Stephanie Beatriz Stood Up To A Disrespectful Guest Star On The Set Of Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Stephanie Beatriz is just as much of a badass as her leather-clad no-nonsense "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" character Rosa Diaz. The actress is well-known for being the 99 Precinct's coolest employee — she's scary, smart, and secretive, and no one knows much about her. Most of Rosa's colleagues are frightened to get on her wrong side because she immediately instills fear in everyone she interacts with. She will do what it takes to keep her freedom; Rosa doesn't like to be controlled, and she has no qualms about letting her colleagues know about it. 

Stephanie Beatriz also shares her longtime on-screen character's propensity for no-nonsense because when a guest star was disrespectful towards her and other cast members on the "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" set, the actress stood her ground and said her piece.

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has featured plenty of surprise guests throughout its eight seasons, featuring celebrities from Adam Sandler to Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jason Mantzoukas (pictured above), and Pete Davidson. In an interview with Vulture, when discussing how she advocated for herself, the actress recounted her experience filming a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" episode with an unnamed guest star who was disrespectful towards her.

Beatriz and other cast members felt disrespected when an older male guest star referred to them as "babe" and "honey" on set. The actress said she was straightforward in advocating for herself during the sitcom's filming and communicated that she didn't appreciate being called names. Judging from Beatriz's account, the guest star was taken aback by how the actress defended herself.

"I said, I'd really prefer it if you called me by my name. And he was like, 'All right, sweetie.' And then I stopped and said, 'No. I am actually serious. I am not sweetie. My name is Stephanie, and I'd like you to call me by my actual name.' And he was a little bit of an older guy, and I don't think he was used to anybody talking to him that way, especially not a young woman."

The "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actress was firm in her resolution; this was her place of work, and she wouldn't accept someone stepping in and disrespecting her team. Beatriz noted how she felt supported after taking a stand, explaining how her crew thanked her for speaking her mind.

"But that was our show. It's our house, and I wasn't going to let him come into our house and disrespect the crew, the other actors, myself. It was really great that I felt really supported in that."

Beatriz continued, sharing that she was supported by everyone on set. The actress stated: 

"Everyone around me, the director that day, the crew, our creators, rallied around me and said, 'Yeah. You did the right thing. Thank you for speaking up and making sure that you felt comfortable in your work environment.' In that way, I'm a really good advocate for myself. At this point in my life, I'm not afraid to lose a job because I feel like I'm not being treated equally or fairly on a set."

The "Encanto" star hasn't always felt brave enough to advocate for herself, though — Beatriz explained how she didn't speak her mind when she was younger. She has previously taken roles because she needed the job, but not anymore. Now, Beatriz is unafraid of losing jobs that treat her unequally in her place of work.

"I don't know if that would have been true always because there was a time when I was a lot younger and didn't know I could be an advocate for myself. You can say 'no' all day long. You might get fired, but you can say no. And sometimes I have taken those roles because I needed the money or I needed the health insurance, and I have no judgment against people who do that."

It's pretty inspiring to hear from Beatriz that she took one for the team and spoke her mind when necessary. Notably, the actress resembles her on-screen character very much in this area, and hey, Beatriz might just be a bigger badass than even Rosa is.