Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Deputy’s Valeria Jauregui

Actress Valeria Jauregui is taking over the small screen as Maggie Hollister in Fox’s action-packed new crime drama Deputy. Starring opposite Stephen Dorff, Valeria plays the daughter of Bill Hollister (Dorff), a career lawman who becomes the acting sheriff of Los Angeles County after the previous sheriff drops dead. Pop Culturalist spoke with Valeria about starring in her biggest role to date.

Career

PC: You’re an actress and singer. How did you discover your passion for the arts? Is there one that you naturally gravitate towards?
Valeria: I guess I always had a big imagination and didn’t quite fit in at school. I always loved singing, and so my mom pushed me to audition for this musical theater performing arts group. Once I was a part of that, we would perform at Morgan’s Wonderland, retirement homes, etc. Seeing how happy people would get when we put on a show for them made me so joyful. I did theater and learned my go-to form of expression was through singing and acting, and nothing made me happier. It depends: some days I gravitate towards one and another day the other. It’s just however I’m feeling that day, but I think I love both equally.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Valeria: The people around me, my amazing friends, my acting studio teacher, the movies I watched, the actresses and actors I love, and my family. It has really been a little bit of everything.

Deputy

PC: Tell us about Deputy, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Valeria: On Deputy, audiences can expect many variations of action-packed drama on top of a police department-driven theme with sincerity, relatable characters, and lightheartedness as well. I play Maggie Hollister, who is Bill and Paula’s daughter. What drew me to the project was one: that it’s a drama on Fox and I’ve never been so excited to book something like that before, and two: the fact that Maggie is sarcastic, I instantly connected with her through that.

PC: What should fans know about Maggie?
Valeria: We like to joke around on set about how she’s the most understanding fourteen-year-old there ever was. Playing her is challenging in a sense where I have to keep in mind that still she is way younger than me, and being fourteen, you think you know everything when you don’t. Although in all of the scenes she proves mature, so when I think I can make her young and naive, she surprises me, and I end up learning a lot from her. She loves her family more than any other fourteen-year-old.

PC: What was the collaboration like working with Stephen Dorff? What can you tease about the dynamic between Maggie and Bill in Season 1?
Valeria: It’s awesome. Stephen is so sweet. We’re always joking around with whatever is happening in that episode with our relationship as father-daughter. In the episodes where I have a boyfriend, he would always come up to me and be mad and act overprotective as a father would. He truly has a huge heart, and he’s funny too! Maggie and Bill are both very stubborn, so you get to see that play out. But at the same time, their relationship as father-daughter is one that’s honestly so sweet. You see a different side of Bill when he’s with Maggie and not saving the world.

PC: This is your first big role on a series. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Valeria: The fact that everyone in the whole cast was a sweetheart surprised me because you don’t often see that. The snacks on set always surprised me because they had everything you would want to snack on. The set was the sweetest surprise because it’s insane seeing the detail that goes into everything. My biggest takeaway was everything from how to work on a network drama TV show—the speed of things and the technicality.

PC: If you had to summarize the first season in one sentence, what would it be?
Valeria: The spirit of a classic Western with a modern-day attitude and emotionally driven, visceral storytelling.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Valeria: Friends

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Valeria: La La Land

PC: Favorite book?
Valeria: Little Women

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Valeria: Annie or Hamilton

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Valeria: The Driver Era. They are so good! Go listen!

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Valeria: Probably one of my actress friends because they know me so well.

To keep up with Valeria, follow her on Instagram. Binge-watch Season 1 of Deputy on Fox today.

Photo Credit: Jorge Campos