Chelsea Rendon Talks ‘Vida’ Season 3, Her ‘Vida’ Character Crushes, and Mari’s ICE Story [Exclusive Interview]

Chelsea Rendon has a nearly twenty-year career, and she isn’t even thirty years old! Getting started at six years old has many advantages, including a developed talent and a mature understanding of the industry. 

We get to enjoy the fruits of her labor as Rendon has graced our screen on a diverse set of projects, including the film A Better Life and the TV show The Fosters. 

Currently, Rendon is on Vida as the passionate Chicana activist and sheltered little sister Mari.

Vida follows the experiences of two sisters as they deal with the bar and the baggage they inherit when their mother passes away. The show is profound for several reasons, including its integrity. It uses Latinx voices to tell Latinx stories portrayed by Latinx actors.

The Starz series debuts its final season on Sunday, April 26, but the curtain is far from closing on this Latinx star. A Rendon-led and produced romantic comedy where she gets to “be cute, but still me,” is on its way to us! 

I had a chance to talk with the performer about the Vida family, Mari’s ICE storyline in Season 3, and humanizing stereotypical characters. 

When asked about that special sparkle between the Vida cast and creators, Rendon was glad we noticed and responded, “We definitely feel it!” She explained, “it was something from day one that we all were just kind of like, we’re in this together.”

The camaraderie was very special because the cast was all experiencing their biggest career opportunities. “We grew up together, you know, even though we’re all adults.  Experiencing these things in our careers together [was] really beautiful,” Rendon tenderly divulged.

The actor shared her insights into the cut of the cloth of the cast’s connection.

“I know people get labeled, ‘oh you’re an actor, you’re a celebrity’. But people forget actors and celebrities are human beings just like them. And so, we’re all just human beings, and we get along, and we hang out. We go to [Melissa Barrera’s] wedding in Mexico, and we hang out on the weekends. Or, you know, [Carlos Miranda] came to my house for Thanksgiving,” she continued, making me feel serious levels of FOMO. 

“I tell [my Vida family], you literally found a little sister, and I’m gonna know you for the rest of your life.”

Rendon further revealed, “It’s sad to say goodbye because now we’re not going to be working with these people every year. But at least we know, because of how social we are we’re still gonna see each other. And we’re still a family no matter what, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Rendon believes that we too can still keep the Vida cast close. “I would say to hold onto it…[and] just to remember what [Vida] made you feel.” 

And, of course, Rendon added with a giggle, “you could still rewatch it!” 

“If you miss Vida, tune in to other shows with brown people. And support and help the community grow,” she offered. 

“A couple years ago when Vida got started there were maybe three shows that were Latinx. And now there’s like ten shows coming out this year that have the same quality. And it’s not going to be exactly Vida, but you’re going to have a hint of it.”

“I think it’s important to watch those shows. And, you know, keep supporting Latinos in Hollywood so that shows don’t get cut after three seasons; they can go on and live longer lives,” she said.

Rendon even shared what she is watching to support the Latinx community! “Right now I’m obsessed with The Baker and The Beauty.”

“Oh my God, it’s amazing! Lisa Vidal, I know her, she’s a friend of mine, I die every time she’s on-screen,” she gushed.

Chelsea Rendon noted the chemistry on the new series and shared her thoughts on what makes it special. “I think it stems from having Latinos actually playing Latinos. You know what I mean? There’s no faking it or nothing.”

“My boyfriend’s Salvadorian, and he was like, ‘what’s that word?’ And I’m like, ‘oh, that’s Puerto Rican slang that I know from actually spending time with Puerto Ricans.’ And [that’s] really cool, and it’s just beautiful to see it,” she shared. 

The Baker and The Beauty “wouldn’t have that authenticity if it was done any other way,” Rendon concluded.

Vida shares that authenticity. For Rendon, her character Mari showcases the reality of discovering the grey areas in life.

“In general, in life, people need to learn that there’s a grey area. But, I really love Mari experiencing that and me getting to portray that because it’s so real,” she divulged.

At the end of Vida Season 2, Mari is stuck between supporting her group, The Vigilantes, and the sisters who have taken her in and helped her.

During that confrontational moment, “she kind of ducks. She literally ducks and is like ‘what do I do?’ She’s getting pulled in both directions a little bit and she doesn’t really do anything. And I think that’s so realistic to young people.”

“I think she handled it as best that she could. But it’s so important to remember, that’s how people deal with things. And that’s okay,” Rendon wisely offered.

“That’s a beautiful thing about all these characters. They’re written flawed. It doesn’t make them the villain; it just makes them human.”

