‘Mayans M.C.’ Reveals New Behind-The-Scenes Photo: ‘Wear It Proud’

FX shared another behind the scenes photo from the Mayans M.C. set, showing actors Clayton Cardenas and Michael Irby between scenes as they film the Sons of Anarchy spin-off.

“Wear it proud,” reads the caption, referring to the two actors wearing their full Mayans outfits in the photo.

The image shows the back of Cardenas, while Irby sits in the background, out of focus.

Cardenas stars as Angel Reyes, a full patch member of the Mayans M.C. His brother, Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, is the main character on the show.

As for Irby, he stars as Obispo “Bishop” Losa, the president of the Mayans M.C. Santo Padre Chapter.

Irby almost did not appear on Mayans M.C. He came on after creators Kurt Sutter and Elgin James chose to re-shoot the pilot with new actors. During rewrites, Irby’s Bishop replaced John Ortiz’s character. Bishop is an Iraq War veteran whose cousin is Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera), the Mayans M.C. Oakland charter president.

“We replaced John Ortiz with Michael Irby, and that was really in the writing because I had that [club leader] Bishop being a little bit more indecisive. He was under the wing of Alvarez [Sons‘ vet Emilio Rivera]. And we realized what it did is undermine the power of that charter, of that MC, so we changed that character,” Sutter explained in a July interview with Deadline. “He became a military guy, more aggressive, and John just wasn’t the right choice for that and that’s why we went to Irby. It had nothing to do, honestly, with performance.”

Irby also starred in a behind-the-scenes clip released on Aug. 14, in which he said he was in it for the “long haul.”

“I have to come here everyday and ride motorcycles, smoke cigarettes, play guitar, hang out with mi familia,” Irby said, before jokingly adding, “It sucks.”

Before starring in Mayans M.C., Irby also appeared in episodes of The Unit, CSI: Cyber, True Detective Season Two, Lie to Me, Bones and Person of Interest. He also starred in Fast Five and Law Abiding Citizen.

Mayans M.C. stars J.D. Pardo as EZ, who joins the motorcycle club after finishing his prison sentence, and is set about three years after the end of Sons of Anarchy. Edward James Olmos and Jacqueline Obradors star as his parents, while Sarah Bolger plays his former childhood sweetheart. Other members of the cast include Danny Pino, Frankie Loyal Delgado, Richard Cabral, Carla Baratta, Aleandra Barreto, Tony Plana and Raoul Trujillo.

“It expands on what that world is from a completely different perspective,” Olmos told Variety during the red carpet premiere on Tuesday night. “It’s been adapted not only in sociological ways. Also it’s deeply into politics, religion, and in a lot of issues that really weren’t touched in SOA.”

Mayans M.C. debuts on FX Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 10 p.m. ET.