By Ana Perez
Otmara Marrero, best known for her breakthrough role as Izzy Morales in Crackle’s series StartUp, has a new home on NBC.
Marrero is starring as Annie in NBC’s new comedy series Connecting… The ensemble comedy series, created by Martin Gero (Blindspot) and Brendan Gall (The Lovebirds), follows a group of friends trying to stay connected during the pandemic. The series was shot remotely from the actors’ homes in order to ensure safety amongst the cast and crew amid COVID-19. The series takes place 10 days after California’s stay-at-home order in March was announced and will take the audience through the events of 2020 up until the election.
Although the cast had never met prior to filming the first few episodes of the show, the chemistry among them is undeniable. “I’m still a bit flabbergasted that we were able to shoot eight episodes of a network TV show from our homes and had never met nobody from the crew and the cast,” Marrero said. “That’s pretty insane.”
“It’s a testament to how great Martin and Brendan, the creators, are and the casting director who put us all together and there’s just so much chemistry,” Marrero said. “The show is just basically a group of friends relying on each other to get through the pandemic, to get through hard times and it’s kind of just like the everflow of their relationships. You know how everyday is sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down.”
Although Connecting… is a comedy, Marrero’s first, it still touches on the harsh realities that people are facing all across the United States and even other parts of the world. And those real fears behind the pandemic are expanded by actress Cassie Beck (High Maintenance, Chicago Med) who plays Jazmin, a doctor on the frontlines. Beck’s character unleashes all of her emotions and frustrations about the lack of supplies and making the choice between who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t to her friends in a powerful and gut-wrenching scene.
“When we were shooting that scene, I was crying real tears every time she did the monologue and boy she did that,” Marrero said. “Every time she did it we were all in real tears, I’ve never experienced something like that.”
“At the beginning of the pandemic that’s what really got me, how these people were putting their lives at risk and they couldn’t just go home to their families,” Marrero said. “They had to bunk out in separate rooms and just all the risks they were taking for us, the people, it’s insane and the government couldn’t even give the proper amount of supplies.”
Marrero is no stranger to expressing raw emotion. The Cuban-American actress recently starred in Clementine, a barrier breaking film written and directed by Lara Gallagher. “Clementine was just one of those scripts that I got and I read in one sitting and I knew that I had to do it,” Marrero said. “As soon as I read it I was like ‘Yeah, that’s me I’m Karen’ I have to tell that story.”
The romantic drama follows Karen, Marrero’s character, as she mourns the end of her relationship at her ex-girlfriend’s lake house only to find herself in a new complex relationship with another woman named Lana, portrayed by Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria).
The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, does a beautiful job of focusing on the chemistry between the characters and letting the romance and heartbreak speak for itself.
“I’m an empath and I feel very deeply, and I think that I’ve been through some really bad relationships and I’ve had my heart broken quite a few times and I’ve experience really deep love,” Marrero said. “I think that’s what I loved most about the role, just really bearing it all and putting my heart on the table.” Initially, Marrero was passed over for the role of Karen because the character was supposed to be white, so the role went to someone else.
“They came back around and gave it to me and that to me is real representation,” Marrero said. “When we can have Latinos, black and brown kids and adults, leading movies and shows and not having to explain ourselves or not having to speak Spanish necessarily or not having to just say why we’re there.”
Although Marrero’s parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba, she wants roles that aren’t a stereotypical Latino story.
“My dad is an entrepreneur, he has his own A/C and refrigeration company, he has a very successful company. We were middle class,” Marrero said. “So me going into an audition room and doing a role that’s like talking about ICE, that’s not real to how I grew up or to me or to a bunch of other Latinos that I know and grew up with in Miami.”
Marrero commented that there are many European and Australian actors that are cast to play Americans, however not many Latinos are given the same treatment. “They’re not asking them to speak their native language, they’re not asking them to say lines in German. They’re just speaking english and they’re just playing an American,” Marrero said. “So why is it that a first-generation Latina can’t play an American as well? Marrero’s hope is to “transcend race” and land roles that are more than just a “stereotypical trope.”
“I think representation is allowing us to be the romantic lead, to be the girl next door, and to be the doctor, to be the head of the company, to be the woman in charge, to be the bad guy, to be the villain, and not constantly have to explain ourselves,” Marrero said. “Just allow us to live in these worlds. That’s the revolution I want to see for Latinos.”
Marrero’s desires are echoed in Hollywood today, especially seeing how many talented Latinos are overlooked for roles and award nominations.
“I don’t think it takes away from my latinidad, because I can speak Spanish on a dime if it’s required,” Marrero said. “But, I don’t want to speak Spanish like I’m doing you a trick like I’m a dog.”
“We just have to get comfortable with seeing humans for just being humans, for just being a woman, a man, non-binary, just whatever someones goes by,” Marrero said. “Just seeing this person exist, because that’s what the world looks like today.”
Tune in to NBC’s Connecting… on Thursdays at 8 p.m. and on Hulu the following day, to have Marrero and her incredible cast mates bring you some much needed humor.
(Featured photo by Lili Peper.)