Valeria Jauregui Talks Fox Series 'Deputy

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Playing Maggie on Fox's new series Deputy felt natural for Mexican American actress Valeria Jauregui. "She was so sarcastic and funky and I really enjoyed getting to show that side of myself, because I'm like that with my parents, so getting to play around with that on set was really fun," she tells People CHICA. She started filming the series last August and just wrapped in February. "The thing I enjoyed the most was getting to be with the cast," she adds. "They are all fascinating and good-hearted people that I learned so much from. Getting to be around Yara Martínez, who plays my mom, was great. I love Yara so much and we instantly connected because we both spoke Spanish. We truly had a marvelous time together on set."

"Maggie is a little more understanding than I am. My opinions are more strongly set and whenever I disagree with my family we start arguing it out, but Maggie is very sweet with her family," Jauregui adds about her character, a teen Latinx girl who is the daughter of a sheriff (played by Stephen Dorff). "It's great to see that things are changing and we are getting better roles for Latinos and Latinas in the television and film community. That makes me so happy," the actress admits. What's next for her? "I'm very passionate about strong Latina roles and I would love to book something in a crazy universe like one of the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movies. That would be really cool, to see a Latino brought into something like that."

Jauregui, who grew up in Texas, is very proud of her Mexican roots. "My mom is from Matamoros and my dad is from Cancún, and they met in Monterrey. We grew up speaking Spanish and I'm so grateful for this. My mom didn't let us speak English at home," she recalls. "My siblings and I grew up speaking only Spanish to each other and we love it that way. I know some families didn't do that out of fear that they would be discriminated against, but I think things are finally changing and it's a great time to encourage kids to speak Spanish as well. All the opportunities that have opened up for my brother and me for being bilingual are amazing. I remember going to Monterrey when I was younger and visiting all my aunts and uncles and millions of cousins. It's very close to my heart."

She is also passionate about music, and this time in quarantine with her family in Texas has filled her with artistic inspiration. "It's a thing to get used to, but you absolutely can be productive. It's a matter of resetting your mind to, 'I'm going to work on myself. I'm going to take this time to better myself and educate myself, '"she says of these past weeks in isolation. "I've been reading. I wake up in the morning and work out. I've been painting, playing the guitar, learning more piano, and writing a lot of music, doing all those things I always wanted to focus more on. I appreciate having this time to do that. I've written a bunch of songs and I hope to come out with an EP sometime in the future."

Jauregui is also the image of the new Holy Mother of Makeup line, created with Latinas in mind. "All of our beauty stereotypes are endemic to our culture. As a Latina, I was born into all of these stereotypes. What we are trying to do with our Holy Mother of Makeup line is break that structural thing where we see the same faces over and over, "she says. "I want people to feel beautiful in their skin. If we had more representation of different colors of skin and body types - and breaking that stereotype of the perfect It Girl - so many more people would relate and would feel good about being themselves."