Frankie J. Alvarez Talks 'Looking' Season 2, Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett! [Exclusive]

Audiences are anxiously awaiting for Season 2 of Looking to begin on HBO. In an exclusive interview with MStars News, actor Frankie J. Alvarez talks about his role as Agustín, working alongside with Jonathan Groff and Murray Bartlett, and what's in store for the second season.

Looking revolves around the lives of three friends in San Francisco. Patrick (Jonathan Groff), Agustín (Alvarez), and Dom (Murray Bartlett) deal with romance, heartaches, and hidden secrets but their loyal bond remains unbreakable. At the age of 31, Agustín agreed to move in with his long-term boyfriend in Oakland, but he became a little bit unsure about monogamy and losing the energy of city life.

Before the second season premieres on HBO January 11th, Alvarez discusses in-depth with MStars about his role as Agustín, the camaraderie with his co-stars, and what viewers should expect in upcoming episodes.

MStars News: How did you become involved in Looking?

Frankie J. Alvarez: I graduated from Juilliard in 2010 and I bounced around the country and did a bunch of regional theater. And then, the last play I did was in the winter of 2013. I did this play called "The Whipping Man" and I played a Jewish confederate soldier who comes home to his newly freed slave. And I had a big beard for that and I ended up getting the audition for Richie.

 So I sent in a tape for that part and they liked me, but I wasn't quite right for that part. So they moved me over to the Augustin track. I sent in a couple more tapes for Augustin as well and then I ended up skyping with Andrew Haigh, our showrunner and Carmen Cuba, our casting director. I did the scene for them a couple times and they gave me some notes .

And then, they invited me to the big screen test the following week in LA. So I closed the show on Saturday, I came to New York, I watched the Super Bowl, the Giants won again! Thank God; they suck now! [Laughs] Then that Monday, we flew out to LA, Tuesday and Wednesday was the chemistry read, and by Friday, I was cast. My whole life changed in a week; it was pandemonium.

MS: Tell me what interests you about your character, Agustín.

FA: I love how bold he is. Everything he does he does in a bold way. And that's exciting as an actor to get behind. I think he has a devilish sense of humor and certainly this season, I get to play with the more playful side of Augustin. He can be a moody, dark, brooding character and for an actor, it's just gold to mine that.

And also, Agustín is pretty different from who I am. So anytime you're transforming into a different person, it's a blast to build a bridge from you to that person. I love it and I was saying before in an earlier interview, that if it was 20 episodes, I would jump at the chance. I love this show and I can't say enough good things about it.

MS: Tell me where Agustín fits with his friends. He's stuck in the middle. He's not the youngest and he's not quite the oldest.

FA: I think you're completely right; he is completely stuck in the middle. He's not naïve in his sexuality, So I think that he provides a perfect foil to Patrick, who can be a little naïve in that way. But in terms of human relations and his friendships, he can be a little striated and can sometimes be so self-absorbed, that he doesn't look out for other peoples feelings.

And I think that's definitely something that Dom and Patrick are a little better at. The three of them together are kind of the perfect man, but since they're not one man, they have a good system of checks and balances. They take good care of each other.

And similarly, Jonathan and Murray and I, off-camera, we have a similar kind of friendship where the three of us have a good rapport. We all hang out with each other and each other's significant others, and we keep each other in check, and keep each other honest. It's a great friendship!

Check out this Looking clip here:

MS: Where do we see Augustine in the first episode, Looking for the Promised Land, of season two?

FA: Well, going back to the last episode of the first season, he's pretty much hit rock bottom. He's homeless, jobless, boyfriend-less and directionless.

The first episode of season 2 is about 6/7 weeks from those events and he's still reeling. He's still lost, thankfully Patrick has taken him in again at the apartment, but besides that he doesn't have a job, doesn't have any sort of romantic prospects, and he's lost and doesn't really know where to start from.

