WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Mayans M.C. Season 3, Episode 9, "The House of Death Floats By," which aired Tuesday on FX.
Over the course of Mayans M.C. Season 3, prospect Steve (Momo Rodriguez) worked to join the titular group's Santo Padre chapter by doing grunt work for the club's members. However, things escalated in Episode 7 when Steve shot and killed one of the men attacking him during a surprise assault on Santo Padre. And while the Santo Padre Mayans respected what their prospect did and patched him into the club as a result, Steve took his own life at the party celebrating his acceptance into the group.
CBR talked with comedian and actor Momo Rodriguez by phone about his experience working on Mayans M.C., Steve's death and his own future following the role.
CBR: What was your experience like on set and filming, especially considering like the COVID-19 pandemic?
Momo Rodriguez: It was my first time on this show, and they have their two seasons already down. They have their culture, the way they talk to each other, the way everything was going on. But now, it's all been changed. And kind of like, I'm going in there during this reset of what the new rules are. So thanks to Disney, it was very, very safe. I mean, we really, really got used to it quick. And we all wanted to make sure we all followed the protocol in order to not get shut down. I mean, I think we're one of the only shows that did not get shut down this season.
Yeah, I was actually surprised when I saw that the show was airing, because I thought, "Oh, they must have filmed this almost entirely during the pandemic, and I hope everyone was safe and doing well," especially because some of the people on the show, like Edward James Olmos, are a little bit older.
Rodriguez: I remember we didn't go out, and we started shooting in October. So from October to February, we kind of just didn't do anything. This year on the show, you'll notice there weren't that many extras, not that many background people, because the sets were just so safe. We had somebody always watching us, you know, [you're] taking off your mask to have some kind of a lunch break. They would always watch and make sure you go to your designated area. Safety was probably the number one thing that I saw [and that] made everybody comfortable to explore their characters. I mean, with so many restrictions, we still had the ability to really sink into [...] a world where the pandemic didn't exist in Santo Padre.
You mentioned earlier that you're coming into this show that already has two seasons. What was it like joining up with that established cast who have been there for a while and who are a little bit more senior on the show?
Rodriguez: The funny thing is, you know, in this industry, being a Latino [...] There's such a small amount of us that are able to fight through everything we have to fight through to get our representation out there that we see each other at almost every event. We become friends, or we've worked on some kind of thing previously. So I knew a lot of the cast members, just as friends. So for me, it was more exciting to go see... Edward James Olmos has been a mentor of mine for years, and a great friend of mine for years. So to see him on set, it was more like, "Wow, I get to be with my friends and I get to create something beautiful."
Emilio Rivera, who plays Álvarez, he's been my friend for 15 years. I met him doing stand-up. To be around him was even just, you know, really, really cool. These are the guys that you hang out with and now you're in the same project with them, and you get to play with them.
It was such an easy transition. And aside from all that, me knowing them, these men and women are the most inviting people you'll ever meet. The cast of Mayans... I mean, everybody who had a cut on that was a Mayan... Really, the first week I got the part, when I got my network approval, and they made an offer to me, that was followed by a phone call by every single Mayan, with a beautiful welcome in saying, whatever I needed, I'm a Mayan. This is your show now. Whatever you want from us, we'll give it to you. Feel free to go to any space you need to go to, to make sure we do the work right. And when you get a speech like that from all these guys, you don't want to disappoint them. And in fact, you're excited to go to work, which I was every single day.
As a Latinx person on a show that's primarily by Latinx people and starring them... That's still something that's not very common. What was that like for you going into going into that?
Rodriguez: I make [my living] as a stand-up comedian, mostly. It's my job to always make fun, create satire, make a joke and a lot of my comedy comes from the Latino community. And to be on this project where you saw Latinas as producers and writers, Latinos behind the camera. It was just that little dream you have as a kid coming true little by little. And I think it's just maybe a downbeat to what is coming up in the industry and all the networks that they're giving us such a beautiful representation.
And, you know, everyone says, "Well, [...] So are Latinos coming out?" We've been out for a long time! We've been doing this for a long, long time. So whenever they say, "Oh, this is the year. Latinos are trending." We've always been trending! It's just, you know, now that we just have more roles on TV, that's a great thing. And the beautiful thing about these characters, they're not exactly about being Latino. They just happen to have a Latino name attached to them. That's the key in writing for Latinos. You don't have to write us a piece that talks about our culture. Write us a piece where we get to be ourselves.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you're more than just the culture that you come from, though obviously, that influences your life and how things happen. But like, you're more than that, you know? You're a comedian, for example, and you're taking on this role of Steve, which isn't necessarily a funny role, though it's got some kind of funny moments. What was it like for you making that transition from comedy to something that's a little bit more grounded and darker?
