itās these two women who really have their own objectives and Opalās objective is to get me out of that house and away from Nicholas. Marisol is a fighter and sheās not going to take it lying down for much longer. I think sheās been trying to give Opal the benefit of the doubt but you can only go so far with that.
The storyline for Marisol has taken her away from the other maids this season. Does that mean you donāt get as much time with your co-stars any more?
It does. Thatās the unfortunate part. We always have the most fun when we get together and have our little gossip sessions. We all sit there and talk in Spanish. Itās just a good time. Whatās been fun to play is that I didnāt know how the girls would be now Marisolās had a change in status and sheās fabulously wealthy. Are they going to judge her for that? Itās been wonderful to have the honesty played out and I hope, if thereās a third season, that gets to be more fleshed out. I love the scenes with the girls. Iād also love to mix it up a bit more and see Marisol with the Powells ā Evelyn and Adrian ā and see what that would be like.
Marisol interacted with pretty much every character in the first season didnāt she? Our highlight was the relationship she had with Rosie, particularly when the two had something over one anotherā¦
Yeah! Exactly! I think we want to get back to that to see the girls reacting and having true friendships. Thatās what you do: you fight, you love, you cry, you laugh and all of that stuff. To Marcās (Cherry) credit itās a big ensemble and he has all these different balls in the air. The girls didnāt get as much time together as we would have liked but thereās always third seasonā¦
We donāt want to give too much away for our readers but we know there are some big scenes coming up especially for Marisol and Nicholas. What can you tease for the rest of the season?Ā
The power struggle will continue but the dynamics will change. Marisol definitely starts to control her destiny a little bit more. As it is in these doomed loves and a drama telenovela thereās going to be mayhem, I mean really crazy stuff goes down. Everything comes to a head. All the secrets will come out and youāre going to see what happens (laughs).
The second season is jam-packed with storylines isnāt it? There is so much going on this time roundā¦
There are so many different stories and so many different storylines. I think thatās why we didnāt get to hang out as much with the girls. We got a couple of new families moving in and all kinds of crazy stuff happening. Itās fun and thereās something for everyone to have in this show.
Do you see a possibility in Marisolās future where she could lose her new-found wealth and is maybe on a more level playing field with the maids?
Definitely! In a Marc Cherry show you can never say never and thatās the wonderful thing about being on a novella; you can really push the envelope and you can really go campy. You can go to the really bizarre parts of the world and I think to Marcās and Evaās (Longoria) credit they brought in a cast thatās really good. Most of us are New York theatre actors. You have to play against the crazy and not to pat ourselves on the back too much, I think this ensemble is chock-filled with really good actors who, when you get a scene that is so outlandish, can bring some reality to it.
I think you never can tell where Marc is going to take it. Anything could happen. In the first season she was technically undercover as a maid so I donāt know that she would go back to being a maid but she might lose all the wealth. Itās a very big possibility but I hope not. I like being rich (laughs).
She definitely needs some happiness and a bit of a break doesnāt she?
(laughs) I know right!
Marisol is a very smart woman. If you were friends with her what advice would you give her?
She is smart and she just wants to be in love. I would tell Marisol that there are more fish in the sea and that this man is not the be all and end all. I would tell her to leave that house.
Would you not be tempted to tell her to get a new group of friends? These ones cause her a lot of trouble donāt they?
I would or else Iād say stick closer to the maids. Lose those Beverly Hills types and stick closer to the maids (laughs).
Yes! Lose those crazy people, take the maids and go live on an island somewhere and enjoy Marisolās wealthā¦Ā
I love it! Letās do it (laughs) Thatās the next season right there. I love it.
Devious Maids continues in the UK on TLC at 10pm on Tuesdays.