Kevin Alejandro – Lucifer

By starrymag | August 26, 2020

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

 

 

Q) Dan has always been a consistent, reliable character until last season, where we saw him become much more jaded and deluded as a consequence of his grief. In season five, we get to see yet another version of Dan as he struggles to navigate his loss where he is using self-help to keep him steady. For someone whose living revolves around death, why is this so hard for him to process and connect with his emotions in that kind of engagement?

 

A) That’s a great question. I think as human beings we all make choices in our lives and we have to deal with whatever consequence or reaction comes from those choices. Unfortunately, Dan has made a lot of choices in his life that ended up being the wrong choice in the moment. I think that has slowly chipped away at who he is, so when he finally opens up and allows himself to have comfort within himself that allows him to fall in love again, and then it’s suddenly ripped away…another wall gets thrown up. He’s allowed himself to be whittled away to this fragile person and now he throws up these walls and he’s forgotten who he is.

That’s why he’s doing this self-help stuff and once again as you get further into the season – something big happens to him again and completely pulls the rug out from under him. The writers did a really good job at keeping Dan wounded. He can’t catch a break, but like we all do – he didn’t give up. Like we all do, he tried to find ways to move forward in the right direction and finding the right choices to make. In my opinion, that’s a testament to him being the one human that a majority of the audience can relate to. We are all trying to make the right choice and trying to find success in our lives, and trying to be a good person, whatever that means to us. That’s what I loved about jumping into the character from the very beginning, it was just how human he was and is.

 

Q) Lucifer’s abrupt departure to Hell at the end of last season had an impact on all of the lives he touched, in one way or another.  Although Lucifer and Dan may not be best friends, Dan’s day seemingly wouldn’t be the same without their good-natured ribbing with each other. What does each bring to that dynamic that isn’t exactly the same without the other?

 

A) Honestly, I think that whether either of them wants to admit it or not, they come from the same place. They’re both struggling to figure out who they are and where they fit into this world and in this life. I think each one reminds the other of that. There are small similarities of where they come from, from their insides, that they need to be around each other to remind each other that their similarities keep them questioning how to move forward.

 

Q) Lucifer is always brash and jumps headfirst with his impulses or intuition, while Dan is more pragmatic and tries to show Lucifer another side when it comes to the details of their police work. How has each learned from one another with their ethics and their approaches to case work over the past five years?

 

A) They complement each other. In a strange way, they really are yin and yang. You can’t have too much of one without the other because therein lies life’s balance. Together, they might make one actually solid human being because of the way they think, that balance of right and left. What’s great about the dynamic between the two is that if the moment where the other one sees that the other’s tactic is right for that particular circumstance, I don’t think they’re ashamed to say “good job, you win that one.” I think they like that. In a weird, subconscious way, they’re kind of looking for one another’s approval. Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has taught Dan that not everything can be mapped out or planned out. You know – “two paths diverge in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, that has made all the difference.” Sometimes it’s okay to take the road less traveled and I think that Dan has the same resonance, sometimes, with Lucifer.

 

Q) Dan has experienced a great deal of loss throughout the series, especially when it comes to love. It could be said that despite co-parenting with Chloe, his defining romantic relationship was with Lucifer’s mom aka Charlotte, whom he lost twice. Once to memory loss after resurrection, and once to death itself. How has the loss of Charlotte continued to have a lasting impact both with work and interpersonal entanglements?

 

A) Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) came along in Dan’s life when he was at the end of his rope. She made him feel like it was somehow okay to open up and be loved again. I think any of us who have been in love before and have been hurt, it creates a scar. It takes a lot for that door to open again. Dan went through that and she instilled within him that it’s okay to be loved and he let himself do that. So, when that was ripped away, it became too much for him. You know, I feel really sorry for the guy. He just opened that door back up again and her loss is going to be the biggest influence of who he becomes after that. It’s the driving force behind who he inevitably becomes.

 

Q) Part of what makes Dan such a compelling character is the fact that he treads the line between being the Everyman and being a Hero, providing the audience with a character they can consistently root for and relate to. Viewers love to call him a douche like Lucifer does, but can also enjoy the warm-hearted moments we see when it comes to being a dad to Trixie. What does having this balance to his core showcase for him as a character juxtaposed with almost every other character having some celestial aspect to them?

 

A) Dan is so flawed and I see him as kind of an anchor. He’s the closest thing to a regular human being that we have on our show. That in a sense makes him a bit of an anchor to me. It is his flaws that balance everything out. The fact that his choices are never out of malice or self-gain, he comes from a place of wanting to be better, wanting to make good choices. Inevitably, a lot of those choices are not good, but because he leads from a place of genuine goodness that’s why he is necessary in this world of celestials and for the audience. The majority of people that I know all want to be a good person, they want to lead with good – and I think that’s Dan’s saving grace. Even though it’s not always the right choice, it always comes from the right place.

 

Q) Episode four is gritty and noir centric. How was it stepping out of the usual Lucifer formula and transporting into another era where it switches up the episode style we regularly see and adds yet another layer to this quirky, eccentric series?

 

A) It was super exciting. As actors, we love challenges, costumes, makeup, the whole idea of what it means to be an actor and jumping into a different skin. We were excited to learn we’d be doing a film noire episode. We’re always interested in seeing where the writers are going to take us. That one was super exciting to think about, but also super intimidating. Not only are we jumping into a whole new style of filmmaking, but it’s a whole new world. We’re taking these characters that people know and bringing that familiarity into a whole new human being. It was a little intimidating. I read it a few times and kept asking myself, “Who is this guy? Where does he live within Kevin Alejandro? How do I bring this person to life?” With guidance from our writers and holding onto some strong choices, we got there. All of us ended up with a character that a majority of our audience will reflect on and enjoy. It was important to make him different from Dan. Being in such an interesting world, we wanted to take a little bit of what we know and spin it upside down and on its head. Because that person does exist within Dan, he just doesn’t show it.