So the circumstances of that first episode Patrick and Dom, they all go out to Lynn's cabin up in Danville and that's an escapade for all of them, but specifically for Agustín, to maybe get a little cleaned up, drinking a lot, going out a lot, taking a lot of drugs. His friends are starting to worry about him. The rock bottom that he hit, there's actually more bottom to hit before he comes out of it.

Check out this cast video interview here:

MS: What I really liked about and I what I really felt was integral about the show was your dynamic chemistry with your costars, Jonathan and Murray. How did that come about between the three of you?

FA: When we had that screen test in LA, we met in a room together the three of us and were waiting around in rooms and meanwhile other actors are testing for our parts as well, they're mixing and matching, looking for the right combination. And for whatever reason, they put the three of us in a room together and introduced each other and ran through the lines.

We already had a good rapport, we were laughing at each other and I remember that Tuesday making a comment after we went in for a read and saying, "Oh my god! This is the dream team, the three of us together. This is a dream team."

 I didn't think too much of it then, but then sure enough, they ended up casting the three of us. It just goes to show that from the beginning, we all felt really comfortable with each other. There's not diva in the bunch, so everyone's really open and generous. And we support each other.

Nobody's trying to outshine the other and I think that really is the true testament to chemistry. We want the show to succeed instead of any sort of certain individual. We realize that certain individuals have to take a backseat at certain moment. I think we all really have a good give and take depending on the circumstances of the story.

We want the story to shine, and we want the characters to shine; not any one actor. So there's a good sense of playfulness and generosity that we have off-camera, that we bring on-camera. I think that's really the secret to the chemistry. We just love each other and we also don't take each other too seriously; so it's fun!

Check out the Invitation to the Set here:

MS: What I really felt stood out was the rhythm between the three of you with the dialogue and how you each reacted to each other's sentences. How did that rhythm come about?

FA: That's a really good question! I think certainly in the second season after watching the first season and seeing which takes made it into which episodes, you start to see what's the tone of the show and what the show runners are going for. So you have a much more specific ear in the second season because you know what the show is. But the first season, I think we were just kind of coasting on chemistry and figuring it out as we went along. So at this point, we don't really think about it too much anymore, but the goal obviously is for you as a viewer to feel like you're in the room with these guys and that they're having a conversation with you. That they're real people and you're a real person too, so all of us are real people together in your living room, having this shared experience.

Check out Frankie J. Alvarez here:

MS: In the first episode, Agustín reveals, "I've given up on being an artist." Tell me about Augustin's mindset in the upcoming season.

FA: He's definitely directionless and he knows that if he were to throw himself back into the art world, he's going to become self-absorbed and not a good person to be around. I think he's starting to feel an awareness of that. So he's avoiding that at all costs. I think he wants to make a mark in the world with himself. He just doesn't know how to do it.

And in the art world, I think he puts on a kind of persona. A version of himself that the world might deem cool, but in the process he loses himself.

And the second season is all about, "Well, I don't have to put on airs for anybody, so who am I really at my core?" And I think in getting this new job, which happens in a later episode, and exploring this friendship that becomes romantic with the Eddie character, played by Danny Franzese. 

You start to see a new side of him and he starts to find sides of himself that obviously viewers haven't seen. But you get to see maybe a glimpse of the Agustín that went to college with Patrick, the guy that became friends with all of these guys' years ago. He starts to come out of his shell a little bit.

MS: What other projects are you working on now?

FA: I like to write stuff on the side, so me and my best friend and a couple actors in the city we've been work shopping this original musical about a band who hit it big, and they get back together for reunion concert. And it's called "Those Lost Boys" at the moment. We actually might change the title, but we've got some summer workshops going on.

And then a buddy of mine and I are working on a treatment for a baseball movie. So they're writing projects. So much in an actor's life is out of your control, so it's nice to be able to have a creative project that you're in control of and you can pour your creative energies into something. And it beats being cold in the snow and separated, at least you can warm up with a pen and pad.

The second second of Looking begins Sunday, January 11 on HBO at 10pm.

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