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Ramón Rodríguez has never been content with wearing just one hat.
As the star, executive producer and now multi-episode director of ABC’s procedural crime drama “Will Trent,” he has built the creative ownership over a broadcast series that few actors achieve. Now in its fourth season, the series has continued to grow its audience year over year, earned its first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming and helped Rodríguez land a multi-year first-look deal with 20th Television through his production company, Altura Productions.
For Season 4, Episode 11, “He Lives!” — airing Tuesday — Rodríguez returned to Puerto Rico to direct what he calls the biggest episode the show has ever produced. The installment sends Will Trent racing to the island after a murdered man shares the name of his uncle, Antonio, plunging the GBI agent into a pursuit through dense rainforest terrain. For Rodríguez, the shoot was both a massive logistical undertaking and a deeply personal homecoming.
“There’s nothing like filming there,” Rodríguez tells Variety. “When you land and hear the people clapping on the plane, you’re like, ‘All right, I’m home.’”
He threw himself into the work (literally), performing a stunt in which he dives to save someone from the edge of a cliff. “I smashed my face so hard,” he says with a laugh. “I sent it to my mom, and she was like, ‘Loco. What are you doing?’”
In conversation with Variety, Rodríguez opens up about the challenges of shooting in Puerto Rico’s rainforest, the pride he takes in hiring local crew, his plans for Altura Productions and the season’s boldest creative swings yet.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
When you’re shooting in actual rainforest conditions, what were the biggest challenges?
It’s a big adventure episode. We filmed in a place that looks just like El Yunque, and obviously, it rains all the time in Puerto Rico, so everything got muddy. But the crews on the island are incredible. When it started raining, they were like, “Please. This is nothing.” In Atlanta, people panic. In Puerto Rico, everyone just puts up tents, waits 10 minutes, and keeps going.
We had a lot of stunts — wire rigging and some pretty brutal moments. There’s one where someone falls off a ravine at the edge of a cliff, and I dove to save them. I smashed my face hard doing it, but it looks great. Even the stunt coordinator was like, “Man, that looked good.”
What does it mean to bring “Will Trent” back to Puerto Rico and work with local crews?
That infrastructure already exists on the island. The crews there are incredibly talented. On day one, the line producer introduced me to the whole crew as “your director — your local Boricua, Ramón Rodríguez.” It’s hard not to get emotional when you hear that.
I remember in Season 2 watching them move a techno crane across the sand on the beach by laying plywood under the wheels and rolling it down the beach for hundreds of yards. That’s who we are — resilient, hardworking. For me, it’s a point of pride to bring a show I’m part of back to the island and showcase our people and our culture.
Your mom threw a premiere party for Season 1 at your grandmother’s house. When you’re directing an episode in Puerto Rico — wearing all these hats as EP, actor and director — how do you keep those emotions in check?
I take it incredibly seriously. I prep really hard because I earned this opportunity. I’m pretty mission-driven in the process. Even on the island, I take moments. I was playing salsa, along with all kinds of beautiful music and sounds from Puerto Rico, on set. There’s nothing like hearing your native language being spoken around you by the crew and being able to speak back to them.
Then I’ll see my mom watching me as Will Trent, and that fills me with pride. And at one point, I was speaking “bad Spanish” as Will does, and she was like, “You sound terrible.” But at the end of the day, I have a job to do — to try to make the best episode of television I can as an actor, director and producer.
You have Altura Productions and a first-look deal with 20th Television. Does an episode like “He Lives!” feel like a proof of concept for the kinds of stories you want to tell?
I think “Will Trent” is a great proof of concept as a whole. Story and character always come first. I don’t want to be cornered into one market and say I’m only doing Latino stories. What I love about “Will Trent” is that it wasn’t designed to be a Latino story. It’s an interesting character who explores his identity and discovers he’s Puerto Rican.
That’s the philosophy of Altura — finding compelling characters and great stories. We have a great home at 20th Television. I brought on a brilliant executive to help run the company. We’re in the mix right now, and we hope to have some announcements soon. I also have a personal feature that I wrote that I’m going to direct. I’ve secured some financing and am now trying to secure the rest. Hopefully, this summer, during the hiatus, I’ll direct my very first feature film.
What can you tell us about the feature?
It’s a father-son story set in New York and Puerto Rico. There’s going to be some music. That’s about all I can share right now.
How do we get Bad Bunny to guest star on “Will Trent”?
We’ve already started the process. We even included a Bad Bunny song this season. We’re working on it. I’m also hoping to get him involved in my feature somehow. He’s killing it right now. We love what he’s doing and how he’s raising our flag to incredible heights. If I could get him to come on the show, that would be amazing. We’ve had incredible Latinos already — Gina Rodriguez, Yul Vázquez and John Ortiz. I’m proud of the Latinos we’ve been able to get on the show. I’d love to get Benito on there, too.
After the Emmy nomination last year and a season that keeps getting more ambitious, where do you feel like “Will Trent” is going right now?
People are going to be shocked as we get deeper into this season.
We’ve seen Will dealing with his personal battles, but what’s coming later this season is a very bold move creatively. It leads to a really loaded end of the season. I can’t say anything, but it’s going to get emotional — highs and lows — and it’s territory we’ve never explored before.
“Will Trent” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
English (US) ·