Now that Lifetime's "Devious Maids" has completed its second season, actress Ana Ortiz is happy with the show, but it wasn't always that way.

"Maids? It's got to be maids?" Ortiz said of her first reaction to the script in an interview with The Associated Press.

The show featured plenty of star power with creator and producer Marc Cherry, who also created ABC's long-running hit "Desperate Housewives," as well as Latina actress Eva Longoria, former "Desperate Housewives" star, as executive producer. Still, Ortiz related to the Latino community's primary concerns about the series.

"The Latino community was the first out of the gate being really hard on us," Ortiz said.

Ortiz was born in New York and is of Puerto Rican and Irish ancestry. She stars as Marisol Suarez in the show, which is now one of Lifetime's highest-rated series.

The 43-year-old actress, as well as four of her co-stars, Edy Ganem (Valentina Diaz), Dania Ramirez (Rosie Falta), Judy Reyes (Zoila Diaz) and Roselyn Sanchez (Carmen Luna), fills up four out of five of the Imagen Awards' nomination slots for Best Actress/Television (the fifth nomination went to Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer for playing Kiki in Nickelodeon's "The Fresh Beat Band"). The Imagen Awards "aims to recognize and reward positive portrayals of Latinos in all forms of media ... and recognize the achievements of Latinos in the entertainment and communications industries," according to its official website.

"So to have these nominations from the Imagens, it is such a beautiful full-circle moment," Ortiz said. "I'm so proud for all the girls, and I'm really proud of the show."

According to Ortiz, Longoria makes sure that the five main characters are multi-layered rather than stereotypical Latinas.

"Eva made a really good point about it," Ortiz said. "She said, 'I'll really be happy for the day when it's just: Here's a new show. It doesn't have to be a new show with five women in the leads, or five Latinas in the leads. It's just a new show.'"

The Imagen Awards take place on Aug. 1 in Beverley Hills.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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