Lily Santiago and Michelle Vergara Moore Talk ‘La Brea’ Season 2 and the Relationship Between Their Characters [Interview]

Please note this interview contains spoilers for La Brea Season 2 Episode 4.

Lilly and Veronica’s relationship was one of the most intriguing ones during La Brea Season 1. However, the major plot twist came when we found out Ella was the grownup version of Lily during La Brea Season 2.

I spoke with Lily Santiago and Michelle Vergara Moore to discuss how this plot twist affected their characters and how the sisters’ relationship will evolve throughout the season.

Without any major spoilers, they revealed what is most interesting about their characters and the connections they have formed in 10,000 B.C. They too want to see these women in action.

La Brea Season 2 Episode 4, “The Fog,” gave Ella and Veronica the opportunity to have a deep conversation that led to forgiveness in the face of death. Luckily, the wolves didn’t win and the sisters bonded again.

“On the episodes prior to Episode 4, Veronica’s just avoiding her endlessly. Not for lack of love, but because of guilt,” Santiago shared. “Because she doesn’t feel like she deserves Ella’s love. We find out why in Episode 4, with the big moment of ‘oh, we might die now,’ and I’m not going to die with this on my chest.”

This moment allowed, according to Santiago, the characters to have the chance to reestablish their relationship and begin trusting one another again. She is hoping the characters will now share more adventures, advice, and hugs.

Moore believes the scene worked out quite well, and it was a relief for her (as an actor and a character) to finally have Ella and Veronica reconnect.

“I was like, ‘What the heck, why doesn’t she let me in? What’s wrong with you, Veronica? I came all the way down here, jumped into the hole voluntarily to help you and reconnect with you.’ And to finally hear the reason why — she’s just felt all this guilt, and bewilderment about why on earth are we jumping back into the hole to save her,” Moore said.

When Ella jumped into the sinkhole, we saw her doing so with Gavin and Izzy on La Brea Season 1 Episode 10, “Topanga.” However, as La Brea Season 2 develops, we see less of these characters interacting.

I asked Moore and Santiago about this, and they both agreed Ella becomes a key component for Veronica’s character development. Her purpose was to come back and save her sister. Now she has the opportunity to do so.

However, Veronica isn’t looking to be saved. According to Santiago, her character doesn’t have anything to go back to, so she’s settling in 10,000 B.C.

“I think a big part of Veronica’s journey is coming to terms with what she’s done, allowing herself to be loved, allowing herself to trust love, and allowing yourself to let go of some of the guilts and say, ‘you know what, maybe I don’t feel like I deserve this love, but I’m going to accept it anyway’.”

What surprised me was how similar Veronica and Lucas’ storyline is. They both realize they don’t have something to go back to and are accepting their new reality. The two of them connected after Lucas saved her on La Brea Season 2 Episode 1, “The Next Day.”

This is definitely a relationship we are all rooting for and would love to see explored throughout the season.

“I think it’s very rare to see Veronica, especially connecting with a man so openly, so easily. She trusts him. And that’s rare. And I think that that opens up the opportunity for her to sort of be a bit more like a 20-year-old girl, which is what she’s supposed to be,” said Santiago.

The actress is excited to play this character who she thought she knew but constantly surprises her. She believes it’s challenging to play this 20-year-old who may have a crush on a boy and wants to see where that goes.

However, this presents some challenges for Veronica. It is time for her to figure out how to connect to other people who weren’t part of her, as Santiago said and Vergara Moore loved the term, little trauma circle bubble.

The history, emotions, and trauma are one of Santiago’s favorite things to play when it comes to her character because nothing with Veronica is just normal.

“Even when she gets to have a normal moment, she’s thinking, ‘do I deserve this normal moment?’ What wrong thing is going to happen after or she lets herself settle into appreciating a nice moment. And something always seems to have to go wrong.”

Watch a clip from La Brea Season 2 Episode 4:

Michelle Vergara Moore’s Ella is part of the little trauma circle bubble and has been since before she became a grownup when she was Lily — which is Moore’s favorite plot twist on the show thus far.

“When I found out that Ella was the grownup version of Lily I was so excited as an actor to see that revelation, I remember reading the script going, ‘awesome! This is actually part of the wider story of what’s going to happen with Veronica’,” she said.

“Then the finale of Season 1, where Ella jumps into the hole with Gavin and Izzy, I was like, ‘This is fantastic! I get to jump into the hole, to meet up hopefully with Veronica and resolve all these problems’.”

After jumping or falling (depending on the character) into the sinkhole, Ella and Veronica have faced multiple challenges that put their lives at risk. However, these two women don’t want it to end there.

When asked about new challenges or dangers they would like to see their characters face as La Brea Season 2 develops, Santiago and Vergara Moore agreed they would like to do more fighting scenes.

“I’ve been begging every time I see Zev, the stunt coordinator, ‘Zev, get me in a fistfight. Get me involved.’ I want to knock somebody out,” said Santiago. “I want to be in the fights knocking some people around.”

After fist-fighting, she wants to befriend an animal from 10,000 B.C. even though they don’t seem friendly.

Vergara Moore also wants to join in on the fist-fights and taking down wolves after watching Natalie Zea’s character involved in several fights.

“I just watched [episode 5]. But those fight sequences with Natalie’s character Eve were just so cool. I really want to do some stuff like that in the season as well.”

Hopefully, Lily Santiago and Michelle Vergara Moore get in on the action and we see them fistfight some enemies on La Brea Season 2.

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La Brea airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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