June 6, 2025 • 41 mins
Actress Gina Torres joins Keith L. Underwood for a powerful conversation about identity, legacy, and stepping into the role of Queen Gertrude in a bold new production of “Hamlet” at the Mark Taper Forum. Torres reflects on her Afro-Cuban heritage, the resilience of her immigrant parents, and what it means to bring her full self to classical work. From “Suits” to “Firefly” to Shakespeare, she shares the challenges and triumphs of navigating Hollywood as an Afro-Latina and why representation on stage and screen is more urgent than ever. 🎭 Topics include:
- Reimagining Gertrude as Afro-Latina
- Honoring cultural memory through performance
- Her mother’s lasting influence
- The power of truth in storytelling
- Why we must stop asking permission to belong
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are black in the green room with me, your host,
Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real talk
about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives and show viz professionals.
My guest today has lit up the screen in iconic roles,
from Jessica Pearson and Suits to Zoe Washburn in Firefly,
to Anna Espinosa in Alias Now Jeana Torres being her
(00:24):
commanding presence to the stage as Queen Gertrude and honor
inspired reimagining a Hamlet at the Mark Tapeer Forum. A trailblazer,
a truth teller, and a course in every medium. This
is Gina Torres. Gina, welcome to the room.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you, thank you. What an introduction, lovely.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We try to do a little something something, yes, yes,
So you know, Gertrude is often read as a woman
caught between roles. She's a mother, queen, widow, wife. Have
you ever felt boxed in by the roles people expected
you to play in your own career? And how did
(01:05):
you begin to define those roles for yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I mean I don't know how how you walk the
world in a woman's body and not be you know,
put upon by everybody's expectation of of what you should
be and how you should look and how you should
perform in any given uh space. Ah gosh, I think
(01:32):
I think this Gertrude for sure is a Gertrude for uh,
this generation, for this modern eye. You. We have so
much more insight. We are so much less apologetic as
women in the world than Gertrude had to be. So
(01:53):
this is it. It's almost a love letter to to
the Gertrude that was conceived by Shakespeare and and then played,
you know, for the classical purposes of the play. This
Gertrude is a is a what if? What if?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
What if.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
She had more agency?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Mm hmm?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
What would she have done? What would she had what
would she had done differently? And And that is so
delicious to be able to dive into because we've historically
we've seen what what choices have been available to us.
We've seen the blood, sweat and tears that it has taken,
(02:51):
the lives that it has taken to change that up,
you know, And it's certainly now in a time when
we are looking at those shifts being threatened and being
challenged all over again. You know, what better way, what
(03:15):
better wayman to look at the classics and go, you know,
what does not have to be done, that does not
have to be Yeah, and.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
How have your own personal experiences, how have they prepared
you to prepare for the role.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Like I said, you know, I'm a woman in the world.
I'm a woman of color in this world. I am
a woman of a certain age, right, thank you, thank you.
But it's also been you know, it's it's been. It's
(03:58):
been a meditation, it is been. It has been uh uh,
you know, goal setting, it has been a way of
life two consciously define myself for myself and not somebody else.
(04:19):
And sometimes that puts you in a position of defiance.
Sometimes my mere presence is is is an act of
defiance and rebellion, and then other times it is it
is a teaching moment.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And so you know, it depends on who you are
and where we are, and you know what the space
allows and what and what it and what it can hold.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, And I can just assume, how I can only
assume how challenging you know that must be being a
woman and a woman of color and a statuesque woman
color as well. What what are some of the things
that you have done to overcome those barriers.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Show up. Hm, I keep showing up, you know, I
often say sometimes and sometimes you just have to wear
them down. Yeah. I've recently, I've recently given a few
interviews where, uh, you know, I'm asked, what's the what's
the secret? Well, how do you have have you gotten
(05:23):
this far? How have you stayed you know, focused in
the game? And and really the only answer to that
question is love. I'd love what I do so much.
I'd love being able to to put flesh, you know,
(05:43):
and and and bone into these women that I have
been so blessed to portray that that's an act of love.
And and if I didn't have that, all the rest
of it just wouldn't be sustainable. It's too hard. It's
too hard when when the world is is trying to
(06:08):
shrink you up into into a box, into some kind
of expectation that is that is theirs. It's not even
necessarily shared on mass It's very often it's restricted by
by that person's experience of what they think you should be.
(06:30):
And so it is it is love that cuts that
cuts through all of that so that I can get
to the truth of what of what I believe that
the character is meant to do. And if and if
I can get in the room and do that and
(06:54):
suspend their disbelief, that's and that's been informed by whatever
their life experiences. If I can, if I can, if
I can just be like that, that chink in the armor,
if I can, if I can just make those uh
that that circuit right just short for a minute where
(07:14):
they can actually just go, oh, this woman can look
like this, this woman can sound like that, this woman, yes,
yes dropping.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks.
They get it back to help these that's a flashback.
I lay they have fashion on these streets like Beverly
Hell pass form, got everyone dropping, Queen that can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from
these cold, wet, the rat things, grease bitten, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
The complac Everyone in Hamlet is performing, shifting identities to survive.
