LUCIFER’S KEVIN ALEJANDRO ON DAN’S JOURNEY THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS OF THE SHOW, BEING A DAD, AND HIS DREAM ROLE ON STAGE
BY IRVIN RIVERA
Throughout his career, actor and director Kevin Alejandro was able to balance badass, charm and fun. He plays a range of relatable characters from Nate Moretta in the crime drama Southland, Forklift Mike in Parenthood, Jesús Velázquez in the supernatural thriller True Blood, Sebastian Blood / Brother Blood in the superhero series Arrow,
PHOTOGRAPHER: IRVIN RIVERA, FASHION STYLING: AMBROSE RESPICIO III, GROOMING: NOA BOLOZKY @ EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS USING KOSAS AND HASK HAIR, PHOTO ASST: PHIL LIMPRASERTWONG
Since 2016, Kevin has been playing Daniel Espinoza in the supernatural comedy series, Lucifer. In the show, his character Dan is a LAPD homicide detective, Father to Trixie, and the ex husband of Chloe Decker (played by Lauren German).
In this interview, Kevin talks about Lucifer Season 5B, wrapping up Season 6, the bets moments and challenges on playing his role, his production company Alejandro Films, fatherhood, and his desire to play a Shakespeare character on stage.
Kevin. Hi, how are you?
I'm Excellent. Thank you for asking. How are you?
Yes. Good. Good. Thank you for coming today.
Thank you for having me.
It’s our pleasure. Let's dive in to Lucifer and let's talk about Dan. Throughout all the seasons of Lucifer, how would you characterize Dan's character evolution?
Dan is probably the most human character of every character in the show. That's why I like playing him. He starts off a certain way where the audience thinks he's not necessarily a good person. But then the whole evolution, you realize that he is a good person who just makes wrong choices to get a good outcome; but doesn't really ever happen for him that way. But you know, he's so flawed. And that's one of the reasons I like playing him.
Right. He's very human. What's the best part about playing his character?
Well, Dan itself is really one of my favorite things to play. The thing I love about playing Dan is that he is the most human character in a world that's so surreal. But because he is human, you need to watch his reactions and his growth in a realistic way. You know, like I said earlier, he starts in a certain place. And now towards the end, even in season six, you see a complete arc, I think He's one of the better written characters in the entire series.
Would you say that's something that the fans have to look out for in this season?
Absolutely, absolutely.
Wow. What are the challenges that you faced, like some of the challenges that you could remember from playing Dan?
I think one of the biggest challenges that I faced playing Dan was when I was directing. I was playing Dan, and directing at the same time, specifically.
It was specifically in the episode six in season five. You'll see some pretty big emotional things that Dan goes through. And it was tough, like, being there emotionally, and physically as an actor, but also having to step outside to make sure that as a director, everything was coming through. So that was the biggest challenge.
How was it now that you guys wrapped up filming season six? How does that feel like?
It's sort of bittersweet and sort of emotional. I'm happy that we've been given the opportunity to complete an entire series on our own grounds. Sometimes you hear of those shows like damn “Man, that show was really good until season five or season seven.” And we're not going to be that show. We get to end it the way we wanted to end it. We got to go through an entire journey with all the people that I love working with, from the crew, to the actors. And it's just, you know, that part is a little sad that I'm not going to see them as often. But it's also exciting to see what happens next, what's coming around the corner. I have a production company, I'm trying to develop my own shows, along with my wife and my sister in Alejandro films- that is what we're called, and we're doing our own stuff. So I'm excited to see what that part of my journey has in store for me, and then also see what the next story is, as an actor. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I can look for good stories. I'm with the right team behind me also looking for good stories. So, it's there, I don't know when. That's a little fearful but there's hope.
That's great. And we're looking forward to that, especially with what Alejandro productions could do.
Thank you.
Playing Dan as a cop/detective, and considering the current social situation right now on how people perceive cops, was it ever challenging for you to do because of that or did it add a little pressure on your end to play him?
No, I mean, I think everything that's happening in today's world with Black Lives Matter with the current police situation, everything has been revealed the way it's supposed to be revealed and exposed the way it's supposed to be exposed in my opinion. I've always had a great respect for our police department, I've been fortunate enough to play a lot of cop roles. And I got to tell you, that the people who have influenced me and the ones who have, that I did ride along with and fly along, trained me to make sure that I was handling everything appropriately, I had great respect for and they were all on top of their game, top of their knowledge and their field. So I've always had a good respect for them. But I understand that things need to evolve and I support that fully. And I never had to tiptoe around it. Because our writers have done a really good job with addressing what needs to be addressed, but still maintaining an entertainment. Realistic entertainment value for our fans who already know us and love us and giving them what they're looking for.
That's great. It does translate well in the show when you watch it.
Yes, I think so too.
Is there any role that you want to play that resonates with you the most?
My dream is to play Macbeth. William Shakespeare's Macbeth but on stage. So that's a big inevitable goal of mine.
Cool. All right. We're going to look forward to that. Now, what would you say is something that fans should look out for in this season five B and season six?
Well they can look forward to us, number one, sticking to what we've already created, you know, but really seeing a complete evolution for every character. But by the time season six finale comes out. I'm pretty confident that audience is going to walk away going, wow!
So when is season six coming up? Is there a date yet or not?
We don't have a date for season six but season five B is streaming now.
If you were a book, what book would you be and why?
If I were a book, I think the book that I would be, would be Dangerous things to do with your dad. Because I have a son, and we're constantly looking for adventures to do. It's a dangerous book for boys, it's what it's called. But it's all about father and son relationships and what you can do. It teaches you how to build tree houses and build fires and stuff like that. You know, one of the things that my son loves, he's 13 now and what we love to do is take about a 16 to 20 day trip- just he and I and we road-trip and we pack up all of our tents and stuff like that and we camp along whatever destination we're going and then back through. So, I'm very much the outside kind of person.
