A mezzo soprano, Gina Torres studied opera and jazz before she made her bread and butter as an actress. She and her husband, actor Laurence Fishburne, have a daughter. Raised in a very traditional Latino family, Torres, 42, was bilingual at a young age. She credits her height (5 feet, 11 inches) and others' expectations of her for frequently being cast as a take-charge kind of gal. Her role as law-firm partner Jessica Pearson on USA Network's original series Suits continues that. The show airs at 10 p.m. Thursdays.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q: Wasn't singing your first love?
A: Singing was definitely one of my loves. It continues to be one of my loves. ... I did a lot of musical theater when I was first starting out in this business and thought really that was all I wanted to do, just sing and act and be on Broadway and live my life happily in that way. Then, as life does, it took a turn and other great things have happened.
Q: You exude a certain strength of personality.
A: It is something I've always had. It is innate. I think it is something that comes with being very tall from a very early age and having people have certain expectations of you. They think that you are older than you are so they project onto you a kind of maturity. You either step up to it or you don't. I just stepped up into that, into a kind of authority, a kind of maturity that was expected of me....
There's this sort of authoritative righteousness that comes with what people think of who I am. The truth is, it probably couldn't be further from the reality, which is also a nice surprise. I get 15 minutes into a conversation and I often get, "I had no idea you were so goofy." It used to be a very well-kept secret.
Q: I read that your parents weren't thrilled with your decision to go to work right after high school. When did they come around?
A: I think my father still mourns the fact that I didn't stay true to a promise of being a doctor when I was 5 years old. ... It's a very scary prospect to have your child go into this industry, especially when we are talking about two very traditional Latino parents who had no frame of reference for the madness. Nor did I. All I knew was this was something my heart needed to do and express, and that made my spirit happy. I get it now that I have my daughter.... You just want to shield them from the heartbreak. As long as you find something you are happy doing -- that really is the greatest blessing. Even when it makes me miserable, there is no Plan B.
The Block News Alliance consists of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Patricia Sheridan is a writer for the Post-Gazette.
Contact her at: psheridan@post-gazette.com.
First Published August 15, 2011, 4:15 a.m.