Are very much so crumbling Court, How have you managed
the pressures of performing for an industry that often sees
only part of who you are and not you as
a whole being.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I make sure that that my that that my heart
and my head and my soul are fed. That's that's
the you know, that's the best way I can I
can describe it, you know, the the as much as
I do love what I do, I can't do it
well if I'm praying on the inside. Uh, there's nothing
(08:43):
romantic about a tortured actor, regardless of all the movies
and all the things that you that that you have heard,
you know, really, at the end of the day, there's
there's really nothing romantic about that. And so I go
(09:04):
back to basics, and I and and I. I focus
on my family. I focus on my daughter. I focus
on the things that make me happy and bring me joy,
you know, cooking a meal, taking some time off, taking
a walk.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah, what's your go to email? Gina?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Oh, I have so many. I was raised by a
Cuban mother. So food is you know, it's language.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Oh yeah, you know, God hath given you one face,
and you make yourselves another. Have you that's a line
straight from Hamlet. Have you ever had to present a
version of yourself to fit into rooms that weren't built
with you in mind?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I've had to do that every day, just to to
some degree. I think it's it's also part of being
an you know, it's part of the job, it's part
of the gig. And so being an introvert by nature,
(10:17):
I whenever I step outside, especially as as my visibility
and my celebrity has has, you know, grown over the years,
it's you got to put your armor on. You know.
I can't just be walking around out there just like
(10:37):
a build Gina, just out in the world, because you
just you never. What has become so obvious is that
people do have a relationship with you. You just weren't in
the room when it happened. And so that's what you're that,
(11:00):
that's what's coming at you. When when when that's coming
at you? And so, you know, Beyonce refers to Sasha Fears.
I think there's there there. There are many of us
out there that that need their Sasha Fears to come
out and play for them. Mm hmm. You know that's
(11:20):
that's self preservation.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah. Who would your Sasha Fears be?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
She doesn't have a name, who is she? But she's
here right now. I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
She's here, present, yes and ever protecting. Have you done
Hamlet before?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
What are you most excited about approaching? You know, this
role something that's new and fresh to you.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That very much. That it's it's you know, it's my
return to the stage in in a in a staged production.
It's been quite sometimes. So a dear friend of mine said, wow,
so Gertrude, so you're so you're keeping it small. I
(12:16):
was like, yeah, well, you know, she showed up. Gertrude
showed up, and so you know, you got to step
into it. So so it's it's the challenge of that.
It's it's it's working through the sheer terror of attacking
Gertrude and finding her and finding her in my body,
(12:39):
which you know, it'll get fun in a minute. Right now,
I'm just kind of like, wow, okay, all right, one
step at a time, here we go.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, have you guys started rehearsals already?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
We day three? We just finished day three?
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, And how's it going? Other than that?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Going great? It's such a fantastic company. I just I
just feel so blessed.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes, absolutely. You know this song noir inspired Hamlet. It
dives into moral ambi ambiguity and truths. You've worked across
genre and tone. How has moving through sci fi, a
legal drama, and now Shakespeare shaped your instincts as a performer.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It's it's all you know, it's all the same, you know,
it really is. It's it's you're using the same muscles.
We're trafficking in emotion, we're moving energy, you know, as actors.
That's that's those are the building blocks of of of
what we do. It's just you know, the size of
(13:50):
the safety net that that changes. Right, We've got on
TV and film you've got two minutes between action and
cut where you have to where you have to find
flight and uh and on the stage there's there's really
not much of your safety net is your is your cast,
(14:12):
it's your community in that world that you that you
have built for the you know, the last four weeks
and and you catch flight, you know, you try to
catch flight between places and curtain and so the mechanisms
(14:34):
are the same. It's really just time.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
M How do you ensure that that each one of
them is different.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Performance? Yes, well that's on the audience.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Yes, or each character? Know, how do you make each
one of your characters different?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Oh? Well, I mean they're they're written different. Mostly, they're
mostly written different. You know, they have different life experiences,
they have they have a different trajectory. You know, some
it's it's really that's the fun of it. That's the
(15:16):
fun of it. I have no I have no real
desire to play Zoe wash Burned you know two point zero,
or or Jessica Pearson you know one point five, or
it's in in. There's always more, even if there are
(15:37):
similar characters, Even though because I have played very strong women,
they seem to follow me. Still, their journey to where
they are at any given moment is time is different.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yes, What what's different about Gertrude? What what draws you
to her?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Her? How her proximity to power is is like it's
like a shadow world because she doesn't really have access
(16:27):
to it.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
She is, she is there, she moves within it. There's
but there is a limit to how she herself can
engage because of her sex and and we you know,
(16:51):
and in this adaptation, you you you see that you
see both sides of it. How how she has to
move the level hers for her survival. Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Yeah. It's it's interesting because you know, I've remembered earlier
in our conversation when you were saying about you know,
being a woman in this business and the way that
you just described Gertrude as a as a woman within
this world and you know, navigating it and trying to
find her place even though she's not welcome there. I
(17:26):
saw her.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I mean, she's a queen.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That should mean something absolutely. Why doesn't it mean something?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, because you know there there are rules of succession,
and and she's not in line. She's just simply not
she it's you know, she's she's got you know, there's
this famous there's this famous line about you know appropriation, right,
(18:00):
and you you want you want all the rhythm and
none of the blues. Yes, and Gertrude has all the
blues and none of you know, gets none of the rhythm.
Because the kingdom is as important to her, it's hers.
It is her kingdom. It is it is, it is
her life. It has been her entire life to make
(18:22):
sure that that is maintained it is. That is part
of her job. But how much of that does she
actually get to do when she has to worry about,
you know, a dying now dead husband, an ambitious new
king of an emotionally frail son, all who have entree
(18:49):
that she has to keep together in some way, shape
or form, so that everybody can survive.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yes, legacy, it hangs over hamleting. What kind of legacy
do you hope your body of work leaves for women,
for Apple Latina artists, and for the next generation of storytellers.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Asking for permission to be in spaces that we should
be in, that we deserve to be and that we've
worked hard to be in. And if my if my
work can can speak to that as an example of
what that looks like, then then my job here will
(19:32):
be done. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
How does that play into the choices that you make
when a role comes to you? How much of that
place It doesn't?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It really doesn't. And because my because ultimately, really what
we're talking about is, you know, not whether I play
a queen or a high class lawyer or a whore.
