Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Diany Rodriguez of “The Valet” & “The Blacklist” Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Ming Zhao

I try to selfcare the hell outta selfcare as often as I can. Before every new gig I get ma nails done, ma hair did, and ma bits waxed. Regularly though, I ride my bike for miles and miles. Exercise in general, really centers me. I’m also a voracious reader. I read or listen to a crazy amount of books a month. Getting lost in another world is the best brain vacation. I rode so far on my bike one time, I had to call my gentleman caller to pick me up. . . from a gas station phone. I’d gotten lost, my legs were shot, and my phone had died. I’d never make it in the wild.

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Diany Rodriguez.

This year, Diany can be seen starring in Lionsgate and Hulu’s multi-cultural comedy film, “The Valet” opposite Eugenio Derbez, Samara Weaving and Max Greenfield. A remake of the 2006 hit French film “La Doublure,” the American version follows parking valet, Antonio (Derbez), who is enlisted by movie star, Olivia (Weaving), to pose as her boyfriend to cover for her affair with a known married man. As a valet, the hard-working Antonio usually flies under the radar but his ruse with Olivia thrusts him into the spotlight. Diany shines as Natalie, the owner of a neighborhood bike store where Antonio is a regular. She is outspoken on issues close to her like the impending gentrification of her neighborhood and the effects it could have on the local businesses. “The Valet” is set to premiere on Hulu on May 20, 2022.

On the television side, Diany stars on NBC’s long-running crime-drama series, “The Blacklist” alongside James Spader. Joining the series in the ninth season, she plays Weecha Xiu, Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington’s (Spader) new bodyguard after Dembe Zuma (Hisham Tawfiq) joined the FBI. With a tough physical presence and a hardened demeanor, Weecha is more than capable of defending herself against anyone who might threaten her or her associates.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I am an Army brat who grew up predominantly in Alabama with other military kids until our base was closed. It was crazy because I’m of the generation who first experienced the internet, normalized school shootings, wars in the Middle East, cell phones. . . so many things.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

Honestly, I’m still kind of waffling on what exactly my career is. I wanted to be a JAG officer, then I shifted to focusing on working in the State Department as an ambassador to a Spanish-speaking country. I keep acting because people keep paying me, but I keep thinking that any minute now, I’ll go to grad school.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Honestly a lot of my current career is a result of a series of happy accidents. For example: I booked my first tour after a friend from college said I should audition for “Dora the Explorer” at an upcoming open call. I kind of made up a resume, got someone at my job (Marc Ecko Enterprises) to take a headshot photo for me, and somehow, booked the show. It was my first professional credit.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I totally accidentally joined the theatre union. I literally found out I’d joined, when I saw an appalling amount of money being taken from my paycheck for. . . UNION DUES! I’d misunderstood a NY state union rule that stipulated having to join the union if you stay on a union contract after a certain amount of time. I thought I’d have to choice to join or not. . . false. Apparently, you join, OR YOU LEAVE THE CONTRACT. I accidentally joined the union on my third professional contract. My whole career has been a study in “Oh. . . well. . . let me figure out how to move forward and not ruin everyone and everything around me real quick!”

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes. Jody Feldman at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA. She was the casting director at the theater when I moved to Atlanta. She saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in myself (probably still don’t). I know that I have always been half of the equation of “booking.” Yes, there is something so empowering, however, when a gatekeeper believes in you over and over again, and puts you in a position to succeed, should you bring the skill they know you have. She stuck with me. She became my defacto mentor. I am a very outspoken and ridiculous kind of person. It makes life hard on people who love and believe in me. Though I have often times (publicly) put her in uncomfortable positions, she, till this day, remains one of my biggest cheerleaders.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Honestly, I’d assume the failure. It’s what I do now. It allows me the freedom and autonomy to create the kind of career I want. I assume I will be told no, so I try to always speak up if I feel disrespected or taken advantage of. I assume I will be told no, so I only audition for things that will bring the best out of me and make it difficult for someone to NOT hire me. I assume I will be told no, so I find multiple other things in my life that bring me joy and spark my passion. I never assume I’ve found what I’m meant to do. I only assume, I’m doing what I should be doing for now. It shifts the power dynamic. For me, it also makes it so that I’m not often more afraid of losing a job than I am of not speaking up for myself. (This whole paragraph is FULL of double negatives. For this, I am not, not sorry.)

What drives you to get up every day and work in TV and Film? What change do you want to see in the industry going forward?

