From co-creatorsKurt SutterandElgin James, the FX seriesMayans M.C.is the next chapter in theSons of Anarchysaga, now set in a post-Jax Teller world. Fresh out of prison and trying to carve out a new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with big dreams, Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo) is trying to navigate what it means to be a Prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the California/Mexico border. While figuring out what the next step in his life can be, EZ is torn between his struggling but lawful father (Edward James Olmos), his brother Angel (Clayton Cardenas), who is a full patch member of the M.C., and his childhood sweetheart Emily (Sarah Bolger), who seems to have moved on without him.
While at the FX portion of the Television Critics Association Press Tour, Collider got the opportunity to sit down and chat 1-on-1 with executive producer/writer Elgin James, who talked about how he went from prison to co-creating the series withSons of Anarchycreator Kurt Sutter, finding his own voice as an artist, honoring the mythology ofSonswhile telling their own story, always wanting to tell the truth, having the character of Marcus Alvarez and the actorEmilio Riverato bridge the two worlds, the show’s use of harsh language, and the female voice of the series.
Collider: I really dig what you’re doing with this show!
ELGIN JAMES: Cool, thank you!
Is it difficult to make this feel familiar, but also its own thing?
JAMES: Not at all. I think the way that we can actually honor the mythology ofSonsthe most, and what Kurt [Sutter] and a lot of really intelligent people created for seven seasons, is to tell our own story and to attempt to plant our flag as much as we can in the ground. This is different, but the same. We always say that it’s the same universe, just a different world in it. It all comes down to Emilio Rivera, or Marcus Alvarez. People have been showing black and brown criminal characters forever, usually just as stereotypical, one-dimensional villains. The role that he had could have easily just been that, but he gave so much emotion and depth to it. He’s the reason why we even have our show. They wrote to that. It was the greatSonswriters, of course, but it was also what Emilio did with it. He took something that could have been so cold-hearted, and he gave it so much warmth and humanity. I tell the actors, all the time, that the only reason we have a job is because of that dude. We’re very grateful for the work that he did.
He’s the Godfather of it all.
JAMES: He really is the Godfather. We all call him El Padrino. We all call him the Godfather. He’s too humble to let us kiss the ring, but he’s the reason why I’m sitting here right now, which is great.
Emilio Rivera is such an underrated and under-appreciated actor
JAMES: God, yeah.
To see him get to play a character like this, who has such depth, and who’s surrounded by other characters that are allowed to have that kind of depth, is really nice.
JAMES: It’s cool. It’s awesome. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re just trying to tell the truth. You’re seeing Eddie James Olmos and what he’s done, and how he always transcends culture and what it means just to be a great artist. Now, we have this bunch of people that grew up on him and Emilio. Emilio, even before this, mentored a couple of our actors because they came from the same neighborhood and the same situation as him. It’s phenomenal. That’s all that we’re trying to do. We’re trying to tell our story, especially for those of us that grew up in gangs, or grew up surrounded by violence or were incarcerated. We’ve always seen ourselves portrayed in a certain way, and now we get to tell our story and put a human face on it.
How did you end up working on the show with Kurt Sutter?
JAMES: It was pretty random. It was funny because the character of EZ Reyes was a Prospect and just out of prison, and when Kurt and I first started working on this, I was only a few years out of prison myself, and still trying to assimilate into the world. It’s different. That felt so familiar to me. I left being in a gang behind, but I spent the majority of my life in it. I had this whole dream about being able to make movies and TV, and I had these amazing mentors and made it come true. And then, an old gang charge came up and I had to go to maximum security prison. To go from almost starting, to then being ripped from all that, when you’re in prison, all of that stuff disappears. All of this is make believe. You have to try to stay above that, even though you have to walk through the minefield of violence that exists in any prison, as well as inside of yourself. That’s the only way that I’ve known how to react. So, to then be thrust out into the world and this whole industry, it’s about lovely people picking you up and their mentorship, but for the most part, it’s a lot of bullshit that you have to eat. The EZ character has been through that experience. He’s been through hell and come out, and now he has to start at the bottom of something and rise up. Kurt was looking for people to write the story with because, as he says, he didn’t think that he should be the one to tell it. That’s phenomenal because he could have easily told the story alone. Instead, he gave me, a violent ex-felon who couldn’t get a job at Costco or McDonald’s, a chance. That’s because of Kurt and his generosity. He met with some people and I was the guy that he chose, and we just got to work.
What did it really take for you to find that in yourself?
