Gotham’s Renee Montoya Talks Comics and Supportive #Gaytham Fans

But the real QUESTION is: where the hell did Montoya go to anyway?

No seriously though. I know she’s not a main cast member, but I think it’s been at least five episodes since Victoria Cartagena was on screen for anything significant. There’s also the chance I might have just glazed over, as I occasionally do while watching Gotham. Which is disappointing on both counts because I want to enjoy the show more and I think the inclusion of the lesbian character from DC Comics is awesome.

Cartagena recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her role, saying, “I’m playing such an iconic character, and I feel lucky to be playing someone who’s so important to the [LGBTQ] community.”

Though to be fair, there are plenty who feel the portrayal of Montoya and her bisexual ex-girlfriend Barbara on the show is pretty problematic. Before the first episode of Gotham aired on Fox, journalist Heather Hogan let the actress know she could find her LGBTQ fans by using the #Gaytham hashtag. Hogan told THR the hashtag was one which “spawned out of a desire for gay women to be able to watch TV and talk about it with other gay women.”

And for Cartagena’s part, she loves the support she’s received from those fans. “I care about their opinions, they suggest things I haven’t thought about, and provoke me to look deeper into the character,” she said. “They help me more than they even know.”

Originally, Cartagena was set on not reading the comics her character is featured in. Which, GAH! Because those are amazing, but…

“I was going to base my performance on what the script told me about her because it was so descriptive and right on, but when I Googled her and saw she was so important, I thought, ‘I want to find out more about her,'” she told THR. “Gotham Central made me a comic book fan. My goal now is to read everything Montoya has appeared in. I have quite a journey to go… When I was reading Gotham Central, I was like, ‘Oh my God—a Latina, lesbian bad-ass vigilante? Yes, please!’ ”

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