‘Mayans M.C.’ Emily Tosta Reveals Wild Way She and Richard Cabral Developed Their On-Screen Characters (Exclusive)

Mayans M.C. is back for Season 3 and fans are loving every bit of the drama-filled show. Several cast members have opened up about how this season would be much different from the rest, and viewers are already noticing. However, something that separates the current season from the rest is the backstory that the writers include with each character, giving viewers a well-rounded view of everyone beyond the Kutte.

In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Emily Tosta (Leticia Cruz) detailed not only why fans need to “buckle up” for this season, but how she and Richard Cabral (Johnny “Coco” Cruz) — who plays her on-screen dad — brought their characters to life. “I feel like, since Season 1, Richard and I have been very, very adamant about working on our relationship and really immersing ourselves into our characters in Season 1,” Tosta explained in our @Home series. “Richard actually took me to skid row and we went to go visit a lot of places in downtown just to see what these people really lived like and what these people really went through and what it really means to grow up in the streets and to come from these cultures and to come from these backgrounds.”

The 23-year-old continued: “We would even set up talks with some people discussing their traumas and things that our characters deal with day-to-day. But this is a real thing. There’s actually people out there that are dealing with these things as well. So to us, it was always very important to just really dive deep into that for our character development.”

Since Season 3 started, Coco is now battling drug addiction to pain killers after suffering an eye injury at the end of Season 2. However, fans were able to get a glimpse of his childhood when the third episode dove into his earlier years and how his mother suffered from drug addiction, encouraging him not to do the same. Now, as he’s trying to dig himself out of a hole, things only seem to be getting worse for him. Tosta said that fans would definitely “see a lot of turning points” for both Coco and Leticia throughout the next several episodes.

While they may play family on screen, Tosta and Cabral, along with their fellow cast members, all feel like family off-screen as well. “That’s exactly what it is. we’re all one big family, and since Season 1, I mean, the guys have been so amazing.” The actress said that because they’re all so close and support each other so strongly, it makes going to work every day really fun.

Mayans M.C. airs on Tuesdays at 9 P.M. CT on FX, with new episodes streaming on Hulu the next day. Fans can catch up on the entire season and Hulu with a free trial.

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