Ethnic Minorities Pays Off For 'Betty'

Male TV directors in Hollywood have told me it's hard to find shows willing to hire female directors. Whenever I've asked why, they simply said, "I don't know." But "Ugly Betty" is an oasis where women really are equal, or in control, behind the scenes.

"Half of the writers are women, if not more. We've had more women directors on the show than men," says Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty's sister Hilda. "I've never been on a set before where there's so many women calling the shots."

As a result, Ortiz, 36, believes women viewers relate to the hit show.

"I haven't ever had a ['Betty'] script where I thought, 'I wouldn't say that.' That's happened so many times before [on other shows]," she says.

Moreover, a lot of the characters and crew are not white, as Ortiz, a New York native of Puerto Rican descent, explains.

"My own experience working [as an actress] has been cliche," she says. "It's Maria the maid, or Maria the drug-dealer's girlfriend, or Maria the sassy spitfire."

In other shows, she says, Latinas "are the guest stars. We come in and we have an affair with the husband, we ruin the family and then we leave."

Hilda is a kind of sassy spitfire, but she's more fleshed out than that, Ortiz says.

"You get to see the relationship with her son, being a single mom, and everyone living right on top of each other," she says. "It's not so surface."

Producer Salma Hayek deserves a lot of the credit. She was very active in getting the show made, and she remains active in promoting and working on the series.

Higher-ups at ABC have also gone the extra mile, investing millions of dollars a week not just in the production and promotion of "Betty" but in the female sensations "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "Men in Trees" and "Brothers & Sisters."

The investment is paying off. "Betty" and "Grey's" are perhaps the most diverse shows on TV, and they're ABC's top-rated series among all viewers and the coveted age demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds.

Ortiz says "Betty" doesn't exploit issues of gender and heritage by propping up old storylines, either.

For instance, she says, Hilda's son is gay, but Betty's family is not freaked out about it.

"Here's this great kid who's completely unique, well-adjusted, loves himself, loves his family, and he's his own person," she says. "And we don't have to comment on it and wring our hands and sweat. He's happy."

Ortiz hopes the look of "Betty," both in front of and behind the camera, becomes contagious, and she has good reason to be optimistic now that "Betty" is a critical and popular smash.

"People are going to go where the money is. That's obnoxious to say, but we're doing really well and that's a huge plus, and hopefully it means [TV networks will] take a risk like this."

With Ortiz's own success blooming, she jokes, she might hire a maid.

"I'm gonna name her Maria," she says. "But she has to be white."