DECIDER: The show is obviously about a large Mexican-American family in Texas. Did you grow up with a large family?

HENRI ESTEVE: By standard American context, I have a large family. In Latino culture, I feel like my family isn’t huge. Growing up in Miami, I had a lot of cousins that were always at these holiday parties and dinners. When I left, I saw people have much smaller families than the average I was used to. 

What would you say large and small mean by Latino culture standards?

I had friends that have 20 cousins and 5 uncles, like Primo, with five uncles on each side. I grew up primarily with my mom’s side of the family so I had kind of half of the standar. But I had friends where you would go to their family barbecues or parties and it was like a small school.

How much of your own life and family did you bring to the show?

There’s definitely similarities and like the open door policy the Gonzalez family has, with people just rolling in and out of the house, and the accountability, the desire to help each other, and the love. I think all of that is very similar. Then there’s Mike. The first iteration through the audition process, I was kind of basing it off somebody that I grew up with. A lot of it stuck through the series, but in the first couple versions of Mike, the jumping off point was definitely inspired by someone I grew up with.

What was it about that person that made him an inspiration for the character Mike?

He wasn’t a military person, but he had this blind confidence, like he’s just never wrong. There’s something about Mike that reminded me of a chimpanzee. It just seemed like he was almost fully human—like he was almost capable of having a full conversation with somebody. I was thinking about this person in my life, and they were always scratching themselves and the way they walk was so heavy footed and he kind of reminded me of a chimpanzee too. There’s a lot of stuff in [Mike’s mannerisms], if you watch him grab cups or how he interacts with the world and the environment around it…a lot of it is very, very “chimpy,” for lack of a better word. I was a regular at the LA Zoo.

What other things did you do to get into character as the military, macho brother?

I go scene first and ask “How am I pushing this scene forward? How can I help with that?” So I just tried to look at everything through the perspective of the guy who’s saying masculinity is gonna solve his problems slash propel him to the front of whatever line he’s in. Choices come out of that. How can I be the most toxically masculine person possible in this choice? But it’s only harmful to Mike, with his lack of vulnerability and allergic reactions he has to feelings—all of that stuff really just hurts him. 

All of the brothers have their own quirks. Did you pitch any character traits?

Physically, the glasses and always wearing military boots were day one pitches. The military boots were something I texted our wardrobe department before we even got to set. I think he just wears them all the time, he just always needs to be prepared for anything. Once I got to set, I wanted glasses that I always have on the back of my head. Shea started laughing and said the real Uncle Mike does that, too.

Did you have a favorite bit or moment with another cast member on the show?

My favorite is definitely the roof bit. I’m just a big fan of petty revenge, so when I got that script, and I saw Mike was on a ten year revenge plan, I was really proud of him.

Primo is a throwback to traditional network comedies in the way that it’s structured and the jokes included. What was your initial reaction to reading the scripts? 

I just thought they were hilarious. But the first audition came through and they wanted me to audition for Mondo. I was reading the scene and I called my manager right away and asked if they could send me the Mike audition. I just wanted to say a lot of Mike’s lines. They got rewritten a little bit, but there are certain lines in that initial draft of the pilot that were so mean that I just really wanted to do it. The pay with card off with Ryan about going to college was way meaner and wanted to say those words.

What was it like working with Mike Schur, who has helmed amazing comedies like Parks & Recreation and The Good Place?

Surreal. Him telling stories about Parks and Rec, or Steve Carell on The Office—those moments are really surreal and incredible to have. You feel super safe. There’s kind of an insurance policy for you, like if Mike Schur is doing this, how bad can it go? 

I also think it’s cool that the DNA of all his shows is kind of similar. If we look at The Office, Parks and Rec, The Good Place, and Primo, it’s all very flawed characters trying really hard to do good and coming up short a lot, but somehow failing up. That’s a pretty amazing legacy to have.

One bummer is that the show premiered during the Writer’s Strike. What has it been like to have to promote—or not promote—the show during this time?

It’s bittersweet. On the one hand, yes, it’s amazing. We have this show coming out and we’re all really proud of it and had an incredible time making it. Then on the other hand, the people who made the blueprint for it and Shea who lived some version of this are not being compensated for their work properly. But past that, they won’t even get to celebrate their accomplishment and us getting this thing to the finish line. We’re all standing with them supporting them. 

I think we all see it for what it is, right? Like this isn’t Hollywood writers versus Hollywood studios and streamers; it’s much bigger than that. It’s laborers versus huge corporate conglomerates. All industries are at risk of this happening and huge corporations are squeezing the labor force in order to increase profits and shareholder prices. 

The fate of the show is currently unknown but if Primo does get a second season, what are your hopes for Mike?

I do want more Mike and Ryan. They’re the two youngest brothers and I think they’re the most opposing personalities. I would just like to see them have a road trip or something together—like Mike and Ryan go to Vegas. The chaos would be amazing. I’d also like to see Mike’s vulnerability a little bit. I’d like to see him get in touch with that side of himself. Maybe he’ll finally go to therapy?

What’s your favorite memory from being on the show, either while cameras were rolling or when they weren’t?

Honestly it was those kickers that are at the end of the episodes. They weren’t scripted initially until Shea had the idea to do them in the last two weeks of shooting. We added on an extra shoot day. Me in that carnival outfit with the pink shirt was my last scene of the season. That day was probably my favorite day. It was really emotional to wrap up the show and there was a lot of love on set from the cast to the crew to the producers. We all became a little family in Albuquerque and it was a really touching day. I was a mess, I was crying like a little baby and there’s a picture floating around somewhere of me with tears running down my face in that stupid pink shirt.