Carla Baratta of ‘Mayans MC’ On Breaking Up SOA’s Boys’ Club

For seven seasons on Sons of Anarchy, strong female characters like Katey Sagal’s Gemma and Maggie Siff’s Tara weren’t always directly involved in the dangerous dealings of SAMCRO. But for the SOA spin-off, Mayans MC, that’s going to change with the introduction of “rebel bitch” Adelita, played by Carla Baratta, who leads a group of insurgent forces against Miguel Galindo (Danny Pino) and the Galindo cartel.

“She doesn’t rely on men,” says Baratta. “She’s her own boss and is so smart. Having that character on a show where there are 16 men and 2 women in the main cast, having her as that strong powerful figure as a Latina woman, I’m just so honored to be a part of that and to portray her.”

Mayans MC Cast

In this new FX spin-off, the series follows SAMCRO’s rivals-turned-allies the Mayans Motorcycle Club and stars club prospect J.D. Pardo as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes. Emilio Rivera reprises his role as club president Marcus Alvarez from the original SOA series and Edward James Olmos plays EZ’s father.

Baratta attributes the writers to doing an amazing job to make her look like a badass without being a stereotype, and for the character on screen, she draws on her background.

“I’m from Venezuela. There have been a lot of crazy things happening in Venezuela, including injustice, violence, killings. When I watched that unfold, I thought, I know this. I come from a place where this is real. I was really moved by the character [of Adelita] and then when I got it, and they started to tell me more about her, where the idea came from for Adelita for their war in Mexico, I thought, ‘She’s such a badass.’”

“We don’t have Latina women, or women in general, as characters like her.”

She also channels a lot of her intensity from the powerful women she grew up with.

“I come from a family of really strong women, and since I was a kid, I’ve always had that image of leaders; women in my family have always been leaders. Then, when I first talked to Elgin [James] and Kurt [Sutter] about [Adelita’s] dreams, where she came from, all of the things that she has been through in her life, all the struggles, that’s what we’re trying to bring to life. We don’t have Latina women, or women in general, as characters like her.”

However, you’ll have to stay tuned to watch Adelita’s story develop, because Baratta is sworn to complete secrecy.

“If you’re excited now about her [now], you have to wait and see all of the things she’s going to do. She has a really specific vision of how she wants to take care of her people. I think that’s what’s moving her to do all of the things she does. That vision of peace for her people.”

“Mayans MC” airs on FX on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET starting September 4.