Early in the first episode of “With Love,” an extended family gather in Portland for Nochebuena, a Christmas Eve celebration that’s a tradition for many people of Latin, Hispanic and Filipino heritage. One member of the Diaz family, which is hosting the party, asks a visitor how it feels to meet more than 90 percent “of all the Latinos in Oregon.”
The line is funny, and it’s also one of the reasons why Gloria Calderón Kellett, who created “With Love,” decided to set her new romantic comedy series in Portland.
“Because I’m from Portland!” Calderón Kellett says, with a laugh. In “With Love,” Calderón Kellett – whose credits include being an executive producer and showrunner of the the critically praised reboot of “One Day at a Time” – focuses on a more diverse group of characters than are often found in the white, straight world of traditional romantic comedies.
“With Love,” which premieres Friday, Dec. 17 on Amazon Prime Video, follows siblings Lily Diaz (Emeraude Toubia) and Jorge Jr. (Mark Indelicato), as they contend with relationships, relatives and everyday challenges. Each episode takes place around a different holiday.
Characters also include the Diaz parents, Beatriz (Constance Marie) and Jorge Sr.; Jorge Jr.’s boyfriend, Henry Cruz (Vincent Rodriguez III); the Diaz’s cousin, Sol (Isis King), their physician colleague and love interest, Dr. Murphy (Todd Grinnell); along with Calderón Kellett, who appears in family scenes as one of the Diaz family aunts.
In a recent phone interview, Calderón Kellett, 46, talked about her early days in Portland and Beaverton, the importance of including diverse characters and viewpoints in her work, her abiding love of Burgerville, and more. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: ‘With Love’ begins with shots of Portland, and includes references to the Burgerville fast-food chain, and a joke about how every restaurant menu includes the words “grass-fed.” Technically, it’s filmed in Los Angeles, but you chose to set the series in Portland. Why did you decide that?
A: When I moved to L.A., whenever I would tell people I was from Portland, people would almost always say, ‘There are Latinos in Portland?’ It seemed like a fun way to claim my home state, and to also make a comment about how Latinos are everywhere. I also love the weather in Portland. We get four seasons up there, so in a show where you’re covering a calendar, and you’re jumping from holiday to holiday (Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, the Fourth of July, and Día de los Muertos), I thought I’d love weather.
Desmond Chiam, Vincent Rodriguez III, Mark Indelicato and Emeraude Toubia in "With Love." (Photo: Kevin Estrada/Amazon Prime Video)Kevin Estrada/Amazon Prime Video
Q: As you mention, people don’t always equate Portland with diversity. What was your thinking in terms of setting this particular story, which involves people with family roots in Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and includes LGBTQ characters, in Portland?
A: People who are of a minority background are very aware of it, so it becomes incumbent upon us to embrace it, and to embrace one another, and to try to provide education where we can as to who we are, and what we’re about. And I think that the parts of Portland that I hung out in were very open-minded. Portland was green before it was cool to be green. We were recycling rain water, and the bikes, and all of that. There is a real awareness in Portland about being a good citizen of this land, and trying to be good citizens to one another.
Q: You were born in Portland. What are some of your memories?
A: We lived in Beaverton, and I went to St. Mary of the Valley (now known as Valley Catholic School). And I sang. I did a Beaverton Mall commercial, when I was 12. I sang with the Portland Opera, and I sang in malls. I was part of a dance troupe called “Sugar and Spice,” and we would go around, to the Elks Club, and nursing homes and children’s hospitals. I would sing and dance. That was a big part of my youth.
Q: How long did you live in Beaverton before you moved to California?
A: We moved a week before my first year of high school. I was 14, and then we moved to San Diego.
Mark Indelicato and Emeraude Toubia in "With Love." (Photo: Kevin Estrada/Amazon Prime Video)Kevin Estrada/Amazon Prime Video
Q: Your parents moved to the United States from Cuba?
A: My parents came from Cuba, and they were first in Miami, as many were. And then about a year after they arrived, they moved to Portland, I think in 1963 or 1964. They were there until 1989, I think. The Cuban diaspora is really spread out. A bunch of different churches took in Cuban families. And so I grew up in a little Cuban community in Portland.
Q; Why is it important for you to have characters in your shows who represent more kinds of people than the straight, white characters that have so long been featured in TV? For example, one of the major characters in ‘With Love’ is a trans woman.
A: We are the first holiday rom-com to feature a trans love story, and we are so honored and proud to have the beautiful Isis King (who plays Sol Perez, an oncologist at a Portland hospital). It’s a trauma-free love story. We’re so conditioned to see terrible things happen to trans people. And we really wanted to provide (an example of) what it looks like when everybody just accepts and loves their trans sibling, or their trans grandchild, or their trans cousin. And this is what it can look like.
I think (having diverse characters) reflects the reality of life. Right now, Latinos make up 20 percent of the United States, and we are 5 percent of what’s on TV. So, what people are seeing on TV is not reflective of life. It’s the same with (LGBTQ) communities, Asian communities, Muslim communities. There’s an erasure that happens that makes it so that when we are talking about issues that are important to us, (other) people are like, ‘Oh, well, there’s not that many of them.’ There actually are. There are a lot of us. We are the majority minority in this country. And I think perception of Latinos is something that obviously I hold very sacred, because I see it in the struggles of my family members.
Growing up, the first time I saw Calderón, my last name, on TV, it was as a drug dealer on ‘Miami Vice.’ My hard-working American family, my mom and dad, who are the kindest, most loving people in the whole, wide world, that’s the representation they get? The drug dealer on a show? No, not on my watch, no thanks. And then, when I was trying to be an actor, it was the same thing (in terms of roles offered). It was gang-bangers, and drug dealers and prostitutes. It was never a schoolteacher, it was never a social worker. So, I can’t just sit by. Holding the pen is apparently where the power is, so that’s why I decided to move in that direction.
Q: What’s the connection between your family and the characters we see on ‘With Love’?
A: I would say the love is really the part of my family (in the show). There are things that I pulled from people in my life, but these are all original characters. My brother’s straight, but we have a very close relationship, similar to Lily and Jorge Jr.’s. The parents are indicative of many Latino husbands and wives that I know, and those who have been in these long relationships. How do you sustain that love? What happens when you take your eye off the ball? We very rarely get to see any stories, much less Latino stories, about people in their 50s, and sustaining love.
Q: Why did you create a romantic comedy structured around holidays?
A: I love romantic comedies. (In many shows and movies) it turns out that when the holidays happen, all the brown people go away. And I thought, wait, we can fix this. The goal was very much to make something that would appeal to everybody, to rom-com fans. An actor like Mark Indelicato has been known to hilariously come in, and be the funny sidekick. He’s the center of the story here. The same with Emeraude Toubia. She would have been the beautiful best friend. She’s the center of our story. They get to be the romantic leads of their romantic comedy, and that was pretty fabulous.
Q: You’re based in Los Angeles now. Do you ever get a chance to get back to Portland?
A: Yes, I go all the time. I have a ton of family that still live in Sherwood, and Lake Oswego, and in Tigard, and in Portland. I love going to visit.
Q: ‘With Love’ features a scene where the characters are enjoying eating at a Burgerville. Are you a Burgerville fan?
A: I’m missing a Burgerville hamburger. That special sauce, I live for it. That’s the first thing I do when I get off a plane in Portland. My brother and I always go to Burgerville.
All five episodes of “With Love” premiere Friday, Dec. 17, on Amazon Prime Video.
-- Kristi Turnquist
kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
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