Living that on set life! Lopez vs. Lopez star and Orange Is the New Black alum Selenis Leyva exclusively took us behind the scenes of a typical day on the George Lopez sitcom.
While the 50-year-old actress is most well-known for her role as Gloria Mendoza on OINTB, she’s also making waves for her portrayal of Rosie Lopez, the ex-wife of George’s character and the mother of their daughter (portrayed by the comedian’s real-life daughter, Mayan Lopez).
“I was like, ‘I need this role. I don’t care what I have to do. Let’s get on board here,’” Leyva told Latin entertainment site Remezcla. “It spoke to me because these people are flawed, but there is so much heart, grit, and truth to the stories. It’s a comedy where you can still find all these nuggets of richness and complexity.”
The NBC sitcom premiered on November 4, and the theater star shared with Us all of the hard work that goes on offstage.
Leyva’s day begins bright and early — before 7 a.m. — which means she needs to do what she can to wake herself up. For the sitcom star, that means “cold eye patches and some meditation music,” she told Us, adding that the routine works to “revive me and help set the tone.”
That tone carries the Spider-Man: Homecoming actress throughout the rest of her day — particularly during filming, as they shoot in front of a live audience.
“I love these days,” Leyva shared with Us. “I feel at home performing live — reminds me of my theater days.”
Still, when the earliness of her wakeup call gets to her, the NBC star will opt for a mid-morning snooze.
“Most days, I nap while getting my makeup done,” Leyva joked. “[But] while getting my hair done, it’s full-on laughter and lots of storytelling.”
As for her meal choices, the Netflix alum has to “keep it light on show days,” choosing “big salads [and] lots of water keep my energy up.”
At the end of the day, Leyva is thrilled she gets to star on a Latinx sitcom.
“I can say that for me, as a Latina, as an Afro Latina, this is the dream job not only to act in, but, you know, I envision myself watching something like this and being very excited,” she told Red Carpet Report TV earlier this month.
Lopez vs. Lopez airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. It is also available to stream on Peacock.
Keep scrolling for an inside look at Leyva’s daily routine on set:
