Conversations with the Cast of ‘Midnight Family’

Diego Calva, Renata Vaca, Sergio Bautista and Joaquín Cosío in "Midnight Family," now streaming on Apple TV+.

Midnight Family truly is a unique series on Apple TV+. Since it blends together fiction and real world elements to tell a harrowing tale of a family of paramedics that are struggling to get by and struggling to save lives and to further explore the wonder of this series, we sat down with cast members, Renata Vaca, Diego Calva and Joaquín Cosío to discuss this incredible new series.

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Renata Vaca (Marigaby Tamayo) and Diego Calva (Marcus Tamayo)

John Betancourt: What was it that attracted each of you this incredible project?

Renata Vaca: For me, I saw the documentary a few years ago before shooting the series. So, for me, the documentary was like putting on the glasses of reality, just like face the truth about this terrible and hard subject. And then when I got the scripts and I read the story and read the characters, I fell in love with them, and I was really excited to portray this incredible and amazing family.
 
Diego Calva: Well, I think one of the most cool parts when I read the script is I watched the documentary way before, and it was the understanding that I barely understood anything, right? And it was like an actual problem in my city, in my country, in a lot of Latin American countries. It was something that was going on. But I have to admit, also the cast, that was something that makes me like, “Okay, I want to be part of it.” I've been watching Joaquín Cosío, Dolores Heredia’s career my whole life. I worked with Renata before, so that was also part of, you know, like, what get me hooked into the script, and… because I said yes.
 
John Betancourt: Now both of you do some incredible work in this show, and you truly sell the realism of the story as it is. And I'm very curious how each of you as actors brought forth that realism, because it really is much like watching a documentary.
 
Renata Vaca: Thank you. I think that was one of the most important things for us. Even I remember having conversations with Natalia (Beristáin), she was like, “I really want this to feel like a documentary, because that's very refreshing.” It's very incredible to see not the actors acting, but like the character is living things and doing things. So, thank you for that. And talking personally, I really just opened my heart. Of course, I have this preparation with the medical and paramedical stuff, but I just opened my heart. And I was very lucky to have some very incredible cast members right by my side, helping me, and like catching me. And that really helped me a lot to really get into this incredible story.
 
Diego Calva: And I have to say, when you have, like, the right combination of people, Renata just said, like, put the glasses to reality. I will say, take the glasses off and be able and brave enough to be blind, right, and just to take the job and do it. And we found the family. So, it was very easy to walk blindly and say, like, “She's gonna get my back.”
 
John Betancourt: I really appreciated how much this series had to say, not only about the obvious lessons and the problems that are happening in the city, but also just so many interpersonal lessons and so many beautiful moments. But I very curious, above all, what's the big lesson that you want the audience to take away when they watch this show?
 
Renata Vaca: I would love for the show to be like, like if you were outside a glass like, watching a family living their life, a family that that has an ambulance and has to work in this like crazy city, you know, and helping all these people. So, I would love people to feel that and really get more empathetic with this group of people that are living through this medical paramedic things.
 
Diego Calva: And to be able to see all the mirrors, right? Like, in the end, we are talking about a documentary that is portraying real life, and we are doing a fiction. So, it's all about layers, right? And the mirror let you like looking, so like into yourself, but then it could become a glass, and you can see through. So, I really hope all the performance, all the crew, all the effort we put could be translucent and make you actually to have a little side of reality.
 
John Betancourt: I'm just curious, from more generalized standpoint, what are each of you excited for the audience to experience?
 
Diego Calva: Mexico City.
 
Renata Vaca: Mexico City! I agree, yeah, yeah, Mexico City, and the adrenaline, and also the fact, because I think that Mexico is like this, magic place in where you can, like, laugh and cry and learn things. So, I would really hope people to sense that.
 
Diego Calva: And it is a broken family, but we all love each other very much. (Laughs)
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to each of you then to be a part of such a refreshing and original and meaningful tale?
 
Diego Calva: Well as a Mexican, as a Latino, I'm proud of being able to tell these stories, but not for like, a small group of people. I think the cool part of the streaming, right, is that we can tell these stories and for the rest of the world. So, I’m really proud, and I can't wait for people in Germany, in France, in all over the world, to see it and to feel it and to live it with us, because they’re gonna relate, too, because we all have families. It's not all about the Latin community. It's not only about Mexico City and our problems. It's about like family, and we all can relate with that.
 
Renata Vaca: Yeah, I can't agree more. I mean, I love everything Diego said, and yeah, I hope they can, they can have that, and they can feel the love of this family.

Joaquín Cosío (Ramón Tamayo)

John Betancourt: What attracted you to this project as an actor?
 
Joaquín Cosío: It was very well written, very well constructed, and of course a character like Ramón who is a very vulnerable person, a father of a family subjected to a whole series of tensions, family conflicts, a person who apparently ordinary but who, nevertheless, suddenly arrives at a mistake in the way, a single one. And it spotlights those who work in these private ambulances in these pirate ambulances, as they are called, and that service very important in Mexico, gigantic, enormous, with a body of ambulances so reduced and so minimal, it is impossible to serve a city like ours, is where the private service or the pirate service appears that provide a service and that we have to thank. Finally, because in addition to that they do not charge, that is to say, they do not have a rate, properly, and some families don't have the money to give. The universe portrays them very well and the Tamayo family, with this Patriarch and his children, their expectations of life, their desires, their dreams, the concrete concept that they have to cultivate, which only their youngest son doesn't know, etc.
 
John Betancourt: Now there’s a lot of realism in this series, which I appreciated, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on what it was like to step into this world that doesn’t feel too far from our own.
 
Joaquín Cosío: Yes, I think it's another virtue, the production. I was one of the first ones called and I was very shocked when they described a building on fire with few paramedics with a few conscientious firefighters. I'm going to the location, and I actually discover a building on fire and firefighters as extras, the production is top quality, very solid production, and very solid casting by adding Renata (Vaca), Diego (Calva) and others, it really helped to build this world and make it feel real.
 
John Betancourt: Now this is a very intelligent series, one that harbors a lot of depth, and I’m curious what you hope audiences learn from this series from a message standpoint?
 
Joaquín Cosío: Solidarity, generosity towards others. I think that something that the series shows a lot is this family, without resources, that lives to help others. And I think that the example that Ramón Tamayo gives his family, in some way, especially for Marigaby, that I want her to study hard to become a doctor. Maybe not so much in Marcus since he wants to be a rapper. But in some way, we talk about the importance of family with his fiancée, of that commitment, while we save lives and explore how beautiful that is.
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to be part of a show this original and unique?
 
Joaquín Cosío: Yes, I feel very proud and very lucky, because they thought of me for a character like Ramón Tamayo, and I thank Apple TV Plus, Natalie Beristáin, and everyone who had to do with the construction, of the project. I can't feel luckier than my commitment to a person, this person, that is so endearing, at least for me. I love his vulnerability, courage and bravery.
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John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to your work on this season?
 
Joaquín Cosío: Of being able to be in a series with a top-level production. It's an ambitious series, with very important support. I feel very, very proud of being in it, of concentrating my work, of the level of production, to be able to build and tell this story that is, in all, a story of brotherhood, of love for many. Ramón Tamayo is a person who has a family he deeply loves, and he loves to drive an ambulance and help others.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.