“And Just Like That” star Sara Ramírez has addressed a magazine profile written about her that could be read as an attempt to use humor to take down the actor and their character on the Max show.
In the June 2023 piece by The Cut, writer Brock Colyar draws parallels between their “And Just Like That” character Che Diaz and Ramírez that the actor doesn’t agree with.
“I am a human being, an artist, an actor,” Ramírez said in a Tuesday post to Instagram. “And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.”
The Cut story also mentions Ramírez’s theory that perhaps the show’s team “was just being cheeky and trolling us all about how self-serious we get over the politics of representation on a fizzy sitcom.”
The reaction to Ramírez’s character has been mixed since the show’s debut in Dec. 2021. For some, the character has been seen as an amalgamation of social justice internet language, or even a caricature of what it means to be a nonbinary person in the 2020s.
The show’s team of writers attempted to respond to many of the jokes and complaints in Episode 5 of Season 2, “Trick or Treat.” In the episode, Che is hoping to bring a sitcom based on their life to the small screen and part of that process includes sitting on the other side of a one-way mirror while a focus group discusses the show’s pilot episode.
The feedback isn’t great, but Che agrees with most of it until a nonbinary person in the group describes their character as a “walking Boomer joke.” It was revealed that the commentary in the episode was culled from a collection of what people have been saying about Ramírez since Season 1.
In the interview, it’s clear that Ramírez takes Colyar’s commentary seriously, telling the writer pointedly that anyone “who benefits from patriarchy is going to have a problem with Che Diaz.” In their Instagram post, the actor recalled the derisive nature of the original profile in their response.
Despite coming weeks later, Ramírez’s voice is strong and scathing now. They posted two photos from the same shoot and began the caption, “Been thinking long and hard about how to respond to The Hack Job’s article, ‘written’ by a white gen z non-binary person who asked me serious questions but expected a comedic response I guess (?). Here’s the good news: I have a twisted sense of humor and a voice. And I am not afraid to use either.”
The caption continued, “I trust that those of you who matter, who are not petulant children, who are smart enough to catch on to what was actually going on there, can perceive it for what it is: an attempt to mock my thoughtfulness and softness, while dismissing a valid existence and real human being in favor of tv show critiques that belonged elsewhere.”
Ramírez added, “I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say. I am a human being, an artist, an actor. And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.”
The actor then specifically addressed a few key points, including that “I can love women (and I do), while not identifying as one” and “When a cis man is in charge and has ultimate control of dialogue actors say, and you have a valid problem with it, perhaps you should be interviewing him.”
It’s also worth noting that Ramírez posted their response on the same day that Max announced “And Just Like That” was renewed for Season 3 — a move that could possibly be read as a violation of the current SAG-AFTRA strike.
As explained in July, actors are currently not permitted to do “promotional work of any kind, including press junkets, film premieres, and fan events” and not allowed “to promote any work on social media, as that is considered publicity.” It’s unclear if SAG-AFTRA will have a response to the post.
