Pop-Culturalist.com

Mark Indelicato and Vincent Rodriguez III are two of the stars of Prime Video’s With Love.

With Love is a romantic dramedy centered on siblings Lily and Jorge Diaz as they navigate big life changes and rely on their equally big family to get them through. Following her whirlwind romance with Santiago, Lily decides to focus all her energy on a personal journey of self-love by growing her makeup styling business and looking into homeownership. But when both Santiago and Nick profess their feelings for her, Lily wrestles with what is best for her future. Meanwhile, Jorge begins to question whether he and Henry are truly compatible. When he meets Henry’s proud Texan parents, he can’t decide whether the relationship is a fairy tale or a nightmare.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Mark and Vincent about Season 2 of With Love, how the show’s throughline is acceptance, and what it’s meant to each of them to represent their various communities.

PC: Mark, there’s a beautiful moment in Season 2 where Sol and Jorge talk about the realities of being a minority within a minority. You brought so much nuance to that moment. What does it mean to you to be a part of a project that’s pushing these important conversations forward with so much love and care? Did you channel any of your own personal experiences as you prepared for that scene?
Mark: Of course. I don’t think that you could be a member of the LGBTQ+ community and be filming a scene like that without channeling, or at least acknowledging, your own experience. But when I met Isis King in Season 1, I had been a fan of hers for a long time. I was eager to get to know her and her story. Because, even though we can be part of this community, there are so many nuances, as you mentioned.

We made a concerted effort, Isis and I, to talk to Gloria about exploring this relationship between Jorge and Sol. That culminated in that very, very beautiful scene. To be honest, if I channeled anything, it was my interest in getting to know Isis and the ways in which that can translate to Jorge understanding Sol a little better and vice versa.

Isis is one of the best listeners. Isis is one of the kindest, gentle souls. Sol is very much that as well. No pun intended. It was so easy to shoot that scene because Isis has become one of my closest and dearest friends. We were really excited to be able to have this lovely, intimate, vulnerable moment, but also with some levity and light. It’s all in love. If you have a great support system around you, you can really conquer anything.

PC: Vincent, similarly, you’ve said in the past that growing up you never saw the Filipino knight in shining armor. This role has meant so much to various communities who want to see themselves as the heroes in their own stories but haven’t had the opportunity to see that reflected in the media that they consume. What has it meant to you to know that you’re ensuring future generations won’t have to experience something similar?
Vincent: Oh my gosh. It’s a huge honor. At times, it’s daunting and overwhelming, to be honest. I’m a human being, but it really fills my heart. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to be a proud Filipino, a proud out gay man, and to represent these communities in Hollywood and in entertainment where we’re not used to seeing minorities depicted at this level of authenticity and nuance.

With Love does many things with its diverse ensemble cast—its multi-generational cast and its inclusive queer cast. We really bring that authenticity, that love, and that celebration of differences. Mark said it earlier, we really have this throughline of acceptance. That’s really important right now in our world. It means so much to me as a Filipino man and as a gay man, but also as a human being who exists in this time and who wants to feel connected to the people that I’m watching on screen and to the people who I get to enjoy my entertainment with. It’s meant so much to me. I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and tell me how much it means to them. That adds to the gratitude that I have for being able to be a part of stories like this, and casts like this, led by Gloria [Calderón Kellett].

Make sure to follow Mark (Twitter/Instagram) and Vincent (Twitter/Instagram). Watch With Love on Prime Video today.