Bayardo De Murguia Discusses the World of Dance on ‘Tiny Pretty Things’ [Interview]

On December 14th Netflix will launch the long-awaited ballet series Tiny Pretty Things.

Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra, the series will take viewers into the Archer School of Ballet after one of its star students is attacked and her replacement enters the world of lies, betrayal, and cutthroat competition

I recently had the chance to speak with Bayardo De Murguia about his role on the series.

Bayardo De Murguia plays Ramon, an instructor at the Archer School of Ballet, who initially didn’t appear in the books. 

De Murgia has a sports background, but the world of ballet was completely new to him. He auditioned for the role not knowing much about the source material but found himself hooked when he saw how creator and showrunner Michael MacLennan adapted the series into a soapy, steamy, and suspenseful tale steeping in mystery and passion.

“Once I ended up getting cast, and meeting the creative team, and reading the original young adult novel, I was just hooked. The world of ballet was completely new to me. I didn’t have a huge dance background coming into this project, and so I was just ready for the new challenge and new adventure,” De Murguia said.

Netflix has been marketing the show as a cross between the movie Black Swan and the television series Pretty Little Liars, and De Murguia said that the tone of the series is essentially just that with a little bit of Gossip Girl thrown in for good measure.

De Murguia shared a little about what we can expect from his Ramon as well. 

“My character is a bad boy choreographer, and ex-alumni of the Archer School of Ballet that gets brought back in to choreograph and work with the students for the yearly piece that they’re doing. He’s a very passionate person, very honest, he tells it how it is, and he uses unconventional teaching methods to bring the best and worst out,” De Murguia explained.

The source material has a strong following in the young adult literary community with several glowing reviews from bloggers, in part because Tiny Pretty Things is more than just a ballet narrative. It tackles the issues of the dance world but also adds a layer of mystery and intrigue.

De Murguia spoke a bit about how the show melds these two objectives together into a timely narrative while keeping the show authentic and real.

“It takes issues like race, jealousy, sexuality, competition, everything that you see in the dance community. It shows that everyone is affected, and that’s the beauty of it. It shows that there’s a lot of darkness in the world as well. Especially the cutthroat world that is dance and ballet,” De Murguia said. 

While the show has a darker mystery to it, there is also a lot of dance to be celebrated as well. Five A-list choreographers came in to create some of the dances viewers will see during the 10-episode season, and there were no dance doubles. 

De Murguia didn’t have any dance training but his background is in contact sports and fighting sports so he was intuned with the way his body moves.

The cast gathered together for dance training a month prior to shooting, but the training continued throughout filming so everyone would be able to do the dances assigned to them. 

“We were in dance rehearsal throughout the season. If you weren’t filming your scene you were in dance rehearsal. And you weren’t in dance rehearsal you were most likely filming your scene with a little bit of physio in between we wanted to make sure we all stayed healthy, but there was a huge focus on keeping the dance authentic,” De Murguia said. 

He was also able to lean on fellow castmates for support with some of the choreography. 

“For me, as a person who didn’t have a huge dance background, I was lucky enough to have all these wonderful castmates that are so good at dancing that they would teach me when they could. The choreographers also tailored certain things to me and my ability, and when you see it on the show it’s like all these intricate, beautiful dance scenes that are so awesome.”

De Murguia’s journey into acting came while he was a college football player at the University of San Diego. During his sophomore year, he took a theater class and then proceeded to explore opportunities taking advantage of the school’s partnership with the Old Globe theater. 

“As I learned a little bit more with classical theater and everything on stage, I auditioned for shows at the Old Globe and performed there. Initially, I was more focused on classical theater, and then I just slowly started growing,” he said.

About ten years ago, De Murguia moved to Los Angeles and has been carving his way into the industry without any formal guidance. 

“I moved to L.A. not knowing a person. I asked questions and learned from everyone that I came across. I do have the advantage that I speak Spanish, because my family is from Mexico, so that helped a lot with getting into commercials and voiceover, and then once I started working theatrically and in television, slowly different opportunities would start coming.”

When he reflects on the experience now, he says it was definitely an adventure. He strived to keep a balance and focus on what kept him grounded because he was aware of the fragility of success in this industry.

“As much as you can find success in Hollywood, it can quickly be taken away. Things get canceled, you know. You just need to have a lot of patience. It definitely was an adventure, but it made me who I am,” he said. 

This ties into De Murguia’s advice to anyone who wants to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. 

“Keep a focus and be patient would be the first two things that I would say. The focus part because as you slowly start with your career and you figure out where you want to go, you have to stay focused, because there’s a lot of things that will try to take your focus away. The patient part, because there’s always that saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day; it’s completely true,” De Murguia explained. 

He also reflected on some of his relationships with fellow actors that he met when he first moved to L.A. and where they are now. 

“There are friends that I came across ten years ago that are now writers on shows, and I remember going to commercial auditions with them. You have to be patient. Not every artist has the same path and so some people might find success early, some later, you just have to stay patient and work hard, and it will come to you.”

One of the things that De Murguia loves about working in the entertainment industry is how everyone collaborates on a show. In the future, De Murguia hopes to work more behind the camera and direct.

“As an actor, it’s great to someone’s words and idea and then being able to bring that to life. As a director, it’s something I would love to learn to have an eye for, to be able to get all these ideas from the writer, from the actor, from the creator, and put it all together and try to complete that vision,” he said. 

While he has other projects in the works, De Murguia is very hopeful that Tiny Pretty Things will find a fanbase so they can come back for a second season. He said that he thinks viewers will invest in all the characters as the season goes on and that they’ll be left wanting more. 

“It is a very binge-able show after you watch a few episodes. You’ll just want to keep watching, and then when you get to episode 10, we just leave it at a point where you’re gonna want to see what happens next. So I hope we get the opportunity to continue with that,” he said. 

He also teased some of the stunning visuals that viewers will be treated to in the first season for both dancers and non-dancers alike. 

“As a person who doesn’t come from a dance background, I’ve seen our show, and I don’t watch many young adult shows –I’m biased because I’m on the show–but it’s great writing, it’s compelling, it’s very diverse, it talks about issues that affect all of us. So in a way, it’ll hook you, and then you see these wonderful beautiful, intricate ballet pieces. I would forget my lines sometimes watching everyone dance.”

—

Tiny Pretty Things premieres Monday, December 14th on Netflix.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!