Patricia Velasquez On ‘Liz In September,’ Being The First Latina Supermodel To Come Out As A Lesbian [Exclusive]

Patricia Velasquez, the Latina actress and former supermodel, stars in Fina Torres’ new film, Liz in September, based on the iconic lesbian play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.

Patricia Velasquez On ‘Liz In September’

In Liz in September, Velasquez stars in the titular role of the terminally ill lothari(a) Liz, who falls in love with Eva (Eloísa Maturén), a woman married to a man and mourning the death of her young son that unexpectedly comes into her life. According to Velasquez, it’s the pain that the two women share that draws them to one another during Liz’s Caribbean birthday celebration with her group of closest friends.

“The way we connect with people, I think most of the time, we have things in common with people. It starts as, “This girl is straight I can convert her” in Liz’s mind. That’s what she thinks. I can convert her,” Velasquez told uInterview in an exclusive interview. “Then she ends up being really drawn to her because of the commonality of pain. There is a commonality of pain in these two characters [Liz and Eva] that brings them both together.”

Throughout Liz in September, there is the inevitability of Liz’s death. In one of the few scenes that makes its way from the play to the movie, Eva comforts Liz in the hospital after her cancer takes a turn for the worse. It is that scene, which Velasquez had performed in a master class, that convinced Torres to make the feature film – and to make it in Spanish.

“When [Fina] saw the scene not only did she think we should do the film, but she thought let’s do it in Spanish because nothing of this kind has ever been done before in the Hispanic world,” said Velasquez of the ensemble film, which stars a number of her Venezuelan actress friends. “And that’s a big tribute to her because she’s a very well known director; she could’ve very well done it in English to try to make it more mainstream, but she chose to do it in Spanish and that made a huge difference.”

In addition to shooting the film in Spanish and injecting some Latin humor into the script, Torres also opted to add a die with dignity thread into the narrative. Liz, who has always been such a vital woman, doesn’t want to wither away; she wants to die on her own terms. Not only does Velasquez believe that the plot line modernized the story, but that the right to die movement – notably endorsed by the late Brittany Maynard – is a just cause.

“[The right to die movement] is definitely something that I agree with 100 percent. Fina feels the same way,” said Velasquez. “It is so timely that this happened in this film when it’s a subject that has been talked about so much. I support it 100 percent. People should have a choice.”

Velasquez On Coming Out

Earlier this year, Velásquez added published author to her resume with her memoir, Straight Walk: A Supermodel’s Journey to Finding Her Truth, which discusses, in addition to other aspects of her life, struggling with coming out as a Latina supermodel.

“I thought that if i was gonna come out, I was gonna betray a lot of my fans, which were guys. A lot of the work that I did as a model – because I don’t model anymore – it was Sports Illustrated, Victoria’s Secret,” said Velasquez, who ultimately decided to come out after becoming a mother and wanting her daughter to be proud of who she is. “Who I thought I was gonna betray, it’s been the opposite. [My fans] have been extremely supportive. They have now allowed me to be completely free and in touch with myself, and I sometimes think I waited too long.”

These days, Velasquez thinks it’s a much friendlier time to be out. When asked about model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne – who is openly dating indie rocker St. Vincent – and others like her, Velasquez says they have her full support and hopes the media will follow suit and treat coming out and same-sex couples as a non-event as time goes by.

“In terms of other models and other celebrities and how they are portrayed by the media, I can only tell you they have my full support and I hope the media does the same,” Velasquez told uInterview. “It has to come at a moment when it’s not news anymore. That it is such a normal thing, me walking down the carpet with my girlfriend or [Cara Delevingne] walking down the carpet with her girlfriend; it’s just not a big deal anymore.”

Liz in September will debut on Wolfe On Demand and Vimeo On Demand Nov. 3. It will be released on iTunes, Amazon and other VOD platforms Dec. 1.

See below for Patricia Velasquez’s full interview with uInterview.