“Undocumented people don’t have the luxury of just opting out of their status. It stays with them 24/7 and I love the fact that on the show there are days where we really lean into it and discuss the challenges of Mateo’s status and his life, and there are days where Mateo just gets to be the bitchy mean guy that is sometimes. Even though he went through this crazy thing, he still has a little bit of venom in him.”
Santos said that he, like many fans, was “truly sort of worried” about what the show would be like without its fearless leader Amy, but he’s not worried anymore.
“It’s working pretty well,” he said. “We have a wealth of material and a wealth of characters to play with, so all in all, it hasn’t been as awkward a transition as we all thought it would be.”
Ferrera’s final episode will air next Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC, and then we’ll all find out just how awkward or not awkward it will be.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
