Interview with Judy Reyes about “Scrubs”, “High Potential” and trans-child

The afternoon sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows in a Pasadena hotel lobby, backlighting Judy Reyes. In a white V-neck summer dress, with perfect hair and makeup, she looks like a real star before a press conference.

A star with common sense. Knowing that it is usually uncomfortable to wear high heels all day, comfortable white sneakers complete her outfit.

She is a glamorous actress, but Reyes is also a practical woman. This pragmatic sensibility has propelled her career, from her early days on stage at the LAByrinth Theater Company with Philip Seymour Hoffman to her most recent role in ABC's High potentialPremiere on September 17th.

“I see her as someone like me, a middle-aged Latina who is in charge, earning her place, but always having to prove who she is,” Reyes says of her character, LAPD Lieutenant Selena Soto. “As a woman or whatever, you're always trying to prove yourself, even as a veteran.”

Reyes Is a veteran who received her first TV credit in 1992. Like so many New York actors, it was on law and order.

“When I first met with my representation, I got three jobs right away,” she recalls. “I got a play. I got a full independent feature film and then I got a law and order episode. And then I didn't work as an actor for three and a half years.”

Based on José Rivera’s play Cloud Teutonsthe movie Jack and his friendsand that L&O As a result, Reyes had to take odd jobs to pay the rent. She helped a friend who designed jewelry put together pieces, sold shoes, worked as a waitress in catering, and was a hostess in a restaurant. In between, she was looking for her next role.

These auditions eventually led to guest appearances on some of the most famous shows of the decade, NYPD Blue, Cosby, The Sopranos. Then, in 2001, she landed the breakthrough role in Scrubs.

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Carla Espinosa was the perfect nurse: kind, free from nonsense and programmed to help people. She was also a sign of future roles. Like Zoila Diaz, Reyes' character in Sneaky maidsshe was pragmatic. And like Quiet Ann on To stealshe was someone you wanted on your side. Reyes created distinctive, memorable characters and imbued each of them with humanity.

In High potentialReyes is a detective who has worked her way up in a man's world. Of course she's tough, otherwise she wouldn't have survived. Selena also has a sense that is usually dormant – she listens!

The stars of the crime drama are Kaitlin Olson (It's always sunny in Philadelphia, Hacking) as Morgan, a night watchman for the LAPD. While grooving to their music while cleaning, Morgan accidentally knocks over a file, spilling its contents on the floor. Morgan looks at the photos and evidence and quickly comes to the conclusion that the detectives' work is wrong, as depicted on their notice board.

Morgan corrects the error and sets the premise for this series with this simple plot.

She is a woman with, yes, great potential.

David Bukach/ABC

Selena takes pity on Morgan, a single mother of three, and recognizes her unique value. Selena insists that the cops under her do the same. It's a pure boss move, and that kind of behavior can only be done by someone with the necessary experience. The character and the actor have that.

The honest brashness of her characters makes it seem as though Reyes is conjuring up every hard-working mother and hardened criminal she saw growing up in the Bronx, embodying the fierce determination inherent in a daughter of Dominican immigrants.

Reyes did well in school and enrolled at Hunter College at the City University of New York. For a long time, it was considered a ticket to a better life for smart kids with limited means. “But then I took some time off and got a job,” she says. “And then I became part of the LAByrinth Theater Company.”

This highly respected troupe began as the Latino Actors Base (LAB) and later attracted a diverse troupe. Over the years, members have included Bobby Cannavale, Ana Ortiz, Pedro Pascal and the late Ron Cephas Jones. It's the kind of experience that when alumni talk about their days there, they reflexively smile at the memory.

“I ended up not going back (to college) because I benefited from the time off and what I learned there,” Reyes says. “If you can make a career where you are or do something that works for you, then stay in that direction. As a child of immigrants, my parents were very disappointed. I was the best student, but I didn't go back, and my parents were ecstatic.”

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But she trusted herself and played single-episode roles for years, which is why Reyes can definitely call herself a veteran. At 56, she is still growing and exploring new emotions with each role.

Reyes is willing to take risks and never delivers the same performance twice. Her Quiet Ann on To steal was an unheralded masterpiece. Yes, it was an over-the-top show. So? Reyes played a linguistics professor who has a rough time after stabbing someone and then ends up as a thug in a nail salon that launders money and abuses the mafia.

Absurd? Absolutely. But To steal enjoyed the Dali-esque surrealism that thrives in Florida. And Reyes was captivating in her portrayal of yet another overqualified woman doing what she has to do to survive.

In High potentialit's a safe bet that the interaction between Selena and Morgan will be something to watch. Selena has that world-weariness about her, but not to the point where she gives up.

Reyes doesn't have it either. It was a trip from the Bronx, and LA has been her home for nearly a quarter of a century. Peelings.

“It's been good for me,” she says of the city. “My child was born here, so we're Angelenos.” Her soon-to-be 15-year-old child is transgender and is obviously accepted and adored by his mother.

“Once they go to college, my husband and I want to move back East, so we'll see how that goes,” Reyes says.

She never lost her love for New York.

David Bukach/ABC

“I think New York has always had so much more to offer artistically and creatively,” says Reyes. “In terms of creative opportunities here (in LA), it's kind of a one-industry city, but since COVID, that's been much less the case. And everything has changed.”

In addition, Broadway always attracts actors with theater training. When asked about a dream role, Reyes admits: “I mean, I have a dream to be part of Evil. I just don't know if I have the vocal ability. This has been my favorite musical for 10 years. I've seen it four times, in different parts of the world. I've taken my child to see it twice. My child is also a musical artist.”

“Whether it’s a real play or a non-musical piece, I’m completely fascinated and look forward to making it happen in the future,” she continues.

Like any actor on a network show (as opposed to a one-time streamer), she is waiting to see if High potential is successful and is renewed. But her ambitions go beyond success in a hit show.

“My goal is to win an Emmy, a Tony, an Oscar or a Grammy at some point,” she says. “But my goal is also to use the growing influence I have in my career to create opportunities for other people of color and other women of color, especially given everything that's going on in the world.”

“I have privileges and advantages that my career offers me,” Reyes continues. “And I've learned that even in your fifties, you create community, you create opportunities; that you have to share what you have with others. I don't know if I have more than I need with everything I have.”