‘There has never been a better time for someone like me’

With its joyous exuberance, Netflix’s hit show Glamorous feels like a close cousin to Emily in Paris, but with one groundbreaking difference: It’s probably the most genuinely diverse TV show ever made.

Set in a shiny New York office, it stars Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall as Madolyn Addison, a former supermodel who now runs the fading beauty empire Glamorous by Madolyn. Cattrall, 66, is an inspired queen bee choice from a vibrant young team, one of whom boasts: “Titanic is the oldest movie I’ve ever seen – and I don’t know who Cher is.”

More interestingly, Netflix launched the show at the same time as its new series of And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City spin-off starring Cattrall’s allegedly estranged former co-stars. Though she has a brief cameo in And Just Like That…, the bitterness remains, so don’t expect her to socialize with Sarah Jessica Parker in real life anytime soon.

What’s it like to star in this revolutionary new show, which also stars Miss Benny, who receives critical acclaim as Cattrall’s witty, gender-nonconforming assistant Marco Mejia?

There’s no one better to ask than Damian Terriquez, who plays Dizmal Failure, a popular drag queen who befriends Mejia.

Just four years ago, Mexican-American Terriquez, 25, was considering a life in marketing after studying international business structure in London. The pandemic put an end to that and Terriquez moved to Hollywood to do odd jobs on movie sets.

As a non-binary actor, they were convinced that much of it would be a long time coming. Born in San Diego, California, Terriquez and their family moved to their mother’s hometown of Tijuana in Mexico when they were young, but returned to California when they were in high school.

Today, Terriquez lives just outside Los Angeles with their fiancee, actor Luke Lowry, and their miniature schnauzers Nadia and Nala.

Fittingly, Terriquez had just kissed Ireland’s famous Blarney Stone while on vacation when they learned of the audition for Glamorous.

However, they tell me, ‘I was a trained dancer with an academic mindset and not much acting experience. I thought, There’s no way I’m going to land a Netflix series with Kim Cattrall. But Luke encouraged me to go for it and here I am.

“Glamourous came about a few months after I made the decision to perform,” Terriquez adds, “and there hasn’t been a better time than now to be someone like me—a non-binary Latinx. Two years ago you wouldn’t have had two equally diverse people on one show. In Glamourous, everyone in the cast is a different facet of diversity. I hope this changes the idea that a show can only have one role like that.”

Terriquez, who is dressed for our interview in a navy turtleneck, dark jeans and pearls, says they grew up watching the Sex and the City movies with their mom — they were “too young” for the original on TV — and admits to being intimidated when they first meet Cattrall.

“I was quiet, so I guess she knew I was a little nervous for her, but in our scenes together she couldn’t have been nicer, always asking how my day was going.”

With its joyful exuberance, Netflix’s hit show Glamorous feels like a close cousin to Emily in Paris

In addition to being the star, Cattrall was also a show producer, and Terriquez says it was impressive to see her juggle both roles. “As soon as they yelled ‘cut’ she rewrote really quickly and said ‘I think this or that would make more sense’. It was always a long day on set, but working after the cameras stopped was something I hadn’t seen before. It was an inspiring process.’

Cattrall didn’t mingle with the younger actors, who, unsurprisingly, had a lot of fun together. “It was like summer camp. There was a board game bar in Toronto where we hung out and it was always someone’s birthday, so there was a lot of celebration.”

Filming for the show began last year in the Canadian city, which was also used as a New York lookalike in Suits, and the enormous Glamorous offices formed one large backdrop.

“I’ve never worked on something so meticulously built,” Terriquez says.

While legendary Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field created Cattrall’s outfits — the pair remain friends despite the other fallouts — the rest of the cast was dressed by movie and TV costume designer Nancy Gould. For one scene, she wore Terriquez in a pink catsuit with sequined platform shoes—a look they’ll never forget: “My heel came off and embarrassingly I fell out of my trailer!”

In addition to flamboyant clothing, the show introduced Terriquez to makeup.

“I used to do a soft eye once in a while, but now with all those red carpet events, I’m having fun with makeup. I love Tom Ford, who was used in the show, and more affordable brands like Clinique. If I have to prepare for something, I put glitter around my eye and powder around my beard.’

While there is talk of a second series of Glamorous, Terriquez is currently planning their wedding to Lowry, which will be in Mexico next year, so that all of their 450 family members can attend. The couple, Terriquez says, met online the way “people my age do… I think it’s so new now when I watch a rom-com. I think, “Oh, wow, it’s so cute – they met in person! How did they know they liked each other?”

Of life off screen, Terriquez says, “I enjoy the quiet. I am trying to live out my fantasy of being an aristocratic English country woman. I started knitting and gardening and I have my dogs.’

They also have their eye on Netflix stablemate Emily in Paris. “There’s this idea that everything has to be intense on a succession level, but a fun show to disconnect from the world is totally valid. Emily in Paris was great – I speak French and I have a degree in marketing, so come on!’

A new co-star for Lily Collins?

Glamourous is now available on Netflix