Hulu’s new psychic romantic comedy, Maggie, is different than other rom-coms. It premiered on July 8th.
It follows Maggie (Rebecca Rittenhouse), a fortune teller who can see the future. She’s been unlucky in love and avoids it because of her powers.
Her life changes when she reads Ben’s (David Del Rio) palms and sees them together in the future. We chatted with David Del Rio about modern dating and this unusual love triangle involving fate. Check out the interview below:
Hi David. I have enjoyed your acting since I saw you in The Baker and The Beauty. Do you think that role helped enhance your popularity?
I don’t know. I ignore that, but I do know that ever since the series streamed on Netflix, I would get stopped in the street. For me, it’s not Baker and The Beauty as much as people calling me MC Cubano on the street.
So that’s, that’s always really nice. You never know the life of a show and what life will breathe, so when you get recognized for your work, it’s always lovely to hear.
You were so fun in that.
Oh, thank you so much. I was a Cuban from Miami. Nothing there, but they gave me a lot to play with, and I’ll forever be grateful for it.
What enticed you to play Ben in Maggie, the new psychic romantic comedy on Hulu?
I’m going to be honest. I auditioned for the role. I hope to be in a position one day in my career where I get to say yes or no to projects because they entice me. But once I got the part, I got down to the homework of it all.
What attracted me was the idea that these episodes were not surrounded by the mystique and magic of the gifts that Maggie has about seeing the future.
It is a show about getting to know who you are in today’s dating environment in your early 30s or late 20s and how to live in the moment.
I think that the fact that we had an ensemble cast and characters that immediately accepted the idea that she was a psychic made things go smoother, and I feel like that’s how the audience is responding to it as well.
You’re in the middle of an unusual romantic triangle. You’re destined to be with one woman, but keep trying with your on-off again girlfriend.
While he’s destined to be with Maggie, that’s still up in the air really to me. I would do Ben a disservice if I immersed myself in the story that Ben is supposed to be with Maggie, which is what the love triangle scenario is about.
It’s about being torn about who you should be with, and as Ben’s character, I dig into the circumstances in front of me and realize that he wants to make things work with Jesse. I’m bound to tell that story for as long as we can and let crimes of the heart be exposed at their natural speed.
It’s such an exciting love triangle. Tell us how you formed a believable connection with your leading ladies.
Well, I’ve known Rebecca for a couple of years, and I’m good friends with Chloe’s husband Adam since we did Pitch Perfect together, and my wife had known Chloe before me for years, so walking into the set, it was a no-brainer.
It was just like, let’s hang out. Let’s build chemistry. Let’s do honor these characters, and let’s play off each other.
Working with actors like Rebecca and Chloe, your job is easy, and they’re just a joy to work with, and such pros and make the days go by easier because it’s just a breath of fresh air to be working with them.
You did look like you were having so much fun in this series. Can you tell us what some of your favorite scenes were?
Well, I always enjoyed the ensemble pieces in the wedding scene at the end when the whole cast is together. I always loved working with the entire cast, and I see them together once a week when we’re doing table, reads, and stuff, but when we’re doing scenes together.
I love a good ensemble, where we have a lot of fun.
We get to know each other, be thrown into the set, and play. One of my favorite things is to dance on screen. So I like dancing with the camera. I like dancing with the camera person and getting the choreography right, where it’s not just about lines but many other aspects of it.
I enjoyed the prom when you brought Louise and Maggie to the dance. That was fun.
That was the fun one. I’ll do any scene in a suit, especially a suit in which people are hired to make me look good. I’m like, let’s keep doing scenes with suits, but this was the best wardrobe I’ve ever had in any series I’ve ever been in, so I’m very grateful for that too.
I also enjoyed your connection with the actress that plays Ben’s sister.
Working with Angelique, who I just had lunch with, she’s a riot. The ideas that she brings to the set and the camaraderie that we have. It was like sibling love at first sight. When we first met in the pilot, she ran to me, hugging me, saying “Hello, brother, “and then we were off to the races.
There’s the same thing working with Leo, too, because having brothers-in-law, their camaraderie is that they’re also besties because he cares for his sister.
And so, our first day on set, our first scene, where we only had a scene between him and me, which was a bar scene, we had a great time playing, and I love them both.
Yeah, they were a lot of fun. Was it weird that Ben’s sister always seemed to be such a massive supporter of Maggie but not as big a fan of Jessie?
I think she was more concerned with hurting people and people’s feelings being hurt. Sometimes, in some scenes when Amy is defending Ben, she’s also supporting Jessie or talking about Maggie because she doesn’t want Ben to be a person who breaks people’s hearts.
Amy tries to protect Ben from that, but you must let people do their things regarding crimes of the heart. But I don’t think that Amy prefers one or the other. I think she is more concerned with decisions that Ben will make. And as long as he’s following his heart, then Amy’s all for it.
That makes sense. So, tell us why you think the fans should watch Maggie if they haven’t already?
Well, I think that in the time that we are living now and where it feels like things are on a roller coaster, right when we believe that things will calm down, there’s always something that ramps the environmental energy of the country back up.
I think that sometimes we don’t need shows to match our attention, and sometimes we need shows to have an escape, and I think that Maggie’s the perfect rom-com for that.
It is easily bingeable, easily digestible, and delightful, and people can use sweetness in their lives.
Yes, I would agree. It’s charming and fun.
Yeah, it’s fun, and people have been laughing. I think people have been enjoying the will they, won’t they? People have just been relaxed watching the show, and that’s what we’re here for. We are here to entertain, and we’re here to help people cope and make people ask questions, and that’s what Maggie does.
Do you think the show will get another season?
I hope that the show gets another season. I’m always grateful for the fans who are watching and asking Hulu for aSseason 2. But the way I see it, the film, plays, or TV shows people watch are for them.
I hope we get a Season 2 because there’s more story to tell and many more glimpses of the future that are unanswered and deserve answers.
For our last question, can you tell us about any other project you have lined up?
Nothing is confirmed at this point. I don’t think there’s anything I can say. I am part of a team that’s just sold a show, but I can’t tell what or where.
My wife and I have our production company developing a lot of things. We have a screenplay and a pilot in development, but there’s not much I can say about that. All I can say is that my wife and I are busy, and we’re very grateful.
You can catch David in Maggie Season 1, which is currently streaming on Hulu.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.