"One Day At A Time" actor Alex Quijano | The Latest With Maya

A conversation with Alex Quijano.❤️ 

Theme song by Austin & Colin! Follow them here:

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/austinandcolin/?hl=en

TikTok: 
https://www.tiktok.com/@austinandcolin?_r=1&_t=ZT-94danXYrfmo

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@AustinandColin

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/09D3Uv7yejstvSlTdkxHzT

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:11

Hi Alex, welcome to The Latest with Maya. You've seen Alex Cianu in the Netflix remake of One Day at a Time, My Life with the Walter Boys, High School Musical, The Musical, The Series, and more. I loved all these shows and I just really love everything you've been in. So thank you so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Well, thank you for having me, Maya. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Um so who has had the um biggest impact on you professionally?

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Ooh. You know, uh that would be that would be uh it'd be really hard to narrow it down to one person. Um I would say it's a collection of people as part of a support system, you know, like um, because it's a really and I'm sure you've had people say this before, it's a really challenging industry to to get a foothold in and to continue working and to have a career. Um and it it does take a village to help you. So I so I didn't start off as an actor. I went to college to be uh a doctor. I went to University of California, Davis, and I was on the med school track and I played baseball there. Um, and when I realized I didn't want to be a doctor, and I knew really early that I wasn't gonna most likely get drafted and play professional baseball. Um I had taken an acting class in college, and the teacher in that class kept telling me all uh quarter, um, I think you should do this. I think you should really think about being an actor. Um, and I was 18, so I was like, no, there's no way I'm here for you know school and baseball. Um he probably is the one that put the the bug in my head. Um, but once I got into LA, all my teachers, you know, all my teachers, whether it's uh Leslie Kahn or Nancy Banks or Larry Moss, um those three teachers really helped me understand what it is to to be an artist, to be an actor, to storytell. Um, they helped me with representation, they helped me with auditions, they've helped me in every way you can think about they they've helped me and and lifted me up and given helped um give me confidence, you know, which is is a tough thing to have in this industry that's filled with rejection.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Wow. Yeah. So who has had the um biggest impact on you as a person?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Oh my parents. My mom and dad. Yeah, pants down. Yeah, I'm really lucky. I have a great family. Great brothers and sisters, great mom and dad. So, and great exterior like cousins. All my cousins. We have a I'm Colombian, um, and we have a huge family. My mom is one of eight kids, my dad is one of ten, so there's a huge extended family, and we're all very close. We're all very we're we we all communicate and see each other and talk and share, and we're all really supportive of each other, so it's a really nice community.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Oh, I love that. Yeah, yeah. Um so what uh small things bring you joy on a daily basis?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

That's an easy one right now. Uh we just had a daughter. Um, she's she's gonna be eight weeks old this week. And every night, you know, hearing her, hearing her in the crib or seeing her, she's learning how to smile, you know. Um anything she does right now brings me joy.

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Wow. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so is there um someone who without fail always makes you laugh?

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yes. Uh are you talking about like professionally, or are you talking about um are you talking about like friendship-wise?

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Um, I mean, really whichever.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Okay, I'll give you two. I'll give you two. I'll make it easy. Uh, my one of my best friends, uh Bradley Stryker, he's an also an actor, he's a wonderful actor. He's on Broadway right now uh in a show called uh Joe Turner's Come and Gone. He's he's a fantastic actor, and he's he was the best man at my wedding and my best friend. And he and I are always laughing. That's probably why we're so close, is that we're just always laughing. Um professionally, man, that's tough. There's so many ridiculously talented funny people. Um the entire cast right now of Widow's Bay, Matthew Reese, and Stephen Root, and everyone. Um, I the young woman who plays his assistant, I don't know her name, but she crushes me. They're so funny and talented. Uh Kristen Wig always gets me, Melissa McCarthy. If I watch her sketch sketches, Amy Polar crushes me, Will Farrell, um Zach Galafanakis, Stephen Colbert. I I mean uh um oh my gosh, uh what's his name? Peter Sellers. Peter Sellers is really funny, and um Gene Wilder. Gene Wilder and and everybody that works with uh uh all the waiting for Guffman and best in show actors.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yeah, Catherine O'Hara, all of them. Oh my god, they crush me.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yeah, yeah. I um uh I love Widows Bay and um Gene Wilder. Um he was in um Well and Grace is another one of my favorite shows, and so his episodes just always make me cry from laughing so hard.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, Sean Hayes is a Sean Hayes is a magician. Sean Hayes and Megan Millale are magicians, they're they're yeah, they're amazing. They're comedy gold.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Yeah, they are, and yeah, so whenever somebody says Gene Wilder, I always think of him in Will and Grace. First, that's the first thing that comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

