*“Love is messy, love is complicated,” said Lily Diaz, played by Emeraude Toubia in the TV series “With Love,” produced by writer and former producer of the 2017 remake of “One Day at a Time,” Gloria Calderón Kellett. Many complex issues of love in 2021, including love in the transgender community, are explored in “With Love,” a romantic comedy that premiered on Prime Video on December 17.
One of the featured stars includes trans star Isis King, who shines in the role of Sol Lopez, illuminating the complexity of relationships in modern times. Indeed, while no one can explain what being in love and falling in love is exactly, we can all agree that love is exhilarating, joyous and soul-fulfilling, but also bewildering, complex, messy and complicated, especially when family and friends get involved. Most of us have experienced the joys and tribulations of being in love, and, in 2021, love is as complex as it’s ever been.
The touching but charming five-episode series explores love relationships, from several different lenses- from a typical heterosexual lens and from a lens of the LGBTQ community. Season 1’s center of the series Lily, (Emeralde Toubia) and Jorge (Mark Indelicato) are both trying to find their true loves, but as in many love relationships, their families, friends and associates often find themselves either running interference or meddling beyond where they should be. And holidays and holiday seasons, with families as fuses for explosions of dynamite at gatherings, provide a backdrop of romance meets comedy in the groundbreaking show. These themes are explored in “With Love,” with hilarity. And Isis King is part of the hilarity.
“It was so much fun because the cast really came together like a family,” said King, who plays the part of Sol Lopez in the series. “We’re all in this group scene together. Just having that environment on the set, where you’re also for the most part filming holiday theme stuff, so it made it really exciting. And then we had a leader like Gloria (Calderón Kellett) who really just set the tone for everyone, and she’s super fun herself, so it was get the work done and enjoy each other.”
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Mariah Carey’s Dogs Triggered By ‘All I Want For Christmas’ Chorus (Watch)
But who is Sol Perez, her character?
“Sol Perez is a trans nonbinary oncologist who is a cousin to Jorge Jr. and Lily, who are the siblings,” said Isis King. “It follows their love lives and their families’ love lives as we all kind of spark love, or continue it, or try to fix it, all the different aspects of love, each one of the characters. Sol is one person that didn’t even prioritize love at all, which is refreshing for a trans character. So they’re giving this doctor a chance.”
For Isis, when asked is love complicated, referring to Lily’s line: ‘Love is messy, love is complicated,’ she had quite a candid answer.
“Yes, love can be complicated,” said Isis King. “I definitely feel it depends on who’s in it and if all parties are emotionally available, it doesn’t have to be complicated but the chances of that, it being so perfectly kind and sweet is probably not so common these days.” However, Isis King’s character, Sol, in perhaps a parallel to her own life isn’t placing love as a priority.
“The easiest way to put it is I’m in the first episode where Sol, her friends and family tried to push them to date but maybe because love is complicated or scary for Sol, they don’t prioritize it and also they have a really demanding career, which kind of allows it to fall to the background anyway, from being a doctor, so Sol isn’t really prioritized in it and people sort of usher them to it,” explained Isis when asked about the parallels between her character and her real-life persona. “I feel like I’m the same way right now. I don’t realize prioritize it because I did for so much of my early adult life. I was in abusive relationships and all the different scenarios you can be in as a hopeless romantic.”
Isis King had a sometimes-turbulent life while living in New York. She was homeless but refused to let homelessness guide her life’s path. While homeless, she landed the TV show, “America’s Top Model,” in 2008. It was groundbreaking at the time because she along with trans model Laverne Cox were the first trans models on the show. Later, she went on to star as Marci Wise, in Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us.”
“I wanted roles to really show some range, and I was able to play a character pre and post-transition and that really hadn’t been done,” she said. “That was exciting for me because I got to play something outside of a model type. That role really allowed me to be taken seriously as an actress.”
King loves playing deeply emotional roles, but is grateful to “play a happy character with no trauma.”
“Trans people should also be allowed to play things that are light,” she maintained. “We want to see something that gives us hope, to let us know that more is possible. That we’re not always stuck as the prostitute who’s about to get killed or the person that doesn’t have anybody to support them. Or the guy that doesn’t want me because he found out I was trans, okay, that’s our life too, but our lives are much more than that. Whenever you get a little inch of ‘well he has happiness’ it’s like a plot twist, or next turn they lose everything. It’s nice to see a trans character get it all and it’s not a turn where they’re just going to lose it. It’s nice to know that because we want hope too. We deserve to see that too.”
Getty Images for Amazon Studios
One theme that’s refreshing in the series is the loving family relationship with Sol Perez.
“It’s safe to say that Sol and her grandparents are really close,” said the stunning actress. “I think that in itself is beautiful. I’m really close with my both my grandparents. They adore me and I feel that especially for black and brown trans people, we need to see that family support and we rarely do on TV.”
As with many groundbreaking shows, each of the themes presented in the series are themes that all families can identify. However, “With Love,” in addition to other themes, explores queer romance on screen- a relationship in which Sol is nonbinary and femme, and has a love interest that has a child. The series explores changing societal mores, including the use of “they/them” pronouns, a complexity not limited to the confines of the show.
“Each person is different, but it’s really important, that’s why so many companies and organizations are starting to ask for pronouns,” she explained. “It’s a good way to learn- to learn that everything isn’t black and white.” Isis King also feels strongly about more representation of the trans community in film and television. “The more representation we see, the more it continues to open up,” said Isis. “We’re just asking to see ourselves too, that’s not a lot to ask for.” Isis King feels extremely optimistic about her career and has made tremendous strides since her trials in New York City.
“I just want to stay humble, and focused and driven and also just being in the moment where it’s actually beginning to happen, it feels tangible for me,” said Isis. “I’m just going to believe it and anything that happens, I’m going to do it and hope for the best and now I’m in a place where it like where everything I hoped for 14 years ago is finally starting to happen.”
“With Love” is now streaming on Prime Video.
Visit Isis King’s website at www.kingisis.com. Follow Isis on Instagram at @msisisking.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
