Netflix is axing a Latina housekeeper character from its upcoming comedy series Uncoupled after actress Ada Maris, who is of Mexican descent, became outraged by her lines and suggested that the show’s creator Darren Star and actor Neil Patrick Harris — who stars in the series — should have known better, because they are gay.
Maris (pictured, left) said that she was shocked to come across the small role of a housekeeper in the first episode of Uncoupled.
“When I opened it and saw that it wasn’t even funny — it was hurtful and derogatory — I was shocked, because I walked in expecting something very different, given the way things are nowadays and the progress we’ve made,” the actress told Variety.
Uncoupled — created by Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman for Jax Media and MTV Studios — stars Neil Patrick Harris (pictured, right) as a successful professional in New York who has to navigate the dating scene again after his husband Colin abruptly walks out on him.
When Maris read the lines for Carmen, the housekeeper Harris’s character, Michael, she reportedly became outraged by the lines and the characterization of the housekeeper, who was written to speak in broken English.
The character had two scenes, one in which Carmen is “nearly hysterical on the phone” with Michael, because she gets to the house, sees that Colin’s possessions are missing, and jumps to the conclusion that there has been a burglary in the apartment.
“Mister, I just get here and they stole!” the character reportedly exclaims. “They stole! They rob you! I don’t know how they get in.”
In the second scene, Carmen takes a glass that Michael has just washed and says, “No, I do that. You don’t clean good, you always leave a ring.”
Maris expressed her dismay over Carmen’s lines, telling Variety she was surprised that gay men such as Star and Harris would not be more sensitive to the portrayal of the housekeeper.
“You are modern gay men. How would you like to watch or play an outdated, offensively stereotypical gay part?” Maris asked.
While Harris is one of five executive producers on the show, he is not a writer for the series, and was not involved in the casting process for the Carmen role, notes Variety.
Now, Netflix says it is axing the Latina housekeeper character from the show.
“We’re sorry that Ms. Maris had a negative experience, and this character will not appear in the series,” a Netflix spokesman said in a statement to Variety.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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