The 37-year-old actress opens up about her pride over Rosa Diaz's bisexual storyline on the NBC comedy.
Stephanie Beatriz couldn't be more proud to play Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
ET's Ashley Crossan sat down with the 37-year-old actress at the press day for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in Los Angeles on Friday, where she opened up about the importance of representing the LGBTQ community onscreen. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was recently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, as a result, in part, of Rosa's storyline as a bisexual woman.
"I would say that most of that credit really goes to Dan Goor, the show's creator, and the writers who really adamantly feel like our show should reflect what the world and the United States looks like and is, which includes people that are in the LGBTQ community," Beatriz shared.
Though there had been hints about Rosa's sexuality since the beginning of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the character didn't come out as bisexual until the show's fifth season in 2017, after Beatriz herself came out as bisexual on Twitter the year before.
"I think it's so wonderful that they chose to explore that storyline with my character," the actress told ET. "I'm really, really proud to be a part of that, and I'm so honored that GLAAD continues to shine a light on all this incredible work that's happening across our industry and many others. It's really, really, really amazing of them."
Beatriz previously teased that we'll see more of the storyline surrounding Rosa's sexuality in season six. Something we'll see less of is Chelsea Peretti, after the actress revealed that her character, Gina Linetti, would depart the series this season.
"Chelsea Peretti is a gift from the gods. She really is one of the greats," Beatriz gushed, before insisting that Peretti will continue to pop up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. "She's not really leaving. We are shooting an episode with her coming back very soon."
"She might not be in every episode, but she's still very much a part of the world," she continued. "Gina's forever in the fabric of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It just wouldn't be the show without her, so I think audiences are going to be really pleased to see her come back. We just did that table read the other day and it's a really fire script. I can't wait for people to see it!"
Beatriz is also excited for fans to see her as General Mayhem in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, in theaters Feb. 8. The Lego Movie sequel sees Emmet (Pratt), Lucy (Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and their friends take on a new threat, LEGO DUPLO ® invaders, from outer space to restore harmony to the LEGO universe.
"It's so cool! It's been very, very satisfying," she gushed of her character. "A lot of animated movies in the past have sort of relied on these archaic tropes on what the female characters in those movies can be and who they are. The Lego Movie sort of usurped that idea from the beginning with the first film, and this film is really a continuation of exploring the different kinds of heroes and villains that you can have in a movie, and this one is really something I've never seen before. So I was really thrilled to do the voice for it."
See more in the video below.
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