He's always uh my young Frankenstein and he's always my Willy Wonka.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

Oh yeah. I love that. Yeah. Um so if you had a warning label, what would yours be?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Oh gosh. Um, oh if I had a w oh, that's a great question. Oh, now you're making me think really hard. Um if I had a warning label, um what would it be? Warning. I'm a I'm a uh my warning label would be uh Got it. It just came to me. Warning, keep cookies away. Got it. Keep cookies away. If you have crispy chocolate chip cookies, don't get them near me because I'll eat them all. I'll I'll go down. Yeah, yeah, keep your cookies away. If you want your cookies, keep them away.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

I like that one. Um so um what has been the biggest obstacle either personally or professionally that you've overcome?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

That I've overcome? Uh personally, probably playing college baseball was is really a challenge because I wasn't recruited. I walked on, and that's always that's always an uphill climb if you're gonna walk onto a team and actually get playing time. And and I was very fortunate that I did. Um and we were a really, really talented group of guys. I was okay, but the guys around me were all really, really talented. Um professionally, that's easy. Working, working, just just being able to get in the door and being able to audition and having those opportunities, it's always an obstacle. And so I'm always really lucky and really grateful when I do get to do it, because it's not it's not guaranteed, you know. I'm not uh for for as much as we you know can work professionally, for as much as my resume says that I've been, you know, successful, and I and I have been, I'm really fortunate. But you know, it's still a grind. You never you never get to stop, you never get to slow down, you know. Um, there's always somebody who has more credits, has more accolades, has more of a name, um, that you have to read against. And and it's not a competition uh because everybody brings their own unique take to whatever it is, you know, that they read. So it's not a competition in that sense. It's it's whether or not the people that do the hiring are willing to take a chance on someone with a little bit less of a name.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

Yeah. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Yeah. Um so I am uh pop culture obsessed and I go in stages of shows that I cannot stop watching. Uh is there a show that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Well, Widow's Bay. I can't stop watching Widow's Bay. Um, Margot has money problems, I've really enjoyed. Um I love Andor. Andor is one of my favorite shows of all time. Um, if I go back and watch TV shows, I watch The West Wing a lot. I love that show. Um I oh, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Game of Thrones, first five and a half seasons. Um the other seasons were good too, they're just not as not my favorites. Yeah, I got a ton. Will and Grace, I'll go back and watch Will and Grace all the time. Cheers. Oh my gosh, I'll watch Cheers all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

What we do in the shadows.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Kills me.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Oh yeah, yeah. I um I saw a few episodes of the show um of what we do in the shadows. The movie is one of my favorite movies.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Um, it's one of my favorite movies.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Yeah. And I love the show too.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:45

Yeah. I um I've been uh I have like a long list of comfort shows I just rotate between, and so recently it's been all one day at a time that I've been re-watching.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Um yes, that was a great show. That was a wonderful cast.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Yeah. Yeah. So I've I've been re-watching that, and then I've been watching a lot of rom-coms. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Yeah, which have gone away a little bit, but they I think they're slowly making their way back.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. There's yeah, there's been uh two so far this year that have come out that have been uh that become two of my favorites now.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Which two? Which two?

SPEAKER_03 13:34

There's they're both on Netflix. There's one called People We Meet on Vacation. Um and then another one called You Always.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Oh, okay. Both on Netflix?

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

All right, I'll check them out.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Yeah, and then uh there's another one that just came out called also on Netflix called Voicemails for Isabel. So um that I'm really excited to watch.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Well, maybe if I'm doing some late night feeding of a little one, I can turn on the TV while while she's doing her bottle.

SPEAKER_03 14:11

Oh yeah. Yeah, I'd love to hear what you think of the rom-coms if you watch them.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Yeah. Um so um what genre of movie would your life story be told as?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Well, I would rather have it be a comedy. I'd rather have it be a comedy. I'd want people to leave laughing. I think that would be the most important thing. I don't want people to leave crying. And if it's not laughing, oh okay. I would either do I would love if it was like a sci-fi comedy, or if it was um like a medieval comedy, something ridiculous. Something like if my life story could be uh Monty Python Search for the Holy Grail, I would I would love it.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, yeah. I um I've always wanted my life story to be a musical rom-com.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Oh, okay. That'd be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Yeah, that'd be a lot of singing and dancing.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

