By Petra Halbur
Chances are, you’re familiar with Alex Fernandez’s work. After years of playing small roles on television shows like Heroes, Prison Break and Army Wives and lending his voice to video games like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Socom 4: US Navy Seals, the actor is now enjoying more prominent parts on Lifetime’s hit summer series Devious Maids as well as Killer Women and The Bridge.
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Additionally, Fernandez recently completed his run as Roy Vickers on the revamped classic Dallas. He says it was “pretty amazing” to work on a show with such a legacy. “The original Dallas is a show that I grew up watching,” he adds. “It was on for so many years in the 70s and 80s, and everybody of my age remembers it. When it came back on and I got cast in a role that was going to be there for the entire season, it was very exciting.”
He was also touched by the respect shown to actor Larry Hagman, who played the iconic oil baron J.R. – respect that continued even after his passing last November. On the daily call sheet, which lists all the actors in order of their prominence on the show, Fernandez notes that “Larry was always listed as number one, and I thought that was a really nice testament for those of us who frequently work as televisions actors. I found it to be a really touching tribute.”
Hagman isn’t the only co-star who stands out in Fernandez’s memory. The Miami, Florida-born performer recalls appearing on an episode of Robbery Homicide Division back in 2002 and being struck by the warmth and professionalism of the show’s lead actor, Tom Sizemore. “That was the first time in my whole career where the star of the show treated me like a scene partner, treated me like a fellow actor. He’s had a lot of personal problems over the years that have been in the media, but he’ll always have a really warm place in my heart for the way he acted towards me.”
The actor has also found an amazing co-star in Judy Reyes, who appears as his wife on Devious Maids. He plays Pablo Diaz, the husband of Reyes’s character Zoila Diaz, who is an ambitious maid working for a rich family in Beverly Hills. Fernandez describes Reyes as the sort of actress that doesn’t make work feel like work and says that she “knows her stuff” yet is very relaxed on set.
There was one scene, in particular, that he was excited to film with her: At the end of one episode, they shared “a really sweet kiss.” By his own admission, he hasn’t had many romantic scenes in his career since he usually plays “cops and criminals.” “I told my Twitter followers to tune into Devious Maids because, for the first time in my television career, they were going to let me kiss a girl on camera!” Unfortunately, he was disappointed when a producer later informed him that the scene had been cut.
Though his many projects keep him on the move, Fernandez doesn’t seem fazed by his busy work schedule. Quite the contrary, he enjoys it. “I really love to work. I love to travel between sets. In the case of The Bridge, Dallas, Killer Women, and Devious Maids, they’re all shot in different cities,” he reveals. “You would think that I’d be exhausted or annoyed, but I’m just exhilarated. Honestly, I can’t think of a single time that I felt stressed out.”
However, he does admit that spending so much time away from loved ones is “not exactly fun.” He and his girlfriend live in Los Angeles, and it takes some extra work to keep their relationship strong. “When your job requires that you travel as much as mine does, you have to make a little more effort to make sure that you’re not letting too much time pass between seeing each other.”
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Fernandez says that his idea of a great date is a day spent at the movies followed by some coffee and conversation at a cafe. For his last birthday, the couple went to their favorite Chinese restaurant to work on a play that he is directing and she is producing. “We sat at the table and spread out all the papers that we needed. We ate and worked and talked, and to me, that was a fantastic date,” he says with a laugh.
He adds, “For anybody who’s working a lot, especially if they enjoy what they do, they have to remember that life isn’t all about work.”
Be sure to catch Fernandez on the season finale of Devious Maids, airing this Sunday, August 25th at 10/9c!
