‘Mayans M.C.’ Star JD Pardo Details On-Set Motorcycle Accident

Learning how to ride a motorcycle is no easy task, even for Mayans M.C. actor J.D. Pardo, who had an accident on his first day of shooting.

“[I] went to Harley school, and then a couple weeks later they slapped us onto these machines, right? And the [Sons of Anarchy], they’re riding Dynas,” Pardo told The Wrap in a new interview Friday. “For me, that’s easier to control than riding a soft-tail deluxe with, like, 22-inch ape hangers. Cause your arms are, you know, up here… And you’re turning with your body.”

Even though he was inexperienced, Pardo got “cocky” on the bike, apparently forgetting what Han Solo once said. Everything was going well during the first day of shooting, until it was not.

“On one of the takes, I go down, and I go to make a U-turn, and the lip of my tire just catches some loose gravel and I just slip off it. And I panic, and so I immediately — you feel that air, so you just go the other way to fight it, and the bike turned off,” Pardo told The Wrap. “Luckily I hit the kill switch and I just turned over with the bike.”

Pardo called the incident “embarrassing” and the stunt coordinator started yelling at him to be more careful.

Since then, Pardo has gotten comfortable with his bike.

“I just have so much more respect for that bike,” he said.

Pardo stars as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes on the Sons of Anarchy spin-off. At the beginning of the series, EZ has just gotten out of prison and is no longer the golden boy for his community. He joins the Mayans M.C., and his brother Angel (Clayton Cardenas) is already a full patch member.

“There’s a lot going on with him emotionally and mentally. He’s really locked up. He’s feeling a lot of shame for having to come back home to a town that, you know, had all these high hopes for him,” Pardo told The Wrap. “He’s trying to rebuild himself. He’s putting the pieces back together.”

The series also stars Edward James Olmos and Jacqueline Obradors as EZ’s parents, and Sarah Bolger as EZ’s former childhood sweetheart. Emilio Rivera reprises his SOA role as Marcus Alvarez, the President of the Mayans M.C. Oakland Charter.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter created the series with Elgin James.

Mayans M.C. debuts on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 10 p.m. ET on FX. The series premiere is already available to stream on FX+.

Photo credit: FX