In ‘Florida Man,’ Edgar Ramirez ‘has enjoyable with’ well-liked meme

Edgar Ramirez says his new sequence “Florida Man,” now on Netflix, might share a reputation with the favored meme of the identical title, however it isn’t making enjoyable of the state or its residents.

“It doesn’t make enjoyable of that, it has enjoyable with it, which is totally totally different,” mentioned Ramirez in an interview.

In “ Florida Man ” — the TV present — Ramirez performs Mike Valentine, an ex-cop in Philadelphia who falls from grace due to a playing dependancy. He additionally nonetheless owes a giant debt to an area mob boss (Emory Cohen) so he usually has to do his soiled work. On his orders, Ramirez’s character begrudgingly returns to his residence state of Florida to trace down his boss’ runaway girlfriend (Abbey Lee). What he intends to be a fast journey turns right into a wild treasure hunt that opens up a Pandora’s field about his previous.

“It’s humorous, however it’s darkish. It’s offbeat, it’s unusual, it’s bizarre,” Ramirez mentioned. “The absurdity of the conditions is the place the comedy lies.”

He says Valentine is a kind of individuals who believes he innocently finds himself in absurd conditions — however in actuality, he courts it.

“He’s very dramatic. I believe that he foolishly thinks the way in which to get out of chaos is by creating extra chaos. He believes that he can outrun the ghosts of his previous,” he mentioned.

Regardless of its title, “Florida Man” is filmed in North Carolina. To get a really feel for Florida, Ramirez spoke to the present’s creator, Donald Todd, who’s from there. He additionally traveled to the state.

“I went to the locations that impressed the story … to have a look at the characters, the ambiance within the air and the temper that impressed the present,” he mentioned.

Earlier than he ever went into appearing, Ramirez labored in journalism in his residence nation of Venezuela and says that want to study folks and issues remains to be inside him, and serves him at this time.

“Possibly it has to do with my journalistic background, ? I’m within the human expertise. I’m a really curious particular person,” he mentioned. “That curiosity is the driving drive of every little thing that I do, not solely as an actor, however in different pursuits that I’ve.”

The actor — whose previous roles embrace “Zero Darkish Thirty,” “Carlos” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” says the enjoyable of “Florida Man” set him up mentally to enter his subsequent job, now filming: season two of Peacock’s anthology sequence “Dr. Dying.” It is based mostly on the podcast of the identical title. Ramirez will play the con man masked as a world-renowned surgeon whom a TV producer falls for, based mostly on a real story. He says that position is “one of many darkest” he is ever had.

“We see it quite a bit, particularly when girls are conned. ‘How might she fall for that? Oh, my gosh. She’s so naive’ and all of that. It’s virtually like they’re being blamed,” he mentioned. “The fact is that they’re individuals who dedicate their whole life to con different folks, so it’s not the sufferer’s fault.”