Stephanie Beatriz: Quiet wants to fix an unfair world in 'Twisted Metal' S2

UPI

4 days ago

1 of 5 | Stephanie Beatriz returns for Season 2 of "Twisted Metal," premiering Thursday. Photo courtesy of Peacock
NEW YORK, July 30 (UPI) -- Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Encanto actress Stephanie Beatriz says her character Quiet is still fighting for equality in a post-apocalyptic world in Season 2 of the PlayStation game adaptation, Twisted Metal, which premieres on Peacock Thursday.
"She sort of has the same mission she did at the end of Season 1, which is rob from the rich and give to the poor," Beatriz, 44, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"But it's expanded a little in her mind to: Why is everything so unequal? Why do the people behind the walls of the cities have everything and those on the outside have absolutely nothing?" she explained. "When Calypso (Anthony Carrigan) announces that there's this demolition derby tournament to the death and there's only one winner and that winner receives their greatest wish, well, she's got no choice but to enter."
Season 2 sees Quiet working with Dollface (Tiana Okoye), the sister of her ex-boyfriend John Doe (Anthony Mackie), an amnesiac delivery driver who has been rewarded with a seemingly better life within the walls of New San Francisco after he completes a difficult task.
"Whether or not she and John will see eye to eye about entering together, or if they're going to be adversaries, that sort of will be revealed as the season goes on," Beatriz said.
"It's a little like when you went to college and then you came back to your hometown and you saw all the kids that you went to high school with and maybe some of the guys that you had crushes on or maybe even your ex-boyfriend and you're like, 'I don't know if you're quite as smart or handsome as I thought you were.' I think that's a little bit of where Quiet's at, at the beginning of Season 2."
Quiet and John have always had a tumultuous relationship, despite their electric attraction to each other.
"She's not so sure that they make the best partners," Beatriz said.
"John's really used to having Quiet in the passenger seat next to him," she added. "Sometimes, he lets her drive, but, really, their relationship is one where John is in the driver's seat and Quiet is the passenger. So, what happens when Quiet has decided that she can drive, too? Maybe she's just as good, if not better, than John."
Quiet has tremendous respect for Dollface because she recognizes what a good leader she is, but that relationship isn't perfect either.
"I don't know that [Quiet], always, ethically, is in the same world as Dollface. Dollface takes some drastic measures and I don't know that Quiet's always comfortable with that," Beatriz noted.
Quiet is one of the few characters who has lived within the relatively civilized city walls and its violent, untamed outer limits.
After a bad experience in The O.C. -- where Quiet and her brother were enslaved and tortured with the promise they could some day earn their freedom -- she is suspicious about the price people must pay to join these protected communities.
"She's really seen the great lie that has been sold to the people, not unlike the [real] world today. There's many great lies that we're kind of coming to grips with and our eyes have been opened about a lot of stuff in the last 20 years," Beatriz said.
"For Quiet, she's been on the inside. She's seen how it works for people like her and she isn't willing to put up with it anymore and if that means that she loses her life in the process of trying to fight for what's right, then she's OK with that," the actress added. "I don't know if John's OK with that, though, because he really deeply cares for Quiet and I don't know that he's willing to risk her safety for the safety of everybody else."
The show raises a fascinating question: Will the winner improve the lives of others or ramp up the misery for their own amusement?
"One of the coolest things about bringing Calypso, played by Anthony Carrigan, into Season 2, is that not only is Anthony's performance just incredible -- he's such talented actor and he's so funny and weird and quirky and dangerous and kind of sexy in this role -- but this idea that Calypso can grant you anything your heart desires," Beatriz said.
"No. 1, how can he do that? No. 2, how does it manifest? And, if you play the [video] game, Calypso doesn't always give you your wish in the way that maybe you want him to. Is it going to be fair and square, or is there some underhanded dealing going on behind the scenes?"
This unpredictability and tension make for great storytelling, she added.
"It felt like the rug was constantly being pulled out from under the characters and, personally, I really like that. When I watch television shows, I don't want to be 10 steps ahead of the characters," she said.
"I want to be right alongside with them on the ride and I think you really feel that way in Season 2 of Twisted Metal."