From co-creator Elgin James, the FX series Mayans M.C. is currently in its fourth season, with Adelita (Carla Baratta) singularly focused on getting answers about the life that was stolen from her when she was told that her child was dead. A lost soul that’s looking to find herself again, Adelita might not need a man, but she’ll be on the hunt like a wild animal until she completes her mission.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Baratta talked about how different her character’s journey is this season from anything she’s done before, playing a character with so much inner dialogue, what she’s enjoyed about Adelita from day one, and the importance of what Adelita represents on this series.
Collider: I can’t imagine what it would be like for your character to go through what she’s experiencing, losing a child and then having the whiplash of being told that child is actually alive, but still not knowing whether she can actually even believe what she’s being told. What is her mental state like, at this point? What is it like for you to explore somebody in that kind of mental state?
CARLA BARATTA: She’s on a mission. We don’t know what she’s doing or what she’s trying to do, but we know that she’s doing something. She’s hunting this man. We don’t know who he is, but we can see in her eyes and in her movements and in her notes that she’s been doing this for a while and that she knows what she’s doing. She’s so focused on this particular person. I feel like it was really intense for me to portray, especially in the first couple of scenes, because she doesn’t have any lines, and we don’t know what’s actually happening. It’s more about trying to show that she’s up to something. She’s hunting. She’s on a mission. She’s like an animal. That’s the way that I approached this season.
I’m really excited for her journey this season because it’s so different from anything else we’ve seen from her. The first season, she was really calm and really into her mission and her path. She really knew what she wanted and who she was. Now, she’s at a point that we don’t know who she is anymore. We don’t know what she wants anymore. She’s like a lost soul that is trying to find herself, and we’re gonna go with her on this beautiful path this season, trying to really go back to herself and to what we knew before, that we and I miss so much.
How do you even approach figuring out, from an acting perspective, how to play that? Especially when you didn’t have dialogue to give you any indication of that, how did you figure that out for yourself?
BARATTA: That’s been not a struggle, but a constant thing with Adelita that she doesn’t talk a lot. It’s more about what she does and what she faces. As an actor, it’s more like an inner dialogue that I have to have with myself or with the character. In my mind, I’m having a dialogue with myself. I’m having a dialogue about everything that she’s feeling. That’s what helps me go there, emotionally, without having to say anything. But in real life, it’s the opposite. You usually say something, and then you get emotional because you said the thing that triggers that emotion. It’s been completely interesting, challenging, and a beautiful way to explore her inner world.
What have you enjoyed about Adelita, from day one?
BARATTA: I love that she doesn’t rely on men to accomplish what she wants. Also, when I saw the wardrobe that she was gonna wear, from day one, I was like, “Yes!” Sometimes, as Latinas, we get in this stereotyped box and it’s really hard to get out of it. So, for me to get introduced in the American market, on American television, with a character this powerful, that doesn’t rely on her looks, that was the thing that I fell in love with completely, with the character. Every season, it’s more and more. There was the shaved head and the baggy clothing, and I was like, “Yeah!”
Will all that’s going on and her not knowing for sure about her child, what do you think she wants? Would she want to just take her child away somewhere and have a quiet life? Has she even thought that far ahead?
BARATTA: I think she wants the truth because she doesn’t know if her son is actually alive. That’s what Potter said, and we know that Potter’s not someone we can trust. So, I feel like she just wants to know the truth, and after she finds out what’s really happening, she’s gonna have to make decisions about her life and what she wants. She wants that quiet life that’s she was maybe dreaming about, but right now, she’s like an animal. I don’t know if she can just do that. I don’t know if she can be that version of herself that she maybe dreams about. It’s different when she has to be there and actually be in a situation that she cannot control. She’s a wild creature. She used to live in the desert, so it’s gonna be interesting, if we put her in a really quiet and normal environment. That’s like trapping an animal in a cage. It will be really interesting to see that.
What do you think a character like Adelita brings to a show like this?
BARATTA: I feel like there are so many male characters in the show, so for Adelita to be one of the only female characters and still being this strong figure that’s sometimes stronger than all the guys is the most beautiful thing. It also shows that you don’t have to be loud and you don’t have to be so in your face to have that power. As women, we sometimes need to remember that we have all strength inside of us and we are strong enough to make our own decisions and to do our own thing in life, regardless of what everyone else, including the guys in our lives, is doing.
I think that’s something beautiful about Adelita in this male-dominated world. We can see that she’s as strong and as fierce and as focused as they are. For me, that’s a blessing to have, in a show like this. Because she’s so calm, we never know what she’s gonna do. She’s capable of more and more things. When someone is that quiet, it’s scarier than when someone is really loud because that’s predictable. There’s something so beautiful in a character where you always get surprised by what she’s gonna do.
Mayans M.C. airs on Tuesday nights on FX.