Humberly González opened up about how her more adult role on The Waterfront felt like a continuation of her teen character from Ginny & Georgia.
“It’s an energy shift for me that I really enjoy because I’ve technically been playing a high schooler for the past five years of my life. It’s a beautiful graduation. I booked The Waterfront while I was filming my last week of Ginny & Georgia in season 3,” González, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly about Kevin Williamson‘s new show, which premiered on Thursday, June 19. “It was literally four days before I was flying out to North Carolina and it was such a short turnaround.”
González found herself connecting her role as Jenna in The Waterfront to her character, Sophie Sanchez, in Ginny & Georgia.
“There’s a line in Ginny & Georgia where Sophie is like, ‘After this year is done I’m going to NYU. I’m going to go be a professional.’ In a way, Sophie is now an adult and she has a real life job and now she just happens to be in North Carolina and she’s a journalist,” she noted. “With [both] characters, it is almost a continuation of myself and of them.”
Before booking Jenna on The Waterfront, González won fans over on the hit Netflix series as Max’s (Sara Waisglass) off-and-on girlfriend Sophie. Despite their breakup, Max and Sophie continued to cross paths and season 3, which started streaming earlier this month, was no different.
González, however, was excited to take on something new as Sophie prepares to go off to college.
“It definitely felt like the right timing because I didn’t know what was happening after Ginny & Georgia. I essentially was going to be unemployed after that ended,” she told Us. “So it was a beautiful opportunity to get to use all the experience I’ve had so far and pour it into someone who’s my age and it was really cool. I feel like it really challenged my skillset and I was able to show even more of what I’m capable of.”
Ginny & Georgia, which premiered in 2021, follows a young single mother who moves her family to Wellsbury, Massachusetts, after running away from her past. The Waterfront, meanwhile, is a much grittier glimpse at the Buckley family — including son Cane (Jake Weary) — who have ruled the North Carolina town of Havenport for decades. Their attempt to retain control of their fishing empire ultimately leads them to more dangerous activities.
González is introduced as Cane’s) high school girlfriend who comes back into his life. The only problem? He is already married to wife Peyton (Danielle Campbell).
“It’s such a sensitive subject when you’re talking about an affair and someone coming in and disrupting a family — not just for Cane but for Jenna as well. She also has an established life, her ailing father and her boyfriend. Every character is really struggling through something but Jenna is a curveball,” she said. “You think the show is going to be about this family and suddenly you get this kind of wrench thrown in there that adds more layers to Cane’s life as well. It’s all so chaotic and hard and intense.”
González reflected on what her character brings to the show, adding, “She offers this other side to him. This vulnerability, and this softness. Jenna’s role in all of this is to offer lightness in the show but also just adding another complicated layer to his whirlwind life already. You wonder what’s going to happen and if it’s right or wrong.”
Despite how The Waterfront “challenges morality,” González still stood by Jenna and her decisions.
“I don’t think Jenna’s a bad person. She finds herself in a really tough situation. She’s lonely, she’s grieving and she’s hurting. Cane offers some type of comfort from a version of her where things used to be simple. That’s so relatable for humans that we might have all the things that we built but suddenly you are reminded of a version of yourself,” she explained to Us. “It’s still real because time doesn’t really play a real role when it comes to emotions and the people who’ve been in your life. I really believe that you don’t really get over people. You learn to live without them. I think this is one of those stories.”
The Waterfront is currently streaming on Netflix.
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