It is that I do it well, that wherever wherever
(20:04):
I am as as as an actor, as a producer,
as a storyteller, that I do it to the best
of my ability, and that I challenge those around me
to do it to the best of their ability as well,
and that I continue to push that envelope. And so
it's it's not a question of me choosing the you know,
(20:29):
the elevated role. It's really the choice to elevate wherever
I am.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I love that. I love that. What what what is
your approach to elevating a role? What? What is what
is genus, skill, talent, and experience bring to elevating that role?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Honesty? Mm authentic, you know, being authentic, being my most
authentic self, being honest, being you know, a truth teller.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Yes, dropping, I love color hoodies while I'm like sound tracks,
eight tracks they get it back to health these that's
a flashback. I lay they have fashion on the streets
like Beverly Hill asked for got everyone dropping, Queen. That
can't help but feel the fox. It's a full of
(21:21):
soul from these coast where the rat things grease.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
That's Gina, welcome Black, Thank you King Hamlets gos. It
looms large in this piece, reminding us that we're all
shaped by those who came before us. And you mentioned
your mother and father briefly. What early influences are Ancestral
truths continue to guide your artistic choices.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Their courage, really the courage, their their courage and their faith. Ah.
You know, I think of my own choices at the
age that they were when they decided to immigrate and
(22:20):
they met in New York City. So they you know,
they immigrated separately. It wasn't like, you know, they had
each other and just I mean, I can't say it's
I mean, maybe on my father's side there was some audacity,
but like, but on my mom's side, she was you know,
(22:44):
very much a woman of her time who you know,
who was basically told you can do better somewhere else,
and we're going to help you do that. You know.
I think if it were up to her, I don't
think you would have left her mother for as long
as as you know, as she ended up leaving her,
(23:08):
because because then the political situation happened, you know, for
both my parents. So so when you consider that they
were leaving behind an entire support system for a shot
that's something better, and and and and to take on
(23:31):
a whole other language in their twenties because something inside
them said yeah, no, we can, we can, I can
do this. I'm gonna make this work. That's astonishing to me. Yeah,
(23:55):
you know again, just you know, not just briefly bring
it into you know, what we see happening. I think
if more people understood what informs those choices and the
acts of share, share will uh for people who just
(24:24):
really need a shot. Yeah, what what survival and are
willing to do the work, you know, are really willing
to to to bet on themselves. We'd be in a
much better place.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yeah. And I'm going to dare to ask you this
and piggyback off of what what you said. So, considering
the current cultural, you know, landscape, what do you think
is the biggest misconceptions about the things?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
No, you know what, I I don't even know what
specifically you ask about Cubans because so little is known
about Cuba. So little is known about the political situation
in Cuba right now and what they're going through. There's
so little. We have no access, We literally have no access,
(25:25):
So so there may be Here's what I will say
mm hmm about not just the Cubans in my life,
because everybody's different, because everybody's different. But also, you know,
(25:48):
I've recently have had friends that have that have traveled
to Cuba, you know, on artists' visas and and and whatnot,
and they all come back saying the same thing, what
an extraordinary resilient people.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And you can talk to them about anything. And I
love that. I love that the culture continues. I love
that that that that the curiosity for love and light
(26:31):
and and and culture exists, and that the need to
be seen and and have their stories out there, to
have their their art survive and live is still very
very much. When their music and you know, it's it's, it's,
it's it's all still very it's very it's a part
(26:52):
of our DNA. Absolutely dropping.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks
they get it back to health. These that's a flashback.
I may they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hell pass for got everyone dropping, Queen that can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from
these coldwet, the rat things.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Grease gin know we'come black?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Okay. So you know Gertrude's little bond with Hamlet, it's
it's strained by grief, love and then also loyalty. What
has playing mothers, specifically mothers on screen and now on stage,
what does that mean to you and what has it
taught you about your presence and emotional honesty?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Oh I am I am a mother. I've had some
I've had some training to that respect. You know, I'm
a mother. And I've been a daughter, and so yeah,
(28:16):
nothing nothing really cracks you open than uh than the
birth of a child and then raising one and and
you know, hoping that they find their wings. So you know,
(28:39):
with with Hamlet in particular with Gertrude and and and
Hamlet's roll, I think what's h what I find uh
to be a parallel just emotionally is you know, sometimes
(29:01):
sometimes kids don't understand the choices that their parents have
to make, and sometimes their choices that their parents don't
want to make. Ah, but they do. And you can
just hope and pray that you both live long enough
(29:26):
to get to the point where you go, okay, So
remember when that happened, They really got.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Really hard, but then it got better, right, and I
and and I And that's kind.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Of where that's where we come in to this, to
this play. And and it's it's you just there are
just moments in all our lives, especially between you know,
a parent and their child, that you you pray for
(30:05):
grace somewhere down the line that there that there be
grace and space for for growth and wisdom and maturity
and understanding.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
M hm.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
What?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, it's it's just it's like you said, it's
very very hard being a parent, and for all of
the reasons that you just you just named, and and
trying to embrace you know, those philosophies that you just
you just mentioned.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
It's so it's so funny because it's all trial and error, right,
very much it is. And no one expects anyone to
be perfect. And I think that it's it's similar for
Queen Gertrude, but the difference is she is expected to
be perfect, right, yes, yeah, yeah. If Gertrude we're written
(31:06):
through an Afro Latina lens with cultural memory and Diasteric
identity at her core, I might her story shift? And
how do you bring your heritage into roles originally written without.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
You in mind?
