*“Mayans M.C.” is the next chapter in Kurt Sutter’s award-winning “Sons of Anarchy” saga and centers the Sons’ rivals-turned-allies, the Mayans Motorcycle Club.
Starring Edward James Olmos, John Ortiz, J. D. Pardo. Antonio Jaramillo and Richard Cabral, and set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death at the end of “Son Of Anarchy’s” seven-season in 2014, the FX series is set hundreds of miles away in the same fictional California border town of Santo Padre. But series star Michael Irby (“The Unit”) tells EUR/Electronic Urban Report that you don’t have to be familiar with the Sons’ world in order to appreciate what the Latinos are serving up.
“I don’t think it’s necessary unless you just wanna fall more in love with Kurt Sutter and his beautiful mind. That’s a great series on its own but the Mayans are something different. I think we’re dealing with a culture and a brotherhood that the Sons necessarily didn’t touch on,” he said, ahead of the announcement that the series has been renewed for a second season.
Irby plays Obispo “Bishop” Losa, resident of Mayans MC’s From a broken home in the Salton Sea, he was taken in by the family of his cousin, Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera), Mayan MC founder and National President. After a tour of duty in Iraq and one in Pelican Bay, Bishop was sent by Alvarez to set up and run the critical Mexi-Cali border charter. He is as deadly as he is loyal.
“When I was reading Bishop… the loyalty and the fierceness, the animal instinct in him. I’ve played a lot of cops and CIA, DEA, FBI… and the possibility of playing this side of the line, it’s always something I’ve wanted to do,” says Irby. “So when this came up, I told Kurt, “I wanna be a bad guy, please!” Especially in this world. Ya know, my friends know me. My family knows me. I probably lean to the left a little bit, and I like to kinda stir the pot. Bishop is one of those guys that likes to stir the pot. That’s what I liked about it.”
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So is there anything about your background or upbringing that helped you to inform the character?
MI: I think we’re all born to play certain parts. I felt Bishop was probably closest to me in that my father’s Black, my mother’s Mexican, growing up in Palm Springs, which was predominately White at the time, I always saw injustice. I didn’t like the way people looked at me because I think where I grew up and how I grew up, the different cultures, teachers and authority, they looked at me and they had an expectation and I kinda always wanted to break that. I wanted to erase the minds and push those barriers back that they had placed because I felt they had been placed on me and people who looked like me in my community.
I always saw it as much as my parents didn’t see it because I think when you’re in a survival mode and trying to raise two boys and put food in the table, I don’t know if you have the time to stop and wonder the different racial aspects that are coming at you. I think they kinda protected us from it. My brothers didn’t really gravitate towards that and it’s something that I did.
So, yeah…. being raised by my parents, being raised the way they raised me, the schools I went to… I think it all benefited this. I think there was a large part of me that wanted to say “F*ck you.” As you’re growing up you can’t really do that and you sit in those feelings so much when we’re growing up. So when you get the opportunity to play a character like this, Bishop, you don’t really want to get in his way.
Every club has its set of roles and rules. Co-Creator Kurt Sutter (@sutterink) gives an inside look at the organizational structure of the Mayans. #MayansFX pic.twitter.com/pdPebjfsQs
— Mayans MC (@MayansFX) October 4, 2018
Talk about Bishop’s journey this season and the obstacles he faces.
MI: This season you’re going to see Bishop in a vice. He’s getting screwed from every direction. He’s getting screwed by the Cartel. He’s getting screwed by his own loyalty to his cousin. I want to prove to him that I can hold this down. While all this is happening, I gotta lot of stuff happening on my own club, right under my nose that I’m not privy to.
Through the writing, we can kinda see that Bishop is just a man who’s trying to earn the respect of his crew and his family. You’ll start to see some of this trauma and some of his detachment issues. You’re gonna start to see where some of where his anger vibes from. Bishop didn’t really have any parents. so we see Bishop start to kinda need people and that’s gonna be a bit of a hiccup for him. He doesn’t really like to need anything from anybody. So when you see that you’re gonna start to see some of his true colors come out.
Be careful when you play with fire. #MayansFX @edwardjolmos pic.twitter.com/keV5R61rnk
— Mayans MC (@MayansFX) October 7, 2018
There are so few shows that have a diverse and dynamic cast of Latin actors. Why do you think a series like this is vital now in the TV landscape?
MI: I think everybody needs to be represented. When I grew up watching TV, I didn’t really see a lot of people that looked like me. And if we can change that in 2018, with our political climate, we need to show us doing great things. We need to live above and beyond the expectations. Obvious the characters that we’re portraying aren’t role models but everybody who got to be here and get to live in this universe, they worked their asses off to get here and they’re all role models in each of their own right. It’s been pretty exciting working with these guys.
How do you think Bishop would handle all this build-the-wall talk from Trump?
MI: I think Bishop is a proactive guy so I don’t really think that he’s going to let 45 stop his flow. We live one-percent world so we’re gonna find a way around the problem. That’s not gonna hold a guy like Bishop back. He’s just gonna find a way around the wall, under the wall, over the wall, through the wall. The wall is just gonna increase my money intake because the harder it is to get it here, the more I can charge for it. I think it’s a good thing that we got a lot of eyes looking in one direction ‘cause then I can come from up the side and take care of business.
Any particular episode your most fond of?
MI: I can’t really answer on that ‘cause as far as the character, there’s a lot of Bishop just holding it down this season. There’s a beautiful arch that’s happening in episodes 8, 9 and 10 and you start seeing some of our issues get resolved with the cartel and some Bishop’s struggles come to the front.
Last year, a crew member for the Netflix series “Narcos” was scouting filming locations in Mexico when he was shot and killed… reportedly by the cartel. Have you guys had and encounters or received warnings from folks who take issue with this narrative?
MI: I have not had any dealings with the cartel. I can only imagine that people are watching. I don’t imagine we’re ever going to get a big pat on the back from the cartels or the MC’s saying what a great job we’re doing because, at the end of the day, there’s a little bit of truth to everything. But also, this is a TV show. I do think we’re going to shed some light on some things but as far as receive a one up from the cartels or the motorcycle clubs, I haven’t experienced anything like that yet.
Get into the action when “Mayans M.C.” airs Tuesday at 10 pm.
Once you’re in, there’s no out. Watch the OFFICIAL TRAILER for Mayans M.C. Premieres Sept. 4. pic.twitter.com/lUTo6vEAOJ
— Mayans MC (@MayansFX) July 19, 2018
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