With Love cast on season 2’s character growth and heartfelt storytelling
By Ricky Valero
The popular Prime Video series With Love is set to return for its second season on June 2. We sat down with the cast of the show to discuss what is ahead for each of their characters.
With Love season 2 follows Lily, who is amid a love triangle with Santi and Nick. As she continues to make things work with Santi, Nick lingers around, causing her to wonder who she should really be with. Of course, season 2 will follow the rest of the Diaz family as they navigate through their lives.
One of the things that With Love did was made an easy transition from season 1 to 2. You have Gloria Calderón Kellett, and her writing team does wonders for these characters that develop them to grow and have this incredible breathing room.
I sat down with With Love cast members Emeraude Toubia, Vincent Rodriguez III, Constance Marie, and Benito Martinez to discuss the upcoming Prime Video Series.
Check out the video version of the interview here.
With Love cast talks season 2’s character growth and heartfelt storytelling
Hidden Remote: How did your approach change to Lily as you shifted into season 2?
Emeraude Toubia: In this season, Lily is kind of trying to own her life and bring it back together, from hitting rock bottom to kind of like paving her way. She is taking control of her career, her dreams, and her men. She is not always making the right decisions, but in a way, also navigating what makes her happy. There are so many expectations from her family, from society, that now it’s like, what? Where is the happy medium? Stop seeking validation from anyone else, but seek them from yourself. So I identify with her, my girlfriends identify with her, and I’m sure a lot of women identify with Lily with this whole struggle of finding love, your dreams, and your career.
Hidden Remote: How did you feel about Beatriz’s arc for season 2?
Constance Marie: Well, I had to focus a lot more on humor and a lot more on the joy and a lot more on the sexy. And that was something Beatriz had not explored before. It was so refreshing and light and exciting and terrifying simultaneously. Because to be middle-aged and try to be sexy and try to be, you know, joyously sexy, I guess, and to redefine that, and it was a little scary. Still, I had Benito Martinez, who is just a wonderful, grounded, sexy anchor to interact with off of the scenes was awesome.
Benito looks on with nothing but smiles with Constance praising him.
Benito Martinez: This is a great interview.
Hidden Remote: I love the relationship between Beatriz and Jorge, obviously, in this season, the couple spice it back up a little after a little bit of a rough season, how did you like the shift between the two seasons for the couple?
Benito Martinez: In the first season, our honest polarization wasn’t because we did something. It’s because we weren’t doing something. And then, in this case, I wasn’t living with my eyes open. I had, you know, numbed myself and was comfortably numb in a relationship. What’s great about season 2 is that honesty brought us in a different direction. And it says, you know, I want to honestly explore with you again. I want to see my partner again. I want to be in physical love with you again. I want to go on trips and put you as my number one priority.
But that then spills over into all relationships and that. And once you’re comfortable again in that and solid on that solid ground, when you talk to your kids, it’s a different reality. When you’re talking to your in-laws, it’s different. When you talk to anyone, it’s a different reality because you’re living in that. And that only comes from wonderful writing.
And so I can’t go any further without giving the nod and respect to our wonderful Gloria Calderón Kellett, Andy Roth, and the other wonderful writers who are willing to invest. In the depth of the characters, not just go for the cheap laugh. It’s a comedy, but it’s a comedy with heart-based in truth and complicated human scenarios. And that’s the payoff of the show. That’s what makes the show so special.
Hidden Remote: The proposal and the song tell me what it was like preparing for that with the singing, dancing, etc.
Vincent Rodriguez III: Well, I come from a musical theater background, so it was a lot of fun. Gloria Calderón Kellett, our showrunner, creator, and head writer, she’s Mama bear, queen bee. And so she leads the set, she leads the story and does a beautiful job of it, and she inspires us and is also a theater gal.
So it was fun because when I found out I had to do that, we were filming the first episode, and Gloria is the showrunner and has her chair like 6 feet away from mine, and she’s up and on her feet in front of me like doing dance moves like how about this, Vinnie, what are we doing? What are we doing? And so we got to choreograph it together.
It felt very much like a throwback to my musical theater days because I love musicals, and I did that for so many years of my life in New York. Creating learning videos and learning included me singing the different vocal tracks and the choreographic tracks for that proposal for Gloria, Fernando, and Desmond. So I got to be a dance captain again. So I was reliving a lot of my past but in terms of just the story and the character and you know, for Henry and Jorge.
And to see their relationship blossom in this way and celebrate it in this way. And it’s something we don’t really see on television very often. And I think that’s going to make a huge positive impact on our viewers when they check out season 2.
With Love season 2 is available on Prime Video.