Speaker 2 (31:24):
I am what I am? Right that you know? I
am what I am? There is Iftrude had been written
a Latina. Yes, I'm not quite sure any of the
(31:45):
men would have survived as long as they and Hamlet
would not be acting out in this way because he
would have had a chandler or two or for thrown
at him. Uh So there's that. How I you know,
(32:11):
how I my experience, my world, experience, my life experience
is that is what it is. And so you know,
that all goes into the mix when when I'm interpreting
a character and trying to sort of figure out where
where she lives. And sometimes it's appropriate, sometimes.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
It's not sure, but.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I will say that having had the opportunity to now
be to be in positions where I can say, as
for example, when we when we did Pierson, and we
were taking an established character that we really knew very
little about. We didn't know a story and you know,
(32:56):
and it was really important to me, since we were
going into her backstory that we incorporate her after Latinina,
absolutely that she is a woman that's been hiding in
playing sight all this, you know, all this time because
nobody bothered, nobody really bothered to find out like what
her deal.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely, I agree, and.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
That has certainly been my experience to some degree. So
I wanted to incorporate that. And then playing Tommy Vega
on nine one one Lone Star, I spoke to the
you know, having now the opportunity to build a character,
(33:42):
I said, I wanted I wanted to.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Be after Latina absolutely, why that's all and.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
You know, and like I said, you know, It's not
like every character that I'm going to play, I'm going
to insist that she'd be after Latina. But I was
just like, no, she's in Texas.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Why not let's do it exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
You know, it doesn't doesn't take anything away, but it
might add you know, to to be in you know,
in a Texas town where there's so much Spanish being
spoken that she should be able to to h to
communicate right with some characters that that and that just
makes that makes the tapestry of the show richer. And
(34:23):
uh and yeah, they went for it and off and
we were off to the races, which great.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yes, And I enjoyed Pearson for that for that reason
because because I did watch and I did I did
because it was just so rare that we saw, you know,
a woman in the position that Pearson was and then
being at a Latina and that being explored and acknowledged. Yes,
(34:50):
so for for you, I mean, at some point and
I'm sure was there going to be an introduction of
more of her Latina heritage heritage as well?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yes, that was that was certainly part of the plan.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Yeah, yeah, So what did how did you how did
you feel about being able to do that, you know,
being able to bring a show forth and then being
able to instill your direct heritage in it because we
know it's so rare that we actually see that.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, it meant it meant the world to me. It
really did, and it and it was uh, it was
an honor of my parents who who really didn't live
long enough two see it to see it happened. I mean,
(35:54):
I will say that one of the most heartbreaking moments
that I I've had is, you know, just start just
starting off and you know, in my career, and and
and my mom watching me in these like these small roles,
in these in these little roles, and you know, and
(36:15):
sort of building and building, and she's and she goes
and she she's like, mummy, you know, like when you
when are you going to play a nice like little
like a nice Spanish girl.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And and and me just you know, telling her, it's
like that they don't see me that way, Mommy. That's
not what they that's not what they see, that's not
who they see when they look at me. She's like,
that's ridiculous, that's ridiculous. You're Cuban. That's ridiculous. And and
and and of course it was ridiculous because I grew
(36:55):
up in New York City. I grew up, you know,
seeing my fan family and other you know, Latino families
from the Caribbean specifically. You know, whether it be whether
you were Jamaican, whether you were Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban,
what your family looks like spans the full and so
(37:25):
we know what we look like. We've always known what
we look like. And and it was it was shocking.
I'm not gonna lie. It was shocking to me that
there was such resistance going in and and and really,
(37:45):
you know, I refer to them as the gatekeepers, the
gatekeepers wanting to keep the lid on.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
What was.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
A Latina and what one should look like.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Yes, well, I'm glad that, even though it was for
a short amount of time, that you were able to
help to change that narrative.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Dropping.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
I love color hoodies.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
While I'm like sound tracks.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Eight tracks may get it back to help these that's
a flashback. I lay they have fashion on these streets
like Beverly Hill, ask for got everyone dropping Queen that
can't help but feel the fox. It's a full of
soul from these coast where the rat things, grease.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
Bitten, Gina, welcome black, glad to be here, Yes, wonderful.
At the end of Hamlet, the veil drops and the
truth reigns. And that's very fitting for what we just
talked about in the last segment. What's the truth about
Gina Torres that's taking time to fully claim? And how
(38:58):
is that truth shaping the artist.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
You are to do it? Oh hm hmm. You know,
I think I think my answer really just comes with age,
you know. I think it's just it's it's it's time in.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
When it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
It is it is one hundred, you know. And and uh,
there's just there's a level of acceptance, there's a level
of of really understanding what what is truly valuable and
(39:49):
and what I bring to the table is absolutely a value.
Where I may have a leaved it when I started
this journey, I know it now and I know that
that girl was valuable. That's right as well.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Yes, it's just really funny how we come full circle,
you know, and people get they do have more of
that understanding that there was a reason that that Gina
or that Keith existed. Then yes, the people that we
are today so Gina Torus. This, oh, this has been
absolutely phenomenal. I really really appreciate your time. Where can
(40:35):
everybody find out how to get tickets and come out
and see Hamlet.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
We will be at the Mark Taper Theater. First performance
will be May twenty eighth, and our last performance is
July sixth, so come see us.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
All right, hey, all right, and Gina Tour's work. Can
everyone find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (40:57):
I am at I am Gina Torrets on Instagram for
sure and forever Living on streaming in suits, Pearson and
uh and Lone Star just to name a few.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
Yes, Forever Living Love Gina Torres, thank you so much
for your time. I really really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Thank you. This has been lovely appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Be sure to follow me Keith Underwood at mister Keith
l Underwood on ig You can also follow me on FB.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
At Keith l Underwood.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
And you know you gotta follow Black in the green
Room at Black in the green Room across all platforms
until next time. This has been Black in the green
Room
You are black in the green room with me, your host,
Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real talk
about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives and show viz professionals.
