The latest guest star on the family sitcom, Lopez vs Lopez, is Diana Maria Riva who plays a swap meet vendor by the name of Olga. Leaping up to the airing of tonight’s episode, Dorkaholics was invited to speak with Riva about her guest star appearance.
Neil Bui: What made you a dork growing up?
Diana Maria Riva: First of all, I was a first generation Dominican, born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, which many people would never guess. I was just awkward, and I just couldn’t figure out this [points to her hair] right here, what I got going on today. I didn’t know this was in me, so while everyone was trying to straighten and feather their hair, I was just kind of an odd mix of trying to figure it out. And there wasn’t a lot of representation of my culture in Cincinnati. I was just always a little awkward and dorky.
Neil Bui: I mean you figured it out! You’re Diana Maria Riva!
Diana Maria Riva: I figured it out! [laughs]
Neil Bui: So you’re guest starring in Lopez vs Lopez, in the episode “Lopez vs Swap Meet,” but really it’s Lopez vs. Olga.
Diana Maria Riva: You ever go to that swap meet and you come out feeling a little battered and abused because you’ve got some vendors there that look innocent enough and then you leave with 10 times more things than you expected to buy and wondering what just happened? That’s Olga. It was a great role to dive into and then there’s a wonderful, little underlying current there with the fact that Olga and George have a history.
Neil Bui: I know you and the real life George also have history. You guys were both in Saint George together.
Diana Maria Riva: Yes, yes. I’ve been lucky to call George hermano and friend for a long time and he had a series in 2014 called Saint George and I had a great series regular role on that, which was a lot of fun.
