WITH AN EYE ON ... : Ada Maris nurses her character with care--and a lot of pride

Over the last three seasons on the NBC sitcom “Nurses,” Ada Maris’ character Gina has made a significant transformation. Initially a sweet, but insecure, immigrant, Gina’s now a confident mother and premed student.

As a Latina, Maris is proud of her character’s development. “It’s especially frustrating that ethnic characters are conveniently drawn up,” she says. “I’m very sensitive to that. But Gina’s evolved into a real person. She’s fallen in love, had a child, gotten married, is studying to be a doctor and still works at the hospital.”

If Gina’s life sounds hectic, Maris’ own life is even more so. She’s the mother of 5-month old Isabel, whose birth played a prominent role in “Nurses’ ” storyline this season, and 4-year-old Alejandro. Maris is currently in negotiations to star in a television movie during “Nurses’ ” hiatus. She’s also preparing her one-woman, musical-comedy show “I Want to Be an American” for local cabarets; she hopes to bring it to Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

As if that weren’t enough, this summer, Maris and her husband, actor Tony Plana (“Bakersfield P.D.”), will open a children’s Spanish-language school at their home.

“Life is just crazy,” Maris says. “Even when I have a week off, the calendar is filled with things to do.”

The East Los Angeles native began acting in regional theaters, starring in shows such as “In a Pig’s Valise,” “Sugar” and “At Long Last Cole” (the latter with Carol Burnett). But finding parts wasn’t easy.

“I was discriminated for being a woman and being Hispanic, so it was a big, big double whammy,” says Maris, who adds that it’s imperative that both integrity and good sense play a part in accepting a role.

“I do feel some personal responsibility to the Latino community,” she says. “There are all kinds of considerations to make.”

Maris’ characters, including Gina and Maria Conchita Lopez, whom she played on the 1986-87 syndicated comedy “What a Country,” often are written to have heavy accents. But she says she doesn’t believe that an accent “devalues a character or the people who I love. If the role is making fun of what I hold dear as a Mexican, that’s something else.”

Maris and Plana have eschewed the Hollywood lifestyle, preferring to live in a quiet suburb not far from where Maris grew up.

“We have two sets of grandparents right here, the kids have a great sense of family,” she says enthusiastically. “It’s so comforting.” Plana, a Culver City native, recently moved his parents nearby.

Since Loni Anderson joined the cast, “Nurses” has gained more viewers, but despite Maris’ high profile on the show, Maris says she’s almost never recognized. “Maybe it’s where we live,” she says. “People don’t expect to see television actors.”

But, “Tony says it’s because I just look different,” she says thoughtfully. “He says that it’s the attitude and, of course, the accent, but he says that I even hold my face in a different way.

“Tony always gets recognized all over the place,” Maris says with a laugh, “and even if I’m standing right there, they never know me.”

“Nurses” airs Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.