- We were just really excited to work with each other again,
and then it would hit us out of nowhere.
Like, "Wait, is this our last scene together?"
- Yeah.
- "Is this the last Monsé and Jasmine scene ever?"
- Yeah, facts, yeah.
- I broke down when it was the last day in my room.
- I know.
- Like, we were done,
and they were tearing down my things,
and I was like, "What's happening?"
- Time out!
- "You couldn't even wait for me to leave?"
- They didn't waste any time. - No.
- It was like, "Cut! OK, the wall, take the wall out."
- Ready?
Hey, this is the cast of 'On My Block.'
[Laughs]
Oh my god.
[Beep]
OK, Diego, give us 3-2-1.
- Diego, 3-2-1.
- 3, 2, 1, action.
- Should I do it again?
[Laughs]
- Never mind!
[Beep]
- Hey, this is the cast of 'On My Block,'
and these are the top six iconic moments
that we'll never forget.
[Laughs]
- [Diego] I would have to say what made our show so iconic
besides the fact that it was a much needed show to be seen:
Everything was just in sync.
You know, our chemistry as a cast,
our chemistry with our directors, producers, our writers.
- It just ingrained in us, you know,
and it became our reality, became our world.
- We were sad, but, I mean,
I think we did ourselves proud.
Like, I'm super proud of everybody
and the performances they gave
and the trajectory of their characters, so.
- The first iconic moment from 'On My Block' -
it's a moment, but it's a long moment -
was the first season of 'On My Block.'
We had the pleasure of living together,
Sierra, Jason, and I.
- Now hold up.
- And wait a minute, wait a minute.
The homes that we stayed
from, like, this guy, Paul.
[Laughs] - Paul.
- Just like,
- Staying in the back. - Lived in his backyard
and let us live in his house on Airbnb. That was crazy.
And then we lived downtown at this beautiful,
really hot apartment.
- With no A/C.
- Diego left, like, a sweat mark on our couch.
- There was no A/C in it.
- It was like just sort of living
and trying to find our footing in L.A.
I will never forget that time in my life.
- Another iconic moment I think, for me is,
Ruby's getting shot.
- Like, I dunno. - Yes.
- I think more iconic than getting shot
was the reactions that, like,
- "Call 9-1-1!"
- That's what made 'On My Block,' like,
I think so popular, is like,
everyone was waiting for Season 2,
and I remember us watching
maybe over a thousand fan reactions.
- Yeah.
- Them reacting to me getting shot,
and then also reacting to, like, the show's done.
- Right.
- There wasn't an episode after.
It was like, what happened? Blah, blah, blah.
I also remember filming that day,
and I was, like, on the floor, cold and crying.
- Yeah.
- That was iconic. It was even iconic
how they released the second season.
Like, the whole cold open of the show with that song.
- Yes.
- And you know what's crazy?
Do you remember when we got that script?
Like, we knew that was going to be a moment.
- What they did for Ruby was
they made sure that it looked as much as possible
that I was in a coffin.
And that's why the pillow is a little fluffy pillow and
not like a regular, like, on-your-bed pillow.
It's a fluffy pillow.
And they took the color out of my face 'cause they
wanted everyone to see me, like, dead, basically,
until I opened my eyes. I think like that.
[Group chatter]
- 'On My Block!'
- Season 2 was lit.
- That's when it was like, whoa, OK.
- Another iconic moment of 'On My Block'
was Oscar confronting his dad
and seeing this real strong character break down,
not over gun violence,
but over the love that his father was finally giving him.
I remember being on set and just doing it
over and over and over again.
And me, like, questioning myself if I got this or not.
And I was so in my head
and me and the other actor were so in our moment
that we didn't pay attention to anybody else.
And then when we finally cut that scene,
everybody else was crying and in that moment.
And you know, Lauren came up to me and she said
thank you, and it was this moment
where we realized that we caught something special.
And so for me, that would be an iconic moment.
You know, this guy has had his armor on for three seasons.
What does he look like without it on?
He still needs to be the same guy,
but now he's fully come into his own, I think.
And that was interesting to play the same guy,
but not the same guy.
- One of the most iconic memories for myself on this journey
was definitely the premiere for 'On My Block' Season 1.
Just that whole atmosphere was so new to myself, and just
being there, working on the project for months and months,
and finally seeing it on the big screen with the rest of the
cast and our family members. It was just an iconic moment.
- We were just hoping we'd get to Season 2.
- Yeah, we get to continue.
- Or that anybody would watch it at all.
- Like, "God, I hope they like this."
- I vividly remember Jessica texting us all and being like,
"Hey, we need to engage with our fans today."
Like, the day that it came out.
And I think that was instrumental
in making the show what it was.
- The other day, some guy came up to me, and he was like,
"Are you?" - 'cause I had my mask on -
and he was like, "Are you Jason?"
And it's always so strange when they call you by your name.
And not your character name. And I was like, yeah.
And he's like, "Oh my god."
And then he's like, "Can I take a picture?"
And I was like, sure.
And it was pretty, like, fine.
And then he came back crying,
and he's like, "Oh my god,
I just, I have to talk to you.
I just got into acting school and you're the reason,
And 'On My Block' is the reason. Like, I was a writer,"
he was like, "I was writer,
but now I really want to become an actor
because what you did."