My guest today has lit up the screen in iconic roles,
from Jessica Pearson and Suits to Zoe Washburn in Firefly,
to Anna Espinosa in Alias Now Jeana Torres being her
(00:24):
commanding presence to the stage as Queen Gertrude and honor
inspired reimagining a Hamlet at the Mark Tapeer Forum. A trailblazer,
a truth teller, and a course in every medium. This
is Gina Torres. Gina, welcome to the room.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you, thank you. What an introduction, lovely.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We try to do a little something something, yes, yes,
So you know, Gertrude is often read as a woman
caught between roles. She's a mother, queen, widow, wife. Have
you ever felt boxed in by the roles people expected
you to play in your own career? And how did
(01:05):
you begin to define those roles for yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I mean I don't know how how you walk the
world in a woman's body and not be you know,
put upon by everybody's expectation of of what you should
be and how you should look and how you should
perform in any given uh space. Ah gosh, I think
(01:32):
I think this Gertrude for sure is a Gertrude for uh,
this generation, for this modern eye. You. We have so
much more insight. We are so much less apologetic as
women in the world than Gertrude had to be. So
(01:53):
this is it. It's almost a love letter to to
the Gertrude that was conceived by Shakespeare and and then played,
you know, for the classical purposes of the play. This
Gertrude is a is a what if? What if?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
What if.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
She had more agency?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Mm hmm?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
What would she have done? What would she had what
would she had done differently? And And that is so
delicious to be able to dive into because we've historically
we've seen what what choices have been available to us.
We've seen the blood, sweat and tears that it has taken,
(02:51):
the lives that it has taken to change that up,
you know, And it's certainly now in a time when
we are looking at those shifts being threatened and being
challenged all over again. You know, what better way, what
(03:15):
better wayman to look at the classics and go, you know,
what does not have to be done, that does not
have to be Yeah, and.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
How have your own personal experiences, how have they prepared
you to prepare for the role.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Like I said, you know, I'm a woman in the world.
I'm a woman of color in this world. I am
a woman of a certain age, right, thank you, thank you.
But it's also been you know, it's it's been. It's
(03:58):
been a meditation, it is been. It has been uh uh,
you know, goal setting, it has been a way of
life two consciously define myself for myself and not somebody else.
(04:19):
And sometimes that puts you in a position of defiance.
Sometimes my mere presence is is is an act of
defiance and rebellion, and then other times it is it
is a teaching moment.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And so you know, it depends on who you are
and where we are, and you know what the space
allows and what and what it and what it can hold.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, And I can just assume, how I can only
assume how challenging you know that must be being a
woman and a woman of color and a statuesque woman
color as well. What what are some of the things
that you have done to overcome those barriers.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Show up. Hm, I keep showing up, you know, I
often say sometimes and sometimes you just have to wear
them down. Yeah. I've recently, I've recently given a few
interviews where, uh, you know, I'm asked, what's the what's
the secret? Well, how do you have have you gotten
(05:23):
this far? How have you stayed you know, focused in
the game? And and really the only answer to that
question is love. I'd love what I do so much.
I'd love being able to to put flesh, you know,
(05:43):
and and and bone into these women that I have
been so blessed to portray that that's an act of love.
And and if I didn't have that, all the rest
of it just wouldn't be sustainable. It's too hard. It's
too hard when when the world is is trying to
(06:08):
shrink you up into into a box, into some kind
of expectation that is that is theirs. It's not even
necessarily shared on mass It's very often it's restricted by
by that person's experience of what they think you should be.
(06:30):
And so it is it is love that cuts that
cuts through all of that so that I can get
to the truth of what of what I believe that
the character is meant to do. And if and if
I can get in the room and do that and
(06:54):
suspend their disbelief, that's and that's been informed by whatever
their life experiences. If I can, if I can, if
I can just be like that, that chink in the armor,
if I can, if I can just make those uh
that that circuit right just short for a minute where
(07:14):
they can actually just go, oh, this woman can look
like this, this woman can sound like that, this woman, yes,
yes dropping.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks.
They get it back to help these that's a flashback.
I lay they have fashion on these streets like Beverly
Hell pass form, got everyone dropping, Queen that can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from
these cold, wet, the rat things, grease bitten, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
The complac Everyone in Hamlet is performing, shifting identities to survive.
Are very much so crumbling Court, How have you managed
the pressures of performing for an industry that often sees
only part of who you are and not you as
a whole being.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I make sure that that my that that my heart
and my head and my soul are fed. That's that's
the you know, that's the best way I can I
can describe it, you know, the the as much as
I do love what I do, I can't do it
well if I'm praying on the inside. Uh, there's nothing
(08:43):
romantic about a tortured actor, regardless of all the movies
and all the things that you that that you have heard,
you know, really, at the end of the day, there's
there's really nothing romantic about that. And so I go
(09:04):
back to basics, and I and and I. I focus
on my family. I focus on my daughter. I focus
on the things that make me happy and bring me joy,
you know, cooking a meal, taking some time off, taking
a walk.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah, what's your go to email? Gina?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Oh, I have so many. I was raised by a
Cuban mother. So food is you know, it's language.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Oh yeah, you know, God hath given you one face,
and you make yourselves another. Have you that's a line
straight from Hamlet. Have you ever had to present a
version of yourself to fit into rooms that weren't built
with you in mind?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I've had to do that every day, just to to
some degree. I think it's it's also part of being
an you know, it's part of the job, it's part
of the gig. And so being an introvert by nature,
(10:17):
I whenever I step outside, especially as as my visibility
and my celebrity has has, you know, grown over the years,
it's you got to put your armor on. You know.
