Checkout Dania's interview with Esquire Magazine
Her name is Dania Ramirez. Not Dani or Danielle or Danica. It's Daniaand it's worth remembering. The twenty-six-year-old actress from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (by way of Harlem), has demonstrated impressive upward mobility, parlaying a bit part in the HBO film Subway Stories into a burgeoning film career. Her performance as a lesbian in She Hate Me caught the eye of director Brett Ratner, who cast her in this month's X-Men: The Last Stand. Halle Berry's Storm has a formidable nemesis in Ramirez's Callisto, the leader of a rival band of subway-dwelling mutants. We met the firebrand for lunch in Los Angeles. ESQ: Is it true Spike Lee sent you to lesbian boot camp for She Hate Me?
DR: Lesbian boot camp wasn't really about learning to kiss womenbut we did go out to a couple of lesbian clubs for fun. It was about getting firsthand information from lesbians about all aspects of that community. Being in a relationship, being discriminated against, just learning about different kinds of lesbians.
ESQ: Okay, we'll bite. What are the different kinds of lesbians?
DR: There are all kinds of ways to be intimate with a woman. There are certain lesbians who just want to have a best friend and love her forever, and then there are some lesbians who just want to get laid and keep it moving.
ESQ: In the X-Men comic book, your character gets her butt kicked by Storm. Does Halle Berry destroy you in the movie?
DR: Honey, I kick her butt before she even tries to kick mine.
ESQ: Is there any other young actress whose career you'd like to emulate?
DR: I'd say Natalie Portman. She's made the right choices.
ESQ: But Star Wars was pretty bad.
DR: Well, it's a balance. One for the bank, one for the soul.
ESQ: Is X-Men for the bank or for the soul?
DR: [Laughs.] A little bit of both. There's a real story there, and there are interesting issues for these people about not being accepted in life.
ESQ: Please don't say you were an outcast and never accepted in high school.
DR: I said these people. When I was young, people would say I was ugly, but I never saw that. I would look in the mirror and say, "They're idiots. You are so cute!"
ESQ: You had no idea about any of this comic-book stuff before you got the part, right? DR: I didn't even know what X-Men was.
ESQ: And let's be honest: You would never talk to a comic-book nerd in real life.
DR: My fiancé's brother has a tattoo of Wolverine on his right arm.
ESQ: And if you saw your fiancé's brother on the street, you would never talk to him.
DR: Hey, man, to each his own. I'm weird, too. I've got a big fairy tattooed on my back. [Turns around, lifts her shirt.] And it's kinda hot, right?
ESQ: In the comics, Callisto wears an eye patch. Why the big face tattoo in the movie?
DR: The eye patch is a little dated and cheesy, don't you think? They spent months figuring out my look. At one point, I had purple bangs and jet-black hair.
ESQ: You're saying they uglied you up?
DR: They tried to, but it was unsuccessful.
ESQ: Too bad. That's a great strategy to win an Oscar. Look at Charlize Theron.
DR: ****, you're right. Maybe next time. Maybe an ugly lesbian. That's my next movie.
ESQ: What percentage of baseball players are Dominican now?
DR: Twenty-five percent, honey, if you include the minor leagues. Kids practice with bottle caps and broomsticks. If you can hit that, you can hit anything.
ESQ: Have you seen the effects of baseball players sending money back home?
DR: A few players have created recreational centers for kids. But beyond baseball, I wish I would see money going to making improvements to the country.
ESQ: Where will we see you next?
DR: I just finished the season finale of The Sopranos. I play Anthony Jr.'s girlfriend. She's too much woman for him, you might say.
ESQ: Be careful, you know what happens to the girlfriends on that show.
DR: Are you kidding me? I would love to get whacked on The Sopranos. Maybe they'll read this and call me back so they can kill me.
