Pop-Culturalist.com

While attending the University of San Diego, Bayardo De Murguia was bit by the acting bug. It was then that he made the decision to trade in his cleats for scripts, dedicating his life to his craft. With each project that he’s worked on, Bayardo has walked away a stronger actor and is unquestionably one to watch.

This December, he stars as Ramon, the bad boy dancer turned choreographer in Netflix’s newest drama, Tiny Pretty Things.

We caught up with Bayardo for an in-depth conversation about his career, Tiny Pretty Things, and how the series is bringing an authentic look at the world of dance.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Bayardo: I fell into it a little late in life. I was in college at the University of San Diego. I was actually a football player. At one point, I took a general education class. I wanted to take a theater class and try it out. Coincidentally, the first class I ever took was an improv movement class. I got hooked. Based on my sports background, performing for people was something that I love doing. I slowly started studying theater at USD and went from there.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Bayardo: The first amazing experience that I had that influenced me was my first network credit. I worked on the original CSI. I worked with George Eads and this actress, and they were really cool. To have that experience on set was great. The show was in its fourteenth season at the time, and it showed me what a close-knit set looked like. Everyone was so cool. That really influenced me and showed me that’s exactly where I wanted to be.

Then slowly, I began working with other actors. I’ve taken a little bit from each and every one that I’ve worked with. When I was working on Shooter, I had a bunch of stunt-fighting scenes with Ryan Phillippe. We got to hang out for a while and kept going over our scenes. His work ethic was something that I really appreciated and learned from.

Then on NCIS, I worked with Wilmer Valderrama, and we also had a little fight scene in that. I picked up a bit from him too because same thing: his work ethic and sense of humor. He was so much fun to work with. The more that I’ve had these experiences, the more I just want to be a sponge.

PC: You said in a previous interview that you came to Hollywood without a plan B. When you look at your journey thus far, what’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned about yourself?
Bayardo: The biggest thing I’ve learned is to be patient. Things take time. Also, you need to have a sense of humor because we get told no so many times. Things don’t always go your way. There are obstacles that are always thrown in front of you. The biggest thing is you have to keep a sense of humor and not let it affect you and keep plowing forward. That’s one thing I definitely can say that I’ve learned. Things happen and it sucks, but keep going.

Tiny Pretty Things

PC: Tell us about Tiny Pretty Things and your character in the series.
Bayardo: Tiny Pretty Things is a Netflix original show. Our first season is ten episodes, and it’s basically based off of a book called Tiny Pretty Things. The book itself has a nice young adult following and is well known. It was released a couple of years ago. Netflix picked up the rights to it and is now producing their own show. It basically revolves around what happens at a prestigious ballet academy and what is going on in the lives of all the students.

I play a former student and former bad boy–esque ballet guy that turned into a choreographer. He’s one of the well-known choreographers at the moment. I basically come back to the school and end up teaching and working with the kids. You get to know my background and history with all the different characters. I come in to shake things up and really push these students and get a lot out of them.

PC: Was there any pressure heading into this project, given the dedicated fan base that this book has?
Bayardo: Yeah, I mean because it’s a show that revolves around the world of dance, we wanted to make sure that we showed an accurate depiction of what happens in the dance world. Sometimes when you see dance shows, either the acting sucks, but the dancers are really good, or the acting is really good, but you can tell there are dancing doubles. You’re like, “All right. They’re not really dancing.” So what we did is when they ended up casting everybody, we rehearsed every day. When you’re not doing your scenes and filming, you’d be in dance rehearsals. If you weren’t in dance rehearsal, then you’d be doing another type of rehearsal. The pressure was initially on to make sure everything looked and felt authentic.

All of my castmates are amazing dancers, but some of them have a heavy dance background. We treated the dance as if we were doing an MMA fight or a show that had a lot of fight sequences—like the discipline needed for all of that. We treated it all the same way as if we were doing a big stunt. In the end, what comes out is actually really, really beautiful.

PC: What can you tease about your character’s arc in Season 1?
Bayardo: In the very beginning of the show and the book, something happens. My character comes in to help take focus away from that. But also, my character is a very honest, avant-garde choreographer, and he’s all about taking these kids and students and having them face their fears—having to pull out the darkness in them to create beautiful art. So the beauty about Ramon is the passion and loyalty that he has reflects into the work that he gets out of the kids. But he also uses unorthodox teaching methods, which is so much fun. There’s a lot of things that I say. There are a lot of ways that I treat people that are fun when you see it. Ultimately, it’s to bring out the best that I can from these kids, but I definitely push them. I push them to their limits, which is great.

PC: If you had to summarize the first season in one sentence, what would it be?
Bayardo: It’s a sexy, steamy Pretty Little Liars meets Black Swan with a bit of Gossip Girl in there.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Bayardo: I love watching MasterChef Junior. It’s amazing to see these little kids treat each other so well when they lose and they’re in competition. Then I will even admit that sometimes I might shed a tear because it’s so beautiful to watch how these kids treat each other—how innocent they are.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Bayardo: Any Pixar film. Up is my go-to, especially that clip where they talk about the old man and his wife. It always gets me teary, but I love that movie.

PC: Favorite book?
Bayardo: Anything by David Sedaris. I love all the books that he writes.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Bayardo: Because I told you that I fell into the theater game a little later, I’m not a huge musical fan, but I’ve more recently been seeing stuff. I would go with In the Heights. I’m glad they’re adapting it into a movie.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Bayardo: Zac Brown Band.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Bayardo: Oscar Isaac.

To keep up with Bayardo, follow him on Instagram. Binge-watch Season 1 of Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix.

Photo Credit: Vince Trupsin