'AJ and the Queen' star Josh Segarra says playing Sanchez was challenging and he wanted to do it with care
This article contains spoilers for 'AJ and the Queen' Season 1
Netflix 'AJ and the Queen' stars Ru Paul as Robert aka drag Queen Ruby Red who is about to embark on a road trip to win a pageant. His boyfriend, Damien Sanchez (Josh Segarra) commits credit card fraud and leaves Robert with no money to his name. While preparing to leave for Texas, Robert finds a stowaway in his RV - 10-year-old AJ (Amber Jasmine played by Izzy), who's running away from her drug-addict mother and wants to go to Texas to see her grandfather and so the two began their adventurous trip in this 10-episode dark-themed comedy.
Known for his roles on 'Arrow', 'Sirens' and 'Orange Is the New Black,' Josh Segarra plays the role of Sanchez, Ru Paul's boyfriend, in the dark comedy. Segarra spoke to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) about how it was to take up a role that revolved around social stigmas, his inspiration and the preparation that went into his character and what he hopes for the series if it gets approved for Season 2.
Talking about working on a show that brought to light a much-needed conversation about the social stigmas of sexuality, homelessness, and drugs, Segarra said, "I felt like I was ready to take on the task at hand in truth because I knew what was going to be a challenge. I knew it was going to be a challenge to tackle all the issues you just brought up and tackle them with delicacy and with tenderness and care and to find a way to maybe have people resonate with Hector (the name the character first has on the series), maybe resonate with Damien. I know that he's perceived as a bad guy, but there are things in life that make us all travel that line a little bit more. So maybe I can offer him some perspective and give people a chance to resonate with some of his choices. So that way when you can see him at the end trying to redeem himself, he's not a completely lost cause. Because I hope that we never think anybody are lost causes."
The role of Sanchez was portrayed by Segarra in a way that makes you empathize with a character that is essentially the villain in the series. A handsome villain that has something he's running away from and has something to prove. Segarra spoke of the inspiration behind him accepting the role saying, "What was inspiring to me was to play somebody that was going through heartbreak, to play for somebody that was trying to find love, that's a very powerful feeling. It was inspiring to play somebody that was going to have a big journey to go through."
As we said, a handsome hunk on a mission to be the best con-artist had some physical expectations to keep up. As much as Sanchez watched what he ate, Segarra, on the other hand, focused on eating much more fats and carbs. "There was a lot of physical preparation because I knew that there were characteristics about him - he was obsessed with his body and he was obsessed with his weight. So for a while, I had to watch what I was eating, make sure to represent the character well, represent the show well so that the jokes made sense - that meant a lot to me."
Describing Sanchez as a "layered individual," Segarra laid out his hopes for Season 2, if there is one, saying, "I hope that we get to have a lot of fun and we get to know more about these characters. I feel like we're introducing complex, interesting people to screen and I hope that people enjoy getting to know us and who we're introducing to the world."
All episodes of Season 1 of 'AJ and the Queen' are now streaming on Netflix.