VIVA NOLA SEPTEMBER 2020

“Gentefied.” Martin received a call back
within a week and felt like the environment
presented was one she wanted to be a part
of.
“I left and remember calling my sister and
saying, ‘All I want is to be their friend.’ I had
never been in such a welcoming room like
that,” she said. “I loved their energy and that
was the same energy that they had on set
from the auditioning process to the last day
we filmed.”
“Gentefied” follows a trio of cousins
who work to help their grandfather hold
onto his taco business in an ever-changing
neighborhood. Martin’s character of Ana is
also an artist who must contend with her
disapproving mother, her activist girlfriend,
and working to have her art appreciated.
The series marks Martin’s first time as
a lead in a series, which she admitted was
intimidating at first. However, as filming
continued, she said that she knew that set
was where she was meant to be.
“I just felt really at ease with the character
that is so opposite from who I am as a
person,” she said. “The environment that was
created was so incredibly safe and felt like a
safe space to work in that it made the whole
process incredibly rewarding and much more
simple to fall into the character when I never
walked in her shoes.”
Despite her differences from Ana, Martin
found ways to incorporate aspects of herself
while still playing this character. One way she
connected with the character was how Ana
kept her cousins and grandfather together
despite the conflicts they face.
“I am the oldest of four children, so I feel
like that was something that always came
easy for me,” she said. “There are little
nuances that I bring to Ana without even
realizing it but she is so well written that you
just fall into it whether you relate to them
completely or you have to take one little
thing and run with it.”
Being a Latina actress in L.A., Martin said
that the fact that she didn’t have to have
an accent for the audition was huge for
her since that is usually the expectation. “I
remember even in the makeup room one
of my makeup girls was born and raised in
the East L.A. area and she sounded just like
me. She was like ‘That is such a stereotype
18 VIVA NOLA ~ September 2020
“
I didn’t even realize that you could
pursue a career in acting. My sisters
and I always joked that it was the
chosen ones that would get it.”