An Interview with Mariana Gómez from ‘Midnight Family’

Mariana Gómez in "Midnight Family," now streaming on Apple TV+.

Mariana Gómez is a rising star in film and television and currently she stars as Cris in the Apple TV+ series, Midnight Family, and with season one of the show winding down, we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Mariana to discuss her work on the show.
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John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what attracted you to this project as an actor.
 
Mariana Gómez: First of all, thank you for having me. Well, for me as an actress, like in so many ways, it attracted me because I've been working my whole life here in Colombia. I'm from Colombia. I'm not from Mexico, and it's my first international project so far. So, for me, it's, it was like a dream come true, working with a platform like Apple, you know, like, it's a dream, working with a cast as big and talented and people that I've been growing up seeing and admiring, Like Joaquín Cosio, like Yalitza (Aparicio), like Diego (Calva), like for me, it was a dream come true. And also, and not less important, the story. You know, the story. The story drove me instantly.
 
John Betancourt: I also love the story; I find it's just full of good meaning and great lessons. What do you hope the audience takes away from season one of the show?
 
Mariana Gómez: Well, I think for me, I mean, I think in the eyes of the international people, we have a lot of conflicts in Latin America that has been putting out all the time, like drugs and prostitution and war, you know. But I think public health, for example, is something they, I mean, in all over the world, they didn't know about it at all, like it's, it's putting the eye of the people outside on a major, major, major problem, and doing it in this fancy way, in this creative way. It's like an achievement that it wasn't easy, but I'm proud of it.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of that pride. What are you most proud of when it comes to what you've done in this show, in season one?
 
Mariana Gómez: Hmm, I think, I think I'm really proud of the of the work I could do, first of all, because I had a little chance to show a little bit of Colombia in a story that is about Mexico City, and although we don't know that much of the background of Cris, I think I could show how much pain she has inside as an immigrant, as a woman living as an immigrant in another city that has a problem with health. I don't want to spoil anything, but her major problem has to do with health and with politics and with decisions and I think that's something I could show through Cris in a good way.
 
Also, I feel really proud of the music, because I have music background. I've been singing my whole life, and I've been writing songs since I was 12 years old. And when I got the script and I read Cris’ scenes, and I called the director, Natalia (Beristain), and I told her, you know, I want to try to write Cris’ lyrics for her songs, for her raps, because, she raps, you know, she does freestyle. And she told me, like, “Let me see what you can do, and we'll see.” And I wrote the lyrics of one of the songs. And she was like, “Okay, do them. Do them all.” So, I wrote my own lyrics for my own character’s songs. So that's something that was like a really nice challenge and gift for me in this series.
 
John Betancourt: Oh, that is really, really amazing. How cool is that? That adds a new layer to the show. I'm also curious too, and this may lead into that… every character just feels so real,
so authentic. And I'm curious how you as an actor, make Chris seem so real.
 
Mariana Gómez: Well, I think, I think that the language of the series from the beginning like that, was the direction that Natalia told us to go through. Like. We come from a documentary. Midnight Family was a documentary first, and now we are doing the fiction, but we want to tell the story from the truth, because it's a true story. You know, true conflict, true problems, through people.
 
So, I think that when I read everything and that was the direction that they wanted us to have, I think I focused on hearing the surroundings, like hearing, like being very, very aware and present of the conflict of the people of the city, of the sounds, of the noises of my colleagues, you know, like hearing and being super present and aware, and also carrying the feelings that Cris has inside of her, because we are not talking about them, but I want the people to see them. And I think that's one thing I try to do.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what does it mean to be part of such a refreshing and original show?
 
Mariana Gómez: It feels… it feels amazing. I'm telling you, as a Colombian actress, to be part of this major project with Apple, with the quality that they have, with the respect that they have for our job, for the industry, the quality of everything, the talent of the people I'm surrounded by, it's like it's a gift for any actress, and for me, being the only Colombian in the show, it's like winning a big, big prize, like they chose me, you know? And I'm super grateful and proud, and I hope… I hope I can do more like that, you know?
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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