Jillian Mercado was determined to give “200%” of herself to her role as immigration attorney Maribel Suarez on the second season ofShowtime’s iconic series
Later on I talked to the director about what motivated her to write this character in this TV show. She told me that she had been a math tutor and tutored a young girl. The girl she tutored had a sister with a disability, and their dynamic was so beautiful that she forever kept that memory in her mind. As a director, she wanted to bring that beautiful chemistry to the screen. She was on social media and came across my Instagram.
, you know? And I think that’s going to be very powerful for my character to show disabilities in a nonmedical, authentic kind of way.I can say from my personal experience that when I was younger, in full transparency, I did a Google search of “How to date someone if you have a disability” and “How to do sexual activities with somebody who has a disability.” You’re usually taught about sex and dating, or you see it on television, and that’s how you learn. And I didn’t have that.