 

Q) Lucifer tends to shift its tone from scene to scene, often leaping from humor to darkness in a matter of moments. What about the writing really tends to push your boundaries and help you tread that line so well with the writing and your portrayal?

 

A) First of all, it starts with the writers. No actor has a job until there’s words written on a page, you know. They do a really good job with that. They balance the humor and the drama, and that keeps us going. That’s what we want. Nobody enjoys doing the same thing over and over again, and no human or person in this world is one dimensional. We all laugh. We all cry. We all smile. It is important for us as actors to have those emotions, and for the writers to give us those qualities so the audience has something to attach to as well. They do a phenomenal job with that balance and it’s what makes our show so great. You can laugh and cry at the same moment.

 

Q) Dan remains one of the few members of Lucifer’s crew that is still in the dark about the celestial happenings going on right in his own social circle. How do you think that kind of revelation would impact the relationships he’s formed with those who are in the know?

 

A) When we talk about Dan and the choices he’s made and him wanting them to be the right choices – and them leaning in either direction – we think about that with him going through the self-help stuff and him trying to figure out these things and he’s had a certain way of belief. The moment, if he were to find out about that, his entire world would be flipped upside down. It would be a new beginning, a new challenge of who he is. Every choice he would have known or made up to that point would have been wrong, because they’d have been made from a place of blindness. The moment his eyes open to the reality of the world, it would be as if everyone were lying to him. Nothing is based on truth. He would unravel, unwind, and who knows if he’d get it together again.

 

Q) You directed the season 3 episode “Once Upon a Time” in 2018, and we heard that you just announced you’ll be directing an episode in Season 6. How far in advance do you begin planning how you approach working both behind and in front of the camera?

 

A) I also directed the last episode of the first half of Season 5. Traditionally, you get eight days to prep. I got eight days to start reading the script, making some choices and it’s a little stressful to find that balance. Thankfully, I’ve been living in the skin of Dan Espinoza for all of these seasons, so I know him quite well so there was no new rediscovery of who he is. I was able to balance those responsibilities of actor and director relatively seamlessly.

Now, I get to direct the season opener of the next season. With that I think I’ll get a little more time to plan. I’m really interested to see what it will feel like with more time to prep. I am lucky to be doing it on a show that already exists, with people who already know and champion me as a director. It’s really easy to trust all of those professionals to help guide me and help me get towards the end result we all want, which lightens the load a lot. I’m really looking forward to seeing how having more days to prep goes.

I am so extremely proud of episode 8 of this season and the fact they trusted me with such a big responsibility on that one. I got the opportunity to direct what I think is one of the biggest fight scenes that Lucifer the show has seen to date. So, going through that process with the most amazing stunt coordinators and stunt teams to pull off something that big. I’m lucky. I could go on and on and on about what a great experience it has been and how lucky I am.

 

Q) You also directed and starred in the short Adult Night with Lesley-Ann Brandt. What did you learn and absorb from working with her outside of your known roles with Lucifer? How did you collaborate and challenge each other creatively? It’s hitting some film circuits now, when will it be available for release?

 

A) One of the first things that Lesley-Ann and I discovered early on in our friendship is that we like acting with each other. For one reason or another, we feel safe in each other’s hands when it comes to doing scenes, so we wanted an opportunity to continue to work with each other while flexing muscles we don’t always get to flex, which is our comedic sides. This was a script that a friend of mine wrote specifically for Lesley-Ann and me with a heightened situational, comedic setting. That was our opportunity to flex those muscles and really have fun with each other. It was co-directed with my wife under the name Los Alejandros, which is what we do when we direct together.

It’s doing a festival run right now and just got accepted into the New York Latino Film Festival and the Rincon Puerto Rico Film Festival. We’ve got some other big ones in the pipeline that we can’t announce just yet. It was just an awesome experience and opportunity for me and Lesley-Ann to also produce something together. So far, all signs point to that we were doing the right thing. It’s been getting some mad love. We had really great people working on it to help make it come to life. We all do this because we love it, not because there’s any money in it, especially with independent filmmaking. It feels like a real pat on the back that these festivals are embracing the hard work that went into it.

I’m not sure when it will be available for wide release. We have several other festivals that we’re going through and we’re waiting to hear back on a handful. Because of the COVID of it all, a lot of these festivals are changing dates and a lot of it is online now. Right now, you can buy tickets to watch them online through film festivals, but it won’t be open online until the film festival circuit is done.

 

Q) Do you have any other projects going on between now and the next season of Lucifer?

 

A) Yes. My wife and I have a production company called Alejandro Films that’s made up of me, my wife and my sister-in-law. We have several projects in various stages of development. One project in particular that my wife and I are writing that will star myself and my son is set in a quarantine world. You can look forward to seeing a handful of things that we have coming out and moving forward.

We have been busy! If people want to follow along with what we’re doing, we’re @alejandrofilms_ on Instagram or alejandrofilms.com. You can sign up on the website to get updates on what we’re doing and how we’re moving forward. Get to know us as filmmakers and not just as actors. Through and through we are filmmakers and we want to have longevity and that’s what we’re doing.

 

Q) Lucifer fans are very vocal in their support on social media. Is there anything you’d like to say that you hope fans take away from this season or about their support?

 

A) Yeah! We don’t exist without you guys. Thank you very much for always being in our corner and always rooting for us. You’re always going that extra step to get that extra breath of air and you guys revived us. We do it for you. What I really hope for at the end of the day, when we do have our last episode for our last season, is that everyone steps back and says: “We did it. It ended the way we wanted it to end. It was a good run and we’re happy to be a part of that journey.”