Kevin Alejandro Discusses ‘Lucifer’ Season 5 and That Pivotal Dan Moment [Exclusive Interview] (Tell-Tale TV)

Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 is now available on Netflix, and if you’ve already finished watching all eight episodes, you know what an important season it is for Dan Espinoza.

I recently spoke with Kevin Alejandro, who plays Dan on the series, about his character’s pivotal moment, how it will affect things moving forward, and directing the midseason finale.

By the way, this article contains spoilers for Lucifer Season 5 Part 1. If you haven’t finished watching, please go do so and then come back once you have.

Alejandro and I began our conversation by talking about the recent news that Lucifer has been renewed for a sixth season — news that came as quite a surprise for everyone.

“The show’s finale was already written, and we were about to start shooting it and Netflix changed their minds,” Alejandro recalled. He said that everyone working on the show “came in giving 110%, thinking great this is it, we’re going to go out big, we’re going to go out hard, and we’re not going to disappoint. So we threw our soul into it. And then they said, ‘We changed our minds!’ Now we’re like, how the hell could we ever get better than what we just did? And low and behold, it was a challenge, but our staff is doing it — putting together an incredible ending, and hopefully we’ll end with the audience going, ‘Thank you. That’s exactly how this show should go.'”

With all of that good news, I asked Alejandro what the best part of working on has been.

“Being part of something from the very beginning and being able to see it through to the end is just a remarkable feeling,” he said. “And I gotta tell you, that’s an easy answer for me because I love every aspect of our show, and I love the people that are involved in it, so that’s what makes it the best. All those elements and getting to do the scenes with the people I get to do the scenes with, to show up to work and be around people who genuinely love creating the show together is the highlight of the entire experience.”

As I noted above, Lucifer Season 5 is an important season for Alejandro’s character. Dan is focused on trying to be a better person, and in the midst of it all, thanks to Lucifer’s twin brother Michael, he becomes the next person to see Lucifer’s real face. 

“They’ve really done Dan, the character, justice. One of the first things that I was attracted to about playing the character was how human he was and how flawed he is. I think he really represents that sort of human aspect of the show. And with that, with all of us as people, we look to make the right decisions in life. And whether the outcome is what we expect or not, it’s a true representation of the choice that you made, and he is a victim of all of his choices,” Alejandro explained.

LUCIFER (L to R) KEVIN ALEJANDRO as DAN ESPINOZA, TOM ELLIS as LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR, and LAUREN GERMAN as CHLOE DECKER in episode 103 of LUCIFER Cr. JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2020

“This season, he is faced with all kinds of questions. The reality of the world that he’s been living in just sort of slaps him in the face, on top of dealing with the loss of someone that he loves, on top of the realization of who Lucifer actually is, and questioning his entire belief system.”

“That’s just the beginning,” he continued. “We spiral out of control when it comes to true realizations of self-change, and it’s an uncontrollable sort of spiral until you’re able to sort of re-assess and re-gain a new stability and what that looks like. And you really get to watch Dan go through that, and I think it’s… he has some beautiful moments in the show.”

Speaking of seeing Lucifer’s real face, Alejandro shared how he approached that shocking moment. 

“It was actually kind of intimidating,” he admitted. “As an actor, you want to handle big situations like that, and emotional situations, respectfully and truthfully. So it’s like, ‘What can I tap into in myself that would relate to something so big. You know, obviously we’re never going to see the Devil’s face in real life, but what do I have, what can I think of that will give me a reaction that justifies something that big. When it’s something like that you really — coming from where I come from when I put things together as an actor is to respect the moment first, and I really had to find something that would respectfully challenge that situation.”

“Everything goes through his mind, you know? And that’s a challenge too. You want the audience to know that this is big, and that it’s earth-shattering, it’s life-shattering, it’s altering. And where do you go from there?”

Another shocking moment for Dan is when, in an act of desperation and thanks once again to Michael, he shoots Lucifer. (Luckily, it doesn’t injure him.)

“It’s a shot at redemption and his ultimate fear of going to Hell. Another celestial being comes in with a bit of a bargain, that’s yet again the human quality of, ‘I will try to redeem myself and if this is the only way I can do it, then here we go.’ And it is a cheap shot, but it’s a grasping at straws situation. I think that’s where he’s at in his headspace when that opportunity arises: ‘I have to think about, for selfish reasons, where I’m gonna spend eternity.’ It as all, I think, done out of fear.”

