By Elia Esparza
With two TV series and a Christmas film under her belt, Diana-Maria Riva has been one busy actress! A series regular the NBC comedy Sunnyside, where she plays the multi-tasking Griselda and working alongside Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Nestor Carbonell, Steve Carell, and Billy Crudup as “Charlene” in two episodes of The Morning Show, she works.
Riva also co-stars in the dark comedy, Dead to Me as Detective Ana Perez, a TV series that has gotten played in over 30 million households worldwide!
Sunnyside, which aired on NBC for four episodes, has been moved to Hulu and NBC.com at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET on Thursdays. As for The Morning Show you can catch Riva on its premiere date, Friday, November 1st on Apple TV.
Also, Riva is set to paly Helen Rojas in the holiday comedy Noelle, a comedy-fantasy, starring Anna Kendrick, Billy Eichner, and Bill Hader, which can be watched on November 12th on Disney +.
To say that Riva has been busy would be an understatement.
Riva hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a BFA and MFA in Theater Performance. This performing artist with Dominican roots is one heck of an actress!
Early on in her career, Riva started to rack up TV credits with primetime series: Murder One, Party of Five, The X Files, NYPD Blue, The Drew Carey Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI, Less Than Perfect and Castle. She also had recurring roles in Sabrina The Teenage Witch, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
More recently Riva starred as Lieutenant Ana Ruiz in the 2010 FOX series The Good Guys and she also starred as the mother-in-law of Rob Schneider’s title character in the short-lived CBS sitcom ¡Rob! and worked on Eva Longoria’s short-lived Telenovela. In 2016 she joined the cast of Man with a Plan as Mrs. Rodriguez.
Latin Heat caught up with the hardworking thespian to talk about her work on Sunnyside.
LatinHeat: Since last, we spoke with you (Telenovela & McFarland USA), you have been on a whirlwind! We are super excited about your new sitcom, Sunnyside– can you tell us about your role as the multi-tasking Griselda?
Diana-Maria Riva: Griselda is an immigrant who holds down somewhere between seven to twelve jobs! And, all the while studying and prepping for her upcoming citizenship test. She’s a whirlwind multitasker and yet still has time to boss her loved ones around. But she’s clearly the maternal figure in the group, and I don’t think there’s anything she thinks she can’t do. Especially obtain the American dream.
LH: Is the fact that Griselda is Dominican, was that by accident or is it because you’re Dominican?
DMR: Matt Murray, the show’s creator, definitely decided to make Griselda “Dominican” when he heard it was my background. The fact that she’s the hardest working woman in Queens, I would say is a character trait that has resonated in women since the beginning of time. Most women are amazing multitaskers, from carrying multiple jobs to caring for children to marriage to social life. We can balance it all AND do a dance while we’re at it
LH: How is it to work with an ensemble of the extraordinaire array of characters, being led by the fabulous, Kal Penn?
DMR: Kal [Penn] is indeed wonderful and fabulous to work with. He is so very smart, wise and talented and above it all, he’s extremely supportive and uplifting of his castmates. And in this cast of diverse actors, we make each other laugh hysterically on a daily basis.
LH: You’ve recently appeared in Netflix’s Dead To Me, is there a difference in how Netflix produces and tapes its shows versus the broadcast TV stations?
DMR: Filming is pretty much the same. The difference is really in being able to stream all episodes on Netflix versus having to
LH: You’ve portrayed many characters – Have you ever turned down a role because it was stereotyped?
DMR: You know, I feel like I’ve had a very blessed career full of a lot of diverse roles. And I’ve never turned down a role due to stereotyping. If anything I think I try and make it my goal as an actor to really tap into and bring out the real human element in the character in a way for the audience to find a reason to connect with that character. I also have a very strong team of smart, fierce and supportive women who represent me in the business, and they have ALWAYS pushed and fought for the roles they believed I should do. Because of that, I’ve had a career full of such a variety of amazing characters that have truly run the spectrum. Those women, my agents, my manager, they’ve thought outside of the box with roles even when I didn’t have to confidence to.
LH: Have you noticed an improvement? Has the writing evolved to create more realistic Latinx characters?
DMR: I don’t know how much of an improvement I’ve seen with the kinds of Latinx roles. I think the biggest area that has shown very little growth has been shows with
LH: What has been the hardest hurdle you’ve encountered in your acting career? If you hadn’t become an actor, what career would you have sought?
DMR: I think the hardest hurdle at times can be the lack of roles. If I hadn’t become an actor I feel I might have become a therapist. And somehow I feel like both careers are related.
LH: What advice do you give young Latinas wanting to go into acting?
DMR: I would encourage young Latinas to get their education and pursue a degree in Theater. With a solid foundation in acting training, the avenues are broader. And always remember to fulfill your heart first. This is a career that can take a toll on the human spirit, so a strong sense of self-worth is a wonderful coat of armor.
Thank you
Riva is repped by The Kohner Agency, Gateway Management Company, Abrams Artist Agency, and JCPR publicist.
Follow Diana-Maria Riva on Social Media:
Instagram @dianamariariva