Yeah, I I can't sing or dance, but in this fantasy I can. So yeah, yeah, that's my dream.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Well, the beauty of it is it in your fantasy, you're probably really good at both.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Yeah. I can't I can't sing at all. So I I hear you. If I could sing, uh, I'd never stop.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Yeah. Yeah. I I'm the same way. And even though I can't sing, that doesn't stop me from singing a long to song.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

So nor should it.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Nor should it.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

I'm definitely a shower and a car singer. Or I sing this, I don't want it to sound cheesy. I sing to my daughter because she's too young to judge me.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Yeah. I sometimes break out into song in the middle of stores. If a song comes on that I really love, I sometimes just start singing and don't even realize that.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Don't ever stop. I will probably, if a great song comes on at a store or at like a grocery store, I'll definitely start moving. I'll definitely start bouncing around a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so um, if you could give someone in your life a star on the walk of fame, who would it be?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

I mean my parents. My mom and dad. Yeah, my mom and dad. Like I said, I grew up with two really wonderful parents. Um so to s to say that I couldn't imagine giving it to somebody else. Because I know how hard it is to have good parents. I know how lucky I am to have really great parents. So yeah, it's gotta be them.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so if you um had to choose someone to narrate your life, um, who would you choose and why?

SPEAKER_01 18:08

All right. Do they have to be alive? I'm not saying that I'm gonna pick somebody who's passed away.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

They don't have to be.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Okay, okay. Oh man. If I picked Richard Attenborough, then it would sound like a documentary, and I don't want it to be a documentary, although I love his voice. Um I forget his first name, but Dale, who did the audiobooks for all the Harry Potter uh stories, his voice is phenomenal. You know, it's gonna be cheesy. But if I could pick Daniel Day Lewis, I'd pick Daniel Day Lewis. If Daniel Day Lewis wanted to narrate my life story, that would be amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Or Meryl Streep, because she would make me sound amazing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I um I I think I I'd want Reese Witherspoon to narrate my life.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Okay story. No, she's got a lovely voice. Yeah, no, Reese Witherspoon would be great.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Yeah, plus I've seen like uh I've seen her movies so many times.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Um Alabama.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Yes. I love that one. I one of my all-time favorite rom-coms and movies in general is um her movie Home Again.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Um again, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

I've lost track of how many times I've seen that one.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

I mean, she's a worker bee, she works really hard. She's um she's out there, she's doing it in the morning show. Um, you know, you have legally blonde.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Have you have you seen Election?

SPEAKER_03 20:02

I okay. I started watching it. I don't remember why I didn't finish it. So I have to go back and watch it again.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Go go back. Go back and and you're welcome. You're welcome for reminding you to go watch Election again.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

Yes, thank you. Because I remember I really liked it, and so I don't remember why I didn't finish it because I literally liked it.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

It's a great, it's a that's a great movie.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

Yeah. So thank you for the reminder.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so uh what song, whenever you hear it, brings you back to specific memory, and what is that memory?

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Oh man, there's a lot. Um okay, this one's dumb. This is a really dumb one. When I was a freshman in high school and I was walking to baseball practice, the women's, the girls' cheerleading squad were doing a routine to just can't get enough by depeche mode. And I'd never heard that song before. And I had a huge crush on one of the girls, one of the cheerleaders, and they were doing this routine, and all I thought was, this is the greatest song I've ever heard, and that's the most beautiful woman I have ever girl I have ever seen. And then I proceeded to never talk to her for four years, so it was great. I love that. But that's the first CD I ever bought, uh, DePesh Mode Speaking Spell, because of just can't get enough, and because of that cheerleader who shall remember. Nameless.

unknown 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

Wow. Yeah. Um, so uh what um show or movie do you find yourself quoting all the time?

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Oh man. Oh, uh Raising Arizona. Raising Arizona with Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter and John Goodman and William Forsyth and um uh Francis McDormott. It's a Cohen Brothers movie. It's probably my favorite comedy of all time.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Uh have you not seen it?

SPEAKER_03 22:40

I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Put it on the list. Yes, put it on the list, Maya.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Put it on the list. What what did you uh say the name name was?

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Raising Arizona.

SPEAKER_03 22:54

Okay, thank you. Now uh now I have Sweet Home Alabama in my head, so I heard Alabama is like it was one of the states that starts with A.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Yeah. No, it's a great that's a great movie.

SPEAKER_03 23:13

Yeah, I'm excited to watch it, so thank you for the recommendation. Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, I have um, yeah, I have so many um shows. Yeah, what's yours?

SPEAKER_01 23:28

What do you what do you quote? What are what are your quote quotey shows?

