Pop-Culturalist.com

Annie Gonzalez and Julissa Calderon are two of the breakout stars of Netflix’s Gentefied.

The hit series follows three cousins who band together to keep their grandfather’s popular Boyle Heights taco shop in business as the neighborhood becomes more gentrified. Throughout the show, the cousins must confront their differences in their connections to their community, their heritage, and their commitment to the family business, all while navigating larger themes of gentrification and marginalization of Latinx’s in America.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with both Annie and Julissa ahead of the Season 2 premiere.

PC: What can fans expect from each of your characters in Season 2 of Gentefied?
Julissa: For Yessika, you can expect a lot of growth. You’ll see her being a little lighter this season and having a little more fun.

Annie: For Lidia, you’ll see her fumble a lot more. She’s so put together in the first season, and now you really get to see her human side come out and the mistakes that she makes. It’s pretty exciting, and I love it.

PC: The first season was incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Annie: Seeing themselves.

Julissa: It’s seeing themselves. They’re like, “Oh my goodness. This person reminds me of my cousin. This person reminds me of my sister. This person reminds me of me. It’s authentic storytelling. Anything authentic is going to resonate with people.

PC: Annie, you’ve shared in previous interviews how this role has been such a healing experience for you. Can you tell us how this project has affected you both personally and professionally?
Annie: Oh my gosh, I don’t think I would have as much going on and so much awareness in my personal and professional lives if this show did not exist. This has been a big catalyst and a beautiful starting point. I’m so grateful that this is my starting point. I’ve been doing this since I was nine years old, but for this to be the thing that puts me in a space to be able to get more work has been a dream come true. I have yet to have to play something that I don’t resonate with; that’s in large part due to stories like this. Marvin [Lemus] and Linda [Yvette Chávez] took a chance on me to tell this story. I’m constantly healing. It’s so beautiful. I’m so excited. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

PC: Julissa, this character was rewritten for you. Did that bring any added pressure? What was that process like working with the writers’ room to shape this character?
Julissa: Honestly, I don’t think it brought any pressure. If anything, it alleviated me from it because it solidified whatever choices I made when walking into that audition room and during the chemistry read. The choices that I was making for her were spot on. It solidified all of the thoughts that I had behind who this person was, what I wanted to bring to her, and what I wanted to show to the world. It took some weight off my shoulders.

As a newcomer, this is my breakout role. People didn’t know me before this in the TV world, but this is the first big shot that I got. It allowed me to walk in with my head held a little bit higher. It made me feel like I’m supposed to be here versus being a rookie.

PC: Like you were both saying, this is the first time in both of your careers that you’ve lived with a character for this extended period of time. Has anything surprised you about the experience? What have you learned about yourself as an artist?
Julissa: Ooh, I like that. I learned a lot. I don’t know if I can summarize it because I’ve learned so much. As an actor, I feel like it has allowed me to grow in my chops and also in my decision-making because, like you said, we’ve been living with these characters for such a long time.

It’s interesting. I’ve been living in this world. Even when I go home, I’m still Yessika. I’ll be laying in bed after shooting for twelve hours, and I’m like, “This happened and then this happened.” A lot stays with you after filming. That’s what allows you to grow, though.

Annie: It taught me to trust and have a lot more confidence in my skill. I feel like we hear a lot of the time, “They’re talented,” but we don’t give too much praise to their skills because there are a lot of things that talent can’t do if they’re not skilled. You could ask Julissa. During the first season, I would cry after a day of work. I would be like, “Why am I here? This is too overwhelming. These things don’t happen to us. This is a lot.”

I had so much imposter syndrome that I learned that I really do like to be enveloped in this character. I’m a bit more method with the way that I work, and it’s so much fun. I feel like I learn so much about myself because Annie sometimes doesn’t really process her emotions, but in order to play Lidia, I needed to. I needed to have empathy for this person so that I’m not playing her one-dimensionally.

