TV Interview!
Interview with Miguel Chavez of “A.P. Bio” on Peacock by Suzanne 10/6/20
This was a fun interview. Miguel interviewed me first before I interviewed him! He seems very nice and we had a great time.
Suzanne: So, take us back to the beginning to when you auditioned for your role of Eduardo on AP Bio. How did that go?
Miguel: Yes. So, the audition process was very typical to how an actor goes out for a role. My agent, my manager, emailed me the the audition notification. I got the sides for – if you really I don’t know what sides are, sides are the material that you’re given to prepare for the audition. And I went into Wendy O’Brien casting. Wendy O’Brien is the casting director; she’s a very, very lovely woman. And when I auditioned for the show, my first thought looking, researching the show was, “Oh, I can see myself in the role of this show.”So, for better or for worse, I could see myself being with a bunch of dorks. And what ended up happening, was I auditioned, and I felt like I did good. I felt like I understood the humor that they were going for, and I let it go. You know, you’ve auditioned so many times, you just have to let it go. So, that’s what I did. Like a day later, two days later, I get the message from my reps that I am strongly pinned for the roll, which means that I’m like the number one pick. On the Thursday of the week of my audition – I auditioned on a Tuesday – Thursday of that week, I find out that I got the part. And I was excited, nervous. It’s just a really bizarre feeling when you get a job finally. And then Friday, I go to my first table read with the whole cast and crew as member of the show.
Suzanne: That’s cool. And you came in during the second season, right?
Miguel: Yes, I did. I came in during the second season of AP Bio. I was a little nervous, because the cast knew each other, but you know what? They were really kind.
Suzanne: So, did it kind of feel like going to a new school?
Miguel: Yeah, actually. That’s a great question. It really felt like going to a new school. You want to be liked; you want to be respected. You want to keep your job, but fortunately, I’ve had enough life happen to me where I could keep things in perspective. And what mattered to me most was serving the story, serving my crew, and just being professional on set.
Suzanne: Great. So, they made you feel welcome.
Miguel: They did, and Barbara Stoll, our producer, works very hard to create a very safe environment on set.
Suzanne: Oh, good, good. And I see that you’re from Rancho Cucamonga. I used to live in Riverside for a while.
Miguel: You did? No you didn’t.
Suzanne: No I did for about eight years. We went to a Quakes game in Rancho Cucamonga once.
Miguel: That’s amazing.
Suzanne: Is that where you grew up?
Miguel: Yes, that is where I grew up. As a matter of fact, I’m staying in Rancho right now during this quarantine.
Suzanne: Okay, that’s cool. Did you go to Quakes games when you’re growing up?
Miguel: You know what, maybe I went to one, but my family was never much of a baseball family. So, we didn’t go to a Quakes – I should go though. I would like to before I leave Rancho, just to experience more of my local hometown stuff.
Suzanne: Right. Well, when when we were in Riverside, they had – I can’t remember the name. Oh, first we had the Red Wave, and then it was the Riverside Pilots. So, we would sometimes go to their other games, like Lake Arrowhead and all that. It was right down the street from us. So, it was something to do.
Suzanne: So, you’re living in Rancho Cucamonga right now because of the pandemic, or do you have another place?
Miguel: That is correct. Yeah. You know what, being in LA was was the plan, but this pandemic happened. So, I just moved back in with my folks during this pandemic.
Suzanne: Yeah, might as well. Right?
Miguel: Might as well. A lot of people are doing it. I mean, you know, pandemics happen.
Suzanne: So, how is Eduardo different from you?
Miguel: Eduardo, I like to think, well, Eduardo dresses way differently from me. He dresses like he’s a grandpa, you know, with corduroy pants, like a button down dress shirt and a sweater vest. So, that’s how he dresses.His sense of style isn’t really there. So, I like to think mine is slightly better than his. We’re both really similar. He’s just like an extreme version of me, like he’s super awkward. I’m not super awkward, but I can be awkward. He’s super nervous around girls. I can get nervous, but not as much as Eduardo. But we’re both very kind people, and we both have our friend’s back.
Suzanne: Cool. And have you heard yet whether there’s gonna be a season four?
Miguel: You know what, I am just a mere actor on the show. I have not heard yet. I’ve heard the reviews for season three are really great, and our show does show numbers in regards to streaming views. However, I haven’t heard anything.
Suzanne: Okay. I read quite a few reviews, and they were pretty much all positive. The ones that I read.
Miguel: Yeah, there were really positive reviews.
Suzanne: If someone hasn’t watched all of season three yet, which episode would you tell them to watch that features Eduardo the most?
Miguel: That’s a great question. The episode that I would recommend people watch the most is an episode where my character and my best friend – because all my episodes, pretty much the thing about me in the show, it’s more of me and my best friend doing things, and my duo, best friend is Victor (Jacob Houston) in the show, and getting into shenanigans is our issue. So, I would recommend what people watch, is “Get Hoppy.” That’s a really fun episode from season three.
Suzanne: Okay. I just watched the first two before your call, and I was grimacing when you had the throwing star stuck in your leg. I was like,”Ooh.”
Miguel: Oh, that’s funny. So many things happen on set you forget about them, but yeah, pretty much our props guy, David Hect, he runs props on my show, and he’s a wonderful man. He just strapped a belt to my leg, and he attached a shooting star to it, or whatever it’s called. And that’s how they did it.
Suzanne: I was very glad when she pulled it out that it didn’t have blood gushing out. But that would be a very different show.
