What do you think has made the show last so long? The jokes are so good they seem to be translating to languages I don’t speak. I went to Japan and people were losing their shit about Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The short answer to your question is I don’t know.
Both yourself and Rosa Diaz are openly queer. Why was this an important part of your identity to bring to your character? I come from a very privileged position, and I have a platform where people are listening to what I have to say, so it’s not by mistake I’m so open about being bisexual. I am astounded that in my lifetime I’m getting to play a character who is queer on TV.
Your first time directing was also an acclaimed episode for the series, centering around #MeToo themes. How was it directing this episode? Obviously, I’m scared, but lots of directors have felt scared before the first thing they did. So I just had to harness that fear and take this step by step, day by day.
You’re also in the film version of In the Heights. What was it like working on a big movie musical? Daphne [Rubin-Vega] was one of the first Latinas that I saw in theater [in the musical Rent], and I had her cover of Newsweek with Adam Pascal on the back of my bedroom door for forever. So that was a super thrill to be paired with her.
