Lucifer season 3: Kevin Alejandro on evolving Dan, directing

Lucifer star Kevin Alejandro spoke to FanSided about how Dan Espinoza is evolving in Lucifer season 3, and how he’s evolving his career as a director.

On FOX‘s Lucifer, Kevin Alejandro is the relatively normal one. His character, Dan Espinoza, just wants to do his job at the LAPD and deal with the fact that his latest love interest doesn’t know they were ever together.

But Lucifer season 3 has brought new opportunities and new steps forward for Dan, and talking to FanSided, Kevin told us how his character has changed from the “Detective Douche” that fans met at the start of the show.

He also spoke with us about how he’s making great strides in his own journey, having moved into the world of directing with his new film Bedtime Story, which earned two awards including Best Director at the Hollywood Short Film Festival.

Check out what Kevin Alejandro had to tell us below and catch all-new episodes of Lucifer every Monday at 8 p.m. on FOX.

FanSided: Dan was originally somewhat of an antagonist who didn’t like Chloe working with Lucifer and could be a bit rigid. Now we’re seeing him more relaxed and even in some comedic subplots. How much has your perception of him changed?

Kevin Alejandro (KA): I wouldn’t say changed, I would say evolved. He’s evolved into someone a little deeper than he was. It’s a lot more because of the writing. They’re giving him a lot more to do and digging into his personality a little more. I’m learning he’s a lot funnier than he was in the first couple seasons.

FanSided: Does it feel like you’re getting different things to do in Lucifer season 3 than in the first two seasons? Particularly lighter material?

KA: Yeah and I don’t mind that, actually, because it’s fun. Comedy’s always been something I’ve been attracted to. I’m very lucky to be able to play a character that’s evolving into that world and still being able to maintain what I love the most about it — the drama of it all.

FanSided: One of the most pleasant surprises of the series has been the evolving relationship between Dan and Amenadiel. How has it been to work with DB Woodside and craft that really cool friendship?

KA: It’s fantastic. DB’s a great actor. He’s very well trained and comes to work prepared and he heightens my game, like all the other [actors] do. He’s such a kind soul and so giving that it makes for a really fun and interesting dynamic duo. There’s definitely more of that side this season.

FanSided: By now, it seems like Dan is the most normal character on this show. Is that sort of how he fits in?

KA: I think he definitely is. We’ve got the therapist [Linda], but shes going through her own sort of turmoil right now. It sort of takes her out of her comfort zone, which Rachael [Harris] does an amazing job handling. I think Dan is sort of the glue into the honest world of police work, to trying to figure out some of the strange things.

FanSided: Is it fun to essentially play the straight man of the series to the other characters?

KA: I love being the straight man of the show. He’s a grounding force. I think that’s what makes him work. As an audience member, we like to get lost into the surreal, strange sort of fantastical comic world and he’s the anchor. He reminds you that they’re living in Los Angeles and has a natural human response to whatever oddities that happen.

FanSided: Speaking of normal people, he’s still trying to rekindle things with Charlotte Richards now that she’s normal and not inhabited by Lucifer’s mother. Where is that headed?

KA: You’re going to be able to watch the relationship between Dan and Charlotte Richards evolve, and the characters have an honest answer as to whether or not they can rekindle what they had when she was a celestial being.

FanSided: You’ll be directing an episode of Lucifer season 3, and you directed a short film called Bedtime Story that will be at Mammoth Film Festival in February. How did you get interested in also being behind the camera?

KA: I’ve always been interested in the directing part of it. For some reason the last couple of years it’s really started to whisper in my ear a lot louder. I started becoming a little more obsessed with it and realized I didn’t know much about it. I decided to take it upon myself, to challenge myself to learn the different parts of what it takes to create your own project.

I started doing these short films with a cheap camera that I had, with my buddies. I started a channel called Alejandro Films, and it was basically a challenge for myself — to learn how to direct, how to tell a story, how to edit, how to choose music and put together everything on a micro budget to no budget. Through that came a stronger desire.

Then I started shadowing some of my favorite directors on the show, and that evolved even further. I heard about the Warner Bros. Directors’ Program so I inquired about it. You had to already have some pretty strong credentials to get accepted into it. You had to have already directed an episode of television or had a short film or feature film that was accepted into festivals, which I had none of that.

I had replicas of their requirements on a low budget scale, and luckily after I submitted it they saw the potential and went and granted me acceptance into the program, which was amazing. We met every Saturday for six to eight hours, and worked on what it took to direct a episode of television. Through that I think I did my best and people saw that, and they approved me to direct episode 22 of the [Lucifer] season.

FanSided: Has directing changed the way you look at a script as an actor?

KA: It did. It taught me to break down a script in a different way. Actors, we get emotionally involved with the way we’re going to say things and do in that moment. You do the same thing as a director, but you also break it down in a very technical aspect of how to tell the story, and you’re already thinking of what it’s going to look like as an edit. I didn’t break it down that way as an actor and now I’m able to be in both worlds and see a different dynamic. It’s been fantastic to be able to have that bit of extra ammunition on the way I break down a script.

FanSided: You’ve accomplished a lot both in front of and now behind the camera. How would you say you’re a different actor now?

KA: I think I’m more willing to fail now … Now as my career has evolved and more people are trusting me with different shows and different characters, I’ve been giving a more relaxed take on going into a audition or going into a project, where I’m treating it not only like where I’m eager to get this, it’s where I treat it [with] more responsibility. It’s not about I hope I get it, it’s more about I hope that I can be able to take myself into whatever situation they give me and make it honest. It’s matured me.

I’m very excited to let people know that my directing is a new venture I’m going into and I’m being trusted to direct our show. I’m doing a festival run with my short film. Be looking out for those kind of things too, because I plan on making that just as serious a part of my life as my acting is.

(Source: Fansided)

Written by Brittany Frederick