Suarez family ‘casa’

Francois Guerrier and his mother Annette of Jackson Heights have said “mi casa es su casa” to the Suarez family.
In 2006, as “Ugly Betty” was getting ready to shoot the pilot of the first season, it was looking for a private home to do some filming at what would serve as the Suarez home. A locations manager left a note for the Guerrier family, which has lived in their Jackson Heights home since 1969, saying that they were looking for property to shoot at.
“At that point I thought he was basically pulling a scam,” Francois said.
Mom Annette also thought it was a joke at first.
Francois, an owner and broker of the Sunnyside-based Hi-Star Realty, began looking into things to verify the person really was from Touchstone Pictures. Once he had done so, he met with a producer and location manager to put together a contractual agreement.
“It seemed like he [the producer] liked the colonial style of row houses around here,” Francois said of why the home was selected.
Jim Klever-Weis, who joined the show as a producer at the beginning of the second season, said that the people involved with the pilot selected that particular house because it “exemplified a typical middle class Queens family.” He also said that the show “went to great pains” to recreate it in LA, noting that they no longer have to do so.
In March of 2006, the crew spent a day, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., shooting at the Guerrier home on their porch and in their living room. Annette said that they completely changed the look of the living room for the film. After filming, the show spent another two days cleaning everything up.
Francois said that there was a huge amount of people going in and out of the house during the shoot. On top of that, there were also many individuals outside doing work.
“That’s what I call a once in a lifetime situation,” Francois said. “It rivals Grand Central [Station].”
When the pilot aired, Francois said that he definitely recognized the scenes shot at his family’s home. He said one of the things that surprised him was the panoramic shot of the living room they were able to get.
“It was different,” Francois said of the show. “This is not your typical Hollywood comedy.”
During the filming, Francois and Annette did not have the opportunity to meet any of the cast because of how busy it was. Francois also said that there were so many people there that it was hard to even know who was present.
However, they did have a chance to meet some of the Suarez family during a July 17 block party held to celebrate the show’s return to Queens after having been filmed in L.A. Francois said that many of the actors were very nice and specifically described Tony Plana, who plays Betty’s father, Ignacio Suarez, as “a class act.”
Plana described the area the house is in as being very Latino and very colorful, noting the many storefronts and elevated subway train that are near it.
“It’s just great being in that environment … and I think it feeds us as actors,” Plana said. “It infuses us with the details of who we are and where we are with a very specific energy.”
Since moving back to Queens, the show has yet to return to the Guerrier home for filming, although Francois said that he will be contacted if the show does need something and would like to return.
“I think this is good for the perspective of Queens because Queens has always been seen as the orphan child of Manhattan,” Francois said. “It gives a different perspective that Queens people are also New Yorkers.”