‘On My Block’s Diverse Young Cast: Gangs Were ‘Just Another Part Of Every Day Life’ For Us

‘On My Block’s Diverse Young Cast: Gangs Were ‘Just Another Part Of Every Day Life’ For Us

It turns out the young, talented cast of ‘On My Block’ didn’t have to reach very deep to understand what it might be like growing up in an inner city where gangs run rampant.

On My Block will release on Netflix on March 16, and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you how excited I was to binge through it! HollywoodLife recently had the pleasure of talking to the leads on the show — Brett Gray, Jason Genoa, Sierra Capri and Diego Tinoco — about their individual diversity and the show’s gang-centric storyline. “I feel like my whole life was like personal experiences you could take into my character. Even growing up in my sort of inner-city, not-so-great neighborhood, I was the one that sang,” Brett, who plays Jamal Turner, explained. “So I think that like in the same way Jamal is torn between these worlds I think… I was also like, do I sing or do I hang out and be cool and try to like sell drugs?”

The series centers around a group of four friends with a dream of graduating high school and going off to college far away from the streets they’ve grown up on. However, when one of them (Cesar, played by Diego) gets wrapped up in gang drama thanks to his older brother, things get thrown completely off-kilter. Jason, who plays Ruby Martinez added, “I grew up in Jersey City and when I grew up there, the whole gang life and all that was so close to home. But it’s like this thing where it’s surrounded you but you don’t enter yourself in it. It’s just another part of every day life. The same way you have like, stores and… you have gangs. So that really resonated with me, the whole gang situation. It’s close to home but it’s not this huge effect.”

Despite the dark undertone of gang drama, On My Block is a coming of age comedy filled with many hilarious and uplifting moments. Plus, there’s romance! During our interview, Diego spilled that Cesar gets caught up in a love triangle with Monse (played by Sierra) and Olivia (Ronni Hawk). Make sure you check out On My Block when it hits Netflix on Friday, March 16!