Tessa Rao: Portraying Izzy Garcia, The First Female Green and LGBTQ+ Power Ranger

Although it took Power Rangers nearly thirty years to include the first LGBTQ+ Ranger, the impact that Izzy Garcia has left in the franchise will resonate with the fans for generations because her character goes beyond the community she represents–her struggles, triumphs, and relationships are as authentic as they get. Tessa Rao, who portrayed Izzy in Dino and Cosmic Fury, reflected upon her inspirational journey.

Rao didn’t actually audition for the role of Izzy Garcia. The actor revealed she initially went for J-Borg–Jane Fairview’s comedic counterpart in the shows. Let it be fate, but a sudden recast of the Dino Fury Green Ranger a couple of weeks before the beginning of production led the filmmakers to consider Tessa Rao’s spontaneity and charm for the role. Less than 24 hours later, she would embark on her Power Rangers journey that would forever change her career. “I was working at a supermarket in my hometown [in New Zealand]. I found out on my lunch break that I got the job and had to go back in and quit … I couldn’t even give my two weeks notice because I had to move the next day and go straight into pre-production. From there, the rest of my life kind of began. Nothing has been the same since … It wasn’t until later that I found out that she was going to be the first female green and the first queer Ranger. The whole experience was wild.” Tessa Rao admitted that she didn’t grow up watching Power Rangers but confessed that it would have empowered her as a young woman in a lot of ways: “I think I would have felt a little less alone in moments had I had the show, but I almost feel like my inner child gets to have that by being a part of it in the way that I am now, you know? I am officially a fan, and I have been now for a while.”

In terms of character development, Tessa Rao explained that the writers in the Fury shows gradually developed a beautiful, almost symbiotic relationship between the story and the actors’ personalities–informing the growth and journeys of each character. She said, “One of the things that I really wanted to bring to her was that earnest enthusiasm. I think that sometimes when you find these sort of quick-witted, sassy characters, that’s all you see. I think you can also be someone who’s really excited about things and sometimes naive, even when you’ve got that sort of outer mask of being like, ‘I know what I’m doing’. I really wanted to feed that into her where I could, especially because she’s the youngest. She’s been a fan of the Rangers from the get-go. I thought that was some nice color to add to the really cool side of Izzy.”

“Skirts aren’t really my thing.” Izzy Garcia’s action of removing a stereotype as she becomes the Dino Fury Green Ranger is a reminder to never hesitate to break out of the societal mold. “It’s not that she’s like, ‘No, skirts are dumb’, because skirts aren’t dumb. Skirts are great if you like skirts, no matter who you are as a human being, regardless of gender or sexuality. She’s not really into skirts, so she’s not going to do this. I think that’s really a beautiful moment for her,” Rao shared. What we learn about her over the course of both Dino and Cosmic Fury–those moments of vulnerability, conflict, connection, and growth–is that she is very relatable, because she is not perfect. She is learning about herself through experience, whether it’s learning the consequences of lying to your friends and family or misunderstanding someone’s intentions.

Izzy’s romance with Fern helped her grow over the course of the seasons, especially in Cosmic Fury. Throughout Dino Fury, their relationship began in a competitive way but eventually flourished into a loving connection. Whenever Izzy goes through her life struggles, Fern is there to cheer and support, celebrating her wins but also holding her accountable for her actions. This dynamic suddenly flips in Cosmic Fury, where Izzy has to share the spotlight as Fern finds herself in space with the Rangers and eventually becomes the Orange Ranger. “Izzy has to work on her own inward stuff for Fern. She has to realize that she hasn’t left enough space for Fern to be able to shine, not out of control, out of fear, or out of love and desire for her safety, but inevitably she’s not allowing Fern to fully fulfill her potential. I think that even though they have that conflict, Fern is still creating that shift in her. Obviously you see it all come to a head when she realizes that Fern has become a Ranger, and she has to kind of go, ‘Oh, I didn’t have to worry. I’m not just here to protect you, but you’re actually also able to protect me, and we’ve always been on the same level. This isn’t a new thing. You’ve always been here. I just didn’t recognize it until this point.’ I think that’s a massive moment for her as an individual. It takes her long enough, but she finally recognizes it. I think that’s a really hard thing for us sometimes because you love someone so much and you want to protect them.” Rao added, “I think any scene with Jackie [Joe] was up there as my favorite because it was just so amazing working with her.”

Another interesting relationship is that of Izzy and her brother, Javi Garcia. On camera, it’s obvious that the chemistry between Tessa Rao and Chance Perez is genuine: “Honestly, from the get-go, we automatically got along. The dynamic was very similar on set … way fewer arguments than between Izzy and Javi–less bickering, for sure, but a lot of silliness. We both love music. I think he’d be ok with me saying this, we’re both the annoying ones that can’t stop singing [laughs]. That was such a fun kind of element to have on set. Chance is genuinely such a wonderful human being. He’s an amazing person to work with. He’s an amazing friend. He’s an incredible father and husband. I still call him my TV brother. I actually think that our natural rapport, that sort of silliness informed the relationship the most, which was really, really fun to play around with. I love him forever.”

And speaking of music, although Chance Perez was always the main pick for performing songs in the shows, Cosmic Fury’s fifth episode showcased a Metal performance by Rao that will forever be among the best moments in Power Rangers history. The actor recalled performing I L-O-V-E The Emperor of Evil, the vocal cord-shredding song: “That was one of my favorite moments of literally the entirety of shooting. I felt like I was in my absolute element. We recorded the song first … Those are our actual voices. They did some manipulation, but they actually did less than I thought they were going to do because we kind of killed it. Very vocal chord-shredding for sure. I could not do that as a career. On the actual day it was very, very hot. We were in a quarry in these massive suits. I was having to jump in a certain way because of my bird feet … It was hilarious! I think maybe for some people, it was not as fun but (though I was obviously not immune to the elements) I was just so happy. I felt like Beyoncé, AC/DC, and a bunch of different artists combined in this one bird singer, heavy metal artist. I was pulling all of my inspiration and just letting it fly. It was so much fun.”

The actor ended the interview by opening up about what the character means to her, and what in her opinion she embodies in the Power Rangers franchise and beyond: “She’s got such a beautiful balance of femininity and masculinity. She is the epitome of not bending to a stereotype, and even within the stereotypes that you might see her fall into, I still think she pushes back. Being a queer character is huge. It shouldn’t be. Our screens should have been accurately reflecting our entire society a long time ago. In saying that, I’m really proud. I think Izzy teaches you that whatever you want to be doing, whatever that looks like for you, as long as it’s authentic to you, it’s right. You know, there’s no right unless it’s who you are. You’re not letting society dictate who you’re going to be or what is right for you. You’re letting your own instincts and what you learn and the advice and the love and the support of the people around you show the kind of person that you want to be and allow that to continuously be something that grows and evolves. She’s also not perfect. She’s just a person that happens to be dating a woman that happens to not like skirts. I love that about her.” Izzy Garcia’s journey might be over, but make sure to follow Tessa Rao’s on Instagram.

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