Gayety and LGBT editor Caitlynn McDaniel sits down with Lee Rodriguez aka Fabiola Torres and Ramona Young aka Eleanor Wong from 'Never Have I Ever' to discuss queer representation and beautiful friendships. Ramona shares that this show was a blessing and a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. Lee Rodriguez says if she were to give her character any advice from day one she would say, "Fabiola, my friend, you are gay."
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00:00 I'm so excited for season four.
00:01 How are you both feeling?
00:03 - Good. - Good.
00:04 - Yeah, that's good.
00:05 I'm so excited that there's good energy
00:07 'cause I know it can be so sad
00:08 when you're having a show like this.
00:09 So there's so much excitement among everyone.
00:13 And I know that this show means a lot to everybody.
00:16 I mean, it has a lot of representation as far as cultures,
00:18 but also LGBTQ, but then it also just has
00:21 amazing, beautiful friendships.
00:23 So I just wanna know what did it mean to both of you
00:25 to be a part of this project?
00:28 - I mean, it's a special opportunity.
00:31 It was kind of a once in a lifetime project.
00:34 And so looking back at the last couple of years,
00:37 it has really been a blessing that I will take with me
00:41 and remember for the rest of my life, honestly.
00:44 - Honestly, same.
00:45 I mean, just like the life of "Never Have I Ever,"
00:48 and I'm excited to see what comes from that
00:51 as far as like, you know,
00:53 what kind of inspiration comes from it.
00:55 And just being able to be that representation
00:58 is also really cool.
00:59 And you know, it's an honor.
01:01 - Yeah, I'm sure.
01:02 And just like hearing everyone, the feedback.
01:03 I mean, I know that there's such an amazing fan base
01:06 for this show.
01:07 So just having that and knowing that you got to be a part
01:09 of it is such a huge deal.
01:11 And I also just wanna talk about your characters.
01:13 I mean, we finally get to kind of see
01:15 what they're going next in life, the next chapter for them.
01:18 But knowing what you know now in season four,
01:21 do you have any advice that you would give
01:22 to your season one character?
01:25 - Gosh.
01:27 Do you wanna go first?
01:28 - I would just be like, Fabiola, my friend, you are gay.
01:35 (laughing)
01:37 You're a gay, my friend.
01:38 - Yeah.
01:39 - From day one.
01:40 - Right.
01:41 - Yes.
01:42 - Yeah.
01:43 - Things might be different if she just knew.
01:43 - Yeah.
01:44 - Yeah, I love that.
01:46 - I would look back and tell Eleanor
01:50 that she's gonna have it all figured out
01:53 and she's gonna have a really, really good ending.
01:56 So I'm really stoked for her.
01:57 It's just like, trust the process.
01:59 - Yes.
01:59 - Yes, trust the process.
02:00 Everything's gonna work itself out.
02:03 - I also was gonna ask, I mean,
02:04 I love getting the senior quotes
02:07 and I feel like what you guys said
02:08 could also work as a senior quote,
02:10 but I mean, do you have something
02:11 that you would put for your yearbook?
02:13 - How about I do one for you and you do one for me?
02:16 Okay, you first.
02:17 - Okay, Fabiola's will be like,
02:20 beep beep, boop boop, boop boop, beep beep.
02:23 - That is good.
02:23 (laughing)
02:25 - Oh, is it?
02:25 - That is pretty good.
02:26 - Was that really good?
02:28 - I really honestly, I think so.
02:30 - No, I think that's pretty on brand for Fabiola.
02:33 - Yeah.
02:34 - Okay, I'm gonna say that for Eleanor,
02:38 it's gonna be something from a play,
02:41 like Shakespeare or something.
02:43 - Yes.
02:44 - Okay, what we've realized is like,
02:46 me in real life is more like Fabiola
02:50 and Lee's kind of like Eleanor.
02:51 - So that's why the suave works so well.
02:53 Yours would have been, beep boop.
02:55 - Yeah, sure.
02:55 - That's, yeah,
02:56 mine's would have been something from Shakespeare.
02:59 - My last question, I just wanted to ask,
03:01 I mean, there's so many lessons
03:03 that you can take away from this show,
03:05 so is there anything that really spoke to you
03:07 that you took afterwards?
03:09 - Friendship.
03:12 - Friendship, that's a good one.
03:13 - Friendship, love.
03:16 - Drama.
03:17 - Learning how to be a good friend.
03:19 - Yes.
03:20 - Learning how to love.
03:20 - Learning how to love.
03:22 (laughing)
03:23 - I love the echo.
03:24 (laughing)
03:27 - And I mean, I'm so excited for all of the romances,
03:29 I don't wanna spoil anything,
03:31 but I mean, were you thrilled to see
03:33 how everything all played out?
03:34 Were you surprised by anything?
03:36 - Love how it all played out.
03:38 - Yeah.
03:39 - It's always so juicy and so fun and dramatic.
03:42 - It's so juicy all the time.
03:44 - Yeah, drama.
03:45 - Yeah, so much juice.
03:46 - Yeah.
03:47 - Yeah, it's insane.
03:48 - Yeah.
03:49 (laughing)
03:50 - I love it.
03:51 Well, congratulations to you both.
03:53 Thank you for chatting with me.
03:54 - Thank you.