RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ: It would be nice if I could say, “Yeah, we knew exactly what the top of Season 3 was gonna be.” We had no idea. Nobody knew. Not a clue. And that’s just the truth. So, what ends up happening is that we go on our break, our hiatus, and everyone gets a little refresh. And then, we start having those conversations. What could be interesting? Where is Will? That kept being the question. Where do we find Will? What’s he doing? Where has he been? What happened to everyone else? Where are they at? Where have they been? How do they feel about what he did? How does he feel about what he did? And so, it was a lot of chatting. I feel like we ended up in a really nice place.
Will needed a reset. He had to go away and step away and have some time alone and really reflect. He took Betty with him, of course, because he wasn’t gonna leave her. He just need to strip away. He lost the suit. He just wanted to restart. But what was fun, in addition to him escaping and getting away, we talked about how we could show him evolving in certain aspects. One of the ways that we thought would be interesting to show that was with his dyslexia. He’s always been so ashamed of being dyslexic, and a lot of things in his life. Now, he’s got this app, Eduardo, that he can talk to and he’s not hiding behind it anymore. We thought that was a real powerful thing for him. And he needed time to think about what he did, with his decision to arrest Angie and walking away from that. It was a fun way to show him in a very new environment, looking very different. And then, the question became, how do we reel him back in?
I’m glad he wasn’t so distraught that he left Betty behind.
RODRÍGUEZ: No way. Can’t do that.
What was it like to play this version of Will Trent, in this mindset and mental space, where he’s actually in a t-shirt and jeans? That, alone, says a lot about him when his wardrobe typically defines him.
RODRÍGUEZ: Totally. It was a real fun conversation with Mary Jane [Fort], our costume designer, about what this raw, rustic Will looks and feels like. I remember when I walked on set the first day, it took everyone a minute. I had a beard. My hair was curly and messy. I was in a t-shirt. Everyone was like, “Where’s our guy?”
Do you think it had to be Amanda to go get him? If he was going to listen to anybody, did it have to be someone with her authority to get him to come back?
RODRÍGUEZ: She represents a lot for him. She’s almost this maternal figure. But even more than that, it was the fact that she brought up a name from his past, Rafael Wexford, that she didn’t know and that nobody knew. It’s someone from his childhood. We’ll learn, at some point in Season 3, what happened to these two that was enough to bring Will back, basically out of retirement, into this world. It’s a big deal that we allude to throughout the first two episodes. Rafael says, “You own me,” so there’s a debt of some sort that Will owes this character. It was a very specific time when they first met. Will was in the foster care system, in his late teens, and he met this guy, Rafael, who took him in, and he lived with his grandmother. They have a pretty rich history. But something happened that somehow Rafael has not forgotten, and it really brings back all those memories when Amanda comes and says his name and says, “Here’s this case. It involves this gang leader.” I think that is essentially the thing that truly brought him back. If it was just another case, I think he would have said no. But because it was something that was tied to his childhood and a debt that he owes, it resonated enough to get him to say, “All right, I’ll go back.”
Ramón Rodríguez Explains How Will Trent Got a Wet Willy in the Season 3 Premiere’s Fight Scene
What was it like to shoot the fight scene between the two of you, including you getting the wet willy?
RODRÍGUEZ: I directed the premiere episode, and casting the character of Rafael was a real process because we knew he was going to be somebody that was going to be ongoing. The actor’s name is Antwayn Hopper. He’s a New York theater actor. He’s fantastic. And when I saw his take, I was like, “That’s our guy.” He came in and truly embodied the character and brought so much to him. We had rehearsed before we started shooting. I wanted to get some time with him because I knew we were gonna have some big scenes in addition to the fight. We had the cell scene when he’s arrested and he says, “You owe me.” We spoke about specifics and what happened. That fight, for me, because it’s the first time we see them together, I wanted to be able to show something that was fun, violent because it’s a fight, and that also shows their history.
There was a moment when we were standing there and I had this idea and said, “What if Rafael gives Will a wet willy, which is so annoying and will just piss Will off.” We just did little things like that, where we got to play. I found a great piece of music to go along with it. And then, the grandma walks in and you can really see that these guys are like brothers. They’re just brothers who were separated, but who are also on opposite sides of the law now. Rafael is someone who continuously ends up being involved in criminal things that are always on Will’s radar. And yet, what keeps him brought up, as well, is that debt. We will eventually get to that thing that happened in their childhood that Rafael holds over him.
With the new characters this season, we very quickly get a sense of who they are and where they’ve come from, which isn’t easy to do. What was it like to add Gina Rodriguez to the mix? What does she bring to the show and the dynamic with Will?
RODRÍGUEZ: When we were talking and coming up with the ideas for Season 3 and some characters to be introduced, Rafael was one and Marion was another. We knew it’d be really great to find a great person to come in to play Marion who could play that character throughout the season. There was a short list of actors, and Gina was someone that I’ve known for a while. We’ve never worked together. She actually had mentioned to me, when I wrapped Season 2, “My family loves your show. When are you bringing me on? When do I get to come?” And I was like, “I will, if we find a great role.” And we did.
It’s a really fun role where we were excited to introduce a character that’s a breath of fresh air. She’s someone that’s nimble, can be funny, and can be dramatic. The real great thing is that a lot of Marion Alba’s qualities seem to align with certain things that matter to Will. Truth and facts are something that really resonate deeply for Will. And so, in that first scene, when they meet at the café, and he’s there for a case and runs into her and finds out she was there to meet someone, and then she gets a little scared, and he vomits what he’s been going through and what he did, she doesn’t run away. She’s just intrigued by him. We love her. She’s someone that just starts to show up for him in ways that not many people have, and that really means a lot to Will. He’s someone who hasn’t had people show up for him, and she’s a whole new breath of fresh air. It starts professional, but it does go from there. It builds.
Ramón Rodríguez Teased Life-Changing Events Are Still To Come in Season 3 of ‘Will Trent’
The two-part premiere gave us a good idea of what this season could be and what might happen. What would you say to tease what’s next? Was there anything that you really wanted to get to in Season 3 that you couldn’t do before? What are you particularly excited about with this season?
RODRÍGUEZ: Directing was a big deal. When you’re an actor and wanting to direct, what’s easiest is to be able to do the first episode because you can prep. Being able to do that was a major bucket list check that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. And to do the first episode, which is a big episode, was huge. Because it’s the premiere, they give you more time. It just was a large episode. We had this big action sequence with this big fight. There were a lot of moving parts. So, that was an amazing thing to be able to do. With the season as a whole, Liz [Heldens], Dan [Thomsen], myself and everyone involved, we just wanted to try to create and find ways to continue elevating the show. How do you find new cases or new discoveries for these characters, emotionally, to keep audiences intrigued?
We’re in the middle of filming right now. We’re past the halfway point. There are some really difficult things coming up for Will that are new things that we’ve never seen, that end up changing him potentially forever. It’s exciting that we’re still finding new things that get us excited, as actors and creators, but the writers have just continually stepped up. We wanna just keep finding new plot twists and interesting things. Where the Angie-Will story goes is gonna be really interesting for people. What we do a lot of, throughout the season, which I’m very excited about as well, is that we do cases that go on beyond just one episode. That’s great because you get more invested. It also means we get to have a great guest cast. I feel like our guest cast this season has been incredible. The folks that we’ve had come in and play with us in certain roles have been really, really wonderful, and that’s something that you get to do when it’s not just case of the week.