We adore all of those humans and, frankly, crush on them as well.

When I asked Rendon which Vida character she crushes on, she was ready with more than one example. 

“Everyone is obsessed with Nico. Nico just has this swag. That is so much of [Roberta Colindrez], so it’s so funny. I definitely had a crush on [Nico],” she admitted.

Rendon laughingly continued, “I had a crush on Tlaloc, which really worked well for my character!”

“There was just something when the camera [was] rolling and [Ramses Jimenez] turned into Tlaloc. It was like, ‘Oh, shit. What’s up?!'”

Rendon doesn’t agree with one popular fan crush. “It’s funny because everybody’s in love with Johnny, my brother, and I’m just like, ‘Eeew, what are you talking about? Why?’ But then when I do see him, there is a difference to him on screen. So like, I get it, I guess. But still, like, eew. Like, eeew. He’s stupid.”

Vida Season 3 “picks up like a day and a half after the Season 2 finale,” Rendon revealed. This means that for those of us wondering about the fallout from The Vigilante’s protest, “you definitely get those answers right away,” she said.

When asked about what Rendon is most excited for us to see on Season 3, she immediately highlighted a pivotal storyline for Mari: encountering ICE. “I’m really excited to see her go down that path. And hopefully, the people that are watching connect to that,” the Latinx actor shared.

She also shared, “the last I heard, our biggest demographic was middle-aged white men. So, I’m like, if we can get everyone else to see what’s going on [with ICE] through our perspective, they’ll realize how wrong it is.”

Rendon appreciates how her character transforms the issue. “Mari feels so strongly for it that I feel that she humanizes it.”

“It’s hard because you have to get that emotional. But it was really beautiful and it meant everything to be able to play that,” she expressed. “The thing I’m really excited for [on Season 3] is to see that storyline unfold because of how timely it is and how important it is.” 

Rendon also discussed the sensitive topic of typecasting. Perhaps due to the fact that Rendon was a child actor and has grown up working in the industry, her thoughts on the subject are complex.

“I started acting at six years old. And I never looked at it as, oh, I’m always playing the Mexican. It’s only been like as an adult, maybe the last five or six years, that’s it’s ever really been a factor in my brain,” she explained.

“So, being typecast I never really thought about. But, now as I’ve gotten older, you know, I don’t want to get stuck there. I want to work, and I’ll do it, but I want there to be something more behind it.”

“Going forward, I’m actually producing a rom-com that I’m going to star in, which I’ll be the lead of. It’s a romantic comedy which is nothing that I’ve done before.”

“It felt like I had to be a part of it from the jump as a producer in order to get cast in it because Hollywood sees Latinos still in very stereotypical ways,” Rendon revealed.

Rendon shared more of her optimistic and ambitious outlook, saying “I’ve always felt that you gotta pay your dues. If you gotta play the cholo a lot while you’re starting out then you know what, at least you’re working. You’re learning, and you’re getting experience, and you’re growing.”

The actor has gained wisdom from listening to other successful Latinx actors.

“I remember [what] Emilio Rivera had said when we were on set one day. He was talking to a couple young actors that had left the actual gang life and stuff like that. And he was like, ‘Yo, the way to do it is to play the best cholo that you can, to play it differently. And then you’re gonna stand out to them.'”

“You can get there, but you have to have the talent, and you have to have the drive. It’s not going to get handed to you,” she said.

Rendon gave an example of finding depth in a character from her work on All Rise Season 1 Episode 14, “Bye, Bye, Bernie.”

“Recently, I did an episode of All Rise, and my character was in jail and on trial for murder, but it was self-defense. And she tells her attorney, ‘like yo, like do you see a person, like, or do you just see the criminal? Because that’s not like who I am. I had to do this in self-defense, but you don’t care about it because I’m already incarcerated… because I still have my jumpsuit on,'” she explained.

“It’s finding that human in her and humanizing her that really was like, oh this is cool.”

Her All Rise character’s struggles to be seen as a human being illustrate real-life issues for Rendon. “The thing with the world today is people judge every book by its cover. You see someone with baggy pants you wanna walk in the opposite direction. But if you see a dude with a suit, you’re fine,” she opined.

“But, you know I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds to know that that dude in the suit is more likely to kill you than the dude with the baggy pants!”

Rendon shared a final piece of insight. “I think it’s important for us to stop judging so much. But, again it’s going to take a lot for us to do that because a lot of things have been instilled in us.”

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Make sure you don’t miss Chelsea Rendon as Mari on Vida, which is streaming on Starz beginning April 26, 2020,  and be on the lookout for her upcoming rom-com project!

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