Having a paycheck. Besides that, I really love having the opportunity to play people that are not in any way ME. I deal with a lot of anxiety in my real life. I’m also an introvert. It’s special kind of masochism I like to engage in: continuing to seek out work in a job that requires me to be looked at by a large group of people for hours at a time…daily. It’s also, however, so wonderful getting paid to play dress up. As far as the industry goes, we have to get rid of this whole caste system at play. PAs deserve a living wage and do as much work as Producers. Everyone should have the privilege of nothing less than a twelve-hour turnaround. Everyone on every set should have and expect humane working conditions, and the folx with the money, should be SEVERELY penalized if they don’t ensure humane working conditions. I had high hopes for the recent IATSE negotiations. Though many were disappointed with how they tuned out, perhaps we can all hope those negotiations were the beginning of many necessary (though glacially-paced) changes in our industry.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

Well, I just wrapped my first season of “The Blacklist.” It’s the biggest project I’ve ever done, as far as fan following. I also have the film, “The Valet” out on Hulu in May. From here? Grad school probably. . .

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

First thing’s first: “diversity” is a ridiculous word and means nothing. My beautiful white brothers and sisters come in “diverse” hair colors. Brunettes. Blondes. I wish folx would start doing more studying and reading than spouting buzz words. What we should all be seeking is EQUITY. We need to move swiftly away from viewing white as the default. People of the Global Majority are just that: the majority. So, why are we relegated to the “diverse” hire? It’s offensive. The entire media generating system needs to be reworked. Once we actually start to make generating content attainable for all, and not just those who can already afford to take financial hits, we’ll be working towards actual equity. Once we start actually start putting big money towards that content, we’ll be working towards actual equity. It’s simple, honestly. We have to shift away from seeing these opportunities as charity, and instead see them for what they are: privilege-breakers. Keeping story-telling exclusive is what creates entire generations of folx who on sight, fear an unarmed Black man, or fight to have Trans women banned from women’s sports programs, or blame an Undocumented human for inflation, and so on. We have so much to learn from each other. We just have to give ourselves the opportunity see each other as whole, worthy, humans.

Can you share with our readers any selfcare routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

I try to selfcare the hell outta selfcare as often as I can. Before every new gig I get ma nails done, ma hair did, and ma bits waxed. Regularly though, I ride my bike for miles and miles. Exercise in general, really centers me. I’m also a voracious reader. I read or listen to a crazy amount of books a month. Getting lost in another world is the best brain vacation. I rode so far on my bike one time, I had to call my gentleman caller to pick me up. . . from a gas station phone. I’d gotten lost, my legs were shot, and my phone had died. I’d never make it in the wild.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I *think* Maya Angelou said something like “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” As someone who is THE MOST herself and is constantly trying to set up looooow expectations so she doesn’t let folx down, THIS QUOTE IS MY BIBLE. Funny enough, there’s another quote that I heard in random movie at some point in the third grade. It is something akin to “People don’t really listen to hear. They’re just waiting for their turn to speak.” That really shooketh me, even then. I remember third grade Diany deciding then and there, that she would always strive to really listen. It’s not always easy, but I do try.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Uh oh. I think you’ve confused me with someone else. . . I’ll answer anyway. There’s a central tenet in EDI (Equity Diversity and Inclusion) work, that directly relates active learning and change, to seeking-out and living-in discomfort. I constantly say to people that I am too “woke” to be happy. It’s partially true. It’s also the most heart-open and empathetic way I know live a satisfied life. If I could convince a HUGE amount of people to investigate their own discomfort before speaking, before responding, before reacting, etc…I think we’d all be the better for it. We’d start giving ourselves more grace. Change is never easy. It’s often messy, and gross, and brings out some of the worst parts of us. That discomfort that comes with change is what we fight hard against, but we forget that it’s CHANGE. It’s not what we’re most comfortable with…BY DEFINITION! We may be judged on the way to that change. We may be bruised and battered and embarrassed and left reeling. It’s all part of the process. Once we learn to lean into that discomfort, we’ll be more open to accept all the good that can come with that change.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

Wow. Yes. Funny, I think about this a lot. Jameela Jamil DEFINITELY. She…SHE’S SUCH A FORCE. She has the kind of presence in life that I’d love to have. I don’t know her, but online at least, she’s an outspoken advocate for general greatness in humanity. She boldly says things that could be considered incendiary. She allows her whole humanity to shows as well (again, I assume so. I don’t know her). I just find her fascinating and lovely and seemingly kind and ready-and-willing to use her influence to try and create positive changes (towards equity for all) in any way she can. It’s weird to say so, because I am very aware of the problems with idolizing famous people and not allowing them to be fallible humans, but…I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I find her *pausing to choose my words carefully* a useful blueprint of how to try and use any money, influence, or power that may ever come my way.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

I’m on Instagram! @Dianysaurusrex I also have one single, solitary tik on TikTok. It’s sad really.

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!