JAMES: I went to the Sundance Labs, and Michelle Satter and Robert Redford are the ones who totally changed my life. I went from being a piece of shit gang member to an artist, for the first time. They always pushed me just to be more truthful and more honest. So many people have got their chest out. Richard Cabral, who’s on the show, and I talk about it, all the time. If a guy comes out on the prison yard and he’s got his chest out, that dude is going to get it. The real dudes just have their heads down and it’s always, “Excuse me,” and so polite. Those OGs are the guys you look up to. It’s the same way here. When I went to go meet Kurt, I could have gone in and been like, “I know this world.” My brothers and people that I love and came up with are all in motorcycle clubs. But, I didn’t do that. I was just like, “Yo, I’m nervous.” It was more nerve-wracking to go meet him at Fox Studios than walking into prison. I understood prison. I understood that world. It’s still scary and it sucks, but it has rules. This doesn’t. Meeting this guy, I knew my whole world could change. Honestly, I had no interest in exploring the violence of my past because I was so afraid of continuing that cycle. I was like, “Aw, man, I don’t know about this,” but I knew it’d be such a huge opportunity. And then, I talked to him and saw how incredibly sweet and humble he is, and I was like, “I just hope that I get to work with him and learn from him.”
What have you learned about yourself, as an artist, from doing this show?
JAMES: That’s the thing, man. What I bring to the show, I always say is more than just being brown, or my 23 and Me results. What I think I bring is just being damaged. We’re damaged. We find ways through writing or art to express that and deal with it. It doesn’t make us better, but at least it puts some salve on it, so that we can wake up in the morning. What I’ve learned was harder for me is to do something on such a scale, where everyone is looking and everyone is watching. I’ve never liked stuff in the mainstream. If you told me to go to a restaurant, I’d be like, “Yeah, I’m gonna go check it out.” But if you and three other people told me, I’d be like, “Fuck that place! I’ll never go there!” I hate the status quo. So, what I’ve learned is that all of the people in our writers’ room are just phenomenal. They come from all different walks of life. There are people of color and women. We worked really hard to vet all of them. Everyone, from our crew to the actors, create something that’s just so about love. You just have to hope that it hits. What I’ve learned about myself, as an artist, is to not be scared of trying to do something that people may actually like. I made a small art house film, calledLittle Birds, and even the good reviews we got didn’t mean anything to me until I came out of prison. I made the movie before I went in, and then there was Instagram when I got out. I’d see these things where 14 year old girls had posted about my film. That meant everything to me, that the film meant something to them. Art is what we do, so when you hear that kind of feedback, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. I don’t know what it’s gonna be like to go out to such a huge platform. I’m actually terrified of it, a little bit.
One of the things that I’ve noticed from watching this series is that there is more use of harsh language than there was onSons of Anarchy. Is the network okay with that, or do you fight for every word?
JAMES: We just follow Kurt’s lead. I remember, with the first thing we shot, I was like, “I don’t think we can say that.” But John Landgraf and FX are trying to get to the truth. All I know is that I get an email from a very nice woman who’s from Standards & Practices and she’s like, “You’ve used the F word 23 times,” but that’s it. That’s between Kurt and John. So far, we’ve gotten away with it. you may only say “fricking” so much. Because we speak partly in Spanish, I thought that we’d just have an easier time, but we’ve been lucky, so far. It’s a heightened world. It’s in a universe that Kurt has created, but he wants to keep it as grounded and real as possible, in that heightened world. Sometimes you’ve just gotta say the F word.
I love that there is a female voice on the show. This is very much a male world, but the female characters are still very interesting, complex people.
JAMES: Yeah, I hope that’s gonna continue. We don’t have female riders, but we have female writers. I know what I can bring to this. I have experience. This is a world Kurt has created, and it’s his universe. What we didn’t have was a certain point of view, so we created a room full of that point of view.Sonshad Tara and Gemma, so how do you top that? You can’t, so you just attempt to create something really different. So, we have Emily (Sarah Bolger) and Adelita (Carla Baratta), and then with the character of Coco, who Richard Cabral plays, when his family gets involved – his mom and his sister – it’s just the most beautiful, heartbreaking, touching stuff, of the season.
Well, after having seen two episodes of the series, I’m definitely excited to see where it all goes.
JAMES: It goes crazy! That’s what I’m going to say. You think that we’re gonna end up here and we end up all the way over there, in a good way that’s really organic way. That’s how Kurt works. To me, I have such story OCD. I want to plot everything out. He didn’t do that. That’s what I learned about myself, as an artist. That terrified me. He was like, “No, we’ll figure it out. We’ll see how the actors interact with each other, where things go, and where the chemistry goes.” He’s Kurt Sutter, so I trusted him, but at the same time, I was like, “Everything is on fire, and I need to jump out a window!” That’s how it’s created. These things just happen, organically.Sonsand seemed so organic because he actually lets it happen organically. We’ve put our hearts, souls, and blood into it, so I hope it just resonates with people.
