Although Betty Suarez left New York City for the west coast, she has now returned to her Queens roots and brought her hit television show with her, being welcomed with open arms by the borough’s residents.
The popular ABC show “Ugly Betty” focuses on the life of Queens girl Betty Suarez who gets a job at a fashion magazine in Manhattan. Although the pilot for the show, which debuted in 2006, was shot in New York, it has since been filmed in California.
However, tax credits offered by the city and state that total 35 percent have helped bring the show back home. It is filming at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, where it was for the pilot prior to moving to L.A., and taking advantage of being able to film on location in the boroughs where the show is set.
“Ugly Betty” producer Jim Klever-Weis, who came to the show at the beginning of the second season, said that it was a big surprise when the announcement came in April that the show would be relocating back to New York, a step that he said was going to be good both creatively and financially. He also said that the cast was “over 100 percent behind [it] and excited for the change.”
Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhemina Slater, said that although they understood the move would be better for the show it was still difficult to leave behind the crew in L.A. that had become their family over the last two years. Another cast member, Judith Light, also said that they miss some of the people they left behind, but also noted “we have a great team here and it’s fantastic.”
To highlight coming back to the community, on July 17 “Ugly Betty” held a block party in Jackson Heights. In the show, that is where Betty lives with her father, sister and nephew.
Previously, actors would shoot their scenes in front of a green screen so the backgrounds could be inserted later or the backgrounds would be intentionally out of focus.
“Now that they’re here there’s no cheating,” said Michael Anthony, the show’s locations manager.
Since relocating to New York, scenes have already been shot on location in both Manhattan and Queens. In Queens, filming has been done at William Cullen Bryant High School and Palace Fried Chicken in Long Island City, a park near Astoria and a local cemetery. A scene was also shot on Shore Boulevard by 20th Road and 20th Avenue.
Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty’s sister Hilda, said that actually being in Queens definitely provides more inspiration while filming.
“It’s invaluable,” said Ortiz, who said her grandmother lived in Flushing her whole life and described herself as a born and raised Mets fan. “I’m so excited that the show is here. It’s really made a great difference for us.”
The show’s star, America Ferrera, who has won an Emmy for her role as Betty Suarez, said that so far her favorite Queens moment has been when they were recently shooting and a local artist approached them. The artist gave Ferrera and Ortiz “I Love Queens” shirts that she had designed. Ferrera said they want to try to have Ortiz’s character wear the shirt during an episode to promote a local Queens artist.
Anthony, who went to school in Richmond Hill, said that the popularity of the show has made his job easier. People have been excited about being involved and have been open to them being on location.
Alan Suna, the CEO of Silvercup, said that “Ugly Betty” has been a great client for the studio since moving there in the middle of the summer. He said that having the show film in the city it is based in will make it look better, saying that New York-based shows filmed in New York always look better than ones that are supposed to be based in the city and are filmed elsewhere.
Klever-Weis said that people have been “fantastic” and noted the amount of diversity in Queens. He said “Ugly Betty” is trying to show different places that aren’t normally seen in New York shows while showing the “vibrancy Queens has to offer.”
“I hope they feel a lot of pride,” Ortiz said of how Queens residents will react. “I hope that we’re giving it the respect it deserves.”
Along with bringing Queens to the public more, Tony Plana, who plays Betty’s father, said that the show also “goes out of its way to shatter stereotypes.” For example, he said that his character is a Latino man who likes to cook, clean and do laundry. Plana said that portraying Latinos as multi-dimensional and multi-faceted human beings counters stereotypical images of drug traffickers, gang members and illegal immigrants.
“I think that ‘Ugly Betty’ is the antidote to that and I’m hoping the symbol of a new age in television of looking at ethnics…in a way that is fully human,” Plana said. He also said, “Because the show is so popular I think it goes a long way towards humanizing and preventing people from perceiving us in stereotypical ways.”
The third season of “Ugly Betty” will begin on ABC on Thursday, September 25 at 8 p.m.
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