Pop-Culturalist.com

Constance Marie and Benito Martinez 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 chat with Constance and Benito about Season 2 of With Love, their collaboration, and more!

PC: Constance, Beatriz and Jorge want nothing more for their two children to be happy and to find love, which they now have. It sparks this unexpected fear in Beatriz about her children no longer needed her, which many parents can relate to. You brought so much nuance to that arc. How did you create the space for yourself to tackle her journey in Season 2? Did you channel any of your own experiences?
Constance: I am now a mom. I’ve played moms for many, many years and now I am one. My daughter is fourteen. I remember her first walk with the nanny around the block; I closed the door, and I lost it. I was like, “That’s it. Soon, she’ll be off to college.” [laughs] It was a whole traumatic event over one little, tiny thing. I thought, “This is what parenthood is. This is what motherhood is like.”

When it comes to empty nest syndrome and what my character and Benito’s character are dealing with, I could relate 1000%. I’ve heard stories from my friends about when their children go off to college and when they go live in another state or country. It was very easy to relate to and how all that’s left is the relationship between our two characters. What level of shambles is our relationship in? [laughs]

Benito: Who are you? Where did you come from?

Constance: Exactly. Gloria [Calderón Kellett] and Andy [Roth] are wonderful at writing true, complicated, and wonderful human relationships, so it was very easy. Benito is such an amazing partner to work with, especially since we got to be joyful and humorous this season. I felt super safe with him.

PC: Benito, Gloria wrote and created this series. Is the filming experience different when the creator and showrunner also have experience in front of the camera? How did that collaboration and trust that you’ve built in Season 1 allow you to take agency over your character’s arc in Season 2?
Benito: It started from the first day. It started from the first table read in Season 1. Gloria came in as a very collaborative person. We did rehearsals. We did table reads. We all established our relationships with each other right away in this room and with this stage tape on the tape floor. We worked scenes over and over. Right from the get-go, Gloria used her theatrical background to establish a company.

As that company has grown, the writers have also done a wonderful job of finding our voices and now writing for us the people who are cast in these roles. All the way from the first audition, they’ve been true in their journey of creating these wonderful arcs and keeping it complicated. The trust the writing staff has in us is felt daily. We get these complicated scenes, hard jokes, and messy situations. Then, they’re like, “All right. Let’s see what you guys do with it.” It’s fun, great, and wonderful.

Working with Constance, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen, there’s nothing that this lady can’t do, from the funniest funny to the sexiest sexy and everything in between. It’s been such a joy coming to work and going, “What are we doing today? Oh, we’re having a fight. Oh, right on. Then, we’re going to be sexy and fun. All right, let’s do that. We have to be caring parents. Well, let’s be caring parents then.” You can do that because you’ve hired the right talent. Then, you also have to write the words and trust in the actors. We’re living this really fun, joyful experience with the right writers, with the right actors, and the right show. It’s been fun. That’s a great question. Gloria, herself, writes wonderful wackiness for who her own character who’s on the show.

Constance: Oh my god. Yes!

Benito: She delivers it almost with this blank stare. She’s done a wonderful job. She, Andy, and the rest of the writing staff have done a great job of inviting us to play at our best levels. I’m a fan of everyone on this show.

Constance: 1,000% I also have to say that I feel like we’re better actors because they trust us. We respect their work. We trust them. The great thing about Gloria being in front of the camera is that when something’s not working, you have the showrunner/writer right there. She’s sometimes in the scene with me, and she’s hilarious. She can improv, and we can improv—that’s one of the great gifts. She’s so good in front of the camera that you feel like you get to play. If something’s not working, she’s right there. It’s very collaborative. You don’t always get that.

Benito: I got to piggyback on this. When I’m on set, I don’t sit in my room. I’ll go watch the other guys work as I’m waiting to get going. I’ll sit and watch. One of my favorite scenes ever to watch is in Season 1 when Gloria and Constance are in the kitchen and they’re talking about the lack of sexual activity in their life. It was brilliant. The stuff on the cutting room floor was enormous because nothing was off limits. These guys are incredible to watch. It’s the same thing when I’m watching Mark [Indelicato], Todd [Grinnell], Isis [King], Emeraude [Toubia], Rome [Flynn], and Vinny [Rodriguez III]. It’s a blessing.

Make sure to follow Constance (Twitter/Instagram) and Benito (Twitter/Instagram). Watch With Love on Prime Video today!