PC: There’s such great chemistry that comes off the screen between the entire cast. How were you all able to build that?
Julissa: It was instant. That’s the thing, too—we didn’t know each other beforehand. No one knew each other before we started shooting.

Annie: We started off just hanging out once because we were like, “We need to build this chemistry,” and then it was every weekend.

Julissa: We liked it. We were like, “You’re my people. You’re like me.” Here we are, two years later, and we’re still hanging out. It feels like family at this point, which is great. It doesn’t feel like a job. It feels like you’re at your friend’s house.

PC: There are so many great moments in that first season. If you had to pick your favorite, which would it be and why?
Annie: I love when Eric and Lidia are in the hospital. I love when she’s talking to him. I feel like she’s showing her vulnerability and saying, “I love you. I believe in you. Please believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.” She’s speaking life into her relationship, into him, and ultimately to herself because she’s trying to remind herself that they’re about to embark on this big journey.

Julissa: You know what? People may get on me for this, but one of my favorite parts of episode 9 is the protest. Yessika decides she’s going to protest against the people that she loves because she’s taking a stand. She’s here for the community because she allows herself to understand that she needs to take her feelings out of this; she needs to do what’s right for the community.

Me, as Julissa, I don’t know how to do those things; I don’t know how to separate a lot of things. I wear my heart on my sleeves. There are so many things in so many areas of my life where I’m seeing Yessika take her feeling out of things and say, “This is what I need to do.” That was a moment for me. I loved her and hated her all at the same time, but I showed both. Most importantly, she made me feel.

Annie: You showed so much complexity in that.

PC: There are so many relevant and timely themes within this series. Was there one in particular that hit home for each of you?
Annie: The whole possibility of being a single mom. I grew up with a single mom. My dad wasn’t around; he tried his best. Through this series, I feel like I learned how to forgive both my mother and father for their shortcomings. For so long, I was like, “You’re my mom and my dad. Why the heck aren’t you doing what you’re supposed to do?” But I hadn’t lived enough life yet. Like I was saying earlier, you have to have empathy for these characters or else you’re only going to do a one-dimensional job. I had to see my parents as people. Once I did that, I finally got to see them and forgive them. Now, we have a pretty good relationship.

Julissa: That’s so beautiful. For me, honestly, it’s the overall topic of the show, which is gentrification. Boyle Heights is very similar to a place that I love and is very close to my heart, Washington Heights in New York City. What’s happening there is the same thing that’s happening in Washington Heights, in a community full of Dominicans. They’re my people, so I feel very connected to my people.

Gentrification is happening all over this country. We’re all dealing with it, right? We’re all dealing with it in some way, shape, or form. When I go back to my grandmother’s building, and I see people that don’t look like us there—seeing that and seeing how they’re taking us out and trying to build the community without us, that hits close to home.

Yessika approaches it from an activist point of view; she’s trying to make sure they don’t gentrify her community. I feel that. Being able to see Yessika do it is a beautiful thing because I wish I could do more for these communities. Unfortunately, they’re being forced to move out because the rent is getting too ridiculous.

It’s heartbreaking for the community, for that single mom that can’t afford the two-bedroom apartment with her children because someone says this community is their next project. We are the projects. You want to make the community a project? Cool. Build the YMCAs, put in more greenery, fix the roads, but leave us right here because we built this place!

PC: Well said! I have one final question for the both of you. If you had to describe the second season in one sentence, what would it be?
Annie: The maturity of these complex characters. I feel like a Season 1 in any show…

Julissa: Is that one sentence? [laughs]

Annie: [laughs] Okay, okay. The matured version of Season 1.

Julissa: Season 2 is following the journey of these beautiful complex human beings.

Make sure to follow Annie (Twitter/Instagram) and Julissa (Twitter/Instagram). Watch Season 2 of Gentefied today on Netflix.

Photo Credit: Netflix