Last year, Latina comedians Wendy Mateo and Lori Diaz took aim at "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels — and Hollywood in general — in protest of a tasteless skit about a dimwitted Venezuelan mail-order bride played by a white actress.
They produced a protest skit called “Ms. Latina Stereotype Explains Hollywood” and posted it on YouTube as an open letter to the entertainment industry expressing that they’re “loco como el infierno” — that’s “mad as hell” in Spanish — and not going to take it anymore.
Well, what a difference a year (and seven months) makes.
This week, you can catch both halves of the Latina comedy duo “Dominizuelan” on a pair of NBC’s prime-time dramas: “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med.”
“We are calling this our ‘fahmoose week,’ ” said Diaz, who scored a recurring role on the new "Chicago Med" as Nurse Doris Perez and screen time on the premiere episode Tuesday night.
Mateo, who plays crime scene investigator Haley Rodriguez on Wednesday’s “Chicago PD” episode, said it’s wonderful to see more minority actors in non-stereotypical roles on TV — especially when she’s one of those actors.
“It’s great. My [character’s name] isn’t Maria and I’m not a victim. There’s no backstory for my character, but I think the writers are writing about real people and they really do justice to Chicagoans, people of color working in law enforcement and in fire houses and hospitals. The roles are not all immigrant story lines and that kind of thing,” Mateo said.
“You know, it’s a step in the right direction. … Roles [for minority actors] are opening up and expanding and becoming the norm, hopefully.”
While Diaz and Mateo don’t attribute their new-found TV success to the satirical video dissing "Saturday Night Live," there’s no doubt they were part of a chorus of minority entertainers using social media to get Hollywood’s attention.
“There is a conversation we are having because of these little entertainment protests people have done. And it creates real conversations that are sometimes very negative and sometimes very positive,” Diaz said. “Right now, I find it a promising time to be an actor of color in Hollywood because they’re trying … And because it’s getting me work, thank God.”
Diaz and Mateo might not be mad as hell anymore, but they're not satisfied either.
"There's definitely opportunity being created for people like us to be on television," Diaz said. "Now, I'd like the opportunity to have my own storyline."
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