There has always been a softness in the characters that Stephanie Beatriz has portrayed. From the sharp-tongued Rosa Diaz in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” to quirky Mirabel in “Encanto,” it’s Beatriz’s natural ability to add empathy and humanity to her characters that makes her performances so believable. She’s done it once more in her latest role as a no-nonsense retirement home director in Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” which premiered all eight episodes Thursday.
“When an audience watches this, I want them to believe that she’s real,” Beatriz says in a Zoom interview about her character Didi. She’s wearing her signature raven-colored hair in a flicked-out bob with the sides delicately tucked behind her ears. A pair of black-framed glasses, and a red and white baseball tee complete her look. “She’s got this soft, sweet heart at all times. Even the people that piss her off, she finds a way to love them.”
Starring alongside Ted Danson, Sally Struthers and Mary Elizabeth Ellis, this new multi-generational comedy from Mike Schur (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Good Place”) is equal parts wholesome and joyful as it is thoughtful and compelling. The series follows Charles (Danson), a retired professor, as he goes undercover at Pacific View Retirement Community in San Francisco. It also provides a deeper look at the aching loneliness of growing old, the pain and grief that follows unexpected loss, and the strength of honesty in our relationships.
Beatriz, 43, says she learned a lot from her legendary septuagenarian costars. In addition to forming genuine connections with her on-screen counterparts in such a short amount of time — the show was filmed in just two months — Beatriz said working alongside Danson was a delight.
“He is so sweet, funny and charming. He’s incredibly authentic, which I appreciate in this particular industry,” she says of her witty costar Danson. “Something that I admire about him is that he’s constantly working on the puzzle of how to make the scene better, funnier, or more interesting. His work is really subtle. Whether or not the audience notices it, he knows what he’s done. He knows that he’d inhabited the character so deeply that he remembers these little things that ultimately make the show better.”
Beatriz says inhabiting the role of Didi meant doing a deep dive into the world of caregiving and health care. As a part of her research, Beatriz says she reflected on her past experience with her family.
“I had inadvertently already researched this role before I even took it,” Beatriz says. “My dad died in the fall of 2022. When he was aging and dying, my family dealt with a lot of people that were caretakers and in health care. I started reading a lot about being one of these people so that I could understand how to help my dad through the process and guide us toward the people that are going to help us in the best way.”
After being offered the role, Beatriz went back to her research and spoke with people who had helped her dad before his death. She says many of them were the best of humanity. “They’re so loving and giving and empathetic, and care so much about people that are not their family. I mean, we’re trusting these people with our loved ones at a really, really vulnerable, hard and beautiful part of their life.”
Throughout the show, Didi encapsulates just that. She wants everyone in her Pacific View community to feel fulfilled, often going out of her way to make the impossible happen — even if it means she’s forced to reheat her morning coffee half a dozen times before she actually drinks it. She gives every part of herself to her residents, relying on thankless kindness and sensitivity to keep things running as smoothly as possible. Didi gives every part of herself to her job, even when her deeds are thankless.
“I wanted to show someone who really puts everyone ahead of her, so she doesn’t have time for things like doing her hair or putting on makeup,” Beatriz explains. “She is somebody who really thinks about others first.”
But that doesn’t mean Didi doesn’t take moments out of her day for herself. In the show, we see the hardworking director laying under her desk with the sound of crashing waves echoing through her headphones. It’s a coping mechanism that Beatriz says she also uses to manage her stress. As a working mom, Beatriz also emphasizes the importance of doing something small each day for yourself, like lighting a candle in the bathroom while showering at the end of the day. In addition to the Calm app, she says therapy has also been a major help in handling the pressures of everyday life.
Much like her on-screen character, Beatriz says she often sets high standards for herself and her work, and can sometimes have a hard time seeing how valuable she is when she doesn’t meet these self-placed expectations. “I think [forgiveness] is something that I took away from the role,” she says. “Didi taught me how to not be so hard on myself…it’s a work in progress.”
As heartfelt as “A Man on the Inside” is, it’s Beatriz’s inclusion as a Latina in an authoritative role that should not be overlooked. Despite making up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, Latinx actors in scripted shows have the lowest representation index. When Latinx people are cast, they’re often pigeonholed into stereotypical roles.
Needless to say, seeing Beatriz in a director role sans forced scenes to amplify her Latinidad was utterly refreshing. Her character was Latina because she’s Latina. There was no need for gold hoops, bright red lipstick or stilted Spanglish to prove her character’s ethnicity. In fact, they don’t address it at all.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends about this, and I think we’re doing pretty good,” she says when asked about the state of Latinx representation in Hollywood. “Obviously, we could always do better. More is always better. But I love seeing us succeed as a group and as individuals.”
Inspiring a new generation of Latinx actors to follow their dreams with her own impressive career, Beatriz says it’s important to never stop learning. She recommends investing in your joy, delving deeper into books and art, traveling and meeting people that aren’t like you.
“The more that you fill yourself up, the more you’ll be able to pour out of your own vessel,” she explains of her own approach to acting. “You can’t give anything out of emptiness, but particularly with acting, you’ve got to learn about other human beings so that you can portray one that feels real.”
We Need Your Support
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
In addition to “A Man on the Inside,” shows like “Lopez vs. Lopez,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Happy’s Place” put Latinas front and center without typecasting their Latina leads. For Beatriz, she sees this as an opportunity to challenge herself in her future projects.
“I’d like to keep doing these projects that feel like a stretch in my ability to access my own humanity and share that humanity with other people. That’s the stuff that I’ve learned from people like Andre Braugher [the late actor starred alongside Beatriz in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”]; you just don’t know when you’ll be done and all I want to do is keep working on stuff that makes me feel fulfilled and sharing a part of my humanness with others while I’m here.”