Kevin Alejandro – Lucifer

By starrymag | May 21, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I wrote a couple of short films, one of them called The Talk and the other one called Smile. They are two micro shorts that I wrote for a one-minute film competition. I couldn’t quite get them down to one minute and they sort of evolved into their own cool little thing. I opened it up to missing that competition and doing something for the festival circuit. I wrote both of them and directed The Talk. Then, my wife made her directorial debut and directed Smile. We’re both having our world premieres at the Dances with Film Festival in the next couple of months.

Q) Tell us the premise for The Talk and Smile.

A) The Talk is about a little boy who gets more of a reaction from his father when he asks him about sex. So, there are little twists that happen. I don’t want to share too much because I want people to see it. Smile is about a little girl who sort of bites off more than she can chew when she devises a plan to convince The Tooth Fairy to leave her more money. There is a dark-comedy aspect to both of them.

Q) For The Talk where did the inspiration come from.

A) It was inspired by an old joke I had heard years ago. I don’t want to tell you the joke because the you will know the whole movie. I kind of changed the scenario. The joke is about two old buddies going hunting and I turned it into a little boy asking his father about sex and his dad having trouble explaining to his eleven-year-old son. Then, he goes on a wild sort of spin out of control with him freaking out a little bit and something terrible happens.

Q) This is your first big foray into your own projects. What did you find challenging or surprising about directing films?

A) I got to direct one of the last episodes of “Lucifer” last year. So, during that experience I learned how important the preparation for it is. How much actually goes into prepping an episode of network television is insane. So, it was almost a little overwhelming at times. One of the greatest things I learned was it’s okay not to have an answer on the spot. As long as you have an answer by the time you needed to have it, you could figure out everything out as you go along. And it’s okay.

Q) How involved were you in the casting of The Talk?

A) All of it. I actually produced it myself. Funny enough, my son is an excellent actor and I wanted to write something for him. So, he is the star of it. Kaden Alejandro is the star of The Talk. And I’m fortunate to be surrounded by great actors as my friends. So, I reached out to another one of my friends to play his father in it. I put together a micro-skeleton crew. I usually use the same DP all the time, Luis Gomez, because we understand each other and just knock it out.

Q) What were some of your favorite moments from filming the movie?

A) The whole experience. When you do these little independents like this always so great because you’re putting together a group of people who love to do it as much as you do. The greatest thing about shooting The Talk was hanging out with my friends who love to do the same thing. We all get together; we use each other’s ideas and we just have fun playing in the backyard – so to speak. So, that was my favorite moments of directing. It was the entirety of how it all came together and what we created at the end of the day.

Q) How can people get the chance to see these movies?

A) Right now, it’s just at festivals. Like I said, we’re having our world premiere in a few weeks at the Dances With Films 22^nd Film Festival down in Hollywood. So, that will be the first time anyone can watch it on a big screen in a theater. I’m going to let it run and see how it does in festivals, sort of like how I did with my last one Bedtime Story. Then, I’ll put it up on my YouTube channel Alejandro Films. The first short film that I did was Bedtime Story and it starred Patrick Fischler and Tricia Helfer. That did extremely well and won a bunch of awards including Best Director and Best Short. That will be up on Alejandro Films as well.

Q) We’re seeing you in Season 4 of “Lucifer.” What did it mean to you to have the fans push for the series to return?

A) It was overwhelmingly amazing! I was speechless. We were all so sad when we found out that it was over none of us were ready to go home. None of us were ready to stop being a part of each other’s lives. We created such a really cool sense of family and it just sort of felt too abrupt for us. So, when the fans banned together and gave us life again it was unheard of. It was a real miracle, actually. So, we were very excited and still were. We just recently dropped all of the episodes and have been getting a killer response from everyone who has watched it.

Q) Tell us about the evolution of Dan’s relationship with Lucifer.

A) A lot of that evolution came from just being able to live in a character for so long where your personal traits start to show up a little bit in these characters. I think that sort of inspired some of the layers that they stated to add to each one of our characters. We continue to inspire that today. So, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster where we didn’t know each other very well and we’re trying to figure each other out. Then, all of a sudden, we’re like, “Okay, there is something cool about each other.” We’re trying to figure it out. This year Dan has been through so much in his life and has lost so much and keeps trying to pick himself up and dust himself off. He’s making decisions that aren’t necessarily good ones and he’s at a loss of direction with his life that he’s just pretty much wanting to point his finger at the first person he sees. And who better than Lucifer (Tom Ellis)? So, he’s right back to where they started again. It’s just like, “No more bullshit. I don’t know why you’re even in my face anymore.”

