Mazatlán-born and popular Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez is arguably one of the most talented performers in the industry today. Sara originated the Broadway role of “Lady of the Lake” in the hit sensation Monty Python’s Spamalot. Her spectacular performance would result in a Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. She also starred in the stage production of Dreamgirls, The Vagina Monologues and A Class Act. Besides the theatre, Sara has also been featured on the big screen in You’ve Got Mail, Washington Heights and Spider-Man. Her “You’ve Got Milk” ad was a huge hit around the globe because it showcased an actress with curves – something the entertainment industry doesn’t do enough. Nowo one half of Grey's lesbian couple, with Jessica Capshaw as the other, talks to SheWired.
Mazatlán-born and popular Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez is arguably one of the most talented performers in the industry today. A little background on the 34-year-old might provide a little insight as to why we make such an assumption. Sara originated the Broadway role of “Lady of the Lake” in the hit sensation Monty Python’sSpamalot (the 2005 hit show also starred Rocky Horror actor Tim Curry, Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce and The Simpsons’ Hank Azaria). Her spectacular performance would result in a Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. She also starred in the stage production of Dreamgirls, The Vagina Monologues and A Class Act. Besides the theatre, Sara has also been featured on the big screen in You’ve Got Mail, Washington Heights and Spider-Man. Her “You’ve Got Milk” ad was a huge hit around the globe because it showcased an actress with curves – something the entertainment industry doesn’t do enough.
The Juilliard graduate has long-held the LGBT community in her heart and currently stars as one-half of one of the most popular duos on network television. I recently sat down with Sara to discuss her involvement with the theatre, Grey’s Anatomy, being recognized by screaming lesbian fans in public and the importance of being vaccinated from a preventable disease that killed her very best friend – hepatitis [we should note that there is currently no vaccine available for Hepatitis C, but Hepatitis A and B are preventable and you should consult your doctor for more information].
Someone very close to me has Hepatitis C and I applaud you for all of the hard work and dedication you have shown to the cause via the Al D. Rodriguez Liver Foundation. Al was one of your closest friends and you now serve on the board of the foundation after his sudden death in 2008. Can you tell us about Al and the reason you chose to get involved with the cause?
Well, yes, Al was like my rock. He was like the equivalent of a partner to me. He was homosexual but we were the absolute best of friends. I mean, we joked around that he was my gay husband – as some girls do! We joke that we have a gay husband and he was mine. But to me, he was more than that. He was like a sister, brother, mother, father, etc. He played many roles in my life and was like a teacher. He showed me what unconditional love felt like. So, you can imagine that when we lost him a couple of years ago I was just devastated and, not to be dramatic, but it felt like somebody had ripped my heart out. You’re kind of left feeling many things. Anybody who has gone through the grief process - and it’s a lifelong process - will relate to the fact that there are just a litany of emotions and thoughts, some quite irrational, that go through your mind for many, many years on and off in waves.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Carson Kressly is also on the board of the foundation and was a close friend of Al’s as well. What was it like to all come together for Al and start this foundation?
Al had a group of very, very close friends and I suppose the group of us felt that the best way to preserve his memory would be to create this foundation. It actually came up the day after he passed away. We were all standing around his apartment feeling overwhelmed at the thought of having to pack and clean everything and we were so confused because it was a very surreal moment. We all just thought, “Let’s be productive about this” and, you know, it’s hard sometimes. All of the board members live in New York except for me. Carson [Kressley] is pretty much bi-coastal because he travels a lot, but I am pretty much settled here in L.A. because of Grey’s Anatomy.
It’s been a challenge, certainly, staying involved but we all do our best and I have lots of phone conversations and we email a lot to stay in touch throughout the distance. We are all on the same page and in it together with the same level of commitment. Really, the greater good is trying to educate people who do not understand how serious hepatitis can be if not treated. People without insurance are definitely at a greater risk and a lot of those people happen to be artists – a community that Al and the rest of our group are all involved in. So, we are trying to keep with the integrity of who Al was and still is to us and that is the motivation for starting the foundation and reaching out to specific groups to try to help them and maybe even vaccinate people. If Al had been vaccinated, he would’ve been with us today.
We’ve had some great successes so far. For a small foundation, which is what we are, we have developed some great connections with others. We have a really great connection with the Ryan Center. We’ve learned that sometimes you don’t have to do it all yourself. You can actually reach out and develop a network of foundations and collaborate with larger and smaller foundations to support the overall cause. It’s been really, really great.
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Last year, the Al D. Rodriguez Foundation raised nearly $12,000 in its first annual benefit. The second annual benefit is around the corner. What’s in store and how can people get involved?
There are many ways to get involved. Everybody can go to the website and get involved that way. There is a PayPal service where you can donate any amount that you want. We love getting emails from people and have an open door policy. We are always open to receiving the latest news and discoveries from people who may be in the medical field and know more than we do. If you have comments, suggestions, questions, etc. we are always open to them as well.
Pines 69 Benefit Gala Reception, host Tony Award winner Sara Ramirez sings Cole Porter’s classic “I Get A Kick Out of You,” with Jon Dryden on piano. Photo by: Maria Esteves
We had our gala last summer on Fire Island and raised $12,000. Now, that might not seem like a lot for a large foundation, but for a small first-time foundation, it was a huge success and we chose to be excited about that. This year, we are looking at Monday, October 4, 2010 in Manhattan. We’re still finalizing all of the details and we’ll be putting up a “save the date” page on the website so that people can plan on being in the city at that time. It’s a work in progress and we’re still putting all of the details together. Our website will have more information as everything is confirmed. We hope more people can make it to the second annual event since it’ll be in the city!