Rodriguez: I had to really give myself this mantra in the car and just say to myself, "You are Steve, you are Steve. You're not a comedian. You're not Momo." Because these guys know me. And they know I'm the biggest shit talker you'll ever meet. They know I will attack you. [...] I have no remorse, I have no mercy. I will get you if you open up a conversation with me. And that's just who I am on stage. I mean, I've been trained by the kings of comedy. I've been on tour with them. I've been on tour with George Lopez, all my heroes. That's what I do.
So I really had to shut myself off. [T]he hardest part was to shut myself off before I went on set. And then I had to really become Steve by just being that prospect. And that process was, for me, pretty hard at first, because I would bite my tongue when these guys would make a joke. I'm like, "Oh, man, I want to say something so bad, but I can't, because then I'll just lose who I am." I had to shut myself down. I really did. The key to Steve was to be sincere, not to be funny. If it happened to be funny, it was because of the situation, but my number one goal with Steve was do not make him a clown. Do not make him the funny fat guy. Do not make him the guy you want to feel bad for. Make him a sincere creature. Give him a beautiful humanity and give him a vibe that people want to get to know him more, but he might not know what he's getting himself into.
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Did you know right from the beginning that Steve wasn't going to survive the season or is that something that you kind of found out later?
Rodriguez: I knew right from the beginning. Part of this is based on one of the writers' friends. So I got a little bit of the background on it, and the best thing that they did for me was tell me that he had a tragic ending, because that helped me prep for his decline. It helped me prepare his episode cadence and how he loses a little bit of himself or gains a little bit.
You know, that was one of the hardest parts for me as a comedian. I got to give them a different side of the comedy, which is the tragedy. But in the end, you know, tragedy is comedy plus time. And that was the best part of this. I got to really put that formula to life. And man, I fell in love with Steve. When I saw the episode yesterday, I cried a little bit. I made sure to detach myself so much from Steve. Because you got to detach yourself after you're done with your character. And he brought it back. Last night brought it back.
With a character that had such has such a tragic ending was it hard to get into that that particular headspace?
Rodriguez: You have a bunch of amazing actors around you giving you so much advice. One of my mentors, George Lopez, actually hired an acting coach for me. Everybody kind of wanted to get me in the right space. But what really got me there was I lost my mom in January. I lost her to COVID. I had to go through that loss while I was shooting these episodes, seven and nine. And I think I used Steve as a way to mourn. And I used Steve as a way to kind of distract me and focus on his life after I lost a life that meant the world to me.
So when it came time to do the scene when I had to lose Steve, it felt like a whole other loss for me. Because I'm about to lose the guy that was with me through one of my darkest moments. And those tears were real, man. That really was me losing Steve, and the hesitation that Steve had in his eyes was Momo hesitating. "Nah, I don't want to pull that trigger. But I don't think I have a way out." And that's what made the piece for me really sincere in the end. And you know, the guys were great. They let me take it there.
Can you go more into what was going through Steve's head in that last fateful moment at that party?
Rodriguez: The biggest thing was when he was hearing Bishop make that speech about how he was killing somebody with no remorse. How he was just hitting some guy over the head. He was just going into it. And everybody was just laughing at this tragedy. I'm over here -- Steve's over here -- suffering because of the life he took. He can't even close his eyes without thinking or seeing the guy. And here's Bishop just celebrating his kill. And everyone's laughing and celebrating him for it.
I think that's when Steve was like, "I can't lock this away. EZ told me to lock it away. EZ said, 'This is who I am now.' EZ said, 'This is who I need to be.'" And then Steve realized, "Well, I'm not EZ, I'm not Bishop, I'm not Taza, I'm not Creeper, I'm not Coco, I'm not Gilly. I'm especially not Hank. I want to be like Hank, but I don't think I'm going to be able to continue from this moment." Basically, Steve was like, "From this moment on, I'm going to disappoint everybody because I can't do with this guy's doing."
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How do you think the death of Steve is going to change the show and the other characters going forward? Because despite the fact that they rag on him because he's the prospect, they did love them. And they really cared about him.
