Exclusive Interview: Braeden De La Garza Talks Cruel Summer Season 2, His Character Work, and More

Braeden De La Garza is a rising young star who has quickly caught the industry’s attention with his breakout performance as Brent in Season 2 of Cruel Summer. His interpretation of the character was so nuanced that the writers expanded his role and allowed Braeden to explore a new level of vulnerability that he hadn’t had the opportunity to portray yet on screen. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Braeden about his starring role in Cruel Summer, his collaboration with the creative team, and more!

Please Note: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. We stand in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, and will not be conducting further interviews until a fair deal is reached.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Braeden: It’s my dad. He’s not in the entertainment industry; he’s in the car business. Ever since I was young, he instilled in me that I have to find something that I enjoy and give it my best shot. His dream wasn’t to be in the car business, but it’s what he fell into. He’s always said that if he could go back, he would focus all his energy into something he had a passion for. He’s always said, “It’s okay to fail as long as you’ve tried your hardest.” His support has always made me feel like I have the ability to do whatever I wanted to do with my life and not have any inhibitions. He’s been my biggest supporter from day one.

PC: You’ve had so much success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Braeden: The biggest moment is probably when I got my first-ever job. I submitted to be a background actor in a bike shop commercial. At that time, I had never been on a set; I hadn’t done anything other than high school theater. I remember when I got the email that I was selected to be a background actor. I was so excited when I learned that I would get to be on set, even though it was a commercial where I didn’t have lines. But knowing that someone wanted me to be on camera felt great. I called my entire family and told them about it. I was fifteen and I freaked out for four hours. It was one of the purest moments in my career.

PC: Now you’re one of the stars of Cruel Summer, and the first season was incredibly well received. Did that bring any added pressure as you headed into this project?
Braeden: I think at first. The whole cast looked at that first season as a guidebook because it was so successful and the performances were incredible across the board. We wanted to make sure we were hitting the mark, but as filming went on, we fell into our own groove. The two seasons are similar and have a lot of the same structure, but we brought our own spin to it. I hope the fans enjoy it just as much.

PC: One of the interesting aspects of this show is that it takes place over three separate timelines, which I imagine brings a lot of freedom and challenges for you as an actor. What can you tell us about the different versions of Brent that we find throughout?
Braeden: It was really cool to get to play these three different timelines. The biggest differences are what’s going on in his life and how it alters his perception of the world around him. In the first timeline, the summer of ’99, Brent’s pretty carefree. He jokes around a lot. He can be pretty crude here and there, but nothing is looming over his head. He doesn’t feel too much pressure. He’s just messing around with everybody.

Then, in the winter of ’99, we see that Brent’s gotten into some trouble. A lot of the stuff that he’s tried to keep hidden comes out. People are learning things about him, and he’s not happy about it. It makes him really hostile and defensive. His defense mechanism is to attack. He’s learned that from his dad. So, he’s not the nicest guy in the winter ’99 timeline.

In the summer of ’00, he lost his brother. He’s wrecked. He’s looking back at how he treated his brother growing up and the way that he’s treated people around him. It’s a reflection point. In that last timeline, you see Brent trying to right his wrongs and make up for how he’s been acting.

PC: Brent could easily have been played as one-dimensional, but it was your collaboration with the writers and creative team that allowed you to take him in a new direction. How did that change your preparation? How did you create the space for yourself to dive into those more vulnerable moments?
Braeden: It was the collaboration with the writers and the creatives behind the show and really seeing what direction they wanted and how that worked with how I saw the character. At first, Brent was a more one-dimensional character. When I first auditioned and got the role, I was coming in to play a douchebag. I say a couple of crude jokes and I leave. As we were shooting, the team said, “There’s something about the way that you’re portraying him that we’re drawn to. We want to see more.” So, it was really that collaboration between all of us and seeing where Brent should go in this story.

My preparation went from preparing to play the rude older brother to being able to dive into emotional places that I hadn’t gotten to do yet on camera. I’m really excited for people to see it and also see how it’s received. But it was great to have the trust of the creative team to let me go to that space and trust me to build my character up even more.

PC: There’s incredible chemistry that comes off the screen between all of you. How were you all able to build that? Do you have a favorite behind-the-scenes moment?
Braeden: It came from the fact that we were all in Vancouver and didn’t know anybody else. [laughs] There were six or so of us who were flown out, and we lived there for six months. We all didn’t know anyone, so even on days we weren’t filming, we were texting each other to see who wanted to get food or see a movie. We hung out every day. That camaraderie came naturally to us. Then, obviously, we were always together at work. It was like summer camp. It’s almost like we had to be friends because we were always together. Thankfully, we all got along really well and have similar personalities. We still talk to this day. That really lent itself to our onscreen chemistry.

In terms of my favorite behind-the-scenes moment, there was one night near the end of shooting. It’s the first time that you see Sadie’s character in the summer ’00. We shot that while we were in the middle of shooting Episode 10 because we had to go back and reshoot something. She and I had a scene at the end of the night, and so I had just been waiting there on set. In between setups, we made 50 TikToks. It was three in the morning, and we were delirious. A lot of them are on my phone right now, but I’m waiting to release them until the show finishes airing because I’m wearing my wardrobe from Episode 10. That was really fun.

To keep up with Braeden, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Binge-watch Season 2 of Cruel Summer today.

Photo Credit: Storm Santos