Q) Chloe and Dan’s relationship has evolved as well. It’s great to see them put aside their issues to really co-parent Trixie. What has it meant to you to see them come together to raise their daughter for positive parenting?

A) I think it’s very important, actually. I think we live in a world now where co-parenting is in our face a lot more than it used to be. To be able to portray a character in a positive light means the world to me because we can do it and there is nothing wrong with it. You can do it without damaging your child, to the extent of not being able to “fix” them or whatever. I think they way they handle their relationship on “Lucifer” is very responsible and I’m glad it is shedding a positive light to that particular issue.

Q) For those who haven’t dived into the season yet, what can you tease is in store for Dan?

A) You know what? You really get to go through his entire emotional journey and trying to figure out why things have happened the way they have. And you get to watch him sort of blindly grasping for some sort of civility to understand what direction his life is supposed to take (if that makes sense). He goes on adventures with Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt). He goes on adventures with Ella (Aimee Garcia). He’s just reaching for something that is real and will help him sort of understand why he is in this particular part of his life currently.

Q) Do you all spend much time together when you not working together?

A) Yeah, we get together as much as we can. We genuinely like each other. Now that Summer time is coming up on us Lesley-Ann is going to start throwing her pool parties. We’re very supportive of one another. If there is an opportunity for all of us to get together, we don’t take it lightly. We’re there for each other.

Q) What are some of your favorite moments that fans will see in Season 4?

A) There is a great funny moment in the season finale that I can’t wait for people to start commenting about. There have been a couple of photos posted about it already. I don’t guess I should say what it is, but there is a moment that happens…And you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when you see the opening scene of the season finale. It happens between Dan and Lucifer.

Q) What have you personally taken away from your time working on “Lucifer?”

A) “Lucifer” has probably been one of the greatest jobs that I’ve ever had. If it’s not the great relationships that I’m always talking about it’s not just that…It’s opened up so many other possibilities. It’s given me the opportunity to direct at a high level, which I am most grateful for. It opened the doors to be accepted in the Warner Brothers Director Program, which was a great experience. To be a part of something so great like this has sort of shed light on my adulthood. It’s helped me grow up and to grow up with such a supportive group of people has meant and made all the difference in the world.

Q) During the Warner Brothers Director Program did you get to work with other actors aspiring to be directors that you were familiar with or got to spend time with that you were excited to share the program with?

A) It was really cool. There were only two actors and everyone else were all directors. It was really cool to be sitting in a class and be surrounded by other professionals who were already in the business. So, I was more of a sponge than anything, sort of soaking up any knowledge they were there to give me. I would recommend that program for anyone to go through because it’s really a crash course not just in directing network television, but filmmaking in general – what it takes to put together something of quality. So, it’s really cool to see the people in my class and watch them all go off in their own directions and get their feet wet.

Q) What did you learn in the program that you truly took to heart?

A) One thing that I learned was how to be much more detailed about my vision. I’ve self-made shorts and stories that I like to tell, but there is no real structure to it – to my method. So, the class really taught me how to perform at a higher level and at a fast pace and still be able to have my creative eye flourish with whatever decisions that I wanted to make and rely on my team of professional filmmakers to carry out that vision. It taught me that I need to trust my team. Trust the people that are there with you because they want to create the same thing you do. Just learn how to communicate. Communication is the key and that was one of the things that Stephanie Rooney (she’s the one that ran that class) was trying to help me out with the most – my communication. Getting across to the other side what I wanted to happen in a way that people could understand it and that I wasn’t repeating myself and be straight to the point.

Q) Who is a dream actor you’d like to direct or costar with?

A) Oh my gosh! All of the great. I’d love to do something with Mr. Anthony Hopkins. Just to be by his side soaking up what he has to give. He’s one of the strongest actors I’ve ever seen in my life. I would love to act and go toe-to-toe with him.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with our readers?

A) Be on the lookout too because I’m doing a lot of things. Starting with my short films, but I’m also producing and I have a great Western I’m trying to put together right now. If all goes well, I’ll be up and shooting that next year. There are a lot of things that I’m working on that I can’t just talk about yet for fear of jinxing them. Just know I’m coming out of the gate, not just as an actor, but as a filmmaker.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I just want everyone to know we make “Lucifer” for them and they are the reasons we got to do this again. I’m so grateful that they banded together to save our show because without them we don’t have one. We had so much fun creating it and I hope that we get a Season 5. Thank you to those guys!