Never Have I Ever’s Lee Rodriguez shares on why her romance was stripped back in season 4
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Never Have I Ever season 4 spoilers follow.
Rainbow Crew is an ongoing interview series that celebrates the best LGBTQ+ representation on screen. Each instalment showcases talent working on both sides of the camera, including queer creatives and allies to the community.
Next up, we're speaking to Never Have I Ever star Lee Rodriguez.
"One day you will walk again and if not, I will build you legs."
Those were the first words Lee Rodriguez uttered as her Never Have I Ever character Fabiola Torres and they pretty much sum up her entire personality.
Compassionate and kind hearted with heaps of quirkiness and wickedly smart. Not to mention earnest and loyal.
These are traits that only grew with the robotics-loving, STEM enthusiast across the show's arc. Four seasons that saw her go from someone desperately uncomfortable in her own skin to a person whose last (confidently spoken) words in the show were "me and Eve had a make-out session on your bed."
It may not seem like much but her queerness was a part of herself which Fabiola struggled to accept and when she did, she then struggled with finding her place amongst the queer community, something Lee also can relate to.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Lee opens up about Fabiola's Never Have I Ever season four journey and why there's beauty in her character's idiosyncrasy, something worth celebrating especially in queer representation.
The Never Have I Ever star also breaks down why queer representation isn't always about relationships, situationships and love before leaving us with spin-off hopes of seeing Fabiola Torres again.
Over the four seasons, your character, Fabiola, has really grown in so many ways. How are you most proud of that growth?
I'm proud that she's really been able to come into herself. You see her able to just exist as a queer person, and really thrive, and have all these different college choices. She's really smart.
Fabiola started off having a really hard time acknowledging her own queerness, and feeling comfortable with herself. What's been the most rewarding part about that particular aspect of her journey?
I mean, that it's relatable, and a lot of queer people can relate to that. Just being able to see a character go through that, it's really great to see, because it allows other people to feel seen and represented in a very unique and special way.
Black queerness is still comparatively underrepresented in mainstream media. Fabiola is of Black Latina descent. Were there any kind of particular storylines that you felt were really important to explore from that Black queer identity?
There are just so many storylines that I really like but I think the one that I like, that I feel was the most relatable, was the season two storyline, where she felt like she couldn't really fit into queer culture.
She wasn't hip with certain shows, and just certain things, which I personally related to because I'm not really hip and knowing, you know, everything that's going on in queer pop culture.
I'm very much in my own world, and have my own specific likes that sometimes don't necessarily have anything to do with queer culture.
I think I relate to that, because she's a robotics nerd. She doesn't dress a certain way. She doesn't know certain things. She's just kind of in her own world, doing her own thing, and it's like: it just goes to show you don't need to know specific things to be a part of the club. To be a part of the community.
You can exist the way that you want to exist and if it's different, that doesn't make you any less valid a person.
By season four, Fabiola finally gets to a point where she feels comfortable with her own queerness but you don't get to see her enjoy much romance like you do with Eleanor and Devi. Why is that?
I think maybe it's because, for the past three seasons, it's kind of more centred around her romantic life and so I don't think we ever just see her, you know, in her element.
This season, the writers and I, we really wanted to just capture her existing, and not her whole personality being about being queer or being, you know, in a romantic relationship. It just shows that it's one aspect of her, and there are so many other aspects of her that are just as important.
I like her robotics. I like her trying to get into college and also, you know, trying to be a good friend.
This season, we really wanted to just capture her more so in her element, and more comfortable in her own skin, and what that looks like because I feel like we should see that more – just queer people being able to exist.
One of my favourite things about Fabiola is that she's such a great role model. We love that she's unwaveringly a hardcore STEM enthusiast. How have fans kind of responded to that side of her? Do you think it's had an impact on how young girls see women in the sciences?
Totally. It's a predominantly male field, and I think that allows other women who are interested in STEM or women who already have a career in STEM, to feel represented and to show that, you know, women can also be in STEM, and are just as good at it, and are just as smart.
So I think it was cool that we were able to represent a group of people in that way.
Have you had any really touching comments from fans about your character? Especially coming towards the end of your journey as Fabiola.
It always means so much to me when people say that they felt represented by Fabiola. They just say they can relate to her.
One fan interaction I had – it was at an event – and this young lady came up to me, and she was very emotional.
She just thanked me for being an awkward teenager in high school, because that's how she felt. She felt like a total awkward teenager.
That, in itself, is something to feel represented by as well. So that was something that I feel touched me a lot, because you never know. You're kind of just looking the way that you are, and having certain mannerisms, and having certain interests. You can represent so many different groups of people. So I thought that was really cool.
What was the last scene you shot, and how did you feel shooting it?
The last scene I shot was also Ramona Young, who plays Eleanor – that was her last scene, also. It was the scene that was while the wedding was happening in the last episode.
It was Fabiola, Eleanor, and Devi, and they were all having one last hurrah in Devi's bedroom.
It was like a very sentimental, heart-warming scene. That was my last scene.
We can imagine there were lots of tears.
Oh, totally.
Did you take any memorabilia as you left season four? Anything that means something to Fabiola or yourself?
Totally. I took this little trophy. It was a first-place trophy that had Fabiola's name on it, from winning a science fair or something. So I totally had to take that.
Since John McEnroe's 'Signing off… for now' comment at the end of season four there have been rumblings about a spinoff. We know that Never Have I Ever the college years isn't something that's on the table but if there were to be a spinoff, would you be open to do a cameo?
Of course. Of course, I would love to.
Finally, what's next for you now?
Well, I'm still… you know, I'm still going to be kicking around, as far as acting. I'd love to do a film but I also do music.
That's my next endeavour. I've just put out a single. It's called 'Afterthought' – on Spotify. It came out June 1st, so I'm going to be putting out a lot more music this year, and I'm really excited about that.
We can't wait to listen. We had no idea that you do music.
Yeah. Check me out! I go by the artist name LaRhonza, so you can find me under LaRhonza.
*Opens up Spotify immediately without hesitation.*
Never Have I Ever seasons 1-4 are available to watch on Netflix.
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