Alejandro and the other actors also had the chance to break form a bit with Lucifer Season 5 Episode 4, “It Never Ends Well for the Chicken,” the highly-anticipated noir episode. 

LUCIFER (L to R) LAUREN GERMAN as CHLOE DECKER and TOM ELLIS as LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR in episode 504 of LUCIFER Cr. JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2020

“For us as actors, it was like, what a great challenge to be able to sort of uproot ourselves from these characters that we already know and try to figure out a new world where these people still exist, but as different human beings. And it was a real challenge for a lot of us, particularly for me. But I gotta tell you, it was one of the funnest challenges that I’ve gotten to take on the show,” Alejandro said.

That episode isn’t just a gimmick, either. It provides important backstory for the remainder of the season. “We’re lucky to have the writers that we have because everything is rooted with some sort of, for lack of better words, because our show is a sort of a fantastical world, they try to root it in some sort of truth so that we as an audience can have something to grab ahold of. And I thought they did that same thing with that episode.”

Alejandro also stepped behind the camera again this season. He directed Lucifer Season 5 Episode 8, “Spoiler Alert,” which is the midseason finale. He called the opportunity “a great honor” and took some time to describe the episode’s big fight scene at the end with Lucifer, Amenadiel, Michael, and Maze.

“I got to direct one of the biggest fight scenes the show itself has gotten to see! It was a big challenge. It took us three days to shoot that, but it was so well-planned out that it went off without a hitch. We just trusted the fact that our stunt coordinator and our stunt team put together the best possible way to do it, and it was like a giant puzzle. But we figured it out, and we just went off and checked off the list and got everything we needed.”

Of course, that episode also offers a pretty significant moment with the appearance of God, played by Dennis Haysbert. “It was cool to be able to end the episode with that as the cliffhanger. It’s like, wow, I got to introduce God!” he laughed.

This is the second episode of Lucifer Alejandro has directed, and it’s something he says he’s becoming more and more interested in. 

“It’s just one of those things that sort of snuck up on me. I’ve always been an actor, and I’ve only ever thought from an actor’s perspective. It’s just part of my soul, and it’s my first true love and always will be. But then once directing crept in — I never thought that I’d like anything as much as acting, but directing is really starting to etch its way into my soul. It’s not just that. It’s storytelling in general. I have started a production company with my wife and my sister-in-law called Alejandro films, and even that new adventure is putting its claws into me. Just learning every aspect of filmmaking and knowing what it takes to get a story told has really started to present itself in a very big way.”

Alejandro gave a lot of credit to the people he works with for being able to pursue directing in the first place. “To be just straight up honest with you, I just got lucky to be able to be part of a show that really champions that part of my career. Once I started letting people know that was something I was interested in, no one let it be just an idea. They’re like, ‘Well then let’s do something about it. I will support you. I will champion you as a director if that’s where you wanna go.’ I’m very fortunate to have all the support that I do,” he said. “I’m so lucky to be where I’m at right now.”

One recent project that’s come from Alejandro films is Adult Night, which also stars Lucifer’s  Lesley-Ann Brandt.

“Adult Night is a short film that my wife and myself co-directed together. When we direct things together we go under the surname of Los Alejandros,” he explained. “And it was an opportunity for Lesley-Ann Brandt and I to flex a muscle that we don’t usually get to do, which is our comedic sides, and we found this story that was written by a friend of mine and we put it together.” 

“Lesley-Ann and I really trust each other when it comes to the work, and we feel safe with each other, and so we just have great chemistry when it comes to acting. We’re not afraid to fail with each other so I think that made the experience even greater. Adult Night is doing its festival run right now and it’s doing extremely well. We just got accepted into the New York Latino Film Festival, which is a huge one that I’ve always wanted to be a part of, and I’m so honored that we got accepted.” 

“It’s a very specific kind of humor. It’s sort of a heightened, circumstantial comedy,” he said. “It was just great, great fun.”

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Lucifer is currently available for streaming on Netflix. 

(Source: Tell-Tale TV)

Writer: Ashley Bissette Sumerel