Miguel Rivas
Appearances
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Yeah, totally. But there wasn't a ton of that... When we worked together, it usually was present day. Yeah. But... I feel like the set with Milo and the kids and stuff was always a little bit more like, let's get down to brass tacks. Let's do the work. It was way more of a party. I always felt I was like, oh, we're with everybody. We're present day.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Even feeling encumbered with the makeup and the process and being there so much earlier and all of that came along with it. it was always like, oh, I'm gonna be with John and Justin and Sterling and Chris, and it's gonna be a laugh a minute. We're all gonna really.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Yeah, I would try to not laugh so much because I was.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
It started at like... Six for me. Yeah, same. It was like five or something. And it ultimately got down to like three and a half. Five hours?
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
John's was a little bit quicker. Yours started at five hours?
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
When we shot the therapy scene in season two, it was a 2.30 call. 2.30, it was 2.30. 2.30, because of light, daylight hours. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that. That's the earliest I've ever been called. I will never complain again. I don't complain. It is what it is, but.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
John, John was my, you were my comrade in this, like, I mean, we did this for six seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And John, I mean, you guys got a little flavor of it at the end, but like, this was our every day. And John always had the best attitude, but also I love that John, you were like, rip it off. At the end of the day, you were like, I just, I don't care. Yeah.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
I'm like, I have to protect my skin. And you were like, I don't care.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
I was like, if they could flash forward to season six and see that Miguel episode. Slow burn, guys.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
but to be able to share that all together was so special too because there are very few moments where we actually gathered as a group to watch the show and like celebrate the fruits of our labor and it just the culmination of you know six years over a hundred episodes of all working together and to see your storyline sort of wrapped up in such a profoundly beautiful way was just it was very a memory I definitely will cherish yeah
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Randall always was okay with Miguel. Yeah. Like there was a deep understanding of the role he played in their lives and the life of this family. And there was, I think the recognition of how happy he made Rebecca, that it took Kevin a long time to get there.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Correct. Which happened later in life. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
But the initial, there wasn't that same initial rub that there was between Miguel and Kevin, which we just were watching back the Pilgrim Rick episode, which is where Miguel asked to wear the Pilgrim Rick hat and Kevin just like shuts him down immediately.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
That's how you played him. It was a choice.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
What we're talking about. How terrible. I love that.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Ding, ding, ding, ding. Winner, winner. That's young me. Still counts.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
I thought he was gonna look at me like- That was a weird choice that you made.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Okay. Let's take it back to the very, very beginning. What was your experience like being cast on the show? What was, did you read the script? Did you just meet with Dan? Like what was, how did it go down?
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Well, clearly you loved directing so much because you've really gone on and made that like a huge part of your life now. And so This Is Us was like your first experience directing.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Yeah, Ken doesn't know what a podcast is. You're right.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
That's not... But bro, like the thing, but you could use it to just do video games.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Of course, there's no way you could have. And if you did come around.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
But I'm so grateful that I got to do this with you, John. Because I think we had such a specific experience together.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
i just like to know that i had a partner in crime like you to lean on to go through the prosthetics with to tell the story with quite frankly it was just like it was so joyful there was never a moment on set when we weren't laughing and smiling and having fun like even in the harder moments you know yeah and i'm just like yeah i will be forever grateful that that the show like brought us together and we got to do it together
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Like, dude is ridiculous. Everything. Dude is ridiculous. I was like, oh, and a scuba diver. Like, the list goes on and on and on.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
You have to come back so we can dive into some specific episodes with you at some point.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
And you have no sides. So you're like, oh, I'm unprepared. I have nothing to read.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
God, I wish that were opposed to me every audition. I'd be like, yeah, I'm good.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
So then they- That's how it was broken to you.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
You are the mayor of this town and this industry. It's true. It's true. I can attest, we all picketed during the SAG strike last year together quite a bit, and we couldn't walk five feet without somebody being like, John!
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Or you meet someone. Someone will come up to me, they'll be like, I'm really good friends with somebody that you worked with. I'm like, John Martez? They're like, yeah. I'm like, you're just that guy.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
And was there any solace provided to you by Dan or the writers of like, this is where the story is going? Like, be patient or just like, stick it out.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Yeah. There was that conspiracy floating around for a while.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Oh, yeah. I mean, people thought a lot of crazy things.
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
Oh, the vibe was definitely different. You didn't think so?
That Was Us
RE-RELEASE - Jon Huertas and Us | Miguel Rivas
I will say, my experience was... People were... We didn't have too... I mean, over the years, I guess we definitely had some time where we were together as younger people. It was Jack and Rebecca, and then obviously you were with Shelly.