SheWired has a very great lesbian following and I’m sure the gay community would love to come out in support of the cause!
That is great, thank you! Our foundation itself is made up of a very diverse group of people and we certainly are all about equality and, obviously, welcome everyone from all different communities to come out in support.
You must have a slew of new lesbian fans because of your role as “Dr. Callie Torres” on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Do you ever have women walk up to you at the grocery store and ask for you to snap their bones just so that they can get close to you?
[Laughs] No, no, I can’t say that that’s happened! There certainly have been invasive moments, but never really like flirtatious or that forward, I have to say. I’m okay with that! You know, it’s part of a television show. For a lot of people, like myself, Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t just a television show – I was a fan myself. Sometimes it was like therapy. Sometimes it was like, “I’m not the only flawed person out there. There are other flawed people out there doing their best who also are talented”. Gender identification and sexuality for me wasn’t as big of a deal, but when the subject came up of going that route on Grey’s Anatomy, I was the first one to raise my hand and say, “absolutely please let it be my character” because the LGBT community has always been a huge part of my life so it was a no-brainer for me.
Obviously, there is a huge picture happening where people are responding and people are feeling like they can identify with someone and/or a relationship because not everyone can identify with Callie’s journey necessarily, but some women can. That’s been a kind of nice little twist on it. There is Arizona who has always been a lesbian and then there is my character who hasn’t always been a lesbian, but is now in a lesbian relationship. I definitely underestimated how people would respond both negatively and positively, but at least people are responding. When people do stop me and have their reactions, I try to keep it in perspective and know that it hits close to home.
Sometimes it is important to remind folks that you are not the person on the television and establish a boundary so that people understand that they are talking to an actor on a show. Sometimes there is humor there and it’s light and fun. It’s a broad range of moments that you get to have with people you don’t know and who don’t know you. As long as you keep a grounded perspective on things, it’s fun and there is no harm in people really getting excited about your character and identifying with that character. There is nothing wrong with that and I think that’s great.
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In 2005, you won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding featured Actress for your role as “Lady of the Lake" in Broadway’s Spamalot. You are also a graduate from Juilliard’s Drama Division. Very impressive! Do you have plans to return to the theatre?
I don’t have any plans currently, but the theatre is my home and the theatre has been awfully good to me and I will never forget that. I hope to one day return and that theatre will have me back in whatever form that takes. It has to be something that speaks to my heart and lines up with where I am in my life. There are a lot of projects going on that I’ve heard about, but when you’re shooting ten months out of the year, it’s hard work and it’s no joke. Eight shows a week is no joke. I really admire people that take their hiatuses to go work in the theatre, or just work at all for that matter. I saw my colleagues Kate Walsh [currently starring on Private Practice] and Chandra Wilson last summer – also, Sandra Oh at one point in her hiatus – and I really admire actors that can take their hiatus and go work in the theatre. It’s great that they can do it and I really admire that, I really do. If the right opportunity came up for me, I probably would do that, too. So, maybe, but nothing right now.
How close are we to an all-musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy?
[Laughs] I don’t know! I mean, I feel like the musical episode idea was joked about and then kind of died. I just feel like it is like an old punch line that is now on a shelf. I don’t think it’s going to happen, is what I am trying to say. I don’t know…you never know. With Grey’s and Shondra Rhimes, you just never know what is going to happen and that is the fun of it! It could happen. I think the last time I heard about it, though, it was kind of dead in the water.
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We were able to hear you singing on the Christmas episode!
They set their sights on someone along the lines of Ingrid Michaelson to sing it, but for whatever reason, there was a space there to be filled by a singer for that particular song. Shondra came to me and asked if I would do it and I said, “Of course! I would love to help out in any way that I can.” I felt excited to contribute to the show in a way that I hadn’t and also in a way that wasn’t likened to my character, which was kind of neat. I was kind of on the other side – the side that supports the show musically. I really liked that. It was exciting to be hired as a singer.
Literally, Shondra came in and sat in on part of a session and, within an hour, I went into the studio where we do our AVR and sang it acapella and that was that! It was pretty painless and lots of fun and the end product was really cool. Again, I was beside myself like, “Somebody pinch me! I just sang on Grey’s Anatomy!” That’s crazy! This show has just been a gift and a blessing on so many levels. I’m glad to talk about it because it just reminds me of how lucky I am.
Can you give us an inside scoop into the new season of Grey’s Anatomy and what fans can expect?
We just had our first read through yesterday for season seven! It was really exciting and total first day of school vibes. Everyone was really excited to see each other because we’d been off for a couple of months. We were all either refreshed or exhausted because if someone just came off of another job. We all caught up and it was just such good energy. We read the first two episodes, which are going to be really awesome! There is going to be a major surgery within the first episode, of course, and everyone is coming back from being “away."
Callie and Arizona are together again – that is where we left off at the end of season six. I’m excited to see how their relationship evolves, but moreso, I am really appreciative of how universal the scenes seem to be. We lightly touch upon, “oh, yeah, we’re dealing with two women”, but we don’t comment on it constantly, which is really cool. It manages to be just like any other relationship. There are ups and downs, there’s conflict, there’s making up, etc. There are issues and some issues are more specific than others and we will cross those bridges, too. I am just excited that we are going to be exploring this relationship some more in a way that has integrity and respect. It isn’t just a comment on “a gay relationship” like one big joke. It’s actually kind of as meaningful and as serious as Meredith and Derek or Christina and Owen. You know, it’s just as important.
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