Monica Raymund Reveals Her Thoughts on Hightown‘s Ending & the Joys of Playing a Queer Character

After three seasons of the show, Jackie Quiñones (played by Monica Raymund) and her rocky journey will be coming to an end as Hightown‘s season 3 premieres today Jan. 26 on Starz. And while fans of the show are surely sad to see it come to an end, we’re beyond excited to see how it all plays out.

Talking to SheKnows’ Reshma Gopaldas, Raymund looked back at her experience at the show, and how meaningful her character has been for her career.

When thinking of a highlight throughout the seasons, for example, Raymund teased the show’s upcoming finale. “I think my favorite moment is probably being directed by Rebecca [Perry Cutter],” she says. “She’s the showrunner, she’s the executive producer, she’s the brains behind the operation so when she was directing the finale it was just this incredible full-circle moment where I got to finish this very personal show that I love so much with the woman who created it.”

As for her perhaps her least favorite time throughout filming, Raymund thought of one very specific context. “Shooting on a boat is pretty hard,” she says.

In the show, Raymund plays Jackie, a lesbian State Trooper who’s not afraid to bend some rules to get what she wants. Talking about how meaningful it has been to play such an unapologetic queer and Latina character on TV, Raymund couldn’t help but gush. “It’s me!” she says. “I’m a queer Latina person so I get to play a character who is reflecting my own community.”

“I didn’t see a lot of examples like that when I was coming up so to be included in that, in the small pool of characters who represent my community, is such an honor,” she says.

But, despite loving who her character represents, it’s safe to say Raymund and Jackie are quite different. “I’m so happy to say that I can now not act on all of my reactions, I am now more successful than not in this point in my life,” Raymund says of the differences between her and her character. “Jackie is still at the phase where she’s sort of just reactive, she feels something she wants to do something about it, there’s no playing the tape out and evaluating the consequences of her choices. There’s no such thing as consequence.”

As for the finale, Raymund says there’s nothing she would add to how it all panned out. “It’s already been written exactly the way it should be,” she says, adding that Jackie’s ending will see her “finally fully formed.” We can’t wait to see how it all plays out! Raymund also gave us a hint about what’s next post Hightown for her. She’s been directing a few Starz shows, and is a return to Chicago Fire in the cards? Watch the video to find out.

Hightown‘s season 3 exciting season 3 premiere airs tonight on Starz.

Before you go, check out the all-time best ‘Outlander’ episodes you need to watch.