I can't just be walking around out there just like
(10:37):
a build Gina, just out in the world, because you
just you never. What has become so obvious is that
people do have a relationship with you. You just weren't in
the room when it happened. And so that's what you're that,
(11:00):
that's what's coming at you. When when when that's coming
at you? And so, you know, Beyonce refers to Sasha Fears.
I think there's there there. There are many of us
out there that that need their Sasha Fears to come
out and play for them. Mm hmm. You know that's
(11:20):
that's self preservation.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah. Who would your Sasha Fears be?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
She doesn't have a name, who is she? But she's
here right now. I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
She's here, present, yes and ever protecting. Have you done
Hamlet before?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
What are you most excited about approaching? You know, this
role something that's new and fresh to you.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That very much. That it's it's you know, it's my
return to the stage in in a in a staged production.
It's been quite sometimes. So a dear friend of mine said, wow,
so Gertrude, so you're so you're keeping it small. I
(12:16):
was like, yeah, well, you know, she showed up. Gertrude
showed up, and so you know, you got to step
into it. So so it's it's the challenge of that.
It's it's it's working through the sheer terror of attacking
Gertrude and finding her and finding her in my body,
(12:39):
which you know, it'll get fun in a minute. Right now,
I'm just kind of like, wow, okay, all right, one
step at a time, here we go.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, have you guys started rehearsals already?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
We day three? We just finished day three?
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, And how's it going? Other than that?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Going great? It's such a fantastic company. I just I
just feel so blessed.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes, absolutely. You know this song noir inspired Hamlet. It
dives into moral ambi ambiguity and truths. You've worked across
genre and tone. How has moving through sci fi, a
legal drama, and now Shakespeare shaped your instincts as a performer.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It's it's all you know, it's all the same, you know,
it really is. It's it's you're using the same muscles.
We're trafficking in emotion, we're moving energy, you know, as actors.
That's that's those are the building blocks of of of
what we do. It's just you know, the size of
(13:50):
the safety net that that changes. Right, We've got on
TV and film you've got two minutes between action and
cut where you have to where you have to find
flight and uh and on the stage there's there's really
not much of your safety net is your is your cast,
(14:12):
it's your community in that world that you that you
have built for the you know, the last four weeks
and and you catch flight, you know, you try to
catch flight between places and curtain and so the mechanisms
(14:34):
are the same. It's really just time.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
M How do you ensure that that each one of
them is different.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Performance? Yes, well that's on the audience.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Yes, or each character? Know, how do you make each
one of your characters different?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Oh? Well, I mean they're they're written different. Mostly, they're
mostly written different. You know, they have different life experiences,
they have they have a different trajectory. You know, some
it's it's really that's the fun of it. That's the
(15:16):
fun of it. I have no I have no real
desire to play Zoe wash Burned you know two point zero,
or or Jessica Pearson you know one point five, or
it's in in. There's always more, even if there are
(15:37):
similar characters, Even though because I have played very strong women,
they seem to follow me. Still, their journey to where
they are at any given moment is time is different.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yes, What what's different about Gertrude? What what draws you
to her?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Her? How her proximity to power is is like it's
like a shadow world because she doesn't really have access
(16:27):
to it.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
She is, she is there, she moves within it. There's
but there is a limit to how she herself can
engage because of her sex and and we you know,
(16:51):
and in this adaptation, you you you see that you
see both sides of it. How how she has to
move the level hers for her survival. Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Yeah. It's it's interesting because you know, I've remembered earlier
in our conversation when you were saying about you know,
being a woman in this business and the way that
you just described Gertrude as a as a woman within
this world and you know, navigating it and trying to
find her place even though she's not welcome there. I
(17:26):
saw her.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I mean, she's a queen.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That should mean something absolutely. Why doesn't it mean something?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, because you know there there are rules of succession,
and and she's not in line. She's just simply not
she it's you know, she's she's got you know, there's
this famous there's this famous line about you know appropriation, right,
(18:00):
and you you want you want all the rhythm and
none of the blues. Yes, and Gertrude has all the
blues and none of you know, gets none of the rhythm.
Because the kingdom is as important to her, it's hers.
It is her kingdom. It is it is, it is
her life. It has been her entire life to make
(18:22):
sure that that is maintained it is. That is part
of her job. But how much of that does she
actually get to do when she has to worry about,
you know, a dying now dead husband, an ambitious new
king of an emotionally frail son, all who have entree
(18:49):
that she has to keep together in some way, shape
or form, so that everybody can survive.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yes, legacy, it hangs over hamleting. What kind of legacy
do you hope your body of work leaves for women,
for Apple Latina artists, and for the next generation of storytellers.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Asking for permission to be in spaces that we should
be in, that we deserve to be and that we've
worked hard to be in. And if my if my
work can can speak to that as an example of
what that looks like, then then my job here will
(19:32):
be done. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
How does that play into the choices that you make
when a role comes to you? How much of that
place It doesn't?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It really doesn't. And because my because ultimately, really what
we're talking about is, you know, not whether I play
a queen or a high class lawyer or a whore.
