Diana-Maria Riva has praised the Netflix show Glamorous for changing real lives, and helping parents to find "strength" to walk with their children.
The show, which was recently canceled by the streaming service after one season, followed Marco Meija (Miss Benny), a young queer and gender-nonconforming makeup artist and enthusiast, whose life gets turned upside down (but for the better) when he lands a job working for makeup industry superstar Madolyn Addison (Kim Cattrall).
"One of the things that I loved about Glamorous and the role that I played is that I had a lot of people of all ages come up to me and said, 'My mother was very moved by your portrayal,' or, 'My mother said she wishes she would have been more like you.' And I had mothers come up to me and say, 'Thank you because I took from that character some strength that I need for my child's journey,'" Diana-Maria told HELLO! at the Women In Film Honors in LA on November 30.
"Then when you hear that a show like this is getting canceled and you find out that it's not just entertaining, it's having an impact in that way - I'm grateful but it's very bittersweet."
In the series, Diana-Maria starred as Marco's mom and she is supportive of his gender identity journey but shocks him when she takes a job as a lawyer who comes to work for Glamorous by Madolyn.
Damian Terriquez starred as drag queen Dizmal Failure in the series, and they previously told HELLO! their role is the "friend that's like a shoulder to cry on… I offer new perspectives on the problems that the main cast is going through, and more often than not, I solve them."
Dizmal – who is nonbinary – is also an inspiring figure, Damian says, offering Marco that "somebody in your life that seems like they have it all figured out" who he can look up to.
They were surprised to discover they would have scenes with Sex and the City legend Kim: "When I got the job, I really didn't think I was going to do any scenes with her. We cross paths a couple times… and they're quite important scenes in terms of the actual plot of the show, which is exciting."
"I was very nervous to talk to her," said Damian before sharing that the two really hit it off behind the scenes, talking about all things theater, fashion and design.