Star-crossed lovers have been a topic of great fascination for most of us at least since Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and over the years we have seen many versions of it. While some succeed, some plummet, but when Netflix’s ‘On My Block’ - which premiered season 2 on March 29 - decided to recreate that same magic, they definitely hit the mark, and how.

Monse Finnie, portrayed by Sierra Capri, and Cesar Diaz portrayed by Diego Tinoco are childhood best friends-turned-lovers, who are kept apart due to the gang violence in the neighborhood. Even though they aren’t actually kept apart by anyone specific, their circumstances keep them from actually, truly being with each other, instead forcing themselves to settle for stolen moments of intimacy more often than not.

Tinoco, who chatted with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) at the season 2 premiere of ‘On My Block’ said ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ which he is a fan of, is the storyline that he took into perception when he started the project. “It’s a love story of course,” he said, adding, “I couldn’t have asked for a better screen-lover. Working with Sierra is such a blessing… It’s good to know that you can feel comfortable working with her, try out different things and rehearse off screen.”

“We will be in the green room rehearsal and really getting into it… Really trying to make these characters come to life,” he continued, further confirming the rumor that indeed the duo, and the other two members of the core four - Jason Genao and Brett Gray – have become best friends.

Capri, who also believe that her character’s love story with Cesar is reminiscent of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ except in a different environment, says they have a lot of love for each other and that despite being children, they have a special bond and care a lot about one another. The show will hopefully explore more of their relationship, which was definitely strained as of the season 2 finale, come season 3. 

The talented actress, who also chatted with MEAWW at the season 2 premiere, spoke of the friendship between her character and her best friend Olivia (Ronni Hawk), whose relationship was strained due to their shared affection for Cesar. 

Explaining how it was important for her and the 'On My Block' showrunners to ensure that these two characters do not become "catty," she said, "Girl empowerment is so important... I am just so happy that we got to display a friendship like that because so many people expected us to be catty about certain situations in the show, so I was really excited about that."