SPEAKER_03 23:32

Uh Will and Grace and Friends um all the time. Uh and then like there's scenes from that those shows and from like one day at a time and the new adventures of old Christine and Psych. I quote all of those and reference scenes from them all the time.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Oh, yeah, psych was a big one. My my sister was my sister's favorite show. Psych.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Yeah, yeah, it's it's one of my favorites. Um, too. It's yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

That was one of the first TV shows I ever did.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah, that was one of my first TV shows.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

Yeah. Oh, I love that. Yeah, I um I'm so grateful that I've gotten to interview um uh most of the cast of the show, and they're just they're all so sweet. Yeah. Yeah. Um so um do you have a go-to um comfort show or movie um that you turn on when you just need to tune out the world and escape?

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Hmm. I got a couple. Star Wars and New Hope, the original, not when George Lucas messed with it and did all the extra stuff. The original, original cut, and Empire Strikes Back. Uh Searching for Bobby Fisher, The Natural, Conan the Barbarian. I know, I know. That's because I'm a nerdy 13-year-old stuck in an adult man body. Um gosh. Uh there's so many, so many great movies that I just put on all the time. I have like Raising Arizona is always in there. I'm so sorry. My I forgot to turn off my thing. Um if that if the bing happened, I apologize. Um I have like 20 movies that I put on rotation. Goodwill Hunting is always in there. I love it. Um What We Do in the Shadows is in that, is in that rotation. I'll throw that on all the time. Cool Hand Luke, which is an older movie starring uh Paul Newman, is definitely always in the rotation on the waterfront. Um, I'll watch that just to remind myself of how good acting can be. Um, yeah, I got a bunch. I'm a movie nerd.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Yeah, I'm a nerd. And you could take the movie part out and just go, I'm a nerd.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

I I have a long list that I rotate between two. So yeah, yeah. I um I just recently re-watched another favorite rom-com of mine, Love Simon. Um yes, okay, yes. Um, yeah, and I haven't seen that movie in um a few years, and I still I love it just as much as the first time I saw it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Yeah, yeah. I uh I remember when they were uh auditioning for the TV show.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I I remember, yeah, I loved um, yeah, I also loved um Love Victor. That was such a good show.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:15

So yeah. Yeah. I'm in the rom-com phase now, right now.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Clearly, clearly you're in the rom-com phase.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Yeah. I mean, I've never really, I'm never like not in a rom com phase, but now recently it's been like one every day that I'm watching.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

So basically. Yeah. So that's uh yeah, that's been what's what's making me happy, like like just watching rom coms every day.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

I mean, that's the whole point.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so do you um have any irrational fears?

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Ooh. Do I have any irrational fears?

SPEAKER_00 28:17

No.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

I don't I don't you know what I honestly, I don't think I do. I have normal fears. I don't have any irrational fears. Like if aliens came or or like if I were I go backpacking and camping a lot. Um like I don't have an irrational fear of a bear mauling me or anything like that. I think it's because if I'm backpacking and a bear mauls me, I'm kind of in his home or her home, um, in their home. So uh I'm I'm guessing that I made a mistake and I just had really bad luck. Um yeah, but other than that, no, I don't think so. Do you? Do you have any irrational fears?

SPEAKER_03 29:12

Um I I have too many. Um yeah, I I basically say my brain's one big irrational fear. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

I have an irrational fear that I'll that I'll wake up one morning allergic to chocolate, crunchy chocolate chip cookies. That would be that would be something that would devastate me.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I would struggle with that.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

Oh yeah. Yeah, I um yeah, like I said, I have too many. So yeah. Um yeah, but I I can understand, you know, the the fears you just mentioned. So yeah. Um so I just uh have one uh final question for you. Okay um so uh today what are you most grateful for?

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Oh, I mean my daughter. My daughter, my wife, my family, all of that. I'm just again, I know I it's it's I don't it's not trying to sound cheesy or beating a dead horse. I'm really lucky. I have a wonderful family, I have a wonderful wife, and I have a brand new gorgeous daughter, and I'm really grateful for that. Like I couldn't I couldn't be luckier.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

I love that. Yeah, yeah. Um, well, thank you um so much for joining me. Um, I've had the best time talking with you. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Maya, you've been wonderful. Thank you for having me. I'm I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_03 31:07

Thank you. Yeah, I I'm so grateful to um have uh be talking with you. I've been such a fan of yours for a long time, so you've made my day.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Oh, I appreciate it, Maya. Thank you. That's so sweet of you. That's so kind of you. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

Thank you. Um, yeah, and um I hope you have a great rest of your day.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

You as well, Maya. You as well. Have a wonderful day.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

Thank you. Uh and that's a wrap on today's edition of The Lightest with Maya.