Rodriguez: I mean, that's part of being the prospect. They're gonna rag on you. But in the end, it was all brotherly love. That's just the way it is in all the clubs. But I do feel -- we saw it in Hanks eyes. We don't even know who Steve is to Hank and why he decided to sponsor Steve. There has to be a story behind that. I'm sure they're gonna touch it in the next season. We don't know [...] how Steve came to be around the club. So there has to be some kind of an effect on some of these guys. I know it really affected EZ. He kind of blames what he said. Maybe [what he said] might have made Steve go a certain direction, but I don't know.
It's one of those things where, as an actor and representing Steve, I could tell you right now, I was not thinking about EZ. I was not thinking about anybody. You know, that's the thing about suicide. You don't know what it does to those that you leave behind. [...] I really haven't even thought about what it's going to do to the club.
Did you have a favorite moment playing Steve?
Rodriguez: I think the funniest part, for me, was the famous burpees scene where everyone makes fun of my burpees. So the day [it was shot], I had my COVID vaccine. And my arm was just dead. So I was like, "I can't do a burpee. I can't do a pushup right now, guys. I really can't." So the the guys were like, "Okay, cool. So we're gonna just shoot from your waist down and bend over so you come out of frame." That's what they told me. Little did I know that they used the master shot of me just bending down and touching my toes. So I was like, "Oh, come on, guys!"
When I saw that, I was like, yeah, that's how I do a burpee, too.
Rodriguez: But you know what, that resonated with so many people. So many people were like, I love what you're doing for us body positive men. I'm like, wow, okay, well, you're welcome! But I was kind of embarrassed. I couldn't do a whole burpee.
The setup was so much fun. Even when we had a play, there were moments where we had to play these dark days. And these guys, you know, were there long hours. We had so many amazing conversations. The guy who made me laugh the most would have to be Michael Irby. Michael Irby is one of the funniest guys to hang around with. He's the president. That guy has president presidential material. And then you know, you have guys like JD [Pardo] that are just always there. JD is probably the best quarterback anybody could have on a show.
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Yeah, I've noticed that he does a lot of fan interaction on things like Twitter. And it seems like the fans are like really involved with the show. What's your experience of like the fan reaction been like?
Rodriguez: I woke up to about, maybe, 300 messages last night of people just asking me is there anything they could have done? That's how seriously people take the show. A lot of them have sent me long messages and letters saying how much they needed to see that episode of Steve representing what people go through in that lifestyle. People have said it reminded them of a brother, of a loved one, of a son, somebody that kind of had a similar fate.
The fans are just so beautiful. They see the poetry behind the writing. They see the messages. The fans are just probably one of the best things that I've actually encountered working on Mayans M.C. And I'm gonna miss the fans most of all, because I'm already the kind of guy who loves fans. I'm a stand-up. I love talking in front of people. I love people interactions. It's what I do for a living. But the way these fans... I mean, you see them at the store.
The only thing I might not miss is when you're at a Walmart and somebody yells out "what the fuck, Steve?" You know, I'm at the pharmacy trying to get some kind of medicine and someone's yelling "what the fuck, Steve" from behind me. That's the only thing, but other than that, man, I think anybody who joins this cast falls in love with each other and the fans.
What's next for you after this? Where can people find you next?
Rodriguez: I'm doing a lot of stand-up. It's been a year since we've had the clubs open. It's been hard, and I love performing. I love the stage. The stage is everything I do. This month, I'm going to be doing the Brea Improv. I'm going to be doing a Southern California tour in a tribute to my club, Southern Cali. And I'm going to start gearing up for a special that I want to do in November. And then of course, I'm working my butt off trying to get on other shows. I want to give them my funny side. They saw what I can do and my dark side. But I think it's time to give people some funny after what Steve had to go through.
Created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, Mayans M.C. stars J.D. Pardo as EZ Reyes, Clayton Cardenas as Angel Reyes, Sarah Bolger as Emily Galindo, Michael Irby as Obispo "Bishop" Losa, Carla Baratta as Luisa "Adelita" Espina, Richard Cabral as Johnny "Coco" Cruz, Raoul Trujillo as Che "Taza" Romero, Danny Pino as Miguel Galindo, Edward James Olmos as Felipe Reyes and Emilio Rivera as Marcus Álvarez. New episodes air Tuesday on FX and are made available the following day on Hulu.
You can find Momo Rodriguez on Instagram at momorodriguez, where he posts his upcoming stand-up show dates and news about his upcoming projects.
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