Tanya Saracho has spent years on other people’s sets, and creating a household name for herself. As a playwright and unifying voice for the Latinx community, Saracho’s “Vida” is taking her to the next level of activism and storytelling.
The Knockturnal: I’d love to talk about how you put this family together. How that process was of casting it?
Tanya Saracho: We have an amazing cast, they are lovely, and so talented. When people say the pool is so shallow, it is not true. The pool is wide. We have not had access of opportunity to these roles. They all just came in for auditions. I saw Ser in a play and I rushed them in the lobby, and said, “You are my Eddy.” But the rest of the cast we saw tapes, and then they came in and we worked with them.
The Knockturnal: Was there anything that surprised you in filming or in post?
Saracho: I dreamed about this world for a long time, so it wasn’t me who was surprised. I think it was everyone else, especially after they saw the first episode. They didn’t know it was going to look like that, even the people who shot it. I was the only one with all the pieces. I was there with the scripts, at filming, and then I was there in post. The actors were surprised that it looked cinematic, and how important music was going to be for me. We portrayed amazing Latina indie artists. Now the world is created.
The Knockturnal: When did this journey start for you?
Saracho: February 2016 was when we shook hands on it. They pitched gentrification and “Chipsters” to me. They asked if I could write a pilot, and I said yes. Here we are.
The Knockturnal: Do you have a character that you identify with the most?
Saracho: All four are little pieces of me. Eddy has my heart, Mari has my head, Emma has a lot of my damage, and all my bad habits are Lyn’s. All of them are me. But now the beautiful actors have made them their own.
The Knockturnal: Was any part of the process particularly difficult?
Saracho: This was the first time, I did this. I am on-set all the time, but I wasn’t prepared for how tiring that was. I was always trying to keep the energy up and be present. These actors are so amazing and they like each other. We are a little family, and all starting this journey together. It was my first time, and their first time. We are all rising together.
The Knockturnal: Has it been really different from other shows you’ve worked on?
Saracho: Yes. On other shows, I was a renderer. You try to guess what the showrunner wants: the tone and the voice. You try to recreate that for them. For this, I was the last “yes” or “no”. You get to make sure the story is being told the way you want to tell it. I have also had so much support from STARZ and Big Beach. We are great co-parents of this world.
The show airs Sundays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ttPSaqhF0
