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People are just going through it with Ruby, Genao says.
Or Im having a mental breakdown cause Rubys crying.
Genao, 22, grew up in Jersey City in a Dominican family.
On My Blockfans were freaking out for a year about whether Ruby died.
What was that like for you?It was insane.
I would walk down the street and people would be like, Are you alive?
Or theyd see me in physical form and theyd be like, Oh my God, youre alive.
And Im like, Yeah, Jasons alive.
It was insane every day.
How does that feel, though?
The reaction is the same and it makes me really happy.
I remember watching these movies and completely forgetting I was even in my house.
It was my escape.
When did you realize you wanted to act?I was 9.
I remember it so clearly.
I thought I wanted to direct.
If I feel I could say it better, Ill make a run at say it better.
If I feel like theyre doing amazing, then Ill venture to say it just like they did.
So, basically, I should never watch a movie with you.[Laughs.]
I go to the theater all the time and and the people are like,Que le pasa?
[whats wrong with him?]
and Im like,Perdon[sorry].
What were your first impressions of Ruby?Oh my God, this boy dont shut up.
I thought he was so opposite of myself.
Initially, my agent sent me out for the role of Cesar.
It felt like Id be getting down in the nitty-gritty of this whole acting stuff.
Hes got mad party-planning skills.I like his parties.
And he does taxes.That, I cannot do.
Can you relate to the world of Freeridge?
But when I was younger, it was completely Freeridge.
It was not the best place to live.
I had cousins and friends in gangs and that was so normal to me.
That was and still is the norm.
I feel more at ease and natural in places in L.A. that resemble Jersey City than in Beverly Hills.
You just see the things that are so stereotypical with where we live.
But thats just where you are, as opposed to who you are to become.
I grew up around my girl cousins and none of us fell into that.
We just wanted to have our own little community.
Whats been the most challenging part of playing Ruby?
Was there a part of him that was hard to land?Learning my lines is definitely the hardest.
But its funny, those big monologues are the easiest cause Ill always create a rhythm for them.
When Ruby speaks just a little bit, Im like,Thats all?
But episode ten we didnt get until a week prior.
I heard someone say something about abuelita winning the lottery and thats what I thought was gonna happen.
I thought they were gonna move somewhere.
And then we got the script.
So Im reading the last page and I was getting teary-eyed and emotional.Oh my God, Ruby!
You dont see it coming.
Everythings going great at thequinceanera.Nothing in the show led us to believe that Ruby was ever in danger.
This was Cesars thing.
This was Spookys thing.
This was a Latrelle thing.
For this to happen to Ruby, it was just heartbreaking.
Like, bringing her back in some other form.
But it just didnt work.
Im never gonna let this happen to yall again.
He felt bad for the family, and it left him with a permanent pain.
And then it happens again, but now he has a son.
But I had to play it how Ruby would play it.
Hes this 14-year-old, really innocent, really high-energy, high-strung child.
Hes still a child.
Later, your scene with Diego is so moving.
Tell me about filming that.It wasnt that many takes.
Im just one of those actors that when Im there, Im there.
Yall are really good!
So I just take those, hold onto it, and then afterwards, Im pretty easygoing.
Diego can stay in it longer.
Because Cesar is so dramatic, he doesnt have to leave that.
Theres a lot of comedy and attitude to Ruby, so its a bigger hill to jump.
Its funny to me that Ruby hates her so much.
They won a dance-off together.That was the funnest scene to film.We got a choreographer.
She was the directors friend and she came up from Hawaii.
She was a fan of the show and she did it for free.
When I didThe Get Down,there were days we had to go to choreography.
Ruby also hosted a great baby shower and wore an amazing uniform.Oh my God, Ruby is a lot.
He had a headset.
Jason, Sierra, Brett, and Diego are the leads of this show.
Were not a bunch of kids who had it handed easy.
My brother and my father worked hard just to make $2,000 for me to go to acting school.
And thats the story I come from.
I had absolutely no idea, no clue, that this is where Id be.
This is a different form of success that I never saw coming.
I still have no idea how to process it.
My parents dont get it either.
They watch the show and theyre so supportive, but theyre also like,Whats happening?
One time, there was a role and the casting director loved me.
It was between me and some other person.
And they were like, You might just be a little too short.
Its never been something with my ethnicity, but I do get the discrimination for being shorter.
If youd worry more about that, youd have much better movies.
What would be a dream role for you?I look a lot at Tilda Swinton for my career.
because she has a mustache and shes a guy.
I just think no one on this Earth has more fun than Tilda on a set.
Shes a guy sometimes, shes a girl sometimes, she has an accent or she doesnt.