And like, he thanked me so much and it was like,
oh my god, like, I got emotional.
'Cause it was like, you see, like, you don't really -
you know that you're making an impact, sort of,
because it's a show.
And like, you know what shows do to you,
but to see it in person,
and like, a person actually get emotional,
he was crying. And I was like,
wow, that's insane. Like, I sort of changed
the trajectory of someone's life just by what I did on TV,
which wasn't even like, you know,
it wasn't my doing. Like,
all I did was act, but like, I didn't cast myself.
I didn't write the script. I didn't do anything.
I was as privileged as he was to watch.
I was as privileged to perform, you know?
So, it's just crazy for them to think that
we changed their life so much, when in reality,
like, they're also changing ours
and our life is just as affected.
- Yeah.
- We owe everything to the fans.
- Another iconic moment.
I think we were in Season 1
when I was planning my wedding,
and I,
- Oh my god.
- And I remember feeling close to them,
but like, we weren't the tightest,
and they were like, so we're invited, right?
And I was like, well, yeah, of course.
And then actually that next season, having them there,
like, I couldn't fathom getting married without them.
They are literally my family, so,
and I have a very small family.
So, it just felt
incredible to have them next to me and support me.
And that just meant everything.
- And we turned up.
- They really did.
- We cried. - And we cried a lot.
- It was really special to me.
You guys still have no idea,
no idea how much that meant to me.
- Me and Shannon were in the back while Julio and Brett,
do you see them?
'Cause they were the ones crying the most.
- I know. - It was beautiful.
- 'Cause he was crying, and I was like, well, gosh,
this is really hitting me because, and then just,
it was a lot, it was a lot going on.
All the pictures, I'm like -
- I couldn't hear them exchanging their vows, nothing.
[laughs]
- The last iconic moment is definitely the chemistry read
with the six of us.
- Oh yes. - Yeah.
- Because we really, I'm just thinking,
like, our mindsets back then,
we really had no idea what the show was about to become
or if we were even going to be a part of it.
And now five years later, it's crazy.
- Yeah.
- To think that, you know,
just, we were so hopeful at that time
and we just wanted to act
and we were just like sitting there like, OK, well,
let's just see what happens. If we get it, we get it.
And now, like, we've created something so monumental,
and it's crazy.
- It was crazy
'cause there was a moment at the chemistry read where,
first of all, Jess had already known -
- I did not know.
- Jess was like, oh I'm not - - Jess walked in, like,
"I'm the only one here,
so, guys I'm playing Jasmine,
just so y'all know, and she left."
But there was a moment - Sierra, Jason, Diego, and I
were all in the room, and they were like,
"Can we take a picture of you four?"
Once they took that picture,
I feel like it was a moment where we kind of knew,
like, this was going to be us.
- We were just so raw at that time.
- Yes.
- Like, that's what I'm thinking about.
Like, so unpolished.
- I remember reading lines with you and Brett
in that one room
and you had red hair.
- It was blonde.
- OK, it was copper.
- It was blonde. It was blonde.
- Sierra was the first person I saw
coming into Paul's house,
off the airport,
and she's this blonde,
like, bombshell comes to the door like,
"Hey, just so you know,
I'm going to wash my hair in the sink over here."
- That's when I was like, this is my sister right now.
Iconic, iconic, iconic.
- Oh my god.
I forgot about that.
- You know what?
I was thinking about this the other day, actually.
My mom had asked me, she was like,
if all six of you were in another project that was
nothing to do with 'On My Block,'
do you think it would work?
- Absolutely.
- And I was like, there's just something.
Like, I used to learn in acting school,
which is like an ensemble,
and it's a group of people who you can all trust
and know that they have your back in the scenes.
You can try stuff, you can do stuff,
you can fail, you can succeed.
And I feel like somehow, like, immediately
from the chemistry read,
we just already were an ensemble for each other.
- I feel like they've been
my strength through so many things.
- I feel like we've been through so much together
that certain things that even only we know about
that, you know, I'm really grateful.
- Don't.
Stop it.
[Laughs]
I'm really grateful that we all got to, you know,
have each other to just go on this journey with,
and I couldn't imagine being on it with anyone else.
- I never felt alone.
I feel like there's a lot of shows where you kind of feel
like just a piece of a puzzle, you know?
Like you're just kind of there to work. And here I was like,
I always had at least one of you to be able to, like,
you know, have a shoulder for me or, like,
'cause I would freak out. They know.
I would have literal meltdowns.
Like, I don't know if this is funny.
Is this funny? I don't know. Should I do something else?
Like, I don't know if I can do this.
If I didn't have them. I just don't think that
my performance would have been where it was.
- We started this, I mean, at a time in my life where, like,
it was that transition period.
Like, we're really coming of age at this moment.
It was like that turning point between,
OK, you're becoming an adult.
So, I feel like in a lot of ways, like,
we grew up together, you know?
- For sure.
- And so, to see everybody, like, some of these,
like, you guys have,
I've witnessed multiple relationships
and multiple, like,
you know, triumphs and tribulations.
And it's like, you know,
we've had our disagreements and things. And like,
I feel like that's when you really get, like, real
relationships with people, is when you've
known them for so long.
And you've gone through so much together.
And you just know it's unconditional, kind of, love.
- Mmm-hmm. - Absolutely
- Yeah.
[Laughs]