- They're going to go nuts.
I can't wait, it's going to be wonderful and amazing.
(audience cheering) (laughing)
♪ Get ready like one, two, three, four. ♪
- You guys wanna hang out? ♪ Oh ♪
♪ It's so good, got me up in this feeling ♪
♪ It's so good, just watch me now ♪
- [Man] Scene one, marker.
- Welcome to A Place Called Home.
Sitting right here on the corner of South-Central and 29th
is an oasis in the South-Central LA.
And anything can happen here.
Kids from eight years old into their mid-20s
arrive every single day across the threshold
heading towards the dance studio,
the recording studio, the athletics field,
getting help with their homework,
getting a good meal, maybe even working in the garden.
And some of our kids are sitting down
and thinking about college, thinking about a job,
what can they contribute to the community.
And we're pretty excited
because today we have a premiere screen of On My Block,
the series on Netflix that's about this neighborhood, right?
It's about kids like our kids.
Don't tell them, but apparently the cast is gonna be here.
I cannot not wait to hear the questions
that they're going to ask.
(audience chattering)
- Alright, so I want to officially welcome you all
to our exclusive screening of season two of On My Block.
(audience cheers)
Are you okay, you're good?
Are y'all ready?
(audience cheers)
Alright, are we ready to start?
Awesome, all right, here we go!
(upbeat music)
- [Girl] It feels really good to see a show
that represents my life.
It's not like overly stereotypes of Mexican families,
it's just the simplest stuff.
- [Boy] Even when you feel small
and insignificant, like you're being belittled,
you have a voice.
- Look at this, this is so crazy.
- I'm so nervous.
- So, they're watching it right now?
- [Brett] Yeah, it's almost over.
(audience chattering)
(audience cheers)
- [Girl] Oh my god!
- I think we still got more people maybe.
(cheering)
We are here today with the On My Block cast
here at A Place Called Home, what do you feel about that?
(audience cheers)
Alright, let's get it started.
Who is someone who is a big fan of the show
that has been watching since season one?
Let's get it over here, introduce yourself, please.
Aw, he wants to get onstage!
- My name's Noi.
I just feel like I can relate to this show
'cause like, they're in the ghetto
and like I'm kinda living in the ghetto.
- I was like hugged at the first like 20 minutes, yeah.
Um. (laughs)
- Um, uh... - You need a question?
- No, I got you, I got you, I got you.
I love all of you guys, like, ah!
- [Brett] I love you too.
- But Jamal, that's my homie, yeah,
you already know! (audience cheers)
- I got one, I got one.
- I love this, just the comedy, the friendship,
and the conflict that everyone just had
but you guys still just stay together.
I just really loved it.
- You know, family's clingy to you
and when I was just a little kid,
they were really attached to me,
they kept me away from all the bad,
showed me only good, they wanted me to be the right
even though they were the bad.
- This really hits home for me, right?
This is real, this is my experience, right?
That's really what y'all were saying and what I was hearing.
What do you all think makes this show so different?
- Just the reality that we're speaking to
of our type of people as opposed to any other type of people
that you generally see on TV
for the past century or millennium, yeah.
Now it's us.
- We're not just gangsters, we're not just funny,
we're not just awkward, we're not just whatever,
like, there's a lot to us.
- What words of advice would you have
for our, on the stage, members in here
chasing their own dreams?
- Catch 'em back, always.
(Brett laughs)
Even if everybody around you is hating,
focus on yourself, get your bag,
and they will come around.
- If you're surrounded by negativity,
if you have friends that don't have your best interest
at heart, now is the time to (clicks tongue)
because, I mean, if they're not helping you grow as a person
then what are they there for?
- Y'all are not allowed to give up, I don't care.
Y'all are not allowed, I refuse it!
Y'all just gotta keep going and it's gonna be so hard
and so tedious and tiresome but if you give up it's gone,
the whole dream is gone.
- Alright, and so with that, we gotta wrap up.
I wish we had more time, I wish we had more time
but-- - Well, hold on,
what time is it right now? - 6:34.
- 6:34, well, we don't have to be to the hotel
for another while, do you guys wanna hang out?
(audience cheers) For a little bit, yeah?
Let's do it!
(uplifting music)
The relationship you see onscreen,
that's a real relationship.
We're good friends, just as you guys are all good friends,
you know what I mean, like
you know who your best friends are
and this cast is definitely people
that I consider some of my best friends.
- [Crowd] On My Block!
(crowd cheering) - I feel like On My Block
actually really inspires a lot of people.
I don't think I've met someone that's watched On My Block
that's felt like it had no purpose. (chuckles)
I feel like it inspires me to look like life a different way
you know what I mean?
Like, there's just so many different messages
and different stories behind each character
that made you realize that these are actual people.
There are people that go throughs stuff like that.
(gentle music)