It is that I do it well, that wherever wherever
(20:04):
I am as as as an actor, as a producer,
as a storyteller, that I do it to the best
of my ability, and that I challenge those around me
to do it to the best of their ability as well,
and that I continue to push that envelope. And so
it's it's not a question of me choosing the you know,
(20:29):
the elevated role. It's really the choice to elevate wherever
I am.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I love that. I love that. What what what is
your approach to elevating a role? What? What is what
is genus, skill, talent, and experience bring to elevating that role?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Honesty? Mm authentic, you know, being authentic, being my most
authentic self, being honest, being you know, a truth teller.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Yes, dropping, I love color hoodies while I'm like sound tracks,
eight tracks they get it back to health these that's
a flashback. I lay they have fashion on the streets
like Beverly Hill asked for got everyone dropping, Queen. That
can't help but feel the fox. It's a full of
(21:21):
soul from these coast where the rat things grease.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
That's Gina, welcome Black, Thank you King Hamlets gos. It
looms large in this piece, reminding us that we're all
shaped by those who came before us. And you mentioned
your mother and father briefly. What early influences are Ancestral
truths continue to guide your artistic choices.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Their courage, really the courage, their their courage and their faith. Ah.
You know, I think of my own choices at the
age that they were when they decided to immigrate and
(22:20):
they met in New York City. So they you know,
they immigrated separately. It wasn't like, you know, they had
each other and just I mean, I can't say it's
I mean, maybe on my father's side there was some audacity,
but like, but on my mom's side, she was you know,
(22:44):
very much a woman of her time who you know,
who was basically told you can do better somewhere else,
and we're going to help you do that. You know.
I think if it were up to her, I don't
think you would have left her mother for as long
as as you know, as she ended up leaving her,
(23:08):
because because then the political situation happened, you know, for
both my parents. So so when you consider that they
were leaving behind an entire support system for a shot
that's something better, and and and and to take on
(23:31):
a whole other language in their twenties because something inside
them said yeah, no, we can, we can, I can
do this. I'm gonna make this work. That's astonishing to me. Yeah,
(23:55):
you know again, just you know, not just briefly bring
it into you know, what we see happening. I think
if more people understood what informs those choices and the
acts of share, share will uh for people who just
(24:24):
really need a shot. Yeah, what what survival and are
willing to do the work, you know, are really willing
to to to bet on themselves. We'd be in a
much better place.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yeah. And I'm going to dare to ask you this
and piggyback off of what what you said. So, considering
the current cultural, you know, landscape, what do you think
is the biggest misconceptions about the things?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
No, you know what, I I don't even know what
specifically you ask about Cubans because so little is known
about Cuba. So little is known about the political situation
in Cuba right now and what they're going through. There's
so little. We have no access, We literally have no access,
(25:25):
So so there may be Here's what I will say
mm hmm about not just the Cubans in my life,
because everybody's different, because everybody's different. But also, you know,
(25:48):
I've recently have had friends that have that have traveled
to Cuba, you know, on artists' visas and and and whatnot,
and they all come back saying the same thing, what
an extraordinary resilient people.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And you can talk to them about anything. And I
love that. I love that the culture continues. I love
that that that that the curiosity for love and light
(26:31):
and and and culture exists, and that the need to
be seen and and have their stories out there, to
have their their art survive and live is still very
very much. When their music and you know, it's it's, it's,
it's it's all still very it's very it's a part
(26:52):
of our DNA. Absolutely dropping.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks
they get it back to health. These that's a flashback.
I may they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hell pass for got everyone dropping, Queen that can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from
these coldwet, the rat things.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Grease gin know we'come black?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Okay. So you know Gertrude's little bond with Hamlet, it's
it's strained by grief, love and then also loyalty. What
has playing mothers, specifically mothers on screen and now on stage,
what does that mean to you and what has it
taught you about your presence and emotional honesty?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Oh I am I am a mother. I've had some
I've had some training to that respect. You know, I'm
a mother. And I've been a daughter, and so yeah,
(28:16):
nothing nothing really cracks you open than uh than the
birth of a child and then raising one and and
you know, hoping that they find their wings. So you know,
(28:39):
with with Hamlet in particular with Gertrude and and and
Hamlet's roll, I think what's h what I find uh
to be a parallel just emotionally is you know, sometimes
(29:01):
sometimes kids don't understand the choices that their parents have
to make, and sometimes their choices that their parents don't
want to make. Ah, but they do. And you can
just hope and pray that you both live long enough
(29:26):
to get to the point where you go, okay, So
remember when that happened, They really got.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Really hard, but then it got better, right, and I
and and I And that's kind.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Of where that's where we come in to this, to
this play. And and it's it's you just there are
just moments in all our lives, especially between you know,
a parent and their child, that you you pray for
(30:05):
grace somewhere down the line that there that there be
grace and space for for growth and wisdom and maturity
and understanding.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
M hm.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
What?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, it's it's just it's like you said, it's
very very hard being a parent, and for all of
the reasons that you just you just named, and and
trying to embrace you know, those philosophies that you just
you just mentioned.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
It's so it's so funny because it's all trial and error, right,
very much it is. And no one expects anyone to
be perfect. And I think that it's it's similar for
Queen Gertrude, but the difference is she is expected to
be perfect, right, yes, yeah, yeah. If Gertrude we're written
(31:06):
through an Afro Latina lens with cultural memory and Diasteric
identity at her core, I might her story shift? And
how do you bring your heritage into roles originally written without.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
You in mind?
