Juliana Aidén Martinez is making a name for herself. The Colombian American actress and Yale Drama School alum had a breakthrough role as Detective June Hawkins in Netflix’s Griselda, and is now following that up with a series regular spot in one of the most beloved procedurals of all, NBC’s Law & Order: SVU. Remezcla talked to Martinez about her new role, getting to work with Mariska Hargitay, and learning to ‘take up space’ in Hollywood.
“I remember… maybe like the third or fourth week or so, Mariska sat me down and she was like, I just wanted to know, “I can tell that you’re a powerful woman. You have a strength in you, and I want to encourage you to bring that,” Martinez shared about the experience of working alongside Hargitay and getting to play Detective Kate Silva in a show that Captain Olivia Benson has defined. “And that was such a beautiful moment for me because, and I feel like many women feel like this but speaking from my experience, I grew up kind of like lower class. I’m from Miami, and also first-generation. And I had to always be strong [in order] to be respected and heard,” she added.
“And that power that I cultivated through my life experiences, sometimes I felt like, oh, no. This is not acceptable. But in a show like SVU, it is. It’s celebrated and honored. And I thought that that was such a beautiful moment to respect the power that we all inherently have inside. And for her to encourage me to bring that out. And so, I’m really grateful for that because the show does celebrate powerful women. And also, women are inherently powerful. So, in a sense, it kind of celebrates women.”
In a way, this was a great reminder for Martinez that she belongs – in Law & Order: SVU and in an industry that still has a long way to go, but that is slowly moving towards better representation of our communities. “I’m just a woman that is doing what I love and I’m being given the opportunity to do what I love. And part of that is showing Latinas with dignity and respect and powerful as we are and transformative as we are,” Martinez told us.
But it’s not just about doing the work now, it’s about what that means for the future. “I think if I [work] to the best of my ability, with the utmost authenticity and integrity, in some way, it’s going to have a ripple effect for people during my time and after my time.”
And when it comes to representing New York as it is, and getting the chance to be in Law & Order: SVU, Martinez was very clear. “We’re so prolific [Latinas] in the United States and especially in New York. There’s so many, we’re such a major part of the population that it feels essential that we have a Latina in SVU. Because we’re everywhere. And we’re instrumental to what New York City is.”
“We wouldn’t have New York without Latinos. I don’t think we would have what is the United States today, without Latinos.”
Juliana Aidén Martinez will set out to prove that, every Thursday on Law & Order: SVU.
