Sara Ramirez has responded to the “hate” towards their And Just Like That character Che Diaz.
The Grey’s Anatomy star played the non-binary comedian who strikes up a romance with Miranda Hobbes (played by Cynthia Nixon) in the first season of the Sex and the City reboot series.
Speaking to The New York Times about the backlash their character has received online, Sara said: “I’m very aware of the hate that exists online. But I have to protect my own mental health and my own artistry. And that’s way more important to me because I’m a real human being.”
The 46-year-old continued: “I’m really proud of the representation that we’ve created. We have built a character who is a human being, who is imperfect, who’s complex, who is not here to be liked, who’s not here for anybody’s approval. They’re here to be themselves.”
The actor, who uses they/them pronouns, also noted that they were “not in control of the writing.”
They explained: “In real life, there are a lot of different human beings who show up to the table, speaking truth to power in myriad ways. And they all land differently with different people. And Che Diaz has their own audience that they speak to who really get a kick out of what they’re doing.”
Sara imagines that Che would have a “very witty and silly and funny” response to all the discussion about their character.
“Something that ultimately reminds everyone that they are human; something with a sprinkling of self-deprecation, because I think they know they’re a narcissist. And maybe just a little reminder that no one’s perfect,” they added.
It comes after Cynthia revealed Che was not the first choice to play Miranda’s love interest.
Speaking in the And Just Like That documentary, Cynthia said: “So originally, when Michael was sort of trying to think about what would happen in our season, he talked about Nya (played by Karen Pittman), Miranda’s professor, being the romantic relationship.”
“Nya was a straight character and Miranda’s a straight character and I was like, ‘Well that doesn’t sound very sexy at all.’ Do you know what I mean?” That doesn’t seem great.”
“And I was like, ‘Why couldn’t it be, you know, why couldn’t it be this butch person that you’re talking about having for Carrie?’”