Speaker 2 (31:24):
I am what I am? Right that you know? I
am what I am? There is Iftrude had been written
a Latina. Yes, I'm not quite sure any of the
(31:45):
men would have survived as long as they and Hamlet
would not be acting out in this way because he
would have had a chandler or two or for thrown
at him. Uh So there's that. How I you know,
(32:11):
how I my experience, my world, experience, my life experience
is that is what it is. And so you know,
that all goes into the mix when when I'm interpreting
a character and trying to sort of figure out where
where she lives. And sometimes it's appropriate, sometimes.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
It's not sure, but.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I will say that having had the opportunity to now
be to be in positions where I can say, as
for example, when we when we did Pierson, and we
were taking an established character that we really knew very
little about. We didn't know a story and you know,
(32:56):
and it was really important to me, since we were
going into her backstory that we incorporate her after Latinina,
absolutely that she is a woman that's been hiding in
playing sight all this, you know, all this time because
nobody bothered, nobody really bothered to find out like what
her deal.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely, I agree, and.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
That has certainly been my experience to some degree. So
I wanted to incorporate that. And then playing Tommy Vega
on nine one one Lone Star, I spoke to the
you know, having now the opportunity to build a character,
(33:42):
I said, I wanted I wanted to.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Be after Latina absolutely, why that's all and.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
You know, and like I said, you know, It's not
like every character that I'm going to play, I'm going
to insist that she'd be after Latina. But I was
just like, no, she's in Texas.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Why not let's do it exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
You know, it doesn't doesn't take anything away, but it
might add you know, to to be in you know,
in a Texas town where there's so much Spanish being
spoken that she should be able to to h to
communicate right with some characters that that and that just
makes that makes the tapestry of the show richer. And
(34:23):
uh and yeah, they went for it and off and
we were off to the races, which great.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yes, And I enjoyed Pearson for that for that reason
because because I did watch and I did I did
because it was just so rare that we saw, you know,
a woman in the position that Pearson was and then
being at a Latina and that being explored and acknowledged. Yes,
(34:50):
so for for you, I mean, at some point and
I'm sure was there going to be an introduction of
more of her Latina heritage heritage as well?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yes, that was that was certainly part of the plan.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Yeah, yeah, So what did how did you how did
you feel about being able to do that, you know,
being able to bring a show forth and then being
able to instill your direct heritage in it because we
know it's so rare that we actually see that.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, it meant it meant the world to me. It
really did, and it and it was uh, it was
an honor of my parents who who really didn't live
long enough two see it to see it happened. I mean,
(35:54):
I will say that one of the most heartbreaking moments
that I I've had is, you know, just start just
starting off and you know, in my career, and and
and my mom watching me in these like these small roles,
in these in these little roles, and you know, and
(36:15):
sort of building and building, and she's and she goes
and she she's like, mummy, you know, like when you
when are you going to play a nice like little
like a nice Spanish girl.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Girl.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And and and me just you know, telling her, it's
like that they don't see me that way, Mommy. That's
not what they that's not what they see, that's not
who they see when they look at me. She's like,
that's ridiculous, that's ridiculous. You're Cuban. That's ridiculous. And and
and and of course it was ridiculous because I grew
(36:55):
up in New York City. I grew up, you know,
seeing my fan family and other you know, Latino families
from the Caribbean specifically. You know, whether it be whether
you were Jamaican, whether you were Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban,
what your family looks like spans the full and so
(37:25):
we know what we look like. We've always known what
we look like. And and it was it was shocking.
I'm not gonna lie. It was shocking to me that
there was such resistance going in and and and really,
(37:45):
you know, I refer to them as the gatekeepers, the
gatekeepers wanting to keep the lid on.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
What was.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
A Latina and what one should look like.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Yes, well, I'm glad that, even though it was for
a short amount of time, that you were able to
help to change that narrative.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Dropping.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
I love color hoodies.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
While I'm like sound tracks.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Eight tracks may get it back to help these that's
a flashback. I lay they have fashion on these streets
like Beverly Hill, ask for got everyone dropping Queen that
can't help but feel the fox. It's a full of
soul from these coast where the rat things, grease.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
Bitten, Gina, welcome black, glad to be here, Yes, wonderful.
At the end of Hamlet, the veil drops and the
truth reigns. And that's very fitting for what we just
talked about in the last segment. What's the truth about
Gina Torres that's taking time to fully claim? And how
(38:58):
is that truth shaping the artist.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
You are to do it? Oh hm hmm. You know,
I think I think my answer really just comes with age,
you know. I think it's just it's it's it's time in.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
When it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
It is it is one hundred, you know. And and uh,
there's just there's a level of acceptance, there's a level
of of really understanding what what is truly valuable and
(39:49):
and what I bring to the table is absolutely a value.
Where I may have a leaved it when I started
this journey, I know it now and I know that
that girl was valuable. That's right as well.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Yes, it's just really funny how we come full circle,
you know, and people get they do have more of
that understanding that there was a reason that that Gina
or that Keith existed. Then yes, the people that we
are today so Gina Torus. This, oh, this has been
absolutely phenomenal. I really really appreciate your time. Where can
(40:35):
everybody find out how to get tickets and come out
and see Hamlet.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
We will be at the Mark Taper Theater. First performance
will be May twenty eighth, and our last performance is
July sixth, so come see us.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
All right, hey, all right, and Gina Tour's work. Can
everyone find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (40:57):
I am at I am Gina Torrets on Instagram for
sure and forever Living on streaming in suits, Pearson and
uh and Lone Star just to name a few.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
Yes, Forever Living Love Gina Torres, thank you so much
for your time. I really really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Thank you. This has been lovely appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Be sure to follow me Keith Underwood at mister Keith
l Underwood on ig You can also follow me on FB.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
At Keith l Underwood.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
And you know you gotta follow Black in the green
Room at Black in the green Room across all platforms
until next time. This has been Black in the green
Room
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