Miguel: That’s that’s like off brand, like HBO, and we’re not actually that way.
Suzanne: That’s right. And do you have any other projects that you were working on either before or after the pandemic started?
Miguel: I’m just writing. Right now I have my writing partner. Michael Goldenberg and I are just writing a workplace comedy about tour guides at a studio. I used to be a tour guide at Paramount Pictures, so we know that world pretty well.
Suzanne: Paramount, I haven’t been to that one. I grew up when Universal was the big one that everybody went to. Before it had all the rides and everything, it was just a studio tour. Then I think I went to Warner Brothers, because we were near there or somebody wanted to go. I’ll have to check Paramount out. Do they still have a tour?
Miguel: Yeah, I think you’d really like it. It’s a really lovely tour, and the tour guides are a bunch of sweethearts, and you get a really good experience. It really gives you the classical field of Hollywood, Hollywood what it used to be.
Suzanne: Well, they say, ‘Write what you know,” so sounds like you’re doing that.
Miguel: Yeah, so I know a lot about that life.
Suzanne: What do you think that you want to get involved in, in the future? As far as acting, directing, writing, what else?
Miguel: You know, there’s so many things I want to do, and this is a very crazy industry I’m in. What I try to tell myself, is just to let my career blossom in front of me and just be pleasantly surprised by the roles I get. And now I just try to do that. I mean, I would love to play I don’t know, the detective in this or that, but I mean, there’s just so much that’s out of my control that I just have to have a sense of surrender when I go out for roles. Fortunately, I get to play roles that are different from me and that surprise me. I didn’t think I’d get cast as Eduardo, but in retrospect, I should know my work, and he’s been a lot of fun to play.
Suzanne: Good. And so what have you been doing to keep busy during the pandemic?
Miguel: You know, a lot of exercise. Yeah, I built the gym in my garage and just a lot of exercise. I’ve never had so much structure, so just exercising every day and reading a lot of books.
Suzanne: What are you reading right now?
Miguel: Right now I’m reading The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’m rereading that book.
Suzanne: Oh, rereading. Yeah, I [read] that a long time ago. I should reread that one of these days.
Miguel: Yeah. What about you? Do you like to read?
Suzanne: I do, but I haven’t had much time to read. I have a Kindle, and it’s got about a thousand books on it I haven’t read. I read a lot in the past, but yeah, I need to get back to it. Yeah, I read I read some magazines, mostly.
Miguel: Which ones?
Suzanne: Well, my site covers a lot of daytime as well as primetime, so I read Soap Opera Digest, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, and Good Housekeeping, which I got for like, ten bucks for a year. They keep sending it to me, and I’m like, “Okay, it’s only ten bucks, whatever.” That’s how they get you.
Miguel: Good Housekeeping, yeah I should read that one.
Suzanne: Yeah, it’s mostly what they would call a women’s magazine. It’s like recipes and makeup and you know, stuff like that.
Miguel: Yeah, that’s funny. Who knows, maybe I’ll get something out of it.
Suzanne: You never know. Well go to the dentist or something. You’ll probably find a copy there.
Miguel: That’s hilarious. Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing those there at those places.
Suzanne: So, what talents do you have besides acting and writing?
Miguel: You know what, before I started working as an actor, I was a stunt man. I went to stunt school for a year, just to do something with my life and learn new skills. So, I was doing stunt training, so I know how to fall and how to get my butt kicked in class, just that type of work. However, now, depending on the stunt, I’d probably have a stunt man do some of my stunts, that way I don’t get hurt on set.
Suzanne: Right. They take a lot of risks.
Miguel: Oh, yeah, your life is dangerous, like one time I was on set. I was a stunt man on this non-union film, and I fell on cement like fifteen times at least, ten to fifteen times. My body felt really fatigued the next day.
Suzanne: Well, it’s good that you work out so much. So, even if you did do it, you might not hurt yourself so much.
Miguel: Yeah. I mean, you spend a lot of your time in classes learning how to fall. It’s crazy; it’s absolutely crazy.
Suzanne: Yeah. And is there anything else that you’d like to tell your fans about you or the show?
Miguel: You know, it’s a show that is funny. It’s not really that dark, and it’s easy to watch with your friends and family. So if you want to find something to watch that will make you laugh and smile during these crazy times, watch AP Bio season three.
Suzanne: All right, great. Thank you so much for the call. I really appreciate it.
Miguel: Likewise, thank you so much for having me.
Suzanne: All right. Talk to you later.
Miguel: Bye.
Suzanne: Bye.
Here is the audio version of it.
Interview Transcribed by Jamie of http://www.scifivision.com
MORE INFO:
Making waves as one to watch in Peacock’s comedy series “A.P. Bio,” (now streaming it’s third season on NBCUniversal’s streaming service) we would love to arrange an interview with you and breakout star Miguel Chavez to discuss his hit comedy series. Miguel is also available to discuss working alongside Glenn Howerton (FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), and Jean Villepique (Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman”), his other current projects, as well as his career overall.
realizes that he has a room full of honor-roll students. Jack decides to use them for his own benefit and to get revenge on Miles. Eager to prove that he is still king of the castle, Principal Durbin (Patton Oswalt) struggles to keep Griffin under control. Miguel plays the role of ‘Eduardo,’ a shy, introverted student who’s best friends with the nerdy, Victor Kozlowski. Eduardo’s main focus is to obtain what every high school boy puts his main energy into, finding a girlfriend.Proofread and Edited by Brenda
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