By: Haley Bosselman By: Haley Bosselman | November 9, 2021 | Feature, Television,
J.J. Soria as Erik Morales in Gentefied, Season 2.
Toward the end of Season 1 Episode 2 of Netflix’s Genetfied, future parents Lydia (Annie Gonzalez) and Erik (J.J. Soria) share a tender moment outside a Boyle Heights hospital after an ultrasound appointment. The scene was a full circle moment for Soria, who was born in that very same hospital.
“I had a moment by myself where I got on the shuttle van and I just went over and looked at it,” Soria tells LA Confidential. “Never have I ever thought that this was going to be my life.”
The El Sereno-raised, Tarzana-based actor stars in Gentefied and is getting ready for the release of Season 2 on Nov. 10. Set in rapidly changing Boyle Heights, Erik, Ana (Karrie Martin) and Chris (Carlos Santos) are three Mexican-American cousins struggling to chase the American Dream, which also threatens what they hold most dear: the neighborhood, Pop (their grandfather) and the family taco shop, Mama Fina’s. First premiering in February 2020, Gentefied has been praised for bringing to TV a bilingual series that highlights family, community and brown love.
Season 1 ends with Casimiro “Pop” Morales (Joaquín Cosío) being taken away by ICE, with the new season unfolding around his possible deportation. For Erik in particular, he’s managing the challenges that come with being a first-time father. However, preparing for Erik’s foray into fatherhood wasn’t too difficult for Soria. Through his 20s, he worked for Los Angeles Unified School District with special needs children ages 4 to 19.
“When it comes to kids, I’m well-versed,” he says. “That job really taught me a lot of patience, more than anything. And I’ve changed plenty of diapers.”
Soria pinpoints the Season 2 episode called “Daddy” as his favorite, which was directed by show co-creator Linda Yvette Chávez. He can’t dive into details just yet, but describes it as a check-in on Erik and Lidia’s relationship and new life in Palo Alto, where they recently moved for Lidia’s new job as assistant dean of student life at Stanford.
“I’m so grateful for the writers of the show. They’ve given us so much to sink our teeth into” Soria says. “The scripts, I describe them as prime cut pieces of meat.”
UCLA’s recent Hollywood Diversity Report, which noted Gentefied as a popular show among Latinx households, explained that audiences want to not just see themselves on screen with how they look, but with how they live. Soria first-hand knows the importance of this.
“When I read the pilot, it was like looking through a window or like… [co-creator] Marvin [Lemus] was looking through the window and writing our life because that’s how much the stories resonate,” Soria says.
“I have gotten to vicariously live through this character and experience somewhat of a relationship with my grandfather through the characters of Erik and Pop,” Soria adds, explaining that his grandfather died when he was young. “He was a bit of a father figure for that short period of time. And because he passed on so early, I didn't get to experience any more of a relationship with him...That's just how I gravitated towards Joaquin and Pop.”
The Morales family.
On Nov. 3, the cast and other industry supporters gathered in Montebello for Gentefied: Taste of the BLVD to celebrate the approaching Season 2. Soria, Gonzalez, Santos, Chris Gorham, Isis King, Gloria Calderón Kellett and Eva Longoria, among others, came together and reflected on the importance of the show.
Netflix Celebrates the Season 2 Premiere of America Ferrera’s Gentefied with Gentefied: A Taste of the BLVD.
Gentefied executive producer and director America Ferrera elaborated on how Chávez and Lemus do an excellent job at balancing the ups and downs of life in their storytelling.
“There’s joy, there’s laughter, there’s people falling in love, people falling out of love. There’s so much light and bold humanity in the midst of a quote, unquote ‘deportation story.’ And it’s that humanity and complexity that is often missing from that story,” Ferrera said at the event.
Annie Gonzalez
Reflecting on UCLA’s research that Latinx people are severely underrepresented among TV leads and other top roles,Ferrera added, “The truth of the matter is our numbers are bad and they’re not getting better. We’re still in a stage where people have to be made aware that there is a problem.”
Julissa Calderon, who plays Yessika Castillo (Ana’s ex-girlfriend, as of the Season 1 finale), highlighted how Gentefied’s storytelling helps evolve the television landscape.
“This is all just life stories— human stories, like you and I go through,” she said. “There's heartbreak in our lives, there's shifts and evolving and maturing and growing and learning”
Julissa Calderon
She also hinted that her favorite episode of Season 2, Episode 5, features a truly special moment.
“You see something we still have yet to see on television. You’re seeing Afrolatinas on screen: plural! That’s a big deal for us,” Calderon hinted.
Gloria Calderón Kellett and Marvin Lemus
During our conversation in October, Soria thinks back to watching John Leguizamo in Spawn and Sexaholix… A Love Story.
“Seeing someone that related to you on some level, a male that’s full of energy, I was like, ‘Hey, that reminds me of myself and he’s doing big things,’” he says, knowing Erik and the others of Gentefied does the same for its viewers.
Currently, Soria is in the middle of filming The Flight Attendant Season 2. A new character to the series, he plays one half of a bounty hunter couple alongside Callie Hernandez. He has only praise for TFA and its team, describing the production as a fun, welcoming bunch.
With a beloved dramedy and comedic spy thriller tucked under his belt, Soria looks forward to the day he can finally tackle a big action drama in the same vein as Black Hawk Down and Heat.
“From a skill point of view, from an imagination point of view, I love the idea of having to have a dot that I got to look at [and] there's nothing really there, but I have to, through my reaction, make it seem like something,” he says. “I appreciate those challenges. I drive under things like that. So I'm just looking forward to those experiences... [where] you have to create it in your mind. I love that.”
Join in on celebrating Gentefied by visiting Blvd Mrkt on Nov. 12 for Gentefied Night. Beginning at 6 p.m., guests can enjoy music, community and one free Gentefied-inspired dish.
Photography by